March 21, 2021
/The Fifth Sunday in Lent
Jeremiah 31:31-34; John 12:20-33
The Rev. Jeffrey Bohanski
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Jesus said: “My soul is troubled.”
These words give me hope. These words give me peace. These words give me comfort.
These words of Jesus, “My soul is troubled.” gives me hope, peace and comfort because these words are words of a human Jesus. I think it important to remember, Jesus was not only divine, but he was also human. Recall, how a few months ago at Christmas we celebrated the Word becoming flesh, messy flesh like you and me. Remember how we say: “He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary and became man.” In a few days we’ll even celebrate the moment when Mary was asked to become the mother of the incarnate Word, Jesus, God made man, human. These words, “My soul is troubled.” are the words of a human Jesus, a human like you and me.
This past week I’ve been on Spring Break. I’ve enjoyed the rest and solitude I was craving before the break. The week before Spring Break when after I had completed lesson plans, I envisioned myself floating off into a blissful break like a fully loaded cruise ship heading out to sea.
Unfortunately, that was not the way it happened. You see, the Thursday before the break my coworkers and I found ourselves calling the parents of our face-to-face students directing them to come and pick-up their children because the school was closing the grade-level due to a possible exposure to a presumed case of COVID-19. We informed our parents that our afternoon classes and the classes of the next day, the final day before break, were going to be held 100% online and teachers were going to teach from home again. We informed the parents in-person learning would resume the Monday after Spring Break.
One parent asked me in an email how long this year’s Spring Break would last. It surprised me how quickly that email brought back the fears and trepidation I experienced last Spring Break when all of Houston was closed due to COVID-19. I quickly responded to the email with my rational mind saying that the school was following district protocols that are aligned with the CDC to keep all children safe and I looked forward to seeing her child back in school the Monday after Spring Break. That was my rational mind.
My soul was in a different place. I found myself trapped in last year’s fears and worries. I knew Victor and I were fully vaccinated so we would be fine. I found myself wondering what if this was the start of something new? What if…. What if…. What if….
That evening I read this Gospel we just heard. I also read a commentary on it by N.T. Wright. Wright said, and I’m paraphrasing, that when Jesus heard, some Greeks were wanting to see him, he recognized it as a sign that his hour had indeed finally come. Human Jesus responded with a knee jerk reaction. He responded with the words of a fleshy human like us: “My soul is troubled.” I wonder if Jesus’ words were something more like, “Oh, good Lord, here we go!” Unlike me who can get stuck in fear, Jesus got over his knee jerk human response quickly and remained firm with his Father, with his mission and with his conviction that God was with him and God would be with him through to the resurrection.
So these words of Jesus, “My soul is troubled.” give me comfort. They give me comfort because these words of Jesus show me Jesus understands my irrational fear that I experienced last week. He knows only too well what it means to be human. They show me he is willing to walk with me as I work through my fear because his Father did the same with him. These words give me hope and peace because as Jesus was able to be his human self with the Father, as adopted children of God through Jesus, I know we are able to do the same. God, the Father will remain with us in all our humanity as he remained with Jesus that day.
Life is hard. This week I invite you to ask yourself what is making your life hard at this moment in time. Perhaps, you are like me who struggle with fear. Perhaps you struggle with addiction, illness, or loneliness. Perhaps you are mourning the loss of a loved one, a loss of a dream, or a loss of a job.
As I‘ve said earlier, a few months ago at Christmas we celebrated the Word becoming flesh, fleshy flesh, the first part of the Paschal Mystery. Next Sunday we begin Holy Week with Palm Sunday. It won’t be like it was before the COVID quarantine. But together, we will walk with Jesus on the road to the cross, the second part of the Paschal Mystery. I invite us all to bring that which makes life hard into Holy Week. As we do, I ask each of us to remember that Jesus was fully human as well as being fully divine when he walked his path of Holy Week.
I invite us all to remember how Jesus, being fully human and fully divine entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, how human and divine Jesus showed us how to be servant leaders and to share all one’s issues with the Father as Jesus did on Maundy Thursday. I invite us all to remember how human and divine Jesus showed us all how to love, how to stand up to earthly power and how to fully give oneself in love on Good Friday. I invite us all to remember how the human and divine Jesus died and was buried. I invite us all to then celebrate how the new human and divine Jesus rose again on the third day. I invite us all to trust that our hardships will one day be transformed with and through the resurrection of Jesus.
I wish everyone a blessed Holy Week. Amen