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Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."
- John 17:1-11
Last week, we read through Jesus' Farewell Discourse to the Apostles. On Monday, we read Jesus teach, "In My Father's house are many mansions." Tuesday's reading gave us, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you." In Wednesday's reading, Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches." In Thursday's reading, He taught, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." In Friday's reading, He said, "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth." Finally, on Saturday, Jesus taught: "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father." Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "What is this that He says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, 'because I go to the Father'?" They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is saying." Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'? Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language but I will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father." His disciples said to Him, "See, now you are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God." Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him." My study bible has some interesting things to say about these passages. It notes that "the hour has come signifies that Christ is in charge of time. He cannot be crucified until He is ready. . . . Glorify refers to the exaltation as well as the eternal glory of the preexistent Christ. The 'hour' is that of His death: the sacrifice of the Lamb of God made once and for all. This is Jesus' exaltation upon the Cross -- the completion of the work and salvation for which He was sent by the Father. . . . God is glorified when salvation and eternal life come to His people."
"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." A note tells us, "The knowledge of God, which is eternal life, goes far beyond rational or academic pursuit; it is participation in divine life and communion with God. Thus, eternal life -- life proper to the age to come -- is an ongoing, loving knowledge of God in Christ."
"I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." My study bible tells us, "For Christians, there are two important and interrelated aspects of Christ: (1) who He is: the eternal Son of God incarnate; and (2) His work: accomplished through His Incarnation. His work is not limited to the Cross. It incorporates everything from His conception in the womb of Mary to His Ascension and enthronement in the eternal Kingdom."
"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word." My study bible tells us that the men to whom Jesus refers are the Apostles. "It is the Apostles who receive the Word of the Father from the Son and pass it on to those 'who will believe in Me through their word' (v. 20) [which we will find in Wednesday's reading]. The Apostles as a body -- not primarily Peter, nor any individual preacher or teacher -- are the ones through whom God's Word comes to us. This is what is meant by apostolic tradition."
"Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me." Again, as He has done so much throughout John's Gospel -- and especially in this Farewell Discourse -- Jesus invokes the closeness of the relatedness between Himself and the Father. Earlier He taught that "all things the Father has are mine" (Friday's reading). Here, He is assured that the Apostles understand the fullness of this relationship, and that what they have received has come from the Father. We really can't separate the urgency with which Jesus continually refers to the Father so that the disciples understand completely His (Jesus') identity in relationship to God the Father, and through this teaching, their own mission linked to the Father -- and hence our faith intrinsically linked also in that relationship.
"I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours." My study bible says that "although God loves the whole world, and the Son came with a specific mission to the world, Jesus prays here for the disciples, the Twelve. He will later extend His prayer to all believers to come. But He does not pray for the world as such in terms of society, governments, nations. Here the world is that portion of humanity which exists in direct opposition to Him; preferring darkness to His light; refusing to come to the light; rejecting Him and thus standing under judgment." We remember Jesus' command to "love one another" -- which my study bible calls, "a definitive mark of discipleship." In this we find a key to what it is to walk in the light, as opposed to the darkness of "the world" as the term is used here. The question of what we love will always be pertinent to this prayer, and the deep mystery of how the Father leads us to faith.
"And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them." Jesus' prayer is for those He leaves behind "in the world." We remember His warnings about the persecutions to come, and how they will scatter at the time of the Crucifixion. Jesus is praying in trust to the Father, so that those whom He has drawn 'out of the world' will remain intact after He goes to the Father. In some sense, He completes the circle: All His are the Father's and the Father's are His, and Christ is glorified in them. It is His love for us that He is expressing here.
"Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are." The important thing here is Jesus' fervent prayer that they be kept in the Father's name. Jesus has mentioned this in the beginning of the reading and here we end with it also. It is a sign of all that we are a part of in faith, in His name. It keeps us all as one. My study bible cites a prayer from the Didache (10:2), the earliest known surviving teaching work of the Apostles: "We give You thanks, Holy Father, for Your Holy Name which You have made to dwell in our hearts, and for the knowledge and truth and immortality which You have made known to us through Your son Jesus."
Let us consider, as it's of central importance to today's passages, what it is to live "in His name." Jesus prays to the Father, "I have manifested Your name to the men You have given Me out of the world." In these words we understand relationship beyond anything we conceive of in a worldly sense, because it is the Father who has given "these men" out of the world to Christ; Jesus has manifested the Father's name to them, and the fullness of today's prayer is a prayer for these men - and those who will come to Him through them - to remain in the Father's name. So let us consider what it means to manifest His name. My study bible teaches that "in Old Testament times the term 'the Name' was reverently used as a substitute for God's actual name, 'Yahweh.' Although all humans belong to God, the fuller revelation of the Name was given only to those who were given to the Savior from out of the world. The word they have kept is Jesus' revelation, and especially the new commandment to love one another." So, when we pray "in God's name," or "in the name of Christ" or the name of the Father, Son and Spirit, we have to keep in mind all that this implies. Ultimately, it is all about relationship, and the depth of a kind of relationship in which all is included: His teachings, His word to us, His love for us, and the love we are expected to share in return. All of this is included in "the name," and all of it goes back to and includes the Father at every turn. The power of relatedness is what shows forth here, and it is a relatedness that teaches us how we live and relate to one another, a relationship, ultimately, of love. So to remain in His name, in the Father's name, is to remain "out of the world" in the sense that we don't live by all the rules we find in the world that call upon us to be short-sighted, selfish, merely to understand ourselves in competition with one another. Rather, God's love calls us to live in a particular type of family and in a way from which we can learn and practice love. So how does that light call you today, out of things you may have learned from "the world"? How does it invite you in? When we ask to remain "in His name" let us remember "His name" includes "His Way."
