3/18/18 Year B Fifth Lent
Jeremiah 31:31-34
The New Agreement
31 “Look, the time is coming,” says the Lord,
“when I will make a new agreement.
It will be with the people of Israel
and the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the agreement
I made with their ancestors.
That was when I took them by the hand
to bring them out of Egypt.
I was a husband to them,
but they broke that agreement,” says the Lord.
33 “I will make this agreement
with the people of Israel,” says the Lord.
“I will put my teachings in their minds.
And I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 People will no longer have to teach their neighbors and relatives
to know the Lord.
This is because all people will know me,
from the least to the most important,” says the Lord.
“I will forgive them for the wicked things they did.
I will not remember their sins anymore.”
Hebrews 5:5-10
5 So also Christ did not choose himself to have the honor of being a high priest. But God chose him. God said to him,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.” Psalm 2:7
6 And in another Scripture God says,
“You are a priest forever,
a priest like Melchizedek.”[a] Psalm 110:4
7 While Jesus lived on earth, he prayed to God and asked God for help. He prayed with loud cries and tears to the One who could save him from death. And his prayer was heard because he left it all up to God. 8 Even though Jesus was the Son of God, he learned to obey by what he suffered. 9 And he became our perfect high priest. He gives eternal salvation to all who obey him. 10 And God made Jesus high priest, a priest like Melchizedek.
John 12:20-33
Jesus Talks About His Death20 There were some Greek people, too, who came to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover Feast. 21 They went to Philip. (Philip was from Bethsaida, in Galilee.) They said, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip told Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
23 Jesus said to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory. 24 I tell you the truth. A grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die. Then it makes many seeds. But if it never dies, it remains only a single seed. 25 The person who loves his life will give up true life. But the person who hates his life in this world will keep true life forever. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me. Then my servant will be with me everywhere I am. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.
27 “Now I am very troubled. What should I say? Should I say, ‘Father, save me from this time’? No, I came to this time so that I could suffer. 28 Father, bring glory to your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have brought glory to it, and I will do it again.”
29 The crowd standing there heard the voice. They said it was thunder.
But others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
30 Jesus said, “That voice was for you, not for me. 31 Now is the time for the world to be judged. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown down. 32 I will be lifted up from the earth. And when this happens, I will draw all people toward me.” 33 Jesus said this to show how he would die.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A lot of the things Jesus teaches sound very confusing when we first hear them, and today’s Gospel is no different. “The person who loves his life will give up true life. But the person who hates his life in this world will keep true life forever.” This sounds pretty backwards doesn’t it? Does anyone really hate their life? What does it mean to keep true life by hating this life? If you are just reading this, it can sound like nonsense, but if you know a few things, you can understand what is being said. The first really important thing is that “to hate” meant something different in the language Jesus spoke, and in that culture. Today we think of hate as something that is really negative. To hate is to revile, to want to see something destroyed and done away with, hate is just about the worst thing a person could feel. To Jesus, hate didn’t quite mean that, it simply meant that the thing that was hated was put second to other things. In this sense, you would have a best friend, and all of your other friends you would hate, even though you were still friends with them. When Jesus talks about hating this life, he is not talking about wanting to see this life completely done away with, but that this life comes second to a Godly spiritual life.
Who would rather be in the park playing, or at the movies today instead of sitting in church? There are a lot of things that most people might want to be doing, but we all came here. So why? It is because we put the desire to go see a movie, or sleep in, second to do things that are important to God. Think about the things that are important, really important. Things that you have to do, and think about what you have to give up, or put aside in order to do those things. Look for times this coming week where you have to wait to do something you want because you need to something you have to do. What might we need to set aside, or wait to do, because of things God needs us to do?
Jeremiah 31:31-34
The New Agreement
31 “Look, the time is coming,” says the Lord,
“when I will make a new agreement.
It will be with the people of Israel
and the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the agreement
I made with their ancestors.
That was when I took them by the hand
to bring them out of Egypt.
I was a husband to them,
but they broke that agreement,” says the Lord.
33 “I will make this agreement
with the people of Israel,” says the Lord.
“I will put my teachings in their minds.
And I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 People will no longer have to teach their neighbors and relatives
to know the Lord.
This is because all people will know me,
from the least to the most important,” says the Lord.
“I will forgive them for the wicked things they did.
I will not remember their sins anymore.”
Hebrews 5:5-10
5 So also Christ did not choose himself to have the honor of being a high priest. But God chose him. God said to him,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.” Psalm 2:7
6 And in another Scripture God says,
“You are a priest forever,
a priest like Melchizedek.”[a] Psalm 110:4
7 While Jesus lived on earth, he prayed to God and asked God for help. He prayed with loud cries and tears to the One who could save him from death. And his prayer was heard because he left it all up to God. 8 Even though Jesus was the Son of God, he learned to obey by what he suffered. 9 And he became our perfect high priest. He gives eternal salvation to all who obey him. 10 And God made Jesus high priest, a priest like Melchizedek.
John 12:20-33
Jesus Talks About His Death20 There were some Greek people, too, who came to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover Feast. 21 They went to Philip. (Philip was from Bethsaida, in Galilee.) They said, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip told Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
23 Jesus said to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory. 24 I tell you the truth. A grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die. Then it makes many seeds. But if it never dies, it remains only a single seed. 25 The person who loves his life will give up true life. But the person who hates his life in this world will keep true life forever. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me. Then my servant will be with me everywhere I am. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.
27 “Now I am very troubled. What should I say? Should I say, ‘Father, save me from this time’? No, I came to this time so that I could suffer. 28 Father, bring glory to your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have brought glory to it, and I will do it again.”
29 The crowd standing there heard the voice. They said it was thunder.
But others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
30 Jesus said, “That voice was for you, not for me. 31 Now is the time for the world to be judged. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown down. 32 I will be lifted up from the earth. And when this happens, I will draw all people toward me.” 33 Jesus said this to show how he would die.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A lot of the things Jesus teaches sound very confusing when we first hear them, and today’s Gospel is no different. “The person who loves his life will give up true life. But the person who hates his life in this world will keep true life forever.” This sounds pretty backwards doesn’t it? Does anyone really hate their life? What does it mean to keep true life by hating this life? If you are just reading this, it can sound like nonsense, but if you know a few things, you can understand what is being said. The first really important thing is that “to hate” meant something different in the language Jesus spoke, and in that culture. Today we think of hate as something that is really negative. To hate is to revile, to want to see something destroyed and done away with, hate is just about the worst thing a person could feel. To Jesus, hate didn’t quite mean that, it simply meant that the thing that was hated was put second to other things. In this sense, you would have a best friend, and all of your other friends you would hate, even though you were still friends with them. When Jesus talks about hating this life, he is not talking about wanting to see this life completely done away with, but that this life comes second to a Godly spiritual life.
Who would rather be in the park playing, or at the movies today instead of sitting in church? There are a lot of things that most people might want to be doing, but we all came here. So why? It is because we put the desire to go see a movie, or sleep in, second to do things that are important to God. Think about the things that are important, really important. Things that you have to do, and think about what you have to give up, or put aside in order to do those things. Look for times this coming week where you have to wait to do something you want because you need to something you have to do. What might we need to set aside, or wait to do, because of things God needs us to do?