WE ARE just one week away from Holy Week and our celebration of God's love for us in his passion, death and resurrection. Today we look at the meaning of what Jesus did for us and how he expects us to respond.

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Curious Greeks

Some Greeks, probably converts to Judaism, approach Philip (whose name is Greek, meaning 'horse-lover') saying: "We want to see Jesus." Philip tells Andrew (another Greek name, meaning 'manly') and they both go with the request to Jesus.

We are not told if those Greeks ever did see Jesus but we do know what seems at first sight the rather cryptic answer that Jesus gave to his disciples: "Unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it remains a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest."

The grain, of course, does not actually die but it is totally transformed into something altogether new - roots, leaves and fruit. Similarly the caterpillar lets go of being a caterpillar to become changed into something altogether different and often much more beautiful - a moth or butterfly.

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Seeing Jesus

What Jesus is saying is that to SEE him is not just a question of looking at him exteriorly, taking in his appearance, which is what those Greeks presumably wanted. (It is similar to the curiosity of the tax collector Zacchaeus who climbed a sycamore tree to get a better look at Jesus as he passed by underneath. He was in for a surprise, too.)

No, to SEE Jesus is to enter totally into his way of thinking, to understand WHY he had to suffer and die and rise again. Like the grain of wheat, Jesus has to let go of everything, including his own life, in order to bring life to himself and many others. This the 'emptying', the kenosis, that the Letter to the Philippians speaks about. In the process, both Jesus and we will be transformed, just as the grain of wheat, apparently annihilated, becomes something altogether greater and enriching for others. If we cannot see and accept this as the core of Jesus' life, we have not really seen him and never will see him in the true sense.

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To give is to receive - to cling to is to lose

But Jesus goes further and says we too must have the same way of thinking with regard to ourselves. "Anyone who clings to his life, will lose it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life." These are words which most of us have difficulty taking on board. Everything tells us that we should be surrounding ourselves with material goods, material security and all kinds of insurance to guarantee our future. Jesus says exactly the opposite - it is only when we are ready to let go totally of all we have and are in love and service to others will we achieve the deepest longings of our being.

And, if we want to serve, be close to Jesus, we have to walk his Way. "If a man serves me, is my disciple, he must follow me. Where I am, my servant will be there too." It means walking with Jesus and with Mary all the way to Calvary, wherever that happens to be for each of us.

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Are we ready?

Are we ready for that? Are we afraid to let everything go? Is Jesus asking too much? Do we think that, as the Son of God, it was easy for him? But we need to remember that, in the words of the Letter to the Hebrews, Jesus was like us in every respect, except for sin.

So let us have no doubt that, in spite of what he was saying, Jesus himself was afraid, deeply afraid of what was coming for him. "Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say: 'Father, save me from this hour?'" It is clear that that is the prayer Jesus would like to pray. And indeed that was the prayer he made in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper - "My Father, if is possible, take this cup of suffering from me!" (Matt 26:39). And in the Second Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews in today's Mass we read the moving words: "During his life on earth, Christ offered up prayer and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears, to the One who had the power to save him from death..."

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Letting go is not easy

Letting go did not come any more easily to Jesus than it does to us. It was only after his long prayer in the Garden, during which he sweated blood, so great was the intensity of his fear, that he could say: "Yet, not what I want, but what you want" (Matt 26:39). Or again, as Hebrews puts it so beautifully: "Although he was Son, he learnt to obey through suffering" and, as a result, "he became for all who submit themselves to him the source of life and salvation".

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The glory of the Cross

It was in this moment of total acceptance that the Father's glory began to shine through Jesus, reaching its climax when he called out from the Cross, "It is finished!" For John in his Gospel, this moment of death is also the moment of glory and return to the Father. The seed has died and it is not alone but bears much fruit.

"When I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all peoples to myself." This 'lifting up' refers both to Jesus being raised on the cross and, simultaneously, to the glory of the Father. If we surrender ourselves totally to Jesus in this way, the same glory awaits us.

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The gift of being able to see

So let us today learn to SEE Jesus, not in a superficial way but let us ask for the grace to penetrate the outer description to the deepest meaning within. And may what we see become our vision of life also. The Jesus who let go of everything our of love for us and who invites us to be with him all the way and to be the same for others. Let us pray for his courage and his trust in his Father, that we may discover that the life and happiness and fulfilment we all long for is in that letting go and letting God.