Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year B: Jesus’s Hour

Scripture: Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Ps 51; Hebrews 5: 7-9; John 12: 20-33.

We celebrate today the 5th Sunday of Lent, a Sunday preceding the Holy Week. The Gospel invites us to reflect on the ‘Hour’ of Jesus. Up until the request of the Greeks to see Jesus, He had been saying his hour had not yet come. At the Wedding in Cana, Jesus told his mother that his hour had not yet come. In today’s Gospel, Jesus declares to his disciples that his hour has come. The declaration marks the beginning of the decisive event. Jesus would repeat the same declaration at the last supper when Judas left the dinner in hurry. Jesus said, “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31) and later in John 17: 1-5, Jesus prayed “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, (…) so that your son may glorify you, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him.”

The Hour of Jesus is the event of his suffering, death, and resurrection. Jesus’ hour is a period of very painful experiences for a good purpose and end. It is also the time of Jesus reunification with his Father God in the glory that he previously enjoyed before the incarnation. The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that “Son though he was, Jesus learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him”. In order to overcome his painful experiences, Jesus surrendered to the will of God. By doing so he received strength to accomplish the purpose for which he became a son of man that his fellow brothers and sisters may experience redemption and salvation. If a woman can willfully accept the pangs of birth in order to bring about one or more babies and later rejoices proudly to become a mother, more so did Jesus accept the cross and death in order to give eternal life to us and return to the Father of glory. Hence the hour brought pain and glory.

Jesus' hour is also the opportunity to seal a new covenant between God and his people in the blood of his only son, Jesus. The terms of this new covenant will not be engraved on stones like in the days of Moses and Aaron, but in human conscience (written upon people’s hearts) by the Spirit that Jesus would send. The arrival of the Gentiles, Greeks, to see Jesus, to come to know him and love him and be healed and taught by Him, signaled the proximity of the fulfillment of the mission of Jesus on earth. Jesus knew that his salvific mission was destined for the whole world but he would continue it through his disciples. After his death, the disciples went throughout the world to seek and bring all people to Jesus.

My brothers and sisters, we too like the Greeks, bring glory to Jesus and as disciples ought to learn to be obedient to the will of God, patiently endure the pain that may be imposed on us by the mission so that we may one day experience the glory of God. The grain of wheat must die in order to produce more. We cannot privilege self-care. God calls us to accept to die to self so that we may be truly partners of Jesus in his salvific work.

Finally, the Hour of Jesus became the moment of the revelation of God’s presence. God assures us his presence. “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours” (John 12: 30). God's presence infuses Awesomeness but also God's presence calms and strengthens us. God's presence motivates us to please Him in our thoughts, in words and in action. This presence also gives us the certainty that God sees all we face, hears all we ask and is willing to help us. This presence also gives us the assurance that we have power within us, the power that helps us fight in a variety of events of our life journey.