Goodbye

When we read the Gospel of John it is helpful to remember that the book is essentially divided into two parts. The first 12 chapters focus on Christ’s ministry to the world. From chapter 13 to the end his focus is teaching and ministry to his disciples.

Our reading in John 12:13-22, Jesus is approaching the end of his ministry and the end of his life. We are given insight into his own experience of saying goodbye, of letting go and learning to die creatively. His pain and anguish are described in verse 28 where he speaks of his soul being troubled.  Notice also how he makes an active decision to not bypass the pain of goodbye but to live through it. Life is about dying small deaths and dying big deaths. Small goodbyes or little deaths are situations where we experience a sense of loss or incompleteness. We experience these in our daily lives when we change jobs, when our children go to the school for the first time, when we move homes, or churches, when we grieve friendships that have died and when we move through the normal stages of life.

There are also big goodbyes and big deaths or surrenders. The death of a loved one, divorce and loss of independence are some of the big deaths that people face.

Our gospel reading teaches us that dying is essential for our growth. This is what Jesus meant when he explained to the people around him that a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die to produce fruit. Jesus was trying to teach us that the nature of spiritual maturity is learning to die creatively. Therefore the image of the cross is offered. In learning to die creatively we bring life.