Father, the hour has come

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."

- John 17:1-8

Yesterday, for Ash Wednesday, the lectionary gave us Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector:   He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'  And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'  I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

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."  Today the lectionary gives us the beginning of what is known as the High Priestly Prayer, spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper.  This prayer contains the basic elements of prayer that a priest offers to God when a sacrifice is about to be made.  Those are:  glorification, remembrance of God's works, intercession on behalf of others, and a declaration of the offering itself.  The full prayer continues through verse 26, and will be covered in the readings through Saturday.  In the Orthodox Church, my study bible reminds us, the passage including today's reading is read on the Sunday which commemorates the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, in which it was affirmed that the Son was eternally "begotten, not made."  Jesus' words beginning the prayer bear witness to His divinity and to the filial relationship with the Father.  That the hour has come, my study bible tells us, signifies that Christ is Lord over time.   It's a repeated theme in John's Gospel.  An Eastern hymn affirms, "He voluntarily willed to ascend the Cross in the flesh."  To glorify refers to the redemption of all creation that will be accomplished through the Cross and Resurrection; this is the purpose for which Christ was sent into the world, for the life of the world.  In this redemption, my study bible says, the Father and the Son are glorified.  This is why the Cross, a sign of death, is glorified in the Church as "life-giving" and the "weapon of peace."

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."  The knowledge of the only true God is far more than intellectual understanding, my study bible tells us.  It means participation in His divine life and in communion with Him.  Eternal life is therefore an ongoing, loving knowledge of God in Christ and the Holy Spirit.

"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."  Christ work cannot be separated from who He is.  At the end of life, my study bible tells us, each believer can make this statement about the true work we are to do, regardless of how short or long that life may be. (See John 6:28-29.)

"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."  The men whom You have given Me are the apostles, with whom Jesus shares the Last Supper.  They are the ones through whom God's word comes to us.  "Apostolic tradition" is the handing down of God's word to successive generations.  My study bible comments here that Isaiah prophesied that in the days of the Messiah, the knowledge of the Name of God would be revealed (Isaiah 52:6).  The phrase "Your name" reflects the common use in Old Testament times of the phrase "the Name" as a substitute for God's actual Name "Yahweh," which in itself was too sacred to pronounce.   The fuller revelation of the Name was given to those who believe in Christ, my study bible says, because Christ manifested the Name -- not only by declaring the Father, but also by being the very presence of God and sharing the Name with God the Father.

I came across a quotation from St. Ephrem the Syrian by chance today:  "Truth and Love are wings that cannot be separated, for Truth cannot fly without Love, nor can Love soar aloft without Truth; their yoke is one of amity."  Jesus manifests these words by His life, and His declaration that "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world."  His subsequent words affirm the very communion into which His Apostles -- and by extension all the faithful who follow in His words given to us by the Apostles -- are invited not simply into relationship, but into full participation.  Thereby the truth of the Name is love -- both in being and in work.  This is a profound revelation of the true nature of faith.  That is, the true nature of the faith into which we are invited.  It is not an intellectual concept, not a set of ideas or theories, but much, much more.  It is the reality that is truth and love, just as St. Ephrem says, and we are invited to journey into it for the fullness of our lives.  It will never end.