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.

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.

This reading is full of seeming contradictions. Unless the grain dies it cannot bear fruit, or unless you hate your life, you cannot have eternal life, etc. Jesus speaks here of the dichotomy between the ways of this world, and the ways of heaven. This is the difference between the lures of the world, the flesh, and the devil (aka. greed, lust and pride) versus the ways of heaven, Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving (aka. Faith, hope, and charity).

In our physical form we are subject to the needs of the physical body. We must eat, we are seduced by the pleasures of the flesh, and we desire the accumulation of the things of this world. But it will not be that way in heaven. You will not possess anything, you will not lust for anything, and the highest rule of life will be love (charity). I have often referred to this as the economy of Heaven. In this world we exchange things for other things, we take what we cannot have and we sin and hurt each other in the process. But in heaven the only thing that will be exchanged is love, and it will be given and received perfectly and freely.

In this physical life we are trapped by the physical needs of food, shelter, and security. Our physical form cannot escape this reality. This fact causes us to gather and hoard, and save up stores so that we will be prepared later. That could mainifest in the form of money in the bank, or food and water in your garage, but the human need for things, is a fact of life for all of us. But Jesus wants us to look beyond this world to the next. In Heaven, none of that money or saved food will matter, you will not take it with you, and you would not need it even if you could.

The devil wants you to only think of the things of this world and the needs of the flesh.  He wants this because the more you hoard things, and the more you feel safe and secure, the less you think you need God. But Jesus on the other hand wants you to “hate” these things, The original word in greek for “hate” here is better translated as: “love them less than”. God wants you to love your things less, and instead, to put your trust fully in Him. It is okay to have a house, and food in your pantry, and even money in the bank. But you must not let those things be the most important thing in your life. You must be willing to lose them all, Like Job, and say to your self “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord”

This is the lesson that Jesus came to teach us. That like the landowner who tore all his barns down to build bigger ones to store his great harvest, but the same night he was done, his life would be demanded of him. We cannot take any of this stuff with us. The only treasure that we store up in Heaven, is the love we share with all of those around us, and the sacrifices we make for them. And this is what it means when Jesus says “Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.” The ruler of this world is the Devil. And Jesus is tellings us that to the extent that we reject “the world, the flesh, and the devil” in our lives, and instead trust fully in God, that as a result, we drive the Devil out of our lives and ultimately out of this world.

That is the call of this life…, to get to heaven. God wants you to enjoy the good things of this world, but within reason, and in moderation.  The moment that anything in this world becomes more important to you, than God, it is at that moment that you start the slow comfortable slide into hell. Love is the antidote, love people not things, love God not yourself, and give to others more than you receive. This is the economy of Heaven and this what we should all strive for now, and get used to it, because it will be the only thing that matters in Heaven.

Oh Lord, help me today to detach from the things of this world, and to look to you alone for the fulfillment of all my needs. Amen.