Why is there suffering and evil in the world? Why is it necessary for us
to die? Is death the end of all things? These are questions that must have been
in the minds of Mary and Martha when their brother died. All human beings ask them
at one time or another.
Jesus speaks of his own death in terms of a grain of wheat. Unless it
falls to the ground and dies, he says, it remains a single grain. But if it
falls and dies, it produces a rich harvest. It is a singular fact that a grain
of wheat produces many times its own weight in growth; the wheat plant itself,
and finally the harvest, where from one grain, many ears of wheat are the
harvest.
In this simple example, Jesus shows how much power there is in his
death. There is not one little grain left to rot in the ground. That grain
which dies, bursts forth with life, a harvest out of all proportion to what it
was before it was planted. Jesus’ death and resurrection brings forth that
kind of life.
Jesus’ saying answers the very deep questions to which human beings seek
answers. The “Why?” of suffering and death is beyond our understanding. Even
Jesus, the Sinless One, had to suffer and die. We, who are sinners, must also
die. But the answer of God in Jesus goes much further than a simple “Why?” For it
shows that there is a meaning to suffering and death. Jesus’ suffering
and death brings forth power and life. Like the grain of wheat, life is an
inevitable consequence of Jesus’ death. That life is the destruction of evil. It
is given to all who believe in His name.
Whether we
are given eternal life or not, according to John, depends upon whether we believe
or refuse to believe in Jesus, and thus in God who sent him. If we refuse
to believe, he will respect our desire to be without Him for all eternity, and
the power of His saving death and resurrection will do us no good at all. In
believing, we choose the glory of Jesus, the life He promised to all who
believe in his name. God does not merely explain the world to us; He changes
it for us. All our suffering, all the evil we encounter, the death which is our
lot, are given meaning. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, all
these things are rendered powerless over us. Our own suffering and death become
a path to light and eternal life, if only we believe in his name.
Fr Phillip.
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