The Seed has to die now


The time for Jesus Christ to be crucified is slowly approaching. Jesus knows that the end of his life here on earth is near. The Jewish leaders had already planned to do away with him; ‘it is better for one man to die for the people than for the entire nation to be perished and they were looking for an opportunity to arrest him’ (Jn 11:50, 53). Like any other human person, there has been a growing tension and anxiety in Jesus’ life.
        The prophecy of Caiaphas the High Priest gives the right meaning of Jesus’ death (Cf. Jn 11:49-50) . Jesus Christ will die for the sake of the entire human salvation. The death of Jesus becomes the way through which people will be saved. This is prophecy as it was foretold a long time ago (Read Isaiah 54:13 – 53: 12).
The time for Jesus to be crucified has come for him to bring about the birth of a new world. One only reaches the utmost fulfilment of ones’ life when one gives oneself up to death for love of ones brothers and sisters.  Like a grain, unless it dies it will not produce any more seeds. Death, decay is a painful but necessary process which a seed has to undergo before coming to life again in order for it to bear fruits. This is a necessary but painful choice one has to take, or else no production will come through.
The time for Jesus to die has come. This is a time for him to manifest God’s glory and his own glory too (Jn 12:23, 27-28). It is a time to give new meaning to suffering and death, a time of victory over evil forces. It is also time of coming to faith in Jesus Christ. This a moment of coming to grips with the meaning of the reality of life – death.  ‘For us believers, life is not ended but changed.’  To die is to give oneself in Christ for others. Everyday we are challenged to die to ourselves for the sake of others, for the sake of our family. This is our ‘little dying’ every day of our lives. Jesus told us that ‘if we ‘love-less’ our life, we will keep it; otherwise we will lose it. Let a seed planted in us die each and every moment of our lives so as to produce fruits of truth, righteousness, justice and peace.

Points for reflections
· Unless a seed dies it remains a solitary unity
· Death is painful but necessary process
· By his cross shall my servant justify many
Read
John 10: 11-17 Ready to lay down for his sheep
John 3: 14; 12:31 He will draw all people to himself
John 1:12  He became a source of life to all those who believe in him

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