Reflection Questions:

  1. In John 12, Jesus is now in Jerusalem and has once again predicted his death to his followers. What do you think the disciples were thinking? 

  2. How does the author invite us to contemplate the significance and perplexing reality of what Jesus’s coming death and resurrection means to the world?

Spiritual Practice: Imaginative Prayer

Imaginative prayer is a method of prayer from the Ignatian tradition and Jesuit order that invites us to use our imagination to enter in a moment in Scripture, typically in the Gospels. It allows us to contemplate with God what thoughts, feelings, and questions come up in us as we engage Scripture in order to hear from God in a different way.

Steps:

  • Read John 12:20-26. Imagine the setting. Place yourself in the scene. What character are you?

  • Engage all your senses. What do you see, feel, hear, taste, touch?

  • Let the scene play out with you in it. What thoughts, feelings, questions come up?

  • Conclude the time expressing in prayer the things on your mind and heart. Leave space to listen to God.