SermonStudio
The fruit of life from the seed of death
Prayer
Contemporary Lectionary Prayers
Cycle B
Gospel Note:
This passage, in which John signals the "beginning of the end"
in Christ's path toward crucifixion, encapsulates the running
paradox in the fourth Gospel, namely, that the humiliating death
of Jesus on the cross is actually an exaltation or glorification,
and that for the followers of Jesus, preservation of (earthly)
life would entail loss of (eternal) life, which comes only
through self-sacrifice and death. The imagery here of new fruit
that comes from dead seed that falls to the ground already
This passage, in which John signals the "beginning of the end"
in Christ's path toward crucifixion, encapsulates the running
paradox in the fourth Gospel, namely, that the humiliating death
of Jesus on the cross is actually an exaltation or glorification,
and that for the followers of Jesus, preservation of (earthly)
life would entail loss of (eternal) life, which comes only
through self-sacrifice and death. The imagery here of new fruit
that comes from dead seed that falls to the ground already
