Helping People See Jesus (Fifth Sunday in Lent)

Sermons on YouTube…

So I’ve always wondered about these “Greeks” in today’s Gospel reading. Who are these people? Where did they come from? And why do they want to see Jesus?

As John sets the story up, Jesus and his disciples have arrived in Jerusalem for Passover, and Jesus is about to be betrayed and crucified.  But, at that time of year, Jerusalem has swelled with people from all over who have also come to worship “at the festival.”  Among them were some “Greeks”. And that term simply means “gentiles” – people who were not Jews, and who probably came from somewhere outside of Israel.

But were these “Greeks” gentile converts to Judaism, or simply tourists who came to be part of the celebration and see what it was all about? And why did they want to see Jesus? Was it because they had heard reports of miraculous things he had done (like many others who had heard about him raising Lazarus)? Or did they want to learn more from him and listen to his teaching? Did they wonder whether he might be the Messiah, and did they even know what that term meant anyway?

We never find out any of this stuff! As soon as the Greeks appear in the story, they immediately vanish! They simply have one speaking line. They come up to Philip and say, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

And Philip seizes the opportunity to be a witness to Jesus – by panicking and not knowing what to do! So he runs and tells Andrew. And together, they’re not sure what to do, either, so they finally go and tell Jesus!

And you know, we never even find out whether the Greeks got to see Jesus or not!  We never know if they said or asked anything else. And we don’t know if they followed along behind Philip and Andrew, or listened to Jesus teach the crowds.

I’d like to know all these things! But apparently, those things weren’t important for John when he wrote his Gospel. What was important was that the Greeks showing up meant that Jesus was already doing what he then goes on to say, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” And John remembers these words not simply because it’s a prediction of the kind of death Jesus will die, but because it also reminds Philip and Andrew, and all the rest of the disciples, that they should expect more people to ask to see Jesus…

Philip and Andrew, it seems, weren’t exactly sure how to help these Greeks “see” Jesus. And often, we’re not sure how to help people see Jesus, either. And of course, even Philip and Andrew knew that “seeing Jesus” meant more than just watching someone on the Temple Mount, and maybe that’s what was so daunting for them…

But Philip and Andrew didn’t get it all wrong! And we can learn some important things from their example. Even though they seemed confused and uncertain, they got a few things right – things that they undoubtedly remembered in encounters with future “Greeks”. I suspect that Philip and Andrew learned that, if they were to be disciples through whom others could see Jesus, they would need to:

• be open to God’s timing instead of their own – they weren’t expecting to meet Greeks that day, or to have to introduce people to Jesus; but when the situation presented itself, they did something with the opportunity …)

• have the right attitude – they didn’t send the Greeks away, or ignore them, or decide that this wasn’t part of the job as “disciple”…

• seek Jesus’ help – either in person, or later through prayer; their first instinct was that they didn’t know what to do, and that drove them finally to Jesus.  And that’s an important part of helping others see Jesus – it was about Jesus, not them…

And those are important things for us to remember as well, because as disciples of Jesus in this day and age, we’re sometimes the people who are called on to show Jesus to others in our world. And like Philip and Andrew, those times often come when we don’t expect them to come; and they come from people we didn’t expect to ask us; and often, we’re not even sure why people might be asking us about Jesus or our faith in Jesus …

But more and more, people who are authentically looking to see Jesus often seek out regular disciples – people they know and trust – and ask them to show them who Jesus really is. Who is Jesus to you?  How do you know Jesus?  And what they want and need isn’t a theological discourse or to be handed a tract or a Bible.  Instead, they need actual disciples, like Philip and Andrew, and like you and me, who are willing to act and speak with the right:

• timing – Philip & Andrew respond when the Greeks ask and want to listen; Sometimes, Christians get into trouble because we want to show Jesus to others on our timetable, instead of theirs or even God’s! Even though that’s well intentioned, that often does more harm than good …

• attitude – Philip and Andrew don’t know why the Greeks were looking to see Jesus, but finally it didn’t matter. Even if the Greeks were just interested in seeing a miracle worker, maybe that would be the beginning of seeing something deeper in Jesus; and sometimes, even well-intentioned Christians have driven people away from Jesus, instead of showing him to others, simply by the attitude they convey when they get asked…

• appreciation for Jesus’ help – Philip & Andrew sought and relied upon Jesus’ help – we should too! Jesus says “I will draw all people to myself”; we ought to act out of trust in his promise and not think it depends on us; and there have been times in my life, and maybe in yours, too, when I was asked about my faith, and what came out of my mouth was totally unplanned but totally appropriate – and often, being the person through whom Jesus can make himself known is the best way to help people see Jesus…

And you’ll notice that what the Greeks ask for is not knowledge ABOUT Jesus.  Instead, they want to see and experience Jesus. And that’s the job of Christian disciples. We’re supposed to live and act and speak so that people can see Jesus through us.

If we do that, there are no guarantees that people will come to faith in Jesus. But if we live faithfully as disciples, we can be sure that Jesus will enable us to be instruments of his love in the lives of others. If we live faithfully as his disciples, we can be sure that Jesus will be working in us to draw others to him. And if we live faithfully as his disciples, we can be sure that others, whether they know it or not, will be able to catch a glimpse of Jesus in us.

Amen.