One of the joys of reading for a Theology degree at London University is that you have to learn the Greek –  in which the New Testament was originally written.  This was in order that  the Gospels and New Testament writings could be read as accurately as possible because something always gets lost in translation.  Why the New Testament was written in Greek is because the mission of the Church as it spread out from Jerusalem after Pentecost was first to the Greek speaking world of the Mediterranean. The Decapolis, referred to in the New Testament was the collective name for ten Greek cities within easy reach of the Holy Land, not far from Bethsaida, which was the home of Philip.

When some Greeks arrived in Jerusalem for the Festival of Passover it didn’t take them long to hear about Jesus.  He had just made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and had been acclaimed by the crowd as the one who came in the name of God and hailed as the King of Israel. 

Jesus had arrived at a tense and challenging time.  The Passover which celebrates the deliverance of Israel from the yoke of slavery in Egypt was a time when nationalist feelings ran high.  Pilate had come to the city with his troops precisely because of that. The expectancy of trouble was rather similar to the sense of foreboding that is prevalent in London this week because of the G20 summit.  If attempts were to be made to stir up the people to riot and to strive for independence from the yoke of Rome that would have been a good time to do it.  No doubt the rumours were rife that Jesus, by choosing to enter the city as he did, was set on claiming the throne and snatching it away by force from the Romans.  As word spread about the preacher who had just raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus was becoming a celebrity – hopes, aspirations and even fears were attached to him.  Hardly surprising, therefore that a few Greek tourists wanted to see the one whom all the fuss was about.  So they searched for a way to meet him and they found it in Philip, a man with a Greek name who came from close to the Greek cities. A fellow kinsman almost.  Their request was a natural one from those who sought to meet a celebrity.

“Sir,” they said, “we wish to see Jesus.”

Philip acted cautiously.  He was aware that at that time Jesus had said that he wasn’t interested in a mission to the Gentiles though in John’s Gospel, he had had a famous encounter with the Samaritan woman at the Well.  At least she was a near neighbour. Greeks were different.  We hear a lot in the Gospel about Samaritans and Romans but this reference to Greeks in John’s Gospel is the only one until Paul’s writings. 

St Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles was quite dismissive about some of the Greeks he mentioned.  In Acts 17:21 he said that those who were engaging Paul in conversation about Jesus loved to spend their time in telling or hearing something new. Yet in was in a Greek City – Antioch- that we were first called Christians and once the Greeks caught hold of Christianity, it spread like wildfire.

Where those Greeks at the Feast then just looking for something sensational?  Or was there a deeper purpose to their request?  It depends on the interpretation of wanting to see Jesus.

On one level it could simply be a desire to meet a celebrity, autograph book in hand.  On another level, however, it could be that they wanted to learn something about his teaching and about him.  They didn’t just want to see him. They wanted to get to know him.  Within the context of the Gospel the meaning of their request is ambivalent but what follows makes it less so.

Jesus was well aware that his action in entering Jerusalem in triumph would lead him onto a collision course with both the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman authorities.  Though he had come in peace (symbolized by riding on a donkey rather than a war-horse) he knew that this would be misinterpreted.  So when Andrew and Philip told him about the Greeks he responded with a piece of teaching so profound that it gives us a clue about  their visit to Jesus was used to give a chilling prophecy about his own end. 

If the Greeks wanted to see Jesus and understand who he was and what he was about they needed to pay attention not only to the words he was about to speak but also to  how they would lead to the action, soon, on Calvary - an action which ultimately was to propel the Gospel away from Jerusalem straight to the very cities from which the Greeks came.  By introducing the Greeks into his Gospel account at this point, was John perhaps hinting that, after the Crucifixion, it was the Greeks who would play such a vital part in the spreading of Christianity?

When they actually made their request to see Jesus, however, all that was in the future.   

For the present Jesus launched into his prophesy about grains of wheat falling into the ground, dying and then growing again.  He spoke then of the cost of discipleship and followed this with an impassioned dialogue with His Father which see-sawed between wanting to escape from what was to come and an acceptance of His Father’s will.  This dialogue is the closest we get in John’s Gospel to the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane in Mark, Matthew and Luke when Jesus wrestled with his Father’s will.  It differs from Gethsemane in that God answers Jesus not with silence but with a resounding acclamation of how He will be glorified in Jesus.  Then comes the punch-line – when Jesus is lifted up – on the Cross – he will draw all people to himself.

And here the Greeks come right back into the picture. Jesus no longer excluded non-Jews from his Gospel mission – he included everyone – Greeks, Jewish converts, Romans, Egyptians, Britons – people the world over.

And in that speech Jesus delivers his own Good Friday sermon.  Here was his answer to the Greeks who wanted to see him and his answer to any who want to see him today.  The answer is – look at the Cross – and you will see Him, you will know his purpose, you will understand his mission to claim all people as his own – to claim all of us for God and His Kingdom.  Here, in essence, is who He is.  Hanging on the cross, absorbing the world’s pain, defeating sin, overcoming death – claiming people as he draws them into the heart of his Love – a love so total that it can only be expressed by the total self-giving of Calvary.

So often we are taught to look at the Cross and think about the things within us- the wrong things in our lives – which in some metaphorical way put him there.  Look what you have done to Jesus is a familiar call of the preacher convicting people with guilt but in truth there is a much more important statement –

Look what Jesus has done for you!

Look at the love which he pours out to you from the Cross.  You want to know Jesus – then see him on the cross.

This is no cosy Jesus; no pre-conceived Jesus; no false Jesus.  This is Jesus at the sharp end of the world – changing the world from the Cross –  changing us.  If you want to see Jesus – then see him on his Cross.  It’s where he speaks most about the love of God.

It’s where he changes our lives most profoundly.

But now I’m led to ask a question.  Is this the Jesus you show to others?  One of the most fundamental questions someone should ask before they join a church is: Will these people show me Jesus?  Not – will they show me how lovely their building is, or how great their social life and fellowship is; not how secure their bank balance is; not how active they are in all sorts of good works for the community; and not whether they are willing to let you join their club.  No – the Question is – will they show you Jesus?  Do we do that?  We who are called to be his followers who must die to live and who must live to serve God and those he puts in our way.

If we Christians are to show people Jesus – then we must Know him ourselves- and that means knowing him in His Passion and not by-passing the Cross.  Real Christianity cannot stop at Palm Sunday and skip to Easter day.  We might try to by-pass Holy week and the great events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday – but if we do, we won’t have a clue about what God is doing in Jesus; we won’t even understand the full implication of Christmas which is about death as well as birth; we won’t understand about Easter either and we certainly won’t have a clue about Ascension or Pentecost.

When I was a curate, the Parish had a renewal campaign.  Because it took place after Easter we called it Come Alive.  We were quite a lively church with all sorts of organizations from youth to elderly.  We believed we were a successful church.  What perhaps we didn’t understand that there isn’t a lot about success in the Gospel but there is a great deal about faithfulness – faithfulness to Jesus.  At the end of two weeks, the Franciscan monk who was leading the campaign spoke his final words to us:

You have called this campaign ‘Come Alive’ – but you have yet to learn how to die.

It was a defining moment for that congregation because we realized then that Easter without the Cross is meaningless.

St. Paul insists that we preach Christ Crucified and if we are not at the foot of the Cross in Holy week we cannot preach Christ crucified.  We cannot bear witness to Him and people will not see Jesus through us.  If we are concerned with only the easy things in our faith – if we are more concerned with what sort of Church (what sort of Team) we are – and if we seek God only when all else fails – and if we shun the dereliction, degradation, vulnerability and sacrifice of Christ’s Passion – then we will fail in our purpose and we will easily be deflected from what is clearly laid upon us by the Holy Apostle Paul – to preach Christ crucified.

Sir, we wish to see Jesus – if that request comes from others to you, how will you respond? If you yourselves have not yet truly seen Jesus yourself, what are you going to do about it?

The great Anglican Divine, Jeremy Taylor gives us an answer. He suggests that the truest religion and most solemn adoration is to be found in following after the most holy Jesus.  And you will find him waiting for you if you approach the foot of His Cross.