Why did Jesus Have to Die?

Gospel
29 March 2009
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Jn 12:20-33

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”
Philip went and told Andrew;
then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
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.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.

“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?
‘Father, save me from this hour’?
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven,
“I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;
but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
Jesus answered and said,
“This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world;
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself.”
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

***

By Lester C. Yee

Many people attempt to rationalize their poverty and suffering by claiming that in suffering here on Earth, they share the suffering of Christ and so they will also share in Christ’s heavenly reward. But there has to be a distinction between suffering that is beneficial and suffering that is unnecessary (e.g. fasting from the self to be more available to the neighbor is good while dieting for the purpose of plain vanity is not nor is the suffering brought about by corruption).

Not to digress further, did Jesus even have to die? The traditional answer would be yes as Jesus is the seed that dies to bear much fruit, the sacrificial lamb whose blood washes away the sin of the world. But before all this theological beliefs, it is a matter of fact that Jesus was a victim of injustice and of political interests. It is also these authorities that Jesus sought to fight against because these social structures are sinful, dealing death to those they oppress. Thus, Jesus became incarnated not to die for our sins but to restore life. Through Jesus’ earthly ministry, Jesus sets man free from the bondage of personal sin by calling people to repent and believe in the Good News and from the bondage of social sin by driving away the corrupt vendors in the Temple, freeing man from the burden of the Jewish Sabbath among others.

Thus, in fighting the idols of this world, Jesus sought to set mankind free to live and to love. These idols of the world, which nowadays can be human greed and political corruption, require sacrifices of blood to survive, sacrifices like the shattered dreams of many Filipinos for the welfare of a few politicians or the below-human wage of workers for the family trip to Europe be possible or the jumper in the electric meter to lower one’s electric costs. In the past, these idols of human power and religious authority needed the blood of Jesus to survive. Thus, Jesus was tortured and crucified.

In continuing with our wasteful lifestyles, we continue to make our poorer neighbors suffer, thus crucifying Jesus on the cross of poverty.