Gospel of 10 August 2020
Feast of St Lawrence
John 12:24-26
If a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it yields a rich harvest
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life. If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too. If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.’
Reflexion
In today’s gospel, our Lord outlines His own fate in the form of a little parable which would not only be a description of His mission and life but that of His disciples too. It comes in the form of a short but powerful parable involving a seed. Unlike the parables concerning seeds in the synoptic gospels which points to the expansion of the kingdom of God, this single mention of the seed in the Fourth Gospel points directly to our Lord. Here He is not the sower, nor the Master of the Harvest, but our Lord Himself is the seed.
How is the seed connected to our Lord’s mission? The Jews expected a messiah who would be a powerful king, who would continue with the royal style of David and would restore to Israel its glorious past. They were expecting a rich harvest that would just appear miraculously. Instead, our Lord, places in the centre of His messianic mission the gift of His own life. The rich harvest would not just materialise out of thin air. It comes at a cost. The harvest would not be possible without the death and burial of the seed: “unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.”
The story of the seed is that of dying in order to multiply itself; its function is that of service to life. In this way, the seed becomes a summary of our Lord’s mission and life. In Jesus’ life, to love is to serve and to serve is to lose oneself in the life of others, to die to oneself in order to allow others to live. While His “hour” is approaching, the conclusion of His mission, our Lord assures His own disciples with the promise of a consolation and of a joy without end, accompanied by every type of disturbance or trouble.
Many would not be able to see the connexion between these two diametrically opposing experiences - consolation and disturbance. But this is what we see in the cross. This the reason why He gives the example of the seed that has to wither. Christ has chosen the cross for Himself and for His own: anyone who wants to be His disciple is called to share the same path. “If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too.”
St Lawrence and all the martyrs of the Church understood this linkage between discipleship and sharing in the fate of the One who dies in order to give life to others. They were able to endure horrifying tortures and accepted martyrdom because they believed in the promise of the Lord, “Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life...If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.”