JESUS IS THE SOURCE OF ETERNAL SALVATION FOR ALL WHO OBEY HIM

V SUNDAY OF LENT - John 12:20-33

The letter to the Hebrews defines the centrality and the role of Jesus Christ with that simple sentence: “he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation.” (Her 5:9). We can only find salvation in Jesus Christ, and that implies obedience to him. We are used to hearing say and to say it ourselves that we are saved by faith, as if do not need anything else but faith. “By faith” means by grace. That is, we cannot gain salvation as a reward that we deserve and have a right to receive. Salvation is a gift of God’s merciful love. However, to receive it, we must follow Jesus Christ, ready to obey him. It is useless to claim to be a disciple if I don’t behave as a disciple. In this Sunday’s gospel, John makes it very clear as he presents some Greeks looking for Jesus.

The Greeks represent the Gentiles, those who did not belong to the people of God. By that time, there were groups of people who felt attracted to the great values of the Jewish religion. Among those sympathisers, some converted, being circumcised and following all the Jewish customs and Mosaic Law. The evangelist does not clarify to whom he is referring. However, one thing we know: they had come for the great Passover feast. Their attention should be on the Temple, the house of God; instead, they turned their minds and their hearts to Jesus. Indeed, Jesus replaces the Temple as the place of encounter with God.

We assume that his passage reflects the situation at the beginning of the Church when there was a great discussion about the acceptance of the Gentiles, with many of the Christian Jews refusing to accept them without their total conversion to Judaism. It took time for the Church to come to a clear-cut decision. This is reflected in the passage. The Greeks went to Philip and he did not want to decide alone; so he went to Andrew and both of them went to Jesus. It remains clear that the decision to take the Gentiles to Christ is a Church decision.

Philip and Andrew informed Jesus and we may be shocked to notice that Jesus did not reply to their request. However, if we listen attentively to what Jesus said, we discover his answer: “If a man serves me, he must follow me,” If they are ready to serve Jesus, they must follow him and become his disciples. They must follow Jesus’ way to find salvation. We may ask: what are the implications of that? 

• We have to follow Jesus in his hour, that is, in his passion and death
• We must be ready to lose our lives.

If we follow Jesus, we will be with him: “Wherever I am, my servant will be there too.” And then, the one who serves Jesus will be honoured by his Father. He will share in Jesus’ glorification.