Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth

 "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."

- John 17:12-19

In yesterday's reading, we began to read what is known as the High Priestly Prayer.  This is the prayer Jesus prayed after giving to His disciples the Farewell Discourse at the Last Supper, before He goes to His Crucifixion.  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."

 "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves."  The son of perdition (meaning "destruction") is Judas Icariot (6:70-71).  My study bible says that Old Testament prophecy alludes to Judas (Psalms 41:9; 109:2-13; Zechariah 11:12-13), and Judas becomes a type for all those who will fall away in the last days (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3, in which "son of perdition" refers to the Antichrist). 

"I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one."   My study bible notes that inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, those who are joined to Him become like Him.  (As we are made "in the image and likeness of God" so we may grow in that image and likeness; see Genesis 1:26.)  But thereby, believers attract the world's hatred.  My study bible quotes from the second century Letter to Diognetus (6:3), which states, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world."  As those reborn in Christ, Christians have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (3:1-5), but our vocation is in the world, where we are protected by God against the evil one.  Note that this does not mean Christians do not face persecution, hardship, even cruelty; rather, the protection is spiritual.

"They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."  To sanctify is described by my study bible as to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sacred for God's use.  It quotes St. John Chrysostom, who interprets this verse as to say, "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine." 

Jesus speaks of a people who are somehow "set apart."  That is, a holy and sanctified people -- one sanctified by the truth -- who are not like the world, or the worldly.  In this we have an understanding not that we are somehow separate from the world, but rather different.  Christians are sent into the world by Christ specifically in order to be that different people, the ones who are set apart by Christ's truth, His commands, His love, and the communion of the kingdom of God.  The most important desire in Christ's prayer is that those who love Him be sanctified and kept in His truth -- and protected from the evil one.  This is a prayer for spiritual protection; that is, for the keeping of those who love Christ in that love and in His word, for the keeping of the faithful in the faith, and freed from the destructive power of evil.  We are warned many times in the Gospels that if we love Christ we will also face tribulation, persecutions.  But our protection, ultimately, is not from sad or bad things happening in life.  It is protection for our faith, to keep us in this communion of love.  Most especially, it seems to me, Christ's prayer here speaks of a commitment to be sanctified.  That is, to be distinguished and set apart through the commitment to spiritual truth, the word of God, so that even in the midst of persecutions we remain distinctively faithful.  Our love for Christ and our willingness to grow in His likeness continues, and renders us distinctly as followers of Christ.  He asks of the Father that we, as His followers, be sanctified in His truth.  And this is the power and meaning of what it is to follow Christ:  He prays for us for protection from the evil one; that is the deception and destruction of that which hates the spiritual truth of the love of God and all that this entails.  Let us remember how precious is this truth that sanctifies our souls and feeds us with God's love.  It is everything, and in it we are contained, loved, and have our being.   Outside of that is destruction, no matter what the world's delusions may feed us to the contrary.  The world has watched recently while the church of Notre Dame de Paris burned, a cathedral consecrated to and named for the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos.  Millions of French watched the flames and realized what they might be losing, in a country known for its rigorous commitment to secularism.   Let us sanctify ourselves in His truth.  It is the one thing that truly sets us apart and in the love of God.

I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours

 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

In our current readings, Jesus and the disciples are at the Last Supper, Christ's final Passover Supper in His worldly life as Jesus.  He is speaking to them what is known as the Farewell Discourse.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus said to them,  "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again 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."  Christ's discourse in chapter 17 is called the High Priestly Prayer.  It contains the basic elements of prayer that a priest offers to God before a sacrifice is about to be made.  These elements are, according to my study bible:  glorification (vv. 3-5, 25), the remembrance of God's words (vv. 2, 6-8, 22, 23), intercession on others' behalf (vv. 9, 11, 15, 20, 21, 24), and a declaration of the offering itself (vv. 1, 5).  Christ begins the prayer with the statement, the hour has come.  My study bible says this this signifies that Christ is Lord over time, a statement of His voluntary going to the Cross.  Glorify, my study bible notes, refers to the redemption of all creation which is accomplished through the Cross and Resurrection, the very purpose for which Christ was sent into the world.  Also, in this redemption, the Father and Son are glorified.   It is for this reason that 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."  To know . . . the only true God is much more than an intellectual understanding.  We as true faithful participate in His divine life and in communion with Him.  Therefore, my study bible notes, eternal life is an ongoing, loving knowing of God in Christ and the Holy Spirit.

"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."  The work of Christ cannot be separated from who He is, His identity.   This verse, my study bible tells us, is a statement which each believer can make at the end of life, no matter how long or short.

"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 refers to the apostles.  It is the apostles through whom the word of God comes to all of us.  The handing down of God's word to future generations is called apostolic tradition.  Isaiah prophesied that in the days of the Messiah, the knowledge of the Name of God would be revealed (Isaiah 52:6).  Jesus refers to Your name.  In the times of the Old Testament, the phrase "the Name" was a reverent way of substituting God's Name as written in the Scripture,  "Yahweh", as this was considered too sacred to pronounce.  My study bible says that the fuller revelation of the Name was given to those who believe in Christ, as Christ manifested the Name not simply by declaring the Father only, but also by being the very presence of God and sharing the Name with Him.

"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."  First Christ has prayed for Himself (in verses 1-5), and then He begins to pray for the apostles, for them.   In Wednesday's reading, we will cover vv. 20-26, in which Jesus prays for those whom You have given Me; that is all those who will come to believe in Him.  Here, my study bible says, the world refers to that portion of humanity which is in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to His light.

"Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  In the Didache, the first known teaching document of the Church, there is an echo of Christ' address here to God the Father, in the Eucharistic Prayer:  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts" (Didache 10:2).

Jesus prays to the Father, "I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours."   We don't often like to hear or consider this kind of language.  Christ died for everyone, didn't He?  Didn't He forgive everyone from the Cross?  What we can consider form this language is that Jesus is pointing out to us -- through this prayer to the Father -- that there is a clear delineation in the world.  Jesus has come to save the world, out of love for the world.  The Evangelist writes, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (3:16-17).  So what is this "world" that Christ specifically say He does not pray to the Father for?  There is a distinction in the created world between that which desires the salvation and redemption Christ has come to give, and those who do not.  What has been offered to us are the words and works of God the Father through Jesus Christ as He lived in the world.  Jesus prays, " 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."  There is a seamless kind of connection here, as Jesus has maintained through all of His preaching and ministry, between those who can accept the word of the Father through Christ, and their belonging in faith to Christ.  There's no disconnect between one and the other, no abstraction of "principles" or "values" separate from the relationships entailed in vine, vine-dresser, and branches (15:1-5).  We may experience this in our lives as a deepening, broadening, growing experience.  But Christ's words are clear:  if we have seen Him, we have seen the Father (14:9).  As we come to "know" God, in the same sense as we come to know other persons, our eternal life becomes fuller, more solid, deepening within us, because of this connection between the word planted in us, and Christ, and the Father.  We take confidence in it, and this is the nature of faith, a deepening trust which flows in us.  It is something like a hose that fills more fully with water, the greater and greater pressure created by a more generous flow that makes the hose into something that seems solid, the image of a confidence which grows with that solidity and firmness, like a rock we can build a house on.  Psalm 91:14 reads, "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name."  This is our faith.  Christ does not pray for those who reject this solid foundation of life within the branches and the Godhead of Father, Son, and Spirit,  We may, of course, pray for the salvation of the world, the mission of Christ.  But He makes a distinction that teaches us all about the nature of our choice and the nature of love.  No one is compelled or manipulated into this faith; instead, it depends on the condition of our hearts and our will to choose love.

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

 "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again 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." 

- John 16:16-33

In our current readings, Jesus and the disciples are at the Last Supper, the Passover supper of Christ's final year of His earthly life.  It is Holy Week, and He is about to go to His Passion.  He is giving to His disciples what is known as the Farewell Discourse.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to them,  "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.  They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.  And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.  But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.  And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.  But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.  Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.  I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine.  Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

 "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again 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."  The first little while here, my study bible explains, is referring to Jesus' arrest, death, and burial.  The second refers to His time in the tomb before His Resurrection.

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."  In a classic form of language of Scriptures and the promises of God (such as in Mary's Song, Luke 1:46-55), Jesus tells the disciples 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."  Again, in a parallel to Mary's Song, Jesus gives them an image of a woman in labor.  My study bible says that no longer remembers does not imply that the faithful should forget the Passion and Cross of Christ, any more than a woman "forgets" labor.  Instead, we now see these sufferings in the light of the victory of the Resurrection, and this victory is a transfiguration of our perception of suffering.  In this way, Christ's victory enables us to rejoice in anguish, because there is infinitely greater good that comes out of it (Romans 5:3-5; Philippians 3:10).

"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."  My study bible says that the time when Christ would speak plainly about the Father was during the 40 days following the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).

"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."    Prayer is offered in the name of God the Father, for Christ taught us to pray that way (Matthew 6:9).  Christ also prayed to the Father Himself (11:41; 12:28; 17:1).  My study bible tells us that in Christ, we have direct access to the Father.  Therefore we pray in the name of the Son as well.  After Pentecost, it's understood that the Holy Spirit Himself "makes intercession for us" (Romans 8:26), and we are also instructed to pray always "in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18).  We pray continually and with confidence, therefore, to all three Persons of the Trinity:  "in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

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."   Again, a warning comes from Jesus about what is to come for them, despite what is being revealed at this moment.  They will be scattered, each to His own, and will leave [Christ] alone.  But again, as has so frequently been the case in the Gospel of John, Jesus refers back to His closeness and union with the Father.  He is not alone, because the Father is with Him.  St. Chrysostom comments that the disciples may have peace in always turning to Christ through all tribulation.   He has overcome the world not only in overthrowing the ruler of this world, but also in the work within the faithful through their own struggles with the world.

How has Christ overcome the world?  If we but look around we see all manner of evils all around us.  Harassment of all religious across the board seems to be on the increase, with reports of countries in which Christians were harassed topping the list, according to this article regarding a recent Pew Research publication.  Aside from direct religious harassment, we don't need a research study to tell us of the evils in the world, and the explosive and unmistakable ways in which it doesn't look to our eyes like Christ is victorious here -- or perhaps more specifically, like the world is at all living in the ways that Christ has taught us to live.  So what does it mean that He has overcome the world?  What is it that makes Christ victorious?  First of all, there is the Cross itself.  In His "hour of glory" as Christ puts it throughout John's Gospel, is the great victory.  Perhaps the greatest reason that we can point to for this is precisely the thing with which He instructs the disciples here:  the Cross is a victory because it is an act of absolute faith and obedience to the Father, it is in some sense a final seal of union with the Father -- and in this the world is overcome.  This is indeed a strange paradox for us, and we know that it is characterized by St. Paul as "to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks [meaning Gentiles] foolishness" (1 Corinthians 1:23).  Does the Crucifixion look like victory?  Certainly the religious leaders and others such as Herod Antipas who collaborated in His death couldn't have seen it that way.  But the key here is that there is so much more than is understood through a surface act.  This Cross becomes a symbol not only of life, but of Resurrection, of transcendence and transfiguration.  It is a symbol of liberation, of overcoming.  It is in itself the power to transform -- to defeat death and to give life.  All of this is so not only because we read of it in the Gospels and because the Church teaches us that it is so.  All of this is so by virtue of the many witnesses we have who testify to this reality.  The disciples have told their stories, and in the Gospels and the whole of the New Testament we read their testimony to what they have seen and experienced.  But through the whole of two millennia, countless faithful have also experienced the liberation of the Cross, life from death in some form in their own lives, and the power of prayer in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This isn't only a victory of Christ, but it is His victory shared with all of us.  It is His power to overcome which is shared with each of us, and in which we may each participate as we face struggles and tribulations in our own lives, and the testimony of uncountable witnesses confirms that it is so.  We only have to look and hear and listen to those around us who tell us so, in their own testimonies and about their own lives and faith.  The power of Christ's Cross is a victory that each of us can feel and experience.  We may not have something obvious to show and to tell.  Christ Himself refused to give miracles and signs and proofs on demand.  But the experience and power contained in the Church as a whole is something unassailable.  Through the experience of the faithful this power works and overcomes, and we are not alone, no matter who else has abandoned us.  We celebrate Resurrection because it is alive in us.  It is not an event that took place once, and so we tell the story.  But Christ's victory is eternal.  It lives in the here and the now, and we are invited in to participate, with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit living and dwelling with us and within us.  We pray in the name of the Trinity and grow in likeness to our Creator through His holy power and especially through His victory which lives in us and is experienced in our own lives.  Give up the restrictions on what that victory looks like, and instead find  it through faith.  Ultimately, the victory of the Cross is sacramental.  We exchange our lives for another kind of life, for something better.  We may not have all of our worldly expectations met, but Christ has His own way to meet us, with Father and Holy Spirit at work in us.  We do our part in faith through tribulation and look to what we don't know, in the good cheer He gives us.  Resurrection is a fuller reality, a different experience than the world gives us.  But its peace is real and abiding, and in it we overcome as well.

The time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service

 "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.  They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.  And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.  But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.  And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

"But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.  Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine.  Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

- John 16:1-15

In our current readings, Jesus and the disciples are at the Last Supper, the final Passover supper of Jesus' earthly life.  He is giving to them what is known as the Final Discourse before He goes to His Passion.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said,  "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you love one another.  If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own.  Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.'  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.  If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.  But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'  But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.  And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning."

 "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.  They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.  And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.  But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.  And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you."  Jesus warns the disciples of what is to come after His Crucifixion.  They will be persecuted, as was He.  Particularly notable is His warning that the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.   When He was with them, they were protected, but now those who have not known the Father nor [Him] will seek to destroy them as well.

"But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart."  My study comments that sorrow here means "extreme grief leading to despondency or despair," which it says is a sinful passion.  It quotes St. John Chrysostom, who writes, "Great is the tyranny of despondency."  This sin, it adds, is constantly referred to in the writings of the Desert Fathers.  When the world persecutes the believer or when God seems to be absent, Christians are called to fight against this despondency, taking comfort from the presence of the Holy Spirit -- which Christ goes on to explain.

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."    The Helper, of course, is the Holy Spirit.  The Greek word is Paraclete/Παράκλητος.  My study bible says that through the illumination brought by the Holy Spirit, the world will be convicted; that is, proven wrong.  Jesus says it will be convicted concerning, first of all, its sin -- the ultimate of which is denying Christ.  It will be convicted also of righteousness -- which it failed to accept from Christ with faith and thanksgiving.  And finally, of judgment.  My study bible says that all who reject Christ will receive the same penalty that Satan, the ruler of this world, has already received (see Matthew 25:41).

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine.  Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."  The Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of truth.  Collectively, among all that the Church is -- past, present, and future, all the communion of saints and the presence of God's kingdom that dwells in those who love God -- that living Church is the guardian of all truth.

Jesus leaves the disciples with this striking warning about what is to come for them, and not just Him:  that "the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service."  If we can imagine what that means, and take it to its logical understanding on our terms:  that the time is coming when those who believe they are doing good -- absolute good -- are those who will be persecuting those who love the Church.  What could be more profound than that?  Indeed, it is highly paradoxical that those who believe they are serving God will be killing those who love God.  This speaks of delusion, the highest capacities of the one who "loves and makes a lie" and "who was a murderer from the beginning."  What this means is that we should not be deceived into believing that logic or rationality or even decency will always be persuasive, or that evidence -- clearly compiled and given -- will always win for the just and the righteous.  We are meant to understand that the deceiver can deceive a whole population, a community, even those who believe that they love God.  It also implies that there is as far more profound truth than rests on the surface of things as the world presents life to us.  Everything is keyed here for Jesus to be welcomed:  He has been greeted as the Messiah as He entered into Jerusalem on Holy Monday, in the Triumphal Entry (see this reading).  He has raised the dead, with many witnesses from Jerusalem present, friends of the prominent family of Lazarus from Bethany.  No sin can be found against Christ.  And yet, with manipulation, with stirring up from authorities who cannot accept His presence and His own authority, there will be malice brought to fruition in His death.  Even among the authorities and the leading people of the Counsel, there are those who believe in Christ.  (Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus will openly provide for His burial.)  We are told that "even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (12:42-43).   What we take with us is the pressure of the worldly:  of the manipulation and material power, of persuasion and propaganda (to use a modern word), of the power to stir emotion against a scapegoat -- of deflection and a desperate will to hold to power and what it can do.  We are all vulnerable to this kind of persuasion, power, and pressure.  We are vulnerable through our blindness to our own envy, or wrath.  Such pressure also includes the deep hold of our need for community, and the fear of separation, such as among those rulers who feared being put out of the synagogue.  All of these things may be used against us to defy our own love of God, the word that God plants in us, the work of the Spirit living among us.  What we should look to is our own example of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, who defied all that the "worldly" assembled against Him and against His mission of truth for us.  We look to the Spirit of truth to show us the way, through our own deceptions and pressures and hard times, and as He foretold, we endure to the end in His love.

They hated Me without a cause

 "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you love one another.

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own.  Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.'  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.  If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.  But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'

"But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.  And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning."

- John 15:12-27

In our current readings, Jesus and the disciples are at the Passover Supper known as the Last Supper.  He is giving to them His Farewell Discourse.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to them, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.  As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.  These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."

 "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you love one another."  Jesus repeats and emphasizes His new and final commandment, first given at 13:34 (see this reading).  He is emphasizing what it means to be a branch in this vine that He calls Himself (in yesterday's reading, above).  My study bible comments here that friendship is higher than servanthood.  It notes that servants obey their masters out of fear or a sense of duty.  But friends obey out of love and in internal desire to do what is good and right.  This is a most important distinction for our faith and its understanding of relationship and hierarchy.  Abraham was called a "friend of God" (James 2:23), which my study bible says was because he obeyed God out of the belief of his heart, a true faith or trust.  The disciples -- and all the saints -- are honored as friends of Christ for they freely obey His commandments out of love.  My study bible adds that those who have this spirit of loving obedience are open to receive and understand the revelations of the Father.   So important is this new and final command to love one another that Jesus repeats it four times during the Last Supper.

 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own.  Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.'  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.  If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.  But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'"   My study bible comments that the term world is used in several distinct ways in Scripture.  In certain cases, it refers to everything that is glorious, beautiful, and redeemable in God's creation (3:16).  At other times, it is used to refer to that which is finite rather than to that which is eternal (11:9; 18:36).  In still other places, as here, it is used to indicate all that is in rebellion against God (see also 8:23).   My study bible adds that the rebellion of the world against God reveals several things.  First of all, while union with Christ brings love, truth, and peace, it also will bring persecution, because the world hates love and truth.  Secondly, the world hated Christ; therefore, it will hate all those who try to be Christlike.  In addition, the world hates Christ because it neither knows nor desires to know the Father.  Finally, hatred for Jesus Christ is irrational and unreasonable.  Christ brings love and mercy -- and He is therefore hated without a cause. 

"But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.  And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning."    My study bible says that with respect to God's working salvation in the world, the Son sends the Holy Spirit from the Father.  With respect to the divine nature, the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father.  While the Son is begotten of the Father alone, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father; the Source, the Fountainhead, of both Persons is the Father. 

What is it that causes hatred in the world toward Christ, its Creator?  In the most objective sense, this hatred is not rational.  This is not merely because Christ is Creator, but rather because Christ brings into the world what is nominally good, and true, and beautiful.  He brings love.  He brings what is good and orderly to our lives, and helps us make sense of what is not sensible that surrounds us.  He brings order out of chaos, and this is part of salvation for all those who have experienced Christ's healing love and the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  But the spirit of rebellion against God lives in our world.  There is still the struggle between God and mammon, between what is merciful and kind and what is merely expeditious and absent all compassion.  We still struggle, as human beings, with our own greed and selfishness.  But most of all the struggle -- and the picture Christ presents here of the contrast or conflict between Himself and the world -- seems to be the contrast between a purely materialistic outlook on life, and one that respects life as something so much more than material, something requiring respect for its potentials, and its Source, and the capabilities of love inherent in that Source of all life for each of us.  Where there is an absence of this understanding, there is a hatred of the possibilities that Christ -- and the Helper, the Holy Spirit -- brings to every situation.  There is a hatred of love, a hatred of compassion, and a will only to the purely material which of course justifies a selfish or self-centered attitude toward all of life.  But Christ emphasizes hatred here.  This is an active contempt for the things of God, and of course for God, and its effects and presence should not be underestimated nor overlooked; and neither should its response to love.  In this midst of this persecution, Jesus emphasizes witnessing, testimony.  The Helper is called the Spirit of truth, and He it is who will testify to the things of Christ for us.  We in turn will witness to the world, and be prepared for its response.  This is a clear-eyed and level-headed call for the love of truth -- right to its absolute depths in spiritual truth, in the reality of the love of God, and the proclamations of the God of love to the world through Christ.  It does not hesitate to say that the world's response will be hatred, but neither does it hesitate to call us to obedience to its commands out of our own capacity for love and response to that love.  In John's First Epistle, he writes of Christ, "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  This is where we are, the existential condition of the follower and friend of Christ.  Do we respond to that love?  Or does that love and mercy only bring us a sense of entitlement, of selfishness?  It is up to us.  It is our choice.  His call to us -- and His command -- is clear.  His mission is always ready for us to take up.

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full

 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

"As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.  These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."

- John 15:1-11

In our current readings, Jesus and the disciples are at the Passover supper, also known as the Last Supper.  He is speaking to the disciples, giving them His Farewell Discourse before going to His Passion.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said,  "If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.  A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.  Because I live, you will live also.  At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."  Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.  These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.'  If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I.  And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.  I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.  But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do.  Arise, let us go from here."

 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."  My study bible explains that the vine is a symbol of Israel (Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21).  But in contrast to the disobedient and unfaithful vine, Christ calls Himself the true vine.  Together with its branches this vine constitutes a new and fruitful people of God, which is the Church.   In the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Church, the bishop prays that the Lord will visit and confirm the vineyard, the local body of Christ, which He planted with His own right hand (Psalm 80:15-16).  If we abide in this vine, we abide in Christ and in His Church.   My study bible explains that the figure of the vine and branches shows first that our union with Christ is intimate and real.  Second, life flows from this vine to its branches:  abiding in Christ is dynamic and vitalizing.  Finally, the fruit that we bear is both good works and mission (v. 16; 17:18). 

"As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.  These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."  Once again, Jesus returns to the central theme of His love.  My study bible explains that to love God is to obey God; one cannot love God and disobey God's commandments.  Christ offers us what He Himself has:  His love for and abiding in the Father and keeping His commandments.  So He asks of the relationship we have with Him as well; in this way we are one vine with many branches.

Let us think about Christ's joy, which He speaks of in His final words in today's reading.  What is this joy?  Is it not clearly a product of the love within which He abides in the Father?  Jesus has repeatedly explained what this means:  that the love between Father and Son is revealed through Christ obedience to the commandments of His Father.  Moreover, this is what He asks of us, His disciples -- that we must abide in Him, in love.  And if we love Him, we will  keep His commandments.  All of these things go hand in hand.  So deep and great is this love and connectedness, that we are to be in a communion that is distinguished and known by the fact that we have love for one another (John 13:34-35).  He has given all the tools we need, through His commandments, to teach us how we are to do this, to live like this, to express this love for one another.  But what He tells us is that our communion -- this vine -- is an extension of first of all His relationship to the Father.  He asks us to live as He has lived His life.  He has set the example, and given us the paradigm of what it is to Abide in Me, because this is how He has lived by abiding in the Father and doing the Father's will, in love.  And here is His joy that He shares with the disciples -- and by extension, with all those who would be His disciples.  If we abide in that love, and therefore in His commandments, this is where we will find our joy in life.  It is a long road through the difficulties of life, the disappointments, and the discoveries of betrayals and infidelity.  A long road indeed through lies and corruption of this world, and its injustice.  But we remember the Passion to which Christ goes, which will expose all of those things for judgment and witnessing.  Indeed, He is "the faithful witness" according to Revelation 1:5.  In the fullness of Christ's joy, the world is a setting for witnessing:  living and abiding in His love together with the Father and the Spirit, following His commands, and witnessing for a true justice that surpasses human expediency.  All of these things constitute what He asks of us when He tells us that we are to abide in Him in order to bear much fruit.  Let us continue our focus on building this joy within ourselves as we find our lives increasing in the faith He asks of us.   As He goes to His hour of glory, we are reminded of the words in the book of Nehemiah, when the people were read the commands of the Law:  "Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid

 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

"A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.  Because I live, you will live also.  At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."  Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.

"These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.'  If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I.  And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.  I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.  But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do.  Arise, let us go from here."

- John 14:15-31

Our current readings are at the Last Supper, and Jesus is giving the disciples what is called His Final Discourse.  In yesterday's reading, He said, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."  Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.   If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.   Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

 "If you love Me, keep My commandments."  My study bible comments that an original text reads, ". . . you will keep . . .."   Either way, we read of a direct correlation between loving Christ and keeping His commandments.

"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."  The Helper (in Greek, parakletos/παράκλητος) is the Holy Spirit. This word also means "Comforter," "Counselor," and "Advocate."    It was used as word for attorney in New Testament times, and implies someone who gives proper counsel, judgment, who can give evidence on one's behalf.  The Spirit of truth, my study bible says, is in each believer, and we are called to know Him.  The Holy Spirit prays in us and for us when we don't know how to pray, which enables us to pray in Christ's name (14:13-14; Romans 8:26).  The Holy Spirit also gives us words of witness when we speak the gospel (Mark 13:11).  Note how Christ says this implies He will not leave us orphans; the Holy Spirit is also a Person, fully representative for Christ and His commands, as Christ fully "represents" the Father for us (14:7).  

"A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.  Because I live, you will live also."  My study bible tells us that the brief separation of Jesus from the disciples at His death will lead to a deeper mystical union after the Resurrection and to the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

"At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."  Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me."   That day is referring to Pentecost.  St. John Chrysostom is cited by my study bible, who says that it is "the power of the Holy Spirit that taught them [the disciples] all things."  Let us note the union of the Holy Trinity that Jesus says is present to all who have his commandments and keep them -- and this is a union of love between person and Persons.  This is not slavish obedience to a harsh and punishing God, but the opposite, a voluntary love.  Out of love for Him we keep His word, and the Father will love us in turn -- and Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will make Their home with us.

"These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."  A note in my study bible here says that we have confidence in the apostles' doctrine (Acts 2:42) because the Holy Spirit is their Teacher.  The Holy Spirit brings to remembrance not only the words of Christ, but also their meaning.  The Holy Spirit is our Instructor, working in the Church from Pentecost until today, leading us toward the fullness of truth (16:13).  My study bible quotes St. Irenaeus:  "Where the Church is, there is the Holy Spirit and the fullness of grace."

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  Peace was the customary Jewish word for both greeting and farewell.  My study bible comments that perfect peace is brought by Christ, who reconciles humanity to God (Ephesians 2:14).   Peace is also part of the traditional greeting of Christians to one another (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3), and "Peace be to all" as greeting is offered many times during the liturgical services of the Church. 

"If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I."  My study bible comments that My Father is greater than I does not mean greater in nature or in essence.  The Father and the Son share one divine nature.  Neither does it mean that the Son is created, as the Son is begotten from all eternity.  Instead, what it means is that the Father, as Fountainhead of the Trinity, is the eternal cause of the Son.  But let us note clearly that the emphasis here is on rejoicing; Christ is magnified and glorified through His mission given by the Father.  In turn, He may "lift us up" with Him.

"And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe."  Before it comes is referring to Christ's coming Passion.  My study bible comments that to tell these events beforehand is strengthening the faith of the disciples.

"I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me."  The ruler of this world is the devil.  My study bible says that the devil dominates the realm of those who do not love Christ or keep His commandments.  Jesus says that the devil has nothing in Me as there is no compromise between Christ or His followers and the devil.  Jesus became a human being, but He was never stained with sin.  

"But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do."  As always, Christ returns to His union with the Father.  He has emphasized in this discourse so far that if we love Him we will keep His commandments.  And so He loves the Father and the Father loves Him:  He keeps the Father's commandment so that the world may know of His love.

"Arise, let us go from here."  At this point Jesus takes the disciples to another room or location.  My study bible says that this is in order to complete His discourse with their undivided attention.  According to St. Chrysostom, their present location at the site of the Passover supper was susceptible to intrusions, and the disciples were likely to be distracted from fear.

Christ speaks of love.  Love is the connection between His disciples and Himself and the Father and Himself.  Love is the connection between God and us.  Jesus tells us, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him," and, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me."  Love is the glue that makes all of this possible; it is the glue that gives us His commands to follow in loyalty and through love.  It is the glue that binds the Father to us in turn.  And through the Father comes the Holy Spirit:  "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."  The Father will send the Holy Spirit in Christ name to teach us all things, and to bring to our remembrance all that Christ has said.  Let us concern ourselves with this love that is enacted through these things, in which embrace we are contained and held.  We are given a Helper, through Whom we are embraced in love by all that is in God, in the paradise He establishes even when we suffer on earth and yet are contained in this embrace.  And this is where we find that peace.  In the midst of turmoil and tribulation, we know that we are loved indeed.  We have His words, His love, His Person, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Above all else, this is peace:  "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  Just as Jesus always returns to His relationship to the Father, throughout all questions and turmoils and judgments and hostilities, so we return to this embrace and this relationship of person and Persons, this communion against which the gates of hell cannot prevail.   Jesus goes to His hour of glory, making all the rest possible, leaving us with His words of peace, and an admonition against fear.  Let us remember His words when we, too, meet the ruler of this world in our own lives, as His faithful who love Him and keep His commandments.  Let us also glorify God that we may in turn be glorified.

In My Father's house are many mansions

 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."  Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me. 

"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

- John 14:1-14

On Saturday, we read that when Judas had gone out from the Passover Supper to betray Him, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.  If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.  Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer.  You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you.  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."  Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?"  Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward."  Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now?  I will lay down my life for Your sake."  Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake?  Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times."

 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."   My study bible comments that many mansions is a word-picture.  It illustrates for us an abundance of living accommodations around a central courtyard.  "Mansions" also speaks of the multitude of blessings, it adds, that await those who enter the Kingdom of God. 

Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."  My study bible comments on Jesus' teaching here that the way we reach the Father is forever established in the Person and work of the Son.  The Son is the truth because HE is the unique revelation of the Father.  It says that Christ is the life who became Man so that we might have life, and as He is our life, not even death can hinder us from coming to Him.  It is only in Christ that we can come to know the Father -- because Christ is the Person who is truth, and He is life.

"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves."  Jesus says that he who has seen Me has seen the Father.  My study bible comments that this means that our own response to Christ will determine our relationship to the Father.  In other words, if we reject Christ, then we will not find the Father.  If we believe in Christ and follow Him, then we ourselves will become "children of God," who live eternally in the love of the Father (1:12).   Although human beings are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), the incarnate Son is Himself the precise image of the Father (Colossians 1:15).  Christ does not declare Himself to be the Father; He is not the Father.  Instead, He is declaring here that He and the Father are one in essence, and undivided in nature.  At the same time, they are distinct Persons in the Trinity.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father."   My study bible comments that Jesus' remarks citing greater works that will be done indicates that Christ's working through human beings after Pentecost is greater than His performing sings and wonders directly.  These works, which are testified to in the Book of Acts, include spreading the gospel throughout the world, miraculous healings, and raising the dead. 

"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."  My study bible says that to pray in Christ's name doesn't just mean that we attach the phrase "in Jesus' name we pray" at the end of prayers.  But to pray in Christ's name means to pray in accordance with His will.  My study bible uses the example of an emissary of a king.  Such an emissary or representative can only be said to be speaking in the name of the a king if he is indeed saying what the king would want him to say.  So it's the same with the name of Christ:  to pray in His name is to pray in accordance with what He wants.  My study bible adds that the purpose here is not to get God to do our will, but rather for us to learn to pray properly, according to God's will (Matthew 6:10). 

Jesus speaks of how those who have seen Him have seen the Father.  Over and over again, and particularly in His disputes with the leadership in Jerusalem, Jesus has emphasized His union with the Father.  He is, for us, the revelation of the Father to the world.  Through Christ, we know that God is love (1 John 4:8).  Surely the Psalms and the Old Testament Scriptures also testify to a loving and merciful God.  But Christ embodies in human form the reality of the Father for us, His Person -- although, He is not the Father.  Through His living actions, His choices, and especially His words, He reveals to us the Father.  How does this happen?  Here in today's reading, Jesus tells us Himself:  "The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works."   Through what He says and what He does, Christ reveals the Father.  He is in intimate communion with the Father, and lives His human life -- meets all its challenges and demands, makes every decision, and does every work -- in accordance with the will of the Father, within that communion.  Jesus goes on to promise that we also, through faith, may in fact do the same.  In today's reading, He asks Philip, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?"   In chapter 6, Jesus taught, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him" (6:56).   In other words, as He teaches here that He abides in the Father, so He also offers us to abide in Him.  The entire substance of His Farewell Discourse can in some sense be summed up in this theme, and particularly when we get into the verses in the next chapter.  But here is the promise, not only that we have indeed seen the Father:  we have Christ's words and His works which are given to do by the Father.  But also there is the command that extends this promise, that we may abide in Him.  We may also ask in His name, as my study bible explains, by living in accordance with His will, and do even greater works also by abiding in Him and living according to His word, so that God is glorified and revealed even through us as His disciples.  Let us consider the communion into which we are invited as we allow His words to sink down into us, and their implications for our own lives.  This is His Farewell Discourse given to the disciples, and by extension to all of us who come and seek to dwell in His house with Him, and abide in Him as well.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another

 So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.  If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.  Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer.  You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you.  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?"  Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward."  Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now?  I will lay down my life for Your sake."  Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake?  Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times."

- John 13:31-38

In our recent readings, it is the Passover feast, and Jesus has been in the temple.  Yesterday we read that although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:  "Lord, who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"  Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:  "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them."  These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.  Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.   Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.  And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.  I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.  For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."

So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.  If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.  Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer.  You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you."   As it is Holy Week in the West (for the Orthodox and other Eastern Churches, Holy Week is next week), the lectionary skips various passages.  I have chosen for today to include the earlier verses 13:31-35 (the lectionary includes only vv. 36-38).  What has happened in the verses between yesterday's reading and today's is found in 13:1-30, which includes the washing of the feet of the disciples and also the identification of Judas as Jesus' betrayer.   The present reading is set at the Passover Supper of Jesus and His disciples, known as the Last Supper.  My study bible comments that the Feast of Passover commemorated God's passing over the Israelites when God killed the firstborn of the Egyptians (Exodus 12).  It is also linked with Israel's crossing over the Red Sea (Exodus 14) to escape from slavery to freedom.  In Christ, it notes, we escape death and pass over from this world, which is enslaved to sin, and into the Kingdom of God.   After Judas had gone out from the Passover Supper to betray Christ, the Lord presents the final teachings of His earthly ministry.  This is frequently called the "Farewell Discourse."  The discourse continues through chapters 14-17, and includes Jesus' High Priestly Prayer (chapter 17).  Here Jesus calls his death "glorification."   My study bible comments that He does not fear death, and He accepts it willingly.   It notes that the Father and the Son are glorified through the death of Christ, because His death destroys all powers of darkness.  Jesus references His dialogue with the leadership in the temple (specifically, 8:21; see this reading).

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."   My study bible notes that while many religions and philosophies teach people to love one another, Christ's new commandment does something more.  It adds the measure that is asked of our love; we have Christ as our example.  This depth of love for one another is the sign of His disciples, how all will know that they are of such.

Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?"  Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward."  Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now?  I will lay down my life for Your sake."  Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake?  Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times." Amidst the new and final commandment, there are our own shortcomings, our failed resolutions, and our abiding need to learn to rely on Christ and the strength that is not of ourselves.   Jesus predicts Peter's betrayal, but also, my study bible notes, He prophecies the martyrdom of Simon Peter as well, which Peter will suffer for the sake of Christ by being crucified upside down in Rome in about AD 67 (see 21:18-19).  Thus, Peter will also serve Christ's new command to "love one another as I have loved you."

Spiritual battle, for enemies -- study bible comment

What is a spiritual battle?  This may seem like a strange question to ask at this time, as we prepare for Easter, but in effect Good Friday is the right time to ask this question (for the Eastern Orthodox, that is next week).  Jesus prepares the disciples with His Farewell Discourse, giving them a new command that would seem to have nothing at all to do with a spiritual battle.  Jesus tells the disciples, and all those who will follow in the future, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."  We are to be characterized by love for one another.  How often do we fall short of that commandment, Christ's "new" commandment?  But, in effect, Christ will not only declare this commandment, He will also live it.  He will go to His death in enacting His love for His friends.  We are given Simon Peter's declaration to Jesus, "I will lay down my life for Your sake."  And then there is Jesus' response to him: "Will you lay down your life for My sake?  Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times."  The great contradiction between the love that Jesus professes is a new commandment for all of them, and the prophecy of Peter's denial (despite his declaration that he would lay down his life for Christ's sake) give us a juxtaposition of our souls and hearts, and the constant battle that we wage to move forward into our faith.  My study bible also says that Christ's commandment is proven out by the measure of His love, that not only did He lay down His life for His friends, but even those who are His enemies.  That is, not for their error or their sin, but for their salvation.  In the Revelation, Christ says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent" (Revelation 3:19).  Everything we do in the context of our faith, and in the love that Jesus commands us to practice, is for the salvation of the whole world.  It is not so that evil triumphs, or so that we support evil or heinous behavior.   We do not pray for others so that they will continue to abuse us, or practice unloving behavior.  But a spiritual battle exists in the world for the salvation of all, for the triumph of the Light.  May our Easter which awaits us triumph in that light, that whatever darkness has been exposed through our Lent make way for a greater and deeper understanding, a more perfect love, and a true reconciliation in the glory of Christ our God and our hope.