Why did Jesus compare himself to a grain of wheat? What does it mean to love your life? What does it mean to hate your life on earth? Who was Melchizedek? Why did Jesus have to die? What is eternal life?
"Looking Beyond" is a reflection on John 12:20-33.
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.
They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
Philip went and told Andrew, then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit.
Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.
Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
Hebrews 5:5-10
So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest but was appointed by the one who said to him, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”;
as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered,
and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,
having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
Works Referenced
Alexander, T. Desmond. (Genesis notes). ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2008, Kindle Edition.
Blair, Merryl. “The 'Order of Melchizedek': Hebrews 7 as a Model for Thinking Ecumenically about Priesthood.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 2018): 95-110.
Coloe, Mary L. John 11-21 (Wisdom Commentary Series Book 44B). Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2021.
Milne, Bruce. The Message of John (The Bible Speaks Today). Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2020.
Moloney, Francis J. The Gospel of John (Sacra Pagina Series, Volume 4). Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1998.
O’Day, Gail R. “The Gospel of John.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VIII. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.
Ramirez, Felipe Fruto. “MELCHIZEDEK: A Minor Character of Great Importance to Biblical Theology.” Landas Vol. 33, No. 1 (2019): 17-36.
Stuckenbruck, Loren T. “Melchizedek in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament Vol. 41, No. 1 (2018): 124-138.
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