Reflection on the 5th Sunday of Lent, March 21, 2021. Year B.
Readings
Theme: The Path to Glory
The successful outcome of God’s salvific plan appears in all three readings today. In the midst of exile and dispersion, Jeremiah sows the seeds of hope with God’s promise of a new and more effective covenant. The authors of the letter to the Hebrews and the fourth gospel see the outcome of Jesus’ work in his deliverance or glorification. But both of them state forcefully that this is realized only by Christ’s following the path of suffering and endurance. The outcome is certain but it comes at a great price.
First Reading — Jer 31:31–34
This has long been recognized as one of the most important passages in all of the biblical literature. The mission of Jesus centering on a new covenant (Lk 22:20) and the division of the scriptures into two “testaments” or covenants find their raison d’être here. This teaching plays a part in prophetic eschatology (Ez 36:24–28), but it is Jeremiah who gives it the most succinct but comprehensive treatment.
The context is important. In chapter 31, the present passage follows that which deals with individual responsibility for sin in a move away from the idea of collective guilt (vv 27–30). This new emphasis on personalism blends well with the new covenant oracle.
The future relationship will find a responsive Hebrew people unlike their forebears who repeatedly violated the Sinai covenant (v 32). It will be a covenant with the nation as a whole, with explicit mention made of both kingdoms (v 31).
The covenant to come will be internal (v 33), not written on stone tablets but on the heart (Heb: leb), the seat of intelligence and volition, not affection. In other words, it will be an observance of the law marked by conviction and personal appropriation. The stress on the Yahweh-people relationship (v 33b), a recurring Jeremian theme (7:23; 24:7), underscores the continuity between the two covenants.
This future pact will also be characterized by a direct experiential knowledge of God (v 34). It will emerge particularly in the realization of forgiveness. Communication through mediators or secondary agents will be unnecessary. The heart will learn from and respond to God directly, with the idea of personalism again coming to the fore. Conformity will not depend on external sanctions but will spring from a conviction surrounding the truth.
It should be noted that the new covenant does not mean a new set of laws. The content of the first covenant remains intact. Rather the change is in the human partners to the covenant. The new covenant becomes in fact what the former was in theory. Christians have long seen in the Jeremian oracle an unusually clear insight into the covenant of Jesus.
Responsorial Psalm — Ps 51
The “clean heart” for which the psalmist prays in the Miserere (v 12) gives the psalm a logical place in today’s liturgy. The basic plea for forgiveness rests on Yahweh’s covenant love and deep sense of mercy (v 3). But the petitioner asks for more than forgiveness. The removal of sin is to be total, with the offense blotted from memory, as if it had never occurred (vv 3f). Furthermore, he prays for a completely renewed spirit.
There are allusions to this new heart in the oracle from Jeremiah (first reading); it is mentioned explicitly by Ezekiel (11:19). What is requested is a “fleshy” responsive heart. Your presence (v 13) refers to attendance at temple worship. There is a plea for the joy that comes from experienced forgiveness and the strength of conviction in observance (v 14). In gratitude the psalmist will share his experience and promote the conversions of others (v 14).
Second Reading — Heb 5:7–9
The epistle to the Hebrews here addresses Jesus’ passage to glory. The general context of chapter 5 speaks of Christ in his role as high priest who has now entered the heavenly sanctuary but who as man was able to empathize with a broken humanity.
Jesus is the prototype of glory through suffering. In the days of his mortality (flesh), he prayed to be delivered from suffering, especially from his pre-destined death (v 7). The reference could well include Gethsemane but is broader in scope (Jn 12:27). It deals with the general posture of Jesus in facing a future with so many shadows. The description of Jesus’ anguish (prayers, loud cries, and tears) is exceptional in its emphasis on the depth of his human suffering.
He was heard (v 7b): not in the sense that he was saved from death but rather that he was brought through death to resurrection-exaltation. This is parallel with v 9. Son though he was (v 8): This could be a reference to the sonship conferred with his exaltation (Rom 1:4) or the eternal, pre-existent filiation. The latter is a rather late development; the former is more primitive. Either is possible in the letter although emphasis in this passage falls on exaltation.
The hardships of Jesus taught him obedience (v 8), which is the key to Christian soteriology and central to the thought of this epistle (10:8ff). The submission to the Father’s will is what brought Jesus to the heavenly priesthood (v 9, “he was made perfect”), a sacerdotal role now exercised perpetually and uninterruptedly on behalf of those who will now, in turn, obey him.
Third Reading — Jn 12:20–33
Jesus’ discourse on his path to glory through crucifixion is triggered by the arrival of Gentiles who seek an interview with him (vv 20f). These may well have been proselytes converting to Judaism who had come to Jerusalem for Passover. Here, however, they become part of John’s symbolism, with the words quickly taking on a deeper meaning.
The Gentile mission of the church is about to be launched as the request of the inquiring “Greeks” is meant to indicate. It should be noted that this incident follows the unwitting prophecy of a universal mission (v 19). The request is brought to Jesus by his disciples and is met with his response of a forthcoming death-glorification (vv 22ff). The whole incident has passed to a higher faith level: the Gentiles wish to see Jesus (v 21), i.e., to come to him in faith, which is only possible with the giving of the Spirit in death-exaltation. The hour of Jesus (v 23) is a consistent Johannine reference to his passion and death (2:4; 17:1), with death and glorification being two moments of a single event. The Father glorifies the Son as the result of his obedient submission.
Jesus then reigns from the cross. Jesus is deeply disturbed in facing his “hour” and requests of the Father, Glorify your name (v 28). There is an exchange of glory on the cross. Jesus glorifies the Father through his death (v 28) as he has through the “signs” performed during his ministry. At the same time, in accepting his Son’s act of self donation and gifting him with the Spirit, the Father also glorifies Jesus (v 23).
The “hour” of Jesus is here described in three ways. First, it is a death that gives abundant life (v 24). The “grain of wheat” may have been a popular proverb (1 Cor 15:36), here adapted to apply to Jesus’ death. The grain that is planted (“dies”) is productive; otherwise it produces nothing. In Jesus’ case a death is called for if the Spirit is to be given and the Gentile mission opened.
Thereupon John’s audience is addressed in the ensuing paradox (vv 25f). Love of life results in loss; the surrender of life produces gain. The lesson is clear to first century Christians enduring persecution. This antithetical proverb is found in all the gospels (Mt 10:39; Mk 8:35; Lk 9:24).
Second, the “hour” is a moment of crisis. The “now” occurrences (vv 27, 31) refer back to the “hour.” Jesus’ dismay in facing his passion is reminiscent of Gethsemane (Mt 26:39) but need not be so limited in John’s understanding. What is foreseen is a moment of great suffering which will ultimately issue in glory given to the Father (vv 27ff).
Finally it is an “hour” of judgment (v 31). Through Jesus’ exaltation on the cross, access to eternal life is afforded to all (v 32; 3:14ff). Judgment is passed on Satan whose rule is abolished (v 31). In this verse, “world” is used in a negative sense as the arena where evil presides; in other instances in John it is seen positively as the locus of God’s concern (3:16). Those who live for this “world” will bring judgment on themselves (3:18).
In ancient times crucifixion was a dread form of execution and the death of Christ was not readily depicted. In the history of Christian art there have been moments when it came to be depicted in rather grotesque ways. What captures any student of Johannine thought are those artistic expressions of the crucifixion, ranging from El Greco to Dali, which capture a certain serenity and radiance. The glory of God emerges through all the ugliness of this event. The cross is the throne from which Christ rules, or, as Hebrews expresses it, it is the door to the heavenly sanctuary where Christ the priest has entered once and for all. The new covenant of Jeremiah has become a fact.
As Jesus reminds us in today’s gospel, discipleship means walking our own distinct path to glory. It involves a loss of life if life is to be gained. No two people walk the same path. For some people the loss of life is literal; they are called to martyrdom for the gospel. We have our modern examples. There have been inspiring Christians who have faced totalitarian, sometimes “Christian” regimes in defense of the rights of others. There are others whose entire lives are spent for the poor. Think of the people who accept a terminal disease with serenity, even joy. Then there are those who are always available, never inconvenienced, who never count the cost: those who give love to the children of broken marriages, those who nurse their elderly parents in their final years. Yes, there are many paths to glory. There is a great destiny before us. But on that path the seed must die, for only death brings life.
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