Not Easy

"Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we would like 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. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit." - John 12:20-24

I've often wondered if Jesus says these things as much for him as for others. After all, he's a man, and has the same feelings as we do - including anxiousness, doubt and fear. Feelings he's no doubt experiencing on a daily basis. While others around him may still be pretty oblivious to how it's going to end for Him, Jesus is well aware and continues to drop hints. And while it's obvious to us now that, when he's talking about a "grain of wheat", he's referring to himself - we also need to re-read that from Jesus's point of view.

Imagine, for a minute, you're in his shoes. You know how your life is going to end, and you know it's going to be soon. And it's not going to be an easy death - in fact, your friends will abandon you, your community will mock you, and it's going to be the worst pain you've ever felt. You know your friends won't understand or take you seriously if you come out and say it, but you have to keep talking about it so eventually they get it - even if it's after your death.

Pretty hard, huh? I'm sure it's a subject that pains him to no end to talk about, yet he has to - it's his mission, sent from the Holy Father.

So while we know how to read these passages, we should also keep that in mind - that we can understand the hidden meaning, but we should also strive to understand the effort that it took for Jesus to say it - and hopefully gain new respect for his sacrifice.