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."

 

 

 

And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth

 

 "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."

 

- John 17:9–19 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were given the beginning of what is known as Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, found in John chapter 17.  This is Christ's prayer following His Farewell Discourse to the disciples 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."  My study Bible asks us to note that Christ first prayed for Himself (see yesterday's reading, above) and then for the apostles (again, see yesterday's reading above, those whom You have given Me out of the world).  After this He prays for those whom You have given Me, which includes all who will come to believe in Him (verses 20-26).  Here, my study Bible explains, the world is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God. That is, those who prefer darkness to Christ's light.

"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."  My study Bible points out that Holy Father is echoed in the eucharistic prayer given in the Didache, the earliest teaching document of the Church.  Didache 10:2 reads, "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts."  

 

"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."  The son of perdition (or "destruction") is Judas Iscariot (John 6:70-71).  My study Bible says that Old Testament prophecy alludes to Judas (Psalms 41:9; 109:2-13; Zechariah 11:12-13).  Moreover, 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).  

"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."  My study Bible comments that, inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, those who are joined to Him become like Him.  So, therefore, believers will attract the world's hatred.  In the Letter to Diognetus, written in the second century, we read, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world" (see Letter to Diognetus 6:1, 2).  As one is reborn in Christ, citizenship is of the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-5), but Christian vocation is in the world, where there is protection by God against 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."  To sanctify is described by my study Bible as meaning to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and to bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  It notes that St. John Chrysostom interprets this verse as saying, "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

In yesterday's reading, the first part of what is called Christ's High Priestly Prayer was given to us by the lectionary.  Today's is the second reading of the prayer, and tomorrow we will read the final section of it.  In yesterday's reading, as my study Bible pointed out, Christ prayed first for Himself, and then for those whom He had been given by the Father.  Here, He continues that prayer, and we can observe His great concern for this beginning of His Church, and the ones whom He will send out into the world as seeds, so to speak, who will plant His word and found His churches in various parts of the known world.  There seems to be a great deal of delineation here, a kind of demarcation, between those who belong to the Father who have been given to Christ, and those who are of "the world" and cannot hear the word and do not respond in their hearts to the things of the Father which were given to Christ.  Jesus speaks of those who have responded to His ministry, "And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them."  In such a way, we are given to understand that the apostles glorified Christ through their own faithful lives, and that we might do the same.  He prays for those who will remain in the world, that they will be kept in God's Name, as Jesus has kept them while He was in the world.  There is a great line drawn here, in this sense, between "the world" which is under the ruler of this world  (John 12:31, John 14:30, John 16:11) and those who will carry on and be held in God's Name.  It is in this "set apart" context of the sacred that Jesus prays to the Father for those who will bear the Kingdom into the world.  Only one of them was lost (Judas), but Jesus prays of the rest, "But now I come to You and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves."  As we discussed in yesterday's commentary, we may observe through John's Gospel how both Jesus and John the Baptist speak of joy in this sense, as a product of the fulfillment of their role in God's kingdom even in this world.  And here yet again, we as believers are also invited in -- as are the disciples here by Jesus -- to also fulfill this joy of Christ in ourselves.  We are to find ourselves in Christ, and in this sense this joy may also be fulfilled in us.  Jesus sets out very carefully for us, in these words of His prayer recorded for posterity, the delineation between those who receive the word given through Christ, and "the world" that does not.  But He does not pray that those who keep His word in their hearts be taken out of the world, but remain in it.  Instead He prays only that they may be kept from "the evil one"; that is, kept from the ruler of this world, the devil.  And again, as in so much of John's Gospel, we return to themes of truth:  "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."  It is this truth that sanctifies and sets apart, but not for the purpose of separation alone -- for the purpose of bringing that which is sanctified into the world, Christ's holy truth, which is both His word and His Person given to us.  So, therefore, when we think about communion, we are to consider that it is meant to be a communion which is in this sense differentiated, set apart from what is "worldly," different from the world which does not know this truth, and does not share in the love Christ has brought to us.  John is often called the evangelist of love.  But in Matthew's Gospel,  the great warning about "end times" is a focus on love growing cold ("And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold" - Matthew 24:12).  So, in the context of Christ's prayer for the disciples, and for those who will follow, let us ponder upon the truth that we receive with love, and how important that the fire of this love not grow cold.  We, in faith, are set apart for something important, necessary for the world, a baptism of fire for the whole world brought by Christ (Luke 3:16, 12:49-53).  For those who do not love, the fire scalds and burns.  For those who receive this love in their hearts, it is a warming, invigorating fire of truth and grace which we are to live and bear into the world.  What burns and drives you forward today, kindling a spirit in which you feel joy and love?  Is there something you need to cast aside that cannot stand in that fire?  Where do you find your joy?  In the end of today's reading, Jesus gives us the fullness of His love and sacrifice for us:  "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."

 

 

Our Father in heaven

 

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:

    Our Father in heaven,

    Hallowed be Your name.

    Your kingdom come.

    Your will be done

    On earth as it is in heaven.

    Give us this day our daily bread.

    And forgive us our debts,

    As we forgive our debtors.

    And do not lead us into temptation,

    But deliver us from the evil one.

    For Yours is the kingdom and the power and  the glory forever.  Amen.

 

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

- Matthew 6:7-15 

 

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, the lectionary gave us Matthew 6:1-6 and verses 16-18, Christ's teachings on almsgiving, prayer, and fasting.  "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.  And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. . . . Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."  

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."  Note that the emphasis here is on vain repetitions.  In this Christ continues His teaching against hypocrisy, and the need for true communion with God (as opposed to the wearing of a mask, which hypocrisy implies).  Therefore vain repetitions cannot establish this communion; as my study Bible puts it, God does not need our babble.  In order to partake of this communion with God, both silence and words are necessary.  So, therefore, we are to pray always (Luke 18:1) and without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  This is not a condemnation of many words, but rather Jesus is teaching that words must express the desire for communion with God.  In today's reading, Jesus gives us specific words to repeat.  My study Bible reminds us that it is not repetition itself that is condemned but rather vain repetitions, as Christ desires sincerity in prayer.  Many psalms, prayers, and hymns of the Church have been repeated for countless generations in the worship of God "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23). 

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  My study Bible says that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity reveals our potential relationship with God.  Christ, the Son of God, grants us the privilege of calling God Our Father by the grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).  As a "son of God" a Christian person is called to love, trust, and serve God the same way that Christ does the Father.   We don't call God our Father because God created us; God is Father to those in a saving and personal relationship.  This  communion comes only by grace of adoption (see John 1:13; Romans 8:14-16).

"Give us this day our daily bread."  My study Bible explains that daily is a misleading translation of the Greek word epiousios/ἐπιούσιος, which means literally "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  The expression daily bread is an indication of not simply bread for this day, for earthly nourishment.  This is the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, something that nourishes our immortal soul.  My study Bible tells us that this living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  Therefore, in the Lord's Prayer, we're not just asking for material bread for physical health, but rather for the spiritual bread of eternal life (John 6:27-58).  

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  This request to be forgiven is plural ("our debts"), my study Bible points out, and so it directs us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  These debts are spiritual debts (see Matthew 18:21-35).  

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and  the glory forever.  Amen."   My study Bible comments that God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13).  But temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  They are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  No one lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), should not come to us.

 

 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  Here, a depth of insistence on mutual forgiveness between people, as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  My study Bible comments that those who do not forgive are not forgiven -- period.  This teaching is repeated in the parable of the unforgiving servant found at Matthew 18:21-35, which concludes with the same teaching.  My study Bible adds that to not forgive others is to willfully run from the forgiveness of God for ourselves.  

 

We note the emphasis Jesus places on forgiveness.  But if we look closely at Christ's behavior, we will see what that means.  Jesus did not apparently go around seeking retaliation upon anyone who opposed Him.  If we look at this passage, we'll see that some of His disciples felt it might be important to cast fire upon those who would not receive Christ on His way to Jerusalem.   But Jesus' reply to John and James Zebedee was, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them."  If we think about that more deeply, then we start to understand the direction of Christ's teachings.  He does not say that these villagers were right to refuse them, but He upholds what He had taught before that, when the disciples were sent upon their first mission:  that they were to shake the dust off their feet in places that refused them, as a rebuke (see Matthew 10:14).  Luke's story about the journey toward Jerusalem does not tell us if Jesus paused to do this, and we should consider what was particularly important about that trip toward the Cross and the events of Holy Week.  Jesus was still proclaiming the Gospel to the people of God, in His own mission to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, despite the fact that He was shortly to be killed.  But throughout Christ's ministry, and in particular in the final week of His life, Christ showed us that a refusal to enact retribution does not mean that we compromise on truth.  He spared no words in condemning hypocrisy and cruelty.  In His actions, He repeatedly defied those with hearts hardened, even as they claimed they were defending the religious Law (given, in fact, by Christ, the Logos, the Lord of the Old Testament).  In this Gospel, we will read Matthew's full recording of Christ's condemnation of the religious leaders and their practices (Matthew 23).  Jesus did not shirk from telling the truth.  There are times when we think in our personal lives that not speaking out is a form of forgiveness.  But again, in this Gospel, Jesus gives a formula for mutual correction in the Church (Matthew 18:15-20).  In that teaching it is clear communication that is the method for resolving precisely the type of spiritual "debts" He's instructed us to pray about in today's reading.  But taken altogether, forgiveness does not mean simple forgetting.  St. Paul will also speak of those who sin within the church, and who refuse repentance.  For something Paul found particularly scandalous, He taught the congregation to "deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."  What this means is to set the person apart from the Church, for life outside of the communion -- the experience of a life without Christ's protective presence against the evil in which he's participating -- may work to bring him back to salvation.   So we are to understand forgiveness in the context of the Gospels and of Christ's life and teachings, including as understood by St. Paul.   So far in the Sermon on the Mount, we've been taught about meekness and the poor in spirit, we've been taught about the dangers of anger and angry words, about swearing oaths, about covetousness and lust.  As followers of Christ, we have been warned against all of these things, and taught to turn the other cheek.  But this does not stop us from knowing and living the truth, and understanding the capacity for evil around us, and harmful acts.  Neither does it mean that we don't identify such things.  What is quite important is that we don't mistake forgiveness for an encouragement to participate, even through association, with bad acts and corrupting behaviors.  It's important -- even together with forgiveness -- that we disassociate ourselves from the kinds of behaviors that do harm.  For this is what St. Paul teaches us, that even to respect our very incarnational reality, even the holiness of our bodies and created matter (creations of God), means to seek a purposeful living, mindful of what we agree to and participate in.  We're not simply spirits or souls which are dissociated from our bodies.  Rather, we're in the world to "sacramentalize" it; that is, to hand it all over to God, to give ourselves to this purpose, for God's love to set in good order as opposed to the chaos that destroys life.  When Jesus teaches us about forgiveness, He is teaching, effectively, just that:  that even our conflicts and hurts are given up to God, so that God may guide us in response, rather than a sense of vengeance or other harmful passions.   For this is what God's peace is all about.  This is what it means to be "sons of God."

 

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

 

 "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 17:20-26 

 

Currently, we are reading through Christ's High Priestly Prayer, which He prayed at the Last Supper, after His Farewell Discourse to the disciples.  In yesterday's reading, we read that Jesus prayed to the Father, "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."  In this prayer, Jesus has prayed first for Himself (verses 1-5), and secondly for the apostles (verses 6-19).  Only then does His High Priestly Prayer turn to pray for those whom You have given Me.  That is, all who will come to believe in Him through the word of the apostles, as He says here.  My study Bible comments, regarding those who will believe, that the Church in every generation participates in the life and glory of the Trinity.  Christians enjoy two kinds of unity:  with God and with one another, the latter being rooted in the former. 

 

"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."  Note that this entire finish to Christ's High Priestly Prayer is rooted in love, and specifically the love of the Father and how that is the root of the communion of all.  From the love of the Father is the love between Christ and the Father, and that love in turn is extended to those who believe in His word (the apostles).  Through the apostles, this love becomes a part of the faithful to come, "that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."  There is nothing left out of this communion in the name of God, in which is rooted love and glory through God's word and faith in that word.

 

 As noted above, if we look closely at today's closing lines from Christ's High Priestly Prayer, we see everything couched in a communion of love.  It is clear that the Source of love is God the Father.  But this should not be confused with a kind of simple hierarchy that we understand on worldly terms.  For this love is not something that is limited, but shared, and shared deeply within a communion.  That communion is not only between Father and Son.  But it clearly also includes the Holy Spirit -- and beyond that, the apostles who bear Christ's word within themselves through faith and discipleship, and extends out to all those who will believe through their word.  Effectively, we have an entire universe, a whole cosmos, filled with this communion of love.  For, not only is God -- the Creator and Source of all -- love, but God's word that is extended, that finds itself in faith, bears that love to us.  That word bears God's name and Person, and these also can come to dwell in us, and through us even in the world that does not believe.  This is why, during Christ's Farewell Discourse, just before this prayer, Jesus tells the disciples, "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 16:33).  So we have two things that we know.  The first is that God is love, and that Christ's word and the communion in His name, are couched and rooted in love, permeated in love.  The second is that the word we're given, the truth of God, even the glory of God, is going to be hated by some and rejected -- and in this, believers will also experience tribulation.  We have to remember that there are spiritual roots to all of these things, and that "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:2).  But we take our peace and joy in this communion we can experience, in the word that gives us love and good guidance, and in which we can trust, even if there is tribulation.  As the faithful, we are called upon to know and to live these things, for we will surely experience them one way and another.  We know that Christ prays before going to the Cross, His sacrifice for all of us, for that love ("Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" - John 15:13).  For each of us, how that works out depends upon our own places in this great net of love, the communion between God and the faithful (and, lest we forget, this includes the celestial powers loyal to God, as well as the communion of saints).  Let us go forward with confidence in that love, find His victory for ourselves, and be prepared for the kind of life to which we're called, in His name.

 

 

 

 

Lord, teach us to pray

 

 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."  So He said to them, "When you pray, say:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us day by day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one."

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" 

- Luke 11:1-13 

 

Yesterday we read that, as they went toward Jerusalem, Jesus entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.  But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Therefore tell her to help me."  And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

 

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." My study Bible comments that the request, "teach us to pray," expresses a universal longing to be in communion with God.  

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  The Lord's Prayer given in Luke is almost completely identical to the one found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13).  Here we begin with the understanding of God's kingdom, and this essential Christian mission to manifest that kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.   Here in the prayer we are reminded of Christ's words from chapter 8:  "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it" (Luke 8:20-21).

"Give us day by day our daily bread."  In both Matthew's and Luke's versions of this prayer, the word "daily" is translated from the same Greek word, unique to the Gospels.  That word is epiousion/ἐπιούσιον.  Its literal meaning is something like "supersubstantial" or "above the essence."  It is clearly an allusion to the Eucharist, but also the spiritual nourishment of this Kingdom which we need for sustenance each day.  My study Bible comments that the expression daily bread indicates not just bread for this day, for earthly nourishment, but it is the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  This living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  In the Lord's Prayer, then, we are not asking merely for material bread for physical health, but for the spiritual bread of eternal life.  This understanding is made most explicitly clear in John 6:27-58.

"And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us."  In Matthew's version, we read, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  But the idea of sin and debt here are still conjoined to create the same understanding.  If we look at the law as a means to make restitution, we can see this relatedness between sin and debt.  But forgiveness here means that God is the ultimate broker and judge; our forgiveness becomes a way of giving everything into the hands of God, and seeking God's guidance for our daily lives.  My study Bible makes it clear that this request to be forgiven is plural, directing us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  The term debts refers to spiritual debts (see Matthew 18:21-35).  

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  My study Bible comments that God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13); temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  It notes that temptations are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  No one lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations -- that is, tests which are beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13) -- should not come to us.

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs."  My study Bible comments that this parable demonstrates God's faithfulness to those who are in need and who pray with persistence.  According to patristic commentary, midnight is interpreted as both the time of our death and a time of great temptation.  The friend, my study Bible explains, is Christ, who, as our only source of grace, provides everything we need.  

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"    In Greek, the verbs which are translated as ask, seek, and knock imply a continuous action.  My study Bible says they would be better and more accurately translated, "keep asking," "keep seeking," and "keep knocking."  It says that God responds when we persistently ask for things that are good.  Bread, fish, and an egg are all images of life, and they symbolize the gift of the Holy Spirit (see John 14:13-14, James 4:3). 

In the Lord's Prayer, which it seems is meant to be used each day, our first prayer, and the one that follows it, are:  "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."   These first pleas in the prayer are highly significant for their prominent placement.  They form the basis for the rest of the prayer.  It is as if Jesus first teaches us to pray for this kingdom to be manifest, and then the rest of the prayer in some way expresses the conditions necessary and characteristic of that kingdom.  First we know this is the kingdom of "our Father in heaven," whose name is hallowed, or holy.  Our Father in heaven, then, becomes the understanding for the basis for all the rest that is holy, all the things we may understand as holy or characterize as holy -- for it is whatever is "in His name" that is hallowed or made holy.  But the real manifestation, or coming of the God's kingdom, is characterized in that God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven.  How do we know God's will?  How do we know what God's will is for us to do in our lives specifically, or our lives collectively in the Church?  One gets an intuitive sense that perhaps simply embedded in the prayer is a plea that God makes this will known to us, that God gives us the capacity for the discernment of that will.  Nonetheless, this plea does not specify that it is only about oneself doing God's will, or a group of people or a nation, but rather that God's will be done "on earth as it is in heaven."  This is an ontological plea without reservation and without restriction.  It's not defined by borders or boundaries, or time or space, or by specific people or beings or any worldly thing we can name.  It is a plea for the world, and that in the whole world God's will be done as it  is in heaven.  That is an unquestionably powerful plea to pray, for we consider that we pray as a Church (in the plural), as a communion, if you will, and that we pray for God's kingdom to be made manifest, and God's will to be done for the whole world, on behalf of all and for all.  Everything else is conditioned within these pleas.  We pray for our "daily bread" which is the bread of the kingdom, for this bread is Christ Himself (John 6:51, 1 Corinthians 10:16).  We ask for this bread to be ours day by day.  We pray a mutual prayer for "our" sins to be forgiven; that is, we pray on behalf of all, and at the same time this is conditioned within the forgiveness that we offer by giving up the "debts" we feel we're owed to God, and seeking God's will in how we will live our lives and especially live the righteousness that pleases God.  And the prayer does not leave out the difficulties of this world, and an understanding and awareness of the evil in the world, but takes everything into consideration.  We do not pray in blindness to the problems of this world, but rather the opposite.  We recognize frankly the difficulties, and we present them to our Father, and we plead that we may be kept away from temptations that are too much for us, but deliverance from those times when the evil one seems to have ensnared us in difficulties that are all-too-present in this world.  And we may recall in this prayer that it is Jesus who has come down from heaven and become fully human in order to experience both temptation (Luke 4:1-13) and a time of great evil  (Luke 22:53).   We remember that "a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40), and that He is our example for times we experience the same in this world, and He has gone before us as Teacher.  Let us consider all the ways that the pleas in this prayer teach us about God's kingdom, about Christ's way, about our lives and our world as well, and consider what it is to live it and to pray it fully, day by day, and for the life of the world (John 6:33).  

Our Father in heaven

 

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:

"Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

 

- Matthew 6:7-15 

 

We are presently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).   "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.  And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. . . . ."Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." 

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."  Jesus' words here are coupled with His teachings against hypocrisy, and how hypocrisy separates us from God and keeps us from the depth of relationship necessary for true prayer, which my study Bible says is an intimate communion with God, which leads to the vision of God's glory (1 Corinthians 2:9).  Vain repetitions also cannot establish such a communion; God does not need our "babble."  To participate in it, both silence and words are necessary.  Therefore, my study Bible says, we pray always (Luke 18:1) and without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  Christ does not condemn the use of many words per se, but rather teaches that words need to express the desire for communion with God.  In the following verses, Jesus gives us specific words to repeat.  Therefore, it is not repetition itself that is condemned, but vain repetition.  Many psalms, prayers, and hymns of the Church have been repeated for countless generations in the worship of God "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23).  True prayer, as we can see from the prayer Christ gives us, is not telling God what God already knows, and then telling God what to do about it, nor is it appearing to be pious in front of others.  My study Bible sums up Jesus' teachings on prayer by saying that true prayer is humble ("go into your room"), personal ("pray to your Father"), and sincere (do not use vain repetitions).

 

"In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  My study Bible comments that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity reveals our potential relationship with God.  Christ, the Son of God, grants to us the privilege to call God Our Father by the grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).  As a "son of God" (indicating an heir, regardless of gender), a Christian is called to love, trust, and serve God in the same way that Christ does the Father.  My study Bible explains further that we must note that God is not our Father just because God created us.  God is only Father to those who are in a saving and personal relationship with Him, a communion that comes only by the grace of adoption (see John 1:13, Romans 8:14-16).   When we pray that the Father's kingdom come, and God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven," so we are affirming our love, our loyalty, and service to the Father just as Christ loved the Father, for God is love (1 John 4:8).

 

 "Give us this day our daily bread."  Daily is a misleading translation of the Greek word ἐπιούσιον/epiousion, a word which apparently appears nowhere else in literature except here in the Gospel.  This word literally means "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  The expression daily bread, according to my study Bible, indicates not simply bread for this day, for earthly nourishment.  It is, rather, the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  This living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  Therefore in this prayer given by Christ, we are not simply asking for material bread for physical health, but rather for the spiritual bread of eternal life (see John 6:27-58).  

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  My study Bible points out that the request to be forgiven is plural, which directs us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  Debts here refers to spiritual debts (see Matthew 18:21-35).  

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen."  My study Bible comments that God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13); temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  Temptations, it says, are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  It is the nature of temptation to come to us where we are vulnerable, even in ways that might seem to be "good."  No one lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), should not come to us.  Therefore, whenever we pray the Lord's Prayer, we also pray for deliverance from all aspects of evil.

 

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."   My study Bible comments that Jesus insists on mutual forgiveness between people as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  Those who do not forgive are not forgiven.  This is a teaching which is repeated in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35), which concludes with the same teaching.  My study Bible says that to not forgive others is to willfully flee from the forgiveness of God for ourselves. 

Forgiveness can be a rather tricky concept.  Does it just mean going back to people who abuse us?  Does it mean that our relationships are restored to full reconciliation with those who might harm us?  I think the language Jesus uses about debt is very important here, and a key to what forgiveness is.  Certainly in popular common language "forgiveness of debt" is still used when a financial institution of some sort erases a debt from the books.  So this term "debt," used to indicate some kind of harm or need for restitution, indicates that we expect a kind of payback -- which leads us to conclude it is something reinforced by retribution or vengeance of some sort.  In Jewish law, restitution was key to the establishment of jsutice.  In the Old Testament, this problem of vengeance, of returning violence for violence, is at the heart of the problems of the world -- see Genesis 4, and the story of sin from Cain to Lamech, who promised vengeance "seventy-sevenfold."  St. Paul reminds us of God's teaching that vengeance belongs to God (see Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:30, Deuteronomy 32:35).  Therefore, a "debt" that is incurred through another's bad action is something that we forgive by giving it up to God.  In keeping with the financial metaphor, God assumes the debt and responsibility for its repayment, for restitution.  This is a teaching, as St. Paul elaborates, against personal vengeance, and it is rather a part of our prayer in which we assert that we meet evil in our lives by seeking the will of God for ourselves as our way through this world, and for how to respond.  So much in this prayer is concerned with the evil of the world and how to live the will of God, as did Christ -- and forgiveness is stressed so that we emphasize our prayer that the Father's "will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  In this context, we can understand forgiveness not to be a justification for others' bad actions, and certainly not behavior that would reward or indulge harmful behaviors.  Forgiveness is rather affirming that we leave all things in God's hands, and pray for guidance for how to conduct our lives, despite the evil we encounter.  Just as we pray for deliverance from evil (or the "evil one" as the language also reads in Greek), so here we are praying God's way through evil circumstances, even admittedly bad acts by others.  In this way, forgiveness can begin for each of us through an understanding of Christ's language of "debt," and the understanding that it is God the Father who is the ultimate Judge.  Through releasing the debt to the Judge, we are freed from thoughts of vengeance to consider the best way to live with what may be bad circumstances.  We are not necessarily praying for reconciliation to a bad actor or ongoing abuse and suffering, but instead are set free to consider what healing means and the best way to pursue that.  Therefore, this prayer emphasizes a freedom from the pattern of retribution that leads down a long road of sin, and always goes from bad to worse.   How might we better spend our time?  What might give us a better outcome to our lives, our productivity, the things that are good in our lives?  Let us use the prayer as our guide for life, as our way to seek out our Father, and to find His way for us. 

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

 

 "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 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 17:20-26 

 

Beginning with Thursday's reading, the lectionary has given us what is known as Christ's High Priestly Prayer, His prayer to the Father before His seizure by authorities.  Yesterday, we read that Jesus prayed, "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 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."  My study Bible comments that here Jesus prays for those who will believe.  It says that the Church in every generation participates in the life and glory of the Trinity.  Christians enjoy two kinds of unity:  with God and with one another, the latter being rooted in the former.  

"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' profound statements lead us to understand John's Gospel as the Gospel of love.  My study Bible comments that the ultimate goal of Christ's prayer, and indeed of life itself, is for the love of the Father to dwell in each person. 

 Jesus speaks of a union of love.  That union of love is clear within His own relationship to the Father, but what Jesus prays for is not only that the world knows of this love, but that we who are His followers are also drawn into this love as thoroughly and completely as He is:  "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."   In the pagan systems of belief and practice, a god was appeased through sacrifice of some kind.  Meals were eaten with the god also as part of sacrifice and even communion.  But Christ stood this system upside down, as the sacrifice we commemorate is our God's sacrifice for us, and the communion and meal in which we engage is also provided by God's sacrifice for us, a sacrifice most deeply made out of love for us.  And this is the power of Christ.  For this is a God who always loves us and yearns for us to return to that love and to that communion.  Our faith is not magic but depends on this communion of love, our participation in the life of Christ, and indeed, as He prays here, in the union of Father, Son, and Spirit.  In the ancient world, the pagan gods were capricious and could be quite cruel; gods were appeased so that they would "do something" for those who made the sacrifice.  But there is no manipulation in Jesus, there is only love, and this prayer exemplifies for us and outlines the love of God the Father that begins it all, that defines and leads Christ the Son, that reaches out to us to include us in this communion.  And that is what we must remember.  We live in a world that so often still seems to abide by the laws of the harsh gods:  capricious, manipulative, coercive, cruel, duplicitous, where might makes right and trust is hard to find anywhere.  And when we look at "the world" and observe these things, let us consider the singular importance, the paramount contribution to our lives of Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father which He teaches us.  For love is in short supply when we are left to our own devices and outcomes.  Therefore, our participation in God's love becomes even more essential when we face warring outcomes in a world where there are no perfect solutions, and violence reigns.  Let us understand how deeply we need God's love at all times, but especially in times of stress when there is so much temptation to fall into patterns of hatred and rash behavior.  For it is God's love that stabilizes a life in which needs for love aren't being met, security and stability are imperfect, and fear knocks at the heart.  Without this love, we are lost to so much cruelty; but with God's love we have hope to live and dwell in a Kingdom where our love is shared and known.  Christ prays to the Father, "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."   Through grace, that Name is being declared over and over in us, for us, even through us, that the love with which the Father loves the Son may be in us, and Christ in us, for this is the true gospel of the Kingdom.

 

 

 

 

 

Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are

 

 "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."

 

- John 17:9-19 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were given what is called Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, which He prayed to the Father before His trial and Crucifixion.  Jesus 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."  My study Bible notes that Christ first prayed for Himself (verses 1-5) and secondly, for them, the apostles (verses 6-19).  Only then does He pray for those whom You have given Me -- that is, all who will come to believe in Him (verses 20-26).  Here, my study Bible says, the world is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to God's light.  

"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."  Holy Father is echoed in the eucharistic prayer of Didache 10:2 (the Didache the earliest known Christian teaching document):  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts."  

"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."  The son of perdition ("destruction") is Judas Iscariot (John 6:70-71).  Old Testament prophesy alludes to Judas, my study Bible says (Psalms 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" refers to the Antichrist.

"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."  As Christ is from heaven, my study Bible explains, so those who are joined to Him become like Him.  Therefore, believers attract the world's hatred.  In the second-century Letter to Diognetus (6:3), it is stated, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world."  To be reborn in Christ is to have citizenship in the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-5), yet the vocation disciples is in the world, where they 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."  My study Bible explains that to sanctify is to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ is saying, "Make them holy through the gifts of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

Jesus makes a distinction in His prayer between those who are His and the world.  My study Bible explains that "the world" is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to God's light.  He indicates that those who come to Him, those who hear His voice, are those whom the Father first has given to Christ ("those whom You have given Me").  As we have seen consistently in John's Gospel, all things begin with the Father, including the identity of the Son, and we who hear the Son's voice.  It is the Father through whom all things begin, including our capacity to hear Christ's voice, the word of truth (Matthew 16:17).   What is extremely notable in this section of the High Priestly Prayer is Christ's clear distinction between "the world" and His followers, the faithful.  He begins by saying to God that He does not pray for the world, but for those whom the Father has given to Him, for they are the Father's.  Jesus prays, "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."  Let us note that what is of greatest importance to Christ is simply that His followers remain faithful; that they remain true to the Father and true to the word which Christ has taught.   To have been kept in the Father's name is to have been kept and held within the Kingdom, the realm of the Holy Spirit, this reality to which we respond which is planted in our hearts, for this is how the Name of God works.  It is a sense in which we belong to God, we are stamped in our hearts with God's Name.  It's important, essential, to remember that what Jesus prays for is that we remain in this condition of belonging to God.  He is not praying that we always get our wish, that we live in a mansion and have every worldly success we can think of.  Far from it.  What Christ prays for is that we are kept by God and not lost, and that we are kept from "the evil one."  That is, we are not lost to the ways of the one who opposes God, whether that be a spiritual power or a worldly manifestation of spiritual darkness, which is in opposition to God.  It is this life and this safety that Christ prays for, for us.  He prays that we not become "of the world" in the sense that we give up God's ways for the ways we see in the world that are in opposition to God.   Jesus says, "Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth."  We must remain within God's word and God's truth; and we know God's ways from the Scripture, from the teachings of Jesus.  He says, "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."   Jesus will remain loyal within God's truth and God's way for Him all the way to the Cross, putting everything on the line, so that He might be sanctified in order to sanctify us in God's truth.  It is we who are the beneficiaries of this prayer, we who must take it seriously that we are in the world and not of it.  And this is Christ's joy, that we remain in this place of truth and sanctification, even when the world would demand a different way, of manipulation and lies, coercion in all its forms, expedience, and serving all manner of forms of selfishness over our call from God.  Let us consider the ways we need to keep alert to the temptations of the world, so that Christ keeps us for Himself, and we may have His joy fulfilled in ourselves.