Jeremiah 31:31-34 / Hebrews 5:7-9 / John 12:20-33
When it comes to the basic needs of life, there is no need to refer to some theory of the hierarchy of needs to have an idea.
We should know what the basic needs in life are. Essentially, they are food, clothing and shelter. We need food for sustenance, clothing for warmth and modesty, and a shelter that we can go home to.
And when these needs are met, then what is next? And here it is where it may get a bit fuzzy. Because here is where needs and wants get a bit mixed up.
When the basic needs in life are met, then what we may desire next is comfort and maybe even luxury.
We may turn our attention to accumulating wealth so as to fulfil our desire for comfort and luxury.
Well, the current situation that the world is facing has literally stripped us down to our bare essentials.
All the wealth and prosperity, all the power and might, all the fame and fortune, all the science and technology, cannot guarantee the thing that we need most, and that is protection, and protection from a virus.
So, what we need now is protection and safety, and it has to take a virus to make us realize that.
So, safety and protection have become priorities for us, not just for us but for the world.
So, we wear face masks, we avoid close contact, we get our vaccinations, we comply with contact tracing requirements, but still there can be no absolute guarantee.
And that should make us realize that we must turn to God for safety and protection. Certainly God loves us and cares for us and He wants to protect us and keep us safe.
And God only ask this of us, and that is to be humble and to obey.
In the gospel, we hear Jesus saying, “Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say: Father, save me from this hour?”
Jesus was troubled, He was feeling afraid, He may even be in distress. This is a side of Jesus that we don't often see, but we also know how fear gripped Him in His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, that His sweat became like drops of blood.
But then Jesus also said, “It was for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”
So did God save Jesus and protected Him from suffering and death?
The 2nd reading tells us that during His life on earth, Jesus offered up prayer and entreaty, to the One who had the power to save Him out of death, and He submitted so humbly that His prayer was heard.
Although He was Son, Jesus learnt to obey through suffering, but having been made perfect, He became for all who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.
So yes, we pray and ask God to protect us and keep us safe. And God is only asking two things from us, and that is to be humble and to be obedient.
But to be humble and to be obedient goes against our human tendencies to be self-reliant and to think that we know better.
There is this story of a man who went trekking. He wondered deep into the forest. But then he got lost and he tried to find his way back.
It was getting dark and he was desperate and so he went on and on even when darkness had fallen.
As he rushed on desperately in the darkness, he couldn't see what was ahead and he fell off the cliff.
As he was falling, he tried to clutch at something and he managed to catch hold of a branch.
As he hung on to the branch, he cried out, “Oh God, help me, help me!” And then he heard a voice saying, “You called me?” And the man said, “Oh Lord, is that you? Please save me!”
And the voice answered, “Yes I will. But you must do what I tell you.” And a man said, “Yes, yes, I will.”
And the voice said, “Alright then, let go of the branch.” And there was silence.
Now if we were that man, would we let go of the branch? Would we dare to trust in that voice, or would we trust in the branch and keep holding on to it?
Well, as the story goes, the next morning, the rescuers saw a strange sight. The man was hanging on to the branch but he was frozen to death. And his feet were just a few inches from the ground.
Well, just a story to let us know that letting go of our security is really difficult.
But if we are humble and obedient to God and trust Him enough to let go, then we will fall not into empty darkness, but into the safety of God love.
Jesus showed that to us through His Cross and Resurrection. In the cross is our safety and protection. May we also grow in humility and obedience.