The Conclusion of Jesus’s Public Ministry as Messiah

Having come out from the inner courts of the Temple, Jesus Christ stopped at the door of the outer court of the women and sat down to rest opposite the box into which pilgrims put their money, watching the people go by. Many put in a great deal, some out of devotion, others (the Pharisees) out of vanity. The Lord was silent. Meanwhile a poor widow came up to the box and put in two mites (a farthing). It was plain from everything that she was giving her last. To people with a Pharisaic sensibility, such a gift would have seemed not worth noticing. But the Lord looked not at the money, but at the heart of the giver: the widow’s act was, to Him, of great worth. Calling His disciples to Him, as if wishing to share with them a precious discovery—«look—He said to them — this poor widow put in more than all of them into the treasury» (Lk 21:3). The disciples marveled, not understanding what was said. «The others—the Lord continued—gave out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty; they gave the Temple what they could well do without, but she gave all she had—perhaps her last piece of bread» (Lk 21:1–4).

The remark made about the widow’s act reveals the character not only of hers, but in some respect of Jesus Himself. It is instructive to see how even His own rest was turned to good use, and how He let no ordinary occurrence pass unnoticed, so long as it expressed something instructive. Not so were the Pharisaic teachers! They constantly busied themselves with trifling things, but, unable to draw anything of weight from them, became themselves strange and pitiable.

While the Son of Man, with undisturbed calm of spirit, in the very decisive moments of His ministry, turned His attention to things seemingly as insignificant as the widow’s mite, not far off, among the crowd that filled all the Temple courts, an event was quietly taking shape that would become the most fitting conclusion to His earthly ministry as Messiah. Among the pilgrims who had come from every part of the world for the feast were not a few Greeks, who, having understood the vanity of pagan idol-worship and embraced the Jewish belief in one Creator of nature and Ruler of the world, had not yet taken upon themselves the whole ceremonial157 yoke of Jewish law, but held it their duty to come to Jerusalem from time to time to offer sacrifice to Jehovah. The Jews, especially the zealots for the letter of the Law, looked upon their proselytes with not entirely favorable eyes, since these for the most part did not have, and did not wish to have, the very first mark of the descendants of Abraham—circumcision—and so were not admitted to the closer participation in their religious rites, their entry into the Temple being confined to the outer courts. But that among these new stepchildren of Israel there were people of good heart, of clear mind, of a spirit disposed and open to everything truly beneficial and salutary, is vouched for by their very dissatisfaction with pagan worship and their inclination toward faith in the God of Abraham; for the Jewish people, scattered throughout the then-known world, could not, by their moral qualities, testify in favor of their own religion.

All the more naturally, then, would such people turn their attention to the great Prophet of Galilee, who, besides being everywhere renowned for extraordinary wonders, was in His discourses incomparably above all the teachers of the Law of Moses then living, and who moreover proved to be the founder of a new body of teaching, no longer dependent, as Moses’s had been, on locality and Jewish nationality, but suited to the essential needs of the whole human race. The public, decisive strife that had broken out, since the raising of Lazarus, between the supreme Jewish government and Jesus Christ, and the various rumors about Him among the numerous people gathered for the feast, made Him still more interesting in the eyes of the proselytes, long disposed to everything new and extraordinary. And so some of them, moved both by a heart seeking truth and rest, and by the curiosity natural to Greeks, having heard that the great Prophet and Wonderworker was now in the Temple, ardently desired to see Him and to be presented to Him. But how to accomplish this? Besides the fact that proselytes were not permitted to enter every court158 of the Temple, they might also have been held back by the thought that, perhaps, in the present difficult circumstances, the great Teacher of Galilee, watched on every side by enemies, might not wish to enter openly into relations with half-Gentiles, foreigners. They thought it best to make known to Him their wish to meet Him, and for this turned with their request to one of Jesus’s disciples (Philip), with whom, from his former home (Bethsaida), they had some acquaintance159. The evangelist makes plain how much the Greeks valued this intercession, when he says that «they begged him, saying: … we want to see Jesus» (Jn 12:21). The manner in which Philip sought to fulfill their wish—seemingly so simple, innocent, and easy—shows that he himself found its fulfillment, under the present circumstances, complicated. Instead of going directly and telling the Teacher that the Greeks wished to see Him, he, as the evangelist says, thought it best to seek Andrew’s advice (Jn 12:22); and only then, weighing all the circumstances of the matter and resolving to act together, did the two report the Greeks’ wish to the Teacher.

And the Teacher found the matter of no small weight—found it, indeed, incomparably weightier than the disciples had imagined, only for quite different reasons. His divinely luminous gaze, in this seemingly chance appearance of the Greeks with their wish, at once saw an event prepared by Providence itself, one meant fittingly to conclude His earthly ministry for the salvation of the Jewish people as its promised Messiah, and to begin the great ministry of the cross for the salvation of the whole fallen human race. Only a few minutes earlier He had said that the vineyard, so poorly tended by the leaders of the Jewish people, would be given over to other laborers, that the Kingdom of Heaven would be taken from the unworthy descendants of Abraham «and given to a people bearing its fruits» (Mt 21:43); and now the Greeks, as the firstfruits of the Church to be gathered from the nations, appear as if for this very purpose—to receive, this very hour, from His own lips, the new covenant, and to begin their entry into the inheritance of the promised kingdom. And so the hour had come, a great, terrible, yet inescapable hour—to bring to an end a work that had already lasted more than three years! It was time, leaving fruitless efforts over the conversion of the daughter of Zion, to turn to the Gentiles, thirsting to enter into the rights of the children of God, so long unknown to them. Time, leaving the path of preaching, to enter upon the path of the cross, to be lifted up from the earth, so as to draw to Himself all who were able to rise on high, and to open for all His followers «a new and living way» (Hebr 10:19)—a way of humility, of self-denial, and of the willing crucifixion of spirit and flesh.

In these thoughts (if only our feeble thoughts, drawn from Scripture and the holy Fathers, can in any measure, even from afar, approach the purity and loftiness of the thoughts filling the God-man’s soul in those sacred moments), He lifts His eyes to heaven and, paying no heed to the Greeks (who had, no doubt, drawn near by now at the sign given by Philip and Andrew), cries out, as it were, to the whole world: «The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified! Truly, truly, I tell you: unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life — the Lord continued — will lose it; and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; and if anyone serves Me, My Father will honor him» (Jn 12:23–26).

All this, as the very character of the thoughts and words shows, was spoken with an expression of majesty befitting the Son of God. But suddenly His bright gaze was overcast, as it were, by a shadow of sorrow. It was plain from His divine countenance that in His soul one feeling was swiftly giving way to another, and that there was taking place, as it were, some powerful inward movement and struggle160.

«Now — He continued, after a moment of silence — now My soul is troubled… and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour! But it was for this very reason that I came to this hour» (Jn 12:27).

One can imagine how unexpected and startling such an extraordinary state of their Teacher’s soul was, not only for the people and the Greeks, but for Jesus’s own disciples. But the sacred majesty of those moments sealed every mouth in silence. Meanwhile the Lord’s gaze once more shone with heavenly light.

«Father — He cried out, as though having won an inward victory — glorify Your name» (Jn 12:28).

«I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again» — thundered in answer from heaven (Jn 12:28). Those standing farther off thought it was a sudden clap of thunder (so powerful was the voice, and so unlike anything earthly), while those standing near, hearing articulate words, took it for the utterance of an angel. In perplexity and fear all gazed upon Jesus, waiting to see what would happen (whether, perhaps, some further sign would follow, or at least a continuation of so extraordinary a converse with heaven)161.

«This voice did not come for My sake — the Lord told the disciples — but for yours: now is the judgment of this world — He continued, as though explaining the wonder — now the ruler of this world will be driven out… And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to Myself…» (Jn 12:30–32).

These last words the Lord spoke, as the evangelist observes, signifying by what death He was to die (Jn 12:33). And in exactly this sense the people took them, though the thought of the Messiah’s death, of whatever kind, still more a death on a cross, was entirely contrary to popular belief, which pictured the Messiah as immortal. At any other time, so plain and sharp a contradiction of popular prejudice would have stirred the people to immediate revolt, and perhaps to take up stones, as had happened in similar cases before (Jn 10:31); now, after the voice from heaven, they were content to express their perplexity modestly, veiling it still under the guise of the Law. «But we have heard»—some said—«from the Law, that the Messiah must remain forever—so how can You say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? (that is, is it not perhaps someone else, distinct from You, who is the Messiah—or are You not Yourself the Messiah, but only His forerunner?)» (Jn 12:34).

Such questions might have furnished occasion for a lengthy exchange and extensive explanation. But now was no longer the time to enter into such explanations. The Lord thought it enough, without touching the doctrinal side of the matter, to give the people a single moral instruction.

«A little while longer» — He said — «the light is with you: walk while you have the light, so that darkness does not overtake you; whoever walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light» (Jn 12:35–36).

(That is: hasten to make use, in simplicity of heart, of what you see and hear from Me and through Me, without being carried away by doubts, without giving yourselves over to questions, without wasting the time that remains so short.)

As if in proof of what the Lord had said—namely, that this was His last instruction—He, having spoken, at once withdrew from the people and hid Himself (Jn 12:36).

So concluded the more than three-year course of Jesus’s public ministry as the Messiah and Teacher of truth promised to the Jewish people162. What a majestic correspondence between the beginning and the end of Jesus’s course of ministry! There, a voice from heaven at the Jordan; and here, a voice from heaven at the Temple; there and here alike, for solemnity’s sake and «for the people’s sake» (Jn 12:30)—so that, amid the present and still more approaching, extremely difficult and troubled circumstances, it might give it a firm support for faith and conduct, so that it could set this voice from heaven against the voice from earth—of its own unworthy Sanhedrin. Viewed from this standpoint, the present moments were the most majestic of all, moments deciding the fate of every single Jew. In the voice from heaven was pronounced judgment and condemnation upon the heads of the Jewish people, unwilling to part with their advantages; upon the scribes and sages of the Jews, obstinate in their prejudices; upon the Pharisees, with their hypocrisy; the Sadducees, with their sensuality; the Essenes, with their false, anti-social piety—upon everyone, each and all, who, seeing before them such an abundance of heavenly light, closed their eyes so as not to see it. The Messiah had, for His part, to do everything to be recognized by the Jewish people who awaited Him—and He did it! Not to speak of His three years of ministry, of His ceaseless preaching, of His many wonders of every kind, the recent events alone were enough for everyone, each and all, to recognize in Him the promised Deliverer of the world: for this very purpose universal attention had been aroused, as much as could be, by the raising of Lazarus; by the triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the acceptance from children of the cry «Hosanna to the Son of David» (Mt 21:15), a public declaration of His great dignity had been made as clearly as could be; finally, by this present voice from heaven (a sign the Jews prized above all others) (Mt 16:1, 12:39), a divine seal had been set upon the whole of Jesus’s ministry, more certain than which none could be imagined; after this there was no excuse for those who did not receive Him, only condemnation remained, in proportion to each one’s guilt. But this condemnation did not stop at the condemned (human) world, which, for all its guilt, still had time for repentance, and hence for mercy (Jn 16:8–11): no, it reached further, and with its crushing force fell wholly upon the proud head of the ruler of this world, that «murderer from the beginning» (Jn 8:44), who, not having kept his own dignity in the higher realms of creation, but of his own will «having left his proper dwelling» (Juda 1:6), fell into an abyss of degradation and misery, and then, unwilling to return through repentance to his natural place and first dignity, maliciously plotted to overthrow from his throne the newly created lord of the earth, the forefather of mankind, and, having achieved this by deceit, unlawfully took his place—lord over the world. Foreseeing in Jesus Christ the future destroyer of his dark kingdom, he had, at the very beginning of His ministry, not failed to appear before Him with temptation in the wilderness (Mt 4:1–11), during His fast; failing in his scheme there, he then set obstacles, wherever he could, to His preaching; troubled the peaceful hearts of His disciples (Mt 16:23), took hold of one of them so completely that he turned him from an apostle into a vessel of destruction; and now had roused the Sanhedrin to persecute Him in the very name of the God of Israel. In all these cases, the wisdom of God allowed this enemy of God and man, it would seem, freedom to act as he wished and was able: the Son of Man, for His part, did not visibly set against him the unapproachable glory of His Godhead, but fought him with humility alone, and devotion to His Father’s will. Notwithstanding this, the kingdom of light, by its own inward power, plainly gained the upper hand everywhere over the kingdom of darkness; the little flock, to which the kingdom was bequeathed (Lk 22:29), grew, drawing members to itself from every side; the Son of Man accomplished all that was needed to found His Church so that even the gates of hell should not prevail against it; it remained only to be lifted up on the cross, to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the human race, so that afterward He might receive, according to His humanity too, authority over heaven and earth, become the mediator of God and men, the God-appointed head of the whole world. After that, and together with it, the ruler of this world, that ancient impostor, would of himself lose his unlawful dominion over the world, and be cast out, to his own place—into outer darkness.

Having in view such a universal significance for the present event, the Lord, it seems, did not enter into direct conversation with the Greeks. Yet for them it was enough to have seen and heard what they did. The voice from heaven was bound to end every wavering of their thoughts concerning the person of Jesus, and to awaken faith in Him as the Son of God. By the warning that the lamp had not long left to burn on its stand, the Greeks too, like the Jews, were given to understand that they should not delay the work of their salvation; and by the deeply significant words «whoever loves his life will lose it» (Jn 12:25), the chief path to that goal was pointed out—Christian self-denial. The reminder of the fate awaiting the ruler of this world seems to have been made chiefly for the Greeks; for his dominion raged nowhere so fiercely as among the Gentiles, where, under the guise of idols, he received worship and sacrifices and gave forth his own revelations. All this was now to cease: the preachers of the crucified Jesus would go about the whole world with the cross, and by it overthrow all the idols and spread the worship of the true God. A comforting thought for those Greeks who had long thirsted for this blessing!

Turning attention, finally, to the state of Jesus’s soul on this occasion, one sees at once that it was quite extraordinary. And could such a course of ministry, as was the course of the Son of Man, be concluded without an especially deep and powerful feeling?.. But this feeling could vary, depending on the outcome. How joyful it would have been, had the daughter of Zion, instructed so long and with such zeal, at last understood the day of her visitation (Lk 19:42)! But she did not understand it! Did not understand it to such a degree that, in her blindness, she was preparing to lift her beloved Bridegroom up on a cross! The terrible fate that would overtake her for this crime had already, as we have seen, called forth tears in the Lord’s eyes at His entry into Jerusalem. Just as naturally, the thought of this fate now brings His soul into sorrowful agitation. Viewed from this side, the cross awaiting Him, heavy in itself, appears to Him heavier and more terrible still: for instead of nailing to it only the torn and blotted-out record of the common sins of the whole world (Col 2:14), He must now nail to it also the new record of the beloved daughter of Zion’s grave sin and condemnation. Could He not wish the contrary, could He not say, from the fullness of His feeling: «Father, save Me from this hour!» (Jn 12:27).

We would, however, depart from every rule of historical interpretation of the Savior’s words, were we to venture to maintain that this sorrowful exclamation, as though wrung involuntarily from a heart oppressed with feeling, was in no way, in the God-man, a consequence of human nature itself, which naturally and necessarily recoils from suffering and death. On the contrary, the struggle with the fear of death was not foreign to Him, even as the Redeemer of the human race, as the Leader of all who are tempted and saved. And so, were anyone for some reason to lose sight of this feature, he would thereby, dare we say, not adorn but distort the features of the Redeemer in His divine person. For this very fear, by the apostle’s profound remark (Hebr 5:7), served as the last and greatest temptation for the second Adam, in overcoming which He showed in Himself the fullness of perfection, in which nothing more remained to be desired (Hebr 2:10). Indeed, how could the divine Author of our salvation help all who are tempted, or even know their state, had He not Himself, in the apostle’s words, been «tempted in every way» (Hebr 4:15), not experienced in Himself everything except sin? And how could it be said that He had experienced everything, had He not experienced the fear of torment and death, that last and greatest temptation for our weak nature? To our good fortune, He experienced it—experienced it now; and will experience it still more afterward, in the garden of Gethsemane, where this temptation will reach its very highest degree, and will require, to be overcome, a threefold prayer—and a strengthening angel! There too we shall tell what, by the guidance of Christ’s apostles and the holy Fathers, may be said in ordinary terms about this loftiest, most instructive, and most mysterious side of the God-man’s life and sufferings.

Here and now let us note only, as a guide for considering the acts and state of the God-man now approaching, that just as until now, in His capacity as Messiah and the foreordained King of Israel, it was fitting for Him to act and teach with authority (Mk 1:22; Mt 7:28), even to show visibly His majesty, so now, with His entry into a new sphere of action, in His capacity as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the whole world, He had to take upon Himself, in its fullness, the character of a sacrificial victim led to the slaughter—such as, indeed, we shall see Him in the remaining days of His life.