Walking in the light of the risen Christ

Christ in Glory, a tapestry by Graham Sutherland in Coventry Cathedral

A reflection given at Compline in Killodiernan Church on the Tuesday of Holy Week, 15th April 2025

The reading we’ve just heard from John’s Gospel (12:20-36) is about the glorification of the Son of Man. The dictionary definition of the word ‘glorification’ in the Cambridge Dictionary is ‘the act of praising and honouring God or a person’.

Jesus in the Gospels often uses the terms ‘Son of Man’ and ‘Son of God’ almost interchangeably, in ways that can be seen as referring to himself, without explicitly claiming to be divine. This is probably because observant Jews would see it as blasphemy, a capital offence for which he is not yet ready. He leaves it to others to make the connection.

Notice that in this reading he does not explicitly claim to be the Son of Man, only that ‘when (he) is lifted up from the earth, (he) will draw all people to himself’. Voices from the crowd listening to him clearly think that he is claiming to be the Son of Man. They ask, ‘How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’.

In reply, Jesus does not answer their question directly. He says to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’

Who or what is the light that Jesus is talking about? We know with hindsight that Jesus will soon be lifted up to die upon a cross. Is that when the light is no longer with his disciples? No, we believe that Jesus rose again from the dead on the first Easter day, and later the risen Christ promises he will never leave his disciples – that’s you and me. ‘Remember’, he tells us, ‘I am with you always, to the end of the age’ (Matthew 28:20). We are mortal, and our lives are short, but the light of Jesus, the glorified Son of Man, will remain with us to our dying moment. And he has left us his teaching to light the way for us, which he summarises as follows, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news’ (Mark 1:14).

We believe as Christians that Jesus, the Son of God, is also the glorified Son of Man, and as the risen Christ, we believe he is also the light that shows us the way.

‘While (we) have the light, (let us) believe in the light, so that (we) may become children of light’.

Jesus contemplates his own death

A reflection for morning worship with the Community of Brendan the Navigator on Tuesday in Holy Week, 12th April 2022

The reading we have just heard (John 12:20-36) gives us an insight into Jesus’s thinking as he approaches the culmination of his life’s work. He is speaking to Andrew and Philip in front of a crowd

‘Very truly, I tell you’, says Jesus, ‘unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies it bears much fruit’. Jesus is contemplating his own death. He knows only too well that the path he is set on, the path that his loving Father is calling him to, can only end with a shameful, painful execution. But he also knows that to turn away from that path, to love his life more than he loves doing God’s will, would make his life pointless. It is only by doing God’s will that his life can bear fruit eternally.

Jesus does not want to die – he is a man in the full strength and vigour of his early 30s, he loves life, he loves his friends, and he loves his ministry to those who need healing and forgiveness. ‘Now my soul is troubled.’, he says, ‘And what should I say - “Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name’.

John tells us that Jesus received an answer to his prayer. ‘Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again”’. The crowd who heard it thought it was thunder, or the voice of an angel.

Now, Jesus’s mind is made up. He answers the crowd, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself’.

The crowd do not understand Jesus’s words and question him. He replies, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light’.

We know what happens next. On Maundy Thursday, Jesus celebrates his Last Supper with his friends. Afterwards, he is betrayed by Judas, arrested and subjected to a show trial. On Good Friday he is lifted onto a cross, dies in agony, and is hurriedly buried. On Easter Sunday he rises in triumph from the dead, and is seen by his disciples. Forty days later he ascends to God and is seen no more. But on the day of Pentecost his disciples receive the gift of the Holy Spirit he promised them, and the Church is born.

As Jesus foretold, his body like a grain of wheat dies and rises and bears much fruit. As Christ’s Church we are that fruit. Although we no longer see him, the Holy Spirit remains with us, a light in the darkness. While we have that light, may we believe in the light, so that we may become children of light.