WE WANT TO SEE Jesus (JOHN 12:20-33)
The statement on this page of the Gospel is vehement and its effect is like that of a stone dropped in a pond: Philip goes to find Andrew, and Andrew and Philip seek out Jesus. It seems to me that this is the only possible answer to give the Greeks. Do you want to see Jesus? Then I offer you a humanity that is seeking itself and also seeking Him.
The face of Jesus is repeatedly hinted at by the words of a community searching for itself through the bonds of fraternity. It is a delicate sketch of God’s face, traced out by a fraternity that must constantly make choices.
Jesus notices the actions of his disciples and welcomes the two approaching him like a flower caressing a butterfly. Andrew and Philip are immersed in the pollen of hope. Perhaps they are hoping to finally grasp how the Messiah will reveal himself. But they are looking outwardly for what they should be seeking inwardly.
Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. To see Jesus requires eyes capable of looking beneath the surface of the world. To gain eternal life, the seed must be capable of making the mystery throbbing deep within itself explode into life.
And Jesus asks those who seek him to cultivate a twopronged
gaze: into the earth, and into the heart of the seed.
