Jesus previously mentioned in multiple situations that His time had not yet come. But here, His position changed. His time had finally come. Jesus was privy to God’s plan, and He accepted His fate to the point where he announced it to His disciples and foretold his coming death with vivid imagery. Seeds must be planted and lose their current state of being in order to become something much greater. When seeds rise again as wheat, they are no longer seeds. They’ve transformed through a form of death. A death to what they were before. But that single stalk of wheat creates more seeds and more wheat. More life. Jesus’s selfless and sacrificial death on the cross would produce an eternal crop of changed lives. In a similar way, we are told to give up our old selves. We let go of who we were to embrace a new life. It’s not that we care for nothing. We care for something greater than ourselves. Our lives are redirected with new purpose and intention.

Consider these questions as you reflect on today’s reading:

Do you feel you’ve lost some elements of your old self for the better? In what ways?

How tightly are you currently gripping the things of this world? Does it sometimes seem too tight?

What could help you focus on more eternal things?