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 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, '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 I 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, 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 

 

Beginning with Monday's reading and commentary, we have been reading through Jesus' Farewell Discourse to the apostles, which He spoke at the Last Supper just prior to His arrest.  Yesterday we read that 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 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 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, '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."  My study Bible tells us that the first little while refers to Christ's arrest, death, and burial.  The second is His time in the tomb until Christ's 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.  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."  My study Bible indicates that when Jesus speaks of a woman who no longer remembers her birth pangs, it does not imply that the faithful are to forget the Passion and Cross of Christ, any more than a woman forgets her labor.  But what is true is that we see those sufferings in light of the victory of the Resurrection, and this victory transfigures our perception of sufferings.  Christ's victory, my study Bible says, allows us to rejoice in anguish because of the infinitely greater good that comes from 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 notes that the time when Christ would speak plainly about the Father was during the forty days which followed 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 I 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, 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."  My study Bible tells us that we know prayer is offered in the name of God the Father, for Christ taught us to pray that way (Matthew 6:9), and He Himself prayed to the Father (John 11:41; 12:28; 17:1).  In Christ, it notes, we have direct access to the Father, and so therefore we pray in the name of the Son as well (John 14:13-14).  After Pentecost, my study Bible continues, we learn that the Holy Spirit Himself "makes intercession for us" (Romans 8:26), and we are instructed to pray always "in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18).  Orthodox Christians pray continually and with confidence to all three Persons of the Trinity, "in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

 

 Jesus says to the disciples, "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."  This brilliant image, of a woman in pain and travail from labor, serves us as perhaps the best way of understanding the power and impact of the Cross, death, and Resurrection.  A dear friend who is a priest once counseled me when I was speaking to him of a very painful problem.  I told him without thinking, "I feel like I'm being crucified."  He responded to tell me that it's good I said I was being crucified, "because after Crucifixion comes Resurrection."  He was so right, and it was possibly the best words of counseling I have ever received in my life, because it utterly shifted my focus to my faith and the promise of our faith.  Even though Jesus had prophesied all that was going to happen, including His rising on the third day, the events of the Resurrection and the entire history of the Church that has followed could be foreseen explicitly by no one.  We don't know what Resurrection will look like.  We don't know that all our desires will be fulfilled, that we won't lose what is precious to us.  But we always know there will be a resurrection in all kinds of forms in our own lives when we suffer a loss or distress, because Christ's Resurrection promises this to us through our faith.  We live His life by abiding in Him, and therefore His Resurrection also abides in us and is at work in us.  Of this reality, we must not doubt, should never lose faith or heart.  If we can but accept the possibilities of God, there is always the potential for every circumstance -- any circumstance -- to be transfigured, made into something else, through our faith.  There is always a Resurrection.  Perhaps many followers of Christ would have said that they would have preferred Jesus to remain in the flesh -- and we know Jesus' response to St. Peter when he rebuked Jesus regarding the Crucifixion ("Get behind Me, Satan!"; see Matthew 16:22-23).  But God has the bigger, more important, eternal perspective and vision, and we just don't know all the promises of Resurrection looks like, both in our world and its history, and in the microcosm of our own lives as faithful.  But let us take faith in this, that living His commandments (loving Christ, as He has taught), abiding in Him, means that we also may suffer tribulation and difficulty.  However, it also guarantees us Resurrection, in one form or another, and to this we cling.  In this, our suffering is transfigured, for we have faith and we have hope and we also have knowledge of this truth.  My study Bible cites St. Paul above, from the Letter to the Romans:  "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:3-5).  These realizations, this recognition of what even is possible to acquire through suffering, give us a transfigured life, and a sense of what it is to experience a resurrection after crucifixion, in any form.  We have hope, as St. Paul says, as a gift of the love of God in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  On this we can count.  Let us depend on that hope, and persevere to abide in His love through all things.  Finally, we have Jesus' last words to them:  "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."

 

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth

 

 "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 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 is giving what is called the Farewell Discourse to the apostles.  The setting is the Last Supper, before Jesus goes to His arrest leading to the Cross, His death, and then to Resurrection.  This readings and commentary on this Discourse began on Monday.  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught the apostles, "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 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 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."  My study Bible defines the use of sorrow here to mean "extreme grief leading to despondency or despair," which it names a sinful passion.  St. John Chrysostom is quoted:  "Great is the tyranny of despondency."  This sin, moreover, is constantly referred to in the writings of the Desert Fathers.  When the world persecutes the believer or when God seems to be absent, my study Bible notes, Christians are called to fight against this despondency, taking comfort from the presence of the Holy Spirit.  

"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."  Of course, the Helper is the Holy Spirit.  The word translated as "Helper" from the Greek was used in ancient times for a legal aid, a lawyer; it was extended to mean also "Comforter," "Counselor," and "Advocate."  It literally indicates one who comes (by one's side) when called.  My study Bible comments on this passage that through the illumination brought by the Holy Spirit, the world will be convicted; that is, proven wrong.  It will be convicted concerning first, its sin, the ultimate of which is the denial of Christ.  Second, righteousness, which it failed to accept from Christ with faith and thanksgiving; and finally judgment, for those who reject Christ will receive the same penalty that Satan, the ruler of this world, has already received (see Matthew 25:41).  

"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."  My study Bible tells us that because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and because this Spirit abides in the Church, the Church is the guardian of all truth.  

It seems important to remember, when considering Christ's words about judgment, that the Holy Spirit (the Helper, the Spirit of truth) is at work in our world all the time.  When Christ speaks about the Spirit doing the work of judgment and conviction, we should remember that, first of all, Christ is the Knower of all hearts (that is, He knows the depths of our hearts we might not even know), and second, the Holy Spirit will give help and opportunity to all regarding response to the spiritual truth it offers, in ways that none of us can know about anyone else.  This extends to ourselves as well, in terms of our own awareness of just what we are being presented with in our choices all the time.  So when we read Christ's words (and my study Bible's understanding) we can be certain that God presents us with opportunities all the time in terms of our response to this truth, to the work of the Holy Spirit in us and around us, which is always ongoing.  God's judgment is not like our judgment, and only God knows the true depths of who we are to make that judgment, so this is effectually, a great mystery to us all on our human, worldly level, and is something belonging only to God in terms of prerogative.  We cannot be the Judge, but what we can do is accept Christ's words and His commands, especially the commands to love one another which have gained so much importance in this final Farewell Discourse to Christ's apostles.  We can rely on and trust in the Spirit of truth to be present to us and with us at all times, an Advocate, a Helper, a Counselor, One who offers us the closeness of one closer to our hearts than we know, and who always has our best interest in mind.  Jesus also speaks at the same time of persecutions that are coming; emphatically, He tells them even in this vivid language that "the time is coming that whoever kills you will think he offers God service."  This is a picture of the spirit of the Antichrist at work in the world, so that we understand this complex life in which we live, and the great and courageous mission into which the apostles were about to engage.  These conditions remain with us, and come in new and myriad forms, but our basic struggle is the same.  We trust in Christ (this is what it means to have faith), we follow His commands, and above all, we are to do so as our love for Him.  As Christ has said, He receives love from the Father, and shares that love with the disciples, and with us.  This love, as He has said repeatedly in this Discourse, is that with which He abides in us, and we abide in Him, so that our joy and peace may be a part of us all the time, no matter what is presented to us in the world, if we remain His disciples.  Let us rely upon this Spirit of truth, our Comforter and our Helper, to find our way through, even in a world that is hostile.  The Holy Spirit, Spirit of truth will bring to remembrance all the things Christ has taught, taking of what is Christ's to declare to us from the Father, giving us the capacity to witness to Him in the world.   

 

 

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you

 

 "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 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 

 

We are currently reading through what is called Christ's Farewell Discourse to the apostles, given at the Last Supper (starting with Monday's reading).  Yesterday we read that 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."  Jesus has already given this commandment to them at the Last Supper (John 13:34), now He is repeating it.  My study Bible comments that many religions and philosophies teach people to love one another.  But what makes this commandment new (as Jesus called it in chapter 13) is the measure that is required of this love:  we're to love as Christ has loved us, laying down His life not only for His friends, but even for His enemies.

 

"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."  My study Bible comments here that friendship is higher than servanthood.  Servants obey their masters out of fear or a sense of duty; friends obey out of love and an internal desire to do what is good and right.  Abraham was called a "friend of God" (James 2:23) because he obeyed God out of the belief of his heart.  The disciples -- even all of the saints -- are honored as friends of Christ because they freely obey His commandments out of love, my study Bible notes.  It says that those who have this spirit of loving obedience are open to receive and understand the revelations of the Father.  

 "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 in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'"  My study Bible explains that the term world is used in several distinct ways in Scripture.  In some cases, it is a reference to all that is glorious, beautiful, and redeemable in God's creation (John 3:16).  At other times, it refers to that which is finite in contrast to that which is eternal (John 11:9; 18:36).  At still other instances, it indicates all that is in rebellion against God (see also John 8:23).  Moreover, it notes that the rebellion of this world against God reveals many things.  First, while union with Christ brings love, truth, and peace, it also brings persecution, because the world hates love and truth (verse 19).  Second, the world hated Christ, and so therefore it will hate those people who try to be Christlike (verse 20).  Additionally, the world hates Christ because it neither knows nor desires to know the Father (verses 21-24).  Finally, hatred for Jesus Christ is irrational and unreasonable, for Christ brings love and mercy; so, therefore, Christ is hated without a cause (verse 25).

 

 "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."  With respect to God's working salvation in the world, my study Bible comments, the Son sends the Holy Spirit from the Father.  With respect to the divine nature, it notes, the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father alone.  In other words, the Holy Spirit receives His eternal existence only from the Father.  In conformity with Christ's words, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed confesses belief "in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father."  While the Son is begotten of the Father alone, my study Bible explains, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone; the source, the Fountainhead, of both Persons is the Father. 

Once again, we're told, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."  Jesus has reiterated this teaching repeatedly in this Farewell Discourse to His apostles.  My study Bible cites Christ's upcoming sacrifice of His own life as the standard by which that measure of love should be understood.  It's also important that we understand He calls the disciples "friends," and not servants.  Friends are those who follow His commandments out of love for Him.  So again, we go back to the same point repeatedly in this Farewell Discourse, Jesus wants us to engage in a relationship of love with Him, a true friendship, and in that friendship is communion.  He commands that we share His love with one another.  But who are these friends?  Let's look at His words; there are those who hate Him.  He says, "He who hates Me hates My Father also."  The works He has done testify to Him and to the Father, and yet they are rejected.  But then Jesus calls on the disciples, in effect, to do the same.  The Spirit of truth, the Helper, will testify of Him to us, and in turn we may bear fruit by witnessing to the world.  Whose wrath will we incur?  And how will we share His love, live His love, do His commandments?  This tension between love and rejection must exist for us as it did for Him, but if we abide in His love our joy remains within us.

 

 

 

 

 

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love

Christ the true vine; 13th century.  Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece

 "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 

 

We are currently reading through Christ's words to the apostles at the Last Supper, in what is called the Farewell Discourse.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to them, "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 comments that the vine is a symbol of Israel (Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21).  In contrast to disobedient and unfruitful Israel, it says, our Lord calls Himself the true vine, which together with the branches constitutes a new and fruitful people of God:  the Church.  In the divine liturgy of the Orthodox Church, the bishop prays that the Lord will visit and confirm the vineyard, the local body of Christ, is planted with His own right hand (Psalm 80:15-16).  To abide in this vine is to abide in Christ and His Church.  My study Bible comments that the figure of the vine and the branches shows first that our union with Christ is intimate and real; second, that life flows from the vine to the branches.  In other words, abiding in Christ is dynamic and vitalizing.  Finally, the fruit we bear is both good works and mission (John 15:16; 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."  My study Bible notes here that one cannot love God and disobey His commandments.  To love God, as Jesus taught in yesterday's reading, is to obey God (John 14:15).  

Jesus teaches us something more about love in today's reading.  He says,  "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love."   He seems to say to us, to tell us through these words, that love comes from somewhere.  Love has a Source, and that Source is God.  As long as we know that we are created by a loving Father, then we know that there is love, and that love is part of who we are because it comes from the ultimate Source of all things.  Jesus teaches us, "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."   We express and live our love for Christ by keeping His commandments, and in this way we become like Him -- for He has kept the Father's commandments and so abides in the Father's love.  He is inviting us into this depth of communion, which is a communion of love.  We may stop to think, in our modern context, that to follow the commandments of an authority figure, even a parent, doesn't necessarily translate into love.  We can, after all, receive abusive or wrong commandments in our lives, from those whose wills are unhealthy, unhealed, suffering, and all the ways in which our imperfect world expresses its imperfection.  But Christ is not speaking of worldly commandments and worldly authority; He is speaking and offering the opposite.  He's offering us the life of what is necessary for us, and that which is in so many ways missing in our world.  He is offering communion in and with the Source of all love, even as we are in a world distant and separate from that communion, with the "ruler of this world" an opponent to Christ.  He follows with, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."  He's offering us joy even when we have sorrow, even when we are disappointed and afraid, even abandoned by the people and things we are fond of in life.  For this joy remains in us when all else may fail.  For what Christ is offering is to abide in Him, and He in us, within the strength and Source of the Father's love, rooted in a place so deep within us we might not even know it's there.  This is the way Christ offers us love and communion, and all we have to do is love Him by following the commandments which are His words of life for us.  These commandments are for us, and they are the words of eternal life for us.  They are the words that share His love with us, and share with us His joy.  Let us take in all that we are offered, and take Him up on His offer, so that we may abide in His love, and joy may abide in us. 

 

 

 

If you love Me, keep My commandments

 

 "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 

 

In yesterday's lectionary reading, we were given the beginning of Christ's Farewell Discourse to the apostles, spoken at the Last Supper.  He said to them, "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.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever  . . ."  My study Bible comments that the Helper (in Greek, παράκλητος/parakletos) refers to the Holy Spirit.  This title, it says, also means "Comforter," "Counselor," and "Advocate."  This term, in ancient Greek culture, signified one who came to help with legal matters, but expanded to include any form of support or encouragement.  In the context of the New Testament, it indicates the Holy Spirit, who acts as a divine helper and guide for believers.  

". . . 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 Spirit of truth is in each believer, my study Bible says, and we are called to know Him.  The Holy Spirit, it recalls, prays for us when we do not know how to pray, enabling us to pray in Christ's name (John 14:13-14; Romans 8:26) and giving us words of witness when we speak the gospel (Mark 13:11).

 

 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.  Because I live, you will live also."  According to my study Bible, the brief separation of Christ from His 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.  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."   My study Bible comments that that day is a reference to Pentecost.  It cites St. John Chrysostom, who tells us that it is "the power of the Holy Spirit that taught them all things."

 

"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."   Again, the emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit is given here, and more explicitly.  My study Bible comments that we have confidence in the apostles' doctrine (Acts 2:42) because the Holy Spirit is their Teacher; He brings to remembrance not only Christ's words, but also their meaning.  It says that we have confidence in the Church because the Holy Spirit is our Instructor as well from Pentecost until today, leading us into all truth (John 16:13).  There is a quotation cited from 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, according to my study Bible, was the customary Jewish word of both greeting and farewell.  Perfect peace is brought by Christ, who reconciles humanity to God (Ephesians 2:14).  Peace, it says, is part of the traditional greeting of Christians to one another (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3), and the greeting "Peace be to all" is offered many times during the liturgical services of the Church.

 

"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."   My Father is greater than I does not mean that the Father is greater in nature or essence than the Son; the Father and the Son share one divine nature.  Neither does it mean that the Son is created, for the Son is begotten from all eternity (John 1:1-5).  Instead, it means that the Father, who is the Fountainhead of the Trinity, is the eternal cause of the Son.  According to my study Bible, before it comes is a reference to Christ's coming Passion.  To tell of these events before they happened was a way to strengthen the disciples' faith. 

 

 "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."  The ruler of this world, my study Bible says, is the devil (see also John 12:31; 16:11), who dominates the realm of those who do not love Christ or keep His commandments.  Jesus has said the devil has nothing in Me because there can be no compromise between Christ or His followers and the devil.  Jesus became a human being, but was never stained with sin.

 

"Arise, let us go from here."  Jesus takes His disciples to another room or location to complete His discourse, so that He will gain their undivided attention.  According to St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible says, their current location was susceptible to intrusions, and the disciples were likely to be distracted from fear.

 

In today's reading, the disciple  Judas asks Jesus a question (not Iscariot, for that Judas is no longer present at the Last Supper in this setting).  The text tells us Judas says, "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."  What are we to make of this?  How can this not be the greatest gift possible in life, in this world, and for all of us?  There is a great, tremendous promise here.  Imagine that the Father will love us, and both Christ and the Father will come to us and make Their home with us.  We also have to understand -- given the whole text of today's reading -- that this We in "We will come to him and make Our home with him" includes the Holy Spirit also.  How can we not imagine that kind of grace as the most wonderful and stupendous gift in the whole world, and that is better, in fact, than the whole world and what it can offer to us?  But there is a sort of catch, a premise here made for us in order to realize that promise.  Jesus says, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word."   We first need to love Him, and that means we will keep His word.  We think of grace as that which comes to us undeserved, even when we are unworthy.  And this is the truth about grace, for we can never "earn" what grace offers, as we're not capable of paying some sort of indeterminable price beyond anything we can understand.  We don't have anything we can possibly do to earn what is beyond this world.  But that doesn't mean there are no conditions implied here.  That doesn't mean that becoming a person capable of receiving that grace doesn't involve some sort of two-way street.  For that is, in fact, what love is.  It's a two-way street.  One could possibly venture to say that without this two-way street of love, there is no love at all.  There is just some sort of strange entitlement, a power relationship that doesn't work at all and is no longer about love.  Christ asks for our love here, and not only does He ask for our love, He tells us quite plainly that love isn't just a question of feeling something or believing something.  Love is a matter of doing something.  To love Christ is to keep His word.  What does that mean?  How can we keep Christ's word?  Is this a question of being perfect all the time?  No, it is a question of love, of being loyal out of love, of making every effort to live by what He has given us, to cherish this gift He has given of His word, which He clearly says comes from the Father in the first place.  Therefore we keep His word in love, and in turn He and the Father (and the Holy Spirit, for where One Person of the Trinity is present, all are present) will come and make Their home with us.  This is the simple, straightforward way God finds and makes a home in us:  we love God and keep the word Christ has given us.  This is covenant, it is union, it is a kind of marriage.  We are the Bride and He is the Bridegroom, only our Bridegroom does not come alone to make a home with us.  He brings more, and so much more.  How can we not accept such a gift?  Where are we going to find a better one?  Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments."  This is what it means to keep His word.  Let us live that love He desires.

 

 

 

 

 

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also

 

 "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 Thursday, we read what is called Christ's High Priestly Prayer, which He prayed at the Last Supper.  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.  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.  I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 

  "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."   The setting for the readings of this week is the Last Supper.  This is Christ's final discourse to His disciples. My study Bible comments that many mansions is a word-picture (a kind of parable) of an abundance of living accommodations around a central courtyard.  "Mansions" also speaks of the multitude of blessings 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.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  My study Bible comments 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.  He is the One who became a human being so that we might have life; as He is our live, not even death can keep us from coming to Him.  My study Bible adds that only in Christ can one come to know the Father, for only in Christ is the way of all truth and all life found.  

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."  Here my study Bible explains Christ's remark ("He who has seen Me has seen the Father") as follows:  Our response to Christ determines our relationship with the Father.  If we reject Christ then we will never find the Father but if we believe in Christ and follow Him, then we ourselves will become "children of God," living eternally in the love of the Father (John 1:12).  While we are human beings are made in God's image (Genesis 1:26), Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son, is Himself the exact image of the Father (Colossians 1:15).  Christ does not say, "I am the Father" -- He is not.  Instead, what He declares is that He and the Father are one in essence and undivided in nature while being distinct Persons in the Godhead.

 

 "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."  To pray in God's name does not simply mean to attach the phrase "in Jesus' name we pray" to the end of prayers, my study Bible says.  Rather, to pray in God's name means to pray according to God's will.  Just as an emissary of a king can only be said to be speaking in the king's name if he says what the king would want him to say, my study Bible explains, so also we can only be said to be praying in the name of Christ when we pray according to what He wants.  The purpose is not to get God to do our will, but for us to learn to pray properly, according to God's will (Matthew 6:10).  

 

How do we know what to pray for?  We know that in this world things are often unjust, and that life isn't fair.  There is a long, long history of theology in which the questions of evil in this world have been addressed, and will go on being addressed.   It is part of what we live with.  But sometimes, perhaps in our modern consumer society much more strongly than in the past, we might be tempted to think that prayer is a kind of practice in which we just ask what we want.  This can, of course, extend from the mundane to the most deeply personal and important matters in our lives.  But it is a deep effort to learn that oftentimes we don't get exactly what we want, what is "right," or "fair," or even what we think we need.  In circumstances we can't control, we know that all things are in God's hands.  And yet, there remains an evil in the world, abuses, hardship, illness, and death.  Some friends right now are deeply struggling with a tragic illness of their son.  So many are praying for them, for him, and such strong faith is always present within the efforts of his parents.  But, just like some of the tragic stories we read in the Gospels, nonetheless his life stands in danger from this illness (like Lazarus or Jairus' daughter), but we don't all have Christ in the flesh to call upon to give us a miracle or miraculous sign.  I have seen and experienced my share of the miraculous connected with prayer, but this hard circumstance of this tragically ill child is far from certain.  What I have seen from prayer in my own life, however, is a promise of Resurrection that is always present, a gift from Christ on the Cross that must be unforgettable for all of us.  And that is that our suffering is transfigured through God's grace.  Even when we might not get the outcome we want, there is always a glimmer, a light, that shines in the darkness, and this much, I am certain is true.  Through my mother's long illness I learned prayer, even when alone and feeling abandoned, and how it gave me strength, and resources, that I didn't know I could have to continue on one more day, to find the right thing to do, to do what I had to do and care for her the best I could.  These are the blessings of the light that shines in the darkness, regardless of the outcome.  The tremendous love and strength, the resources, and shared community created out of this one family's struggle and their hurting child has been extraordinary to see and to watch, their love a tremendous blessing.  But in their sadness and difficulty, and potential devastating loss, that might be impossible to see.  God's love is there, no matter what the outcome, and this is our light we can share with one another at all times, although none of us knows our outcome.  But this love we know is God's will.  It's important to know that just prior to the words we read in today's Gospel passage, Jesus has said to the disciples (minus Judas), "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" (John 13:34-35).  Perhaps it is in sharing that love that we do the greatest work of God we can do.  

 

 

 

 

 

And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them

 

 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.  

 

"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.  

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 

- John 17:1–11 (12–26) 

 

In yesterday's reading, we read that Jesus said (as He taught in the temple in Jerusalem, following His Triumphal Entry), "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.  Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die. The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

 

 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."  Chapter 17 of John's Gospel consists of what is frequently called the High Priestly Prayer.  My study Bible explains that this is because it contains the basic elements of prayer a priest offers to God when a sacrifice is about to be made.  These elements include glorification (John 17:3-5, 25), remembrance of God's works (John 17:2, 6-8, 22-23), intercession on behalf of others (John 17: 9, 11, 15, 20-21, 24), and a declaration of the offering itself (John 17:1, 5).  The hour has come, my study Bible tells us, signifies that Christ is Lord over time.   He chose the proper time in accordance with the will of the Father.  Glorify refers to the redemption of all creation that will be accomplished through the Cross and Resurrection, the purpose for which Christ was sent into the world.  In this redemption, my study Bible continues, the Father and the Son are glorified.  It's for this reason that the Cross, which is 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.  I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."  My study Bible comments that the knowledge of the only true God is far more than intellectual understanding.  It is participation in Christ's divine life and in communion with Him.  So, therefore, eternal life is an ongoing, loving knowledge of God in Christ and the Holy Spirit.  It's important to note that Christ's work can never be separated from who He is.  My study Bible says that particular verse is a statement that each believer can make at the end of life -- no matter how long or short one's life may be.

 

 "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."  Jesus speaks of the apostles ("the men whom You have given Me").  They are the ones through whom God's word comes to us, my study Bible says.  This handing down of God's word to successive generations is called apostolic tradition.  My study Bible explains that Isaiah prophesied that in the days of the Messiah, the knowledge of the Name of God would be revealed (Isaiah 52:6).  Christ speaks to the Father of Your name.  My study Bible notes that in the Old Testament times, the phrase "the Name" was reverently used as a substitute for God's actual Name "Yahweh," which was too sacred to pronounce.  The fuller revelation of the Name was given to those who believe in Christ, as Christ manifested the Name not only by declaring the Father, but by being the very presence of God and sharing the Name with Him (John 14:9). 

 

"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."  We note in the structure of this prayer, Jesus first prayed for Himself, and next for them, the apostles.  Only after that He prays for those whom You have given Me.  My study Bible explains that these are all those who would come to believe in Him (John 17:20-26).  When Christ speaks of being in the world, "the world" is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to God's light (John 1:4-5; 3:19-21).  Holy Father, my study Bible points out, is echoed in the eucharistic prayer of Didache 10:2 (from the earliest teaching document known in the Church):  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts.

 

 "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."  My study Bible explains that the son of perdition (or "destruction") is Judas Iscariot (John 6:70-71).  Old Testament prophecy alludes to Judas (Psalm 41:9, 109:2-13; Zechariah 11:12-13), and Judas becomes a type for all who will fall away in the last days (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3), where "son of perdition" is a reference 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.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."  As Christ is from heaven, so those who are joined to Him become like Christ.  So, therefore, all believers attract the world's hatred.  My study Bible refers to the second-century Letter to Diognetus (6:3) states, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world."   If we are reborn in Christ, then Christians have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-5), yet our vocation is in the world, where we are protected by God against the evil one.

 

"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, according to my study Bible, is to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  It quotes from St. John Chrysostom's interpretation of this verse:  "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

 

 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."   Jesus speaks of those who will believe.  My study Bible remarks that the Church in every generation participates in the life and glory of the Trinity.  Christians, it says, enjoy two kinds of unity:  with God and with one another, where the latter is rooted in the former.  The ultimate goal of Christ's prayer, and even of life itself, my study Bible notes, is for the love of the Father to dwell in each person.  

Jesus says, "I have finished the work which You have given Me to do."  As my study Bible pointed out, we each who follow Christ also have our own work to do.  In John's 6th chapter, the people ask Jesus, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  He tells them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent" (John 6:27-29).  Living out our faith is our work in the world, becomes our life's work in Jesus' perspective.  Just as He lived and worked by seeking the Father's will and doing it, so our own model for the work of our lives is Christ, and we are to fashion ourselves on Him.  It is faith which defines, drives, carves out (so to speak) our work for us in life -- and indeed, this is our life.  With deepening faith, it becomes our life.  Like Jesus, when the work that God gives us to do through our faith is finished, our lives have come to an end as well -- and this is the place where Jesus has come in His life and His ministry.  God has but one "work" left for Him to do, and that is coming before Him as the Cross.  In John's 17th chapter, Jesus prays one last time before He will go to the Garden of Gethsemane to be taken prisoner, and made to be on His way to trial and execution.  In the structure of the Gospel, He has just finished His farewell discourse to the disciples at the Last Supper (these will be part of our lectionary readings after Easter).  This concept of work that Jesus presents here is very important to us, and essential that we understand.  For in this prayer that He prays for Himself, and then for the disciples, and then for all the faithful who will follow, He also prays for our "work" that follows Him, and in His footsteps and teachings He gave to the disciples.  Jesus prays to the Father, "But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves."  He asks that all believers be kept in the Father's name, and in Christ's name.  In the sense in which Jesus uses the word "name" here, He's indicating God's presence and God's person.  It is linked closely with God's glory, for both name and glory speak of the presence of an authority similar to a king or official.  These include renown and reputation, but also the fullness of power of the person and the person's office and authority.  It is all of this in which Christ prays that we, His followers and faithful, be kept even as we are in this world.  Perhaps the most profound words of Christ come at the end of this prayer, in which He indicates that to be kept in God's name not only entails the fulfillment of our joy and work in life, but of a participation in God's glory, and most of all in God's love.  He prays that we may come to know God's love as He has, and that we remain in that love even as we live our lives.  It is in God's love that we count on the protection from the evil one.  Our sanctification, to be set apart for the work God gives us to do, is the truth that Christ has given us, that the Spirit of truth will be sent to give us so that we might recall and know the things He has taught and which He gives us (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13).  But He concludes with the great fullness of God for us, God's love, for this is the deepest and surest protection that we are kept in God's name.  Jesus' conclusion is the great testimony that love and its profound importance for us as we walk in our lives in this world, for every "work" we may do, is linked to God's love: "O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."