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 again a little while, and you will see Me'; and 'because I go to the Father'?"  They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'?  We do not know what He is saying." 

 

Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'?  Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.  And in that day you will ask Me nothing.  Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.  Until now you have asked nothing in My name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.  

 

"These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.  In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have  loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.  I came forth from the Father and have come into the world.  Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."  His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!  Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You.  By this we believe that You came forth from God."  Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?  Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone.  And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

 

- John 16:16-33 

 

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

 

  "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father."  Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "What is this that He says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and 'because I go to the Father'?"  They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'?  We do not know what He is saying."  My study Bible comments that the first little while refers to Christ's arrest, death, and burial.  The second is Christ's time in the tomb until His Resurrection. 

 

 "Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'?  Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  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 explains that no longer remembers doesn't imply the faithful are to forget the Passion and Cross of Christ, any more than a woman "forgets" labor.  Instead, we are to see these sufferings in light of the victory of the Resurrection, and this victory transfigures our perception of sufferings.  Christ's victory 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."  The time when Christ would speak plainly about the Father, according to my study Bible, was during the 40 days following the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).  

 

"In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have  loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.  I came forth from the Father and have come into the world.  Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."  His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!  Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You.  By this we believe that You came forth from God."  Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?  Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone.  And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."  My study Bible notes 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, we have direct access to the Father, and so therefore we pray in the name of the Son as well (John 14:13-14).  

 

It's very significant that my study Bible points out Christ's meaning here as indicating that we see His suffering in light of the Resurrection -- and all the good things that came out of it as well.  This can't be underestimated in terms of its impact on the whole of our faith, and yet also in each of our individual lives.  For Christ's Resurrection is not just His alone.  His Resurrection is also something in which we may participate, for when we have our faith, we have faith in Resurrection as ongoing reality and something which we may also experience in our own lives.  Christ stepped into the world filled with sin and evil things, including intense suffering.  He came to be with us as one of us; He did not look upon us from afar and stand aloof to our suffering, but came down into it, like a baptism.  According to my study Bible, Jesus called His Passion and death a baptism because He was completely immersed in it, yet it cleansed the world (Matthew 20:22-23).  In this light, we again consider the words in today's reading, in which Jesus teaches that the suffering His disciples will endure while experiencing the shattering and shocking events of His Passion and death will only be properly received and understood through the light of the Resurrection, and the joy that is to come "in a little while" later on.  In this instruction, Jesus gives the example of a woman in labor.  No one forgets the pain, but that pain is understood and perceived in the light of the joy of birth.  Christ's death and Resurrection are equally important for us, and must be taken together.  We do not forget suffering -- and that includes all those who follow Christ and suffer in the world, particularly because of their faith -- but neither do we receive or understand that suffering without the Resurrection.  In this is truly our faith, and the instruction for how we go through life, and even through the tragedies and terrible experiences that may befall us.  For while the light of the Resurrection may not change the facts of the suffering, including the pain and even loss, Resurrection brings with it its own changed circumstances and new realities.  This is the heart of faith, and why we do not despair.  We don't know what door God opens to us when we meet suffering with trust and faith in Him, even when we experience loss of things dear to us.  In Christ's case, His disciples would lose their beloved Teacher Jesus.  But Resurrection would defeat death for the world, and send the Holy Spirit to all who may be baptized into the Church and find the faith and truth therein.  And in this is joy, as Jesus says here in today's reading.  This is not an intangible joy, but one that is measured through our own experience of meeting difficulties in the experience of the faith that shows us how to walk through them.  My mother experienced dementia and Alzheimer's, and it was with no shortage of difficulty.  But we became closer through her illness, and I was able to offer her love and care.  Moreover, in her own growth, despite -- and maybe even because of -- her illness, she was able to find faith in Christ, a depth in bond of love at her Church, and meaning in the Bible she had not found before.  These are simply a small handful of the good things that came out of meeting her illness in the faith of Christ and the power of Resurrection that is at work for us when we pray.  Jesus says in today's reading, "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."  When we have tribulation, let us remember that He has overcome the world, and extends that resurrection power and strength to us to walk us through our own, and find the redemption of Resurrection. 

 

 

 

He must increase, but I must decrease

 

 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.  Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there.  And they came and were baptized.  For John had not yet been thrown into prison.  Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.  And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified -- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!"  

 

John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.  You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'  He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.  He must increase, but I must decrease.  He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth.  He who comes from heaven is above all.  And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies, and no one receives His testimony.  He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.  For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.  The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.  He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

 

- John 3:22-36 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus continued to teach Nicodemus:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe in condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

 

  After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.  Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there.  And they came and were baptized.  For John had not yet been thrown into prison.  Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.  And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified -- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!"  In the following chapter, it's clarified that Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples were baptizing (see John 4:1-2).  

 

 John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.  You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'  He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled."  John the Baptist is called the friend (meaning the "best man"), while Christ is the bridegroom.  My study Bible explains that the bride is the Church, the people of God.  Here John is confessing his role in the coming of the Messiah.  He is witness to the wedding of Christ and His people, and so he rejoices in that celebration.  

 

 "He must increase, but I must decrease.  He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth.  He who comes from heaven is above all.  And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies, and no one receives His testimony.  He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.  For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure."  My study Bible comments that John expresses a humility that serves as an example for all believers.  His words express that he renounces all earthly glory and reputation for the sake of Christ.  In allowing Christ to increase in him, John thereby find true glory for himself.  My study Bible also claims that this statement further indicates the end of the old covenant -- for as the law vanishes, the grace of Christ abounds.  John's declaration is found in the liturgical calendar, as his birth is celebrated at a time when the sun begins to decrease in the sky (June 24), while Christ's birth is celebrated when the sun begins to increase (December 25).

 

"The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.  He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."  Here John echoes the teaching of Jesus (see John 3:18).  My study Bible asks us to note the absence of the word "alone" in this statement of faith.  According to St. John Chrysostom, "We do not from this assert that faith alone is sufficient for salvation; the directions for living that are given in many places in the Gospels show this."  See also James 2:14-24.

 

John's statement, "He must increase, but I must decrease" is a model statement for all monastics, and an encouragement to all believing Christians.  St. Paul expressed the same idea when he wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).   St. Paul has also written, "I die daily" (1 Corinthians 15:31).  In "decreasing" so that Christ "increases" within us, we encounter the notion of theosis, or deification.  This is a theological word which describes a human being, through Christian faith, becoming more like God.  This is not to say that we human beings can become like God in nature or substance, but rather that God shares God's grace with us.  In Orthodox theological language, God shares God's energies with us.  In St. John's Gospel, Jesus quotes from the Psalms, asking, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, you are gods'?" (John 10:34; Psalm 82:6).  My study Bible comments that we are gods in that we bear Christ's image, not His nature.  But through grace (or divine energies), we are to become more like God.  We were made in accordance with human nature, but in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26).  Christ assumed our humanity, and, my study Bible says, even in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, this process of our own healing, of being renewed in God's image and likeness, was begun.  So therefore, those who are joined to Christ, through faith, in Holy Baptism, begin this process of "re-creation."  That is, being renewed in God's image and likeness.  In this sense, St. Peter writes that we become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).  This is our salvation, this healing in which all things come under the authority of Christ, and we become "children of God" in this sense of image and likeness.  John the Baptist hands off the old to the new covenant, as my study Bible says, and encapsulates this salvation memorably for all when he says, "He must increase, but I must decrease."  Christ is our Bridegroom, and we the Church, the faithful, are His Bride, to be joined to Him.  And therein is John's, and our, joy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Therefore hear the parable of the sower

 

"Therefore hear the parable of the sower:  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside.  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

 

- Matthew 13:18-23 

 

As we began chapter 13 of St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus began a new kind of preaching.  He gave the parable of the Sower to the crowds.  (See Tuesday's reading.)  Yesterday, we read that following His giving of this parable, the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.'  But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

 

 "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside.  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."  In today's reading, Jesus explains in detail to the disciples the meaning of the parable of the Sower.  

 

Jesus explains: "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside."  In yesterday's commentary, we discussed the "two ways" found in the teachings of both Judaism and Christianity, and how Christ's words exemplified aspects of this understanding.  Here, He seems to give us hints regarding His words (in yesterday's reading) teaching about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and those who have been given to understand, contrasted with those who haven't.  He said, "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  Here He gives us an insight into how such wisdom works:  when people are exposed to the teachings of Christ regarding the kingdom, and they do not understand it, the wicked one comes and snatches away the word that was sown in the heart.  Without our capacity for spiritual sight and hearing, the "wicked one," the devil, is able to leave us empty, to take away the good word we've been given.  Our lack of understanding, in this picture that Jesus gives us, leaves us vulnerable to the effects of evil and its active presence in our world.  Thus, we lose "even what we have" when we fail to grasp Christ's words.  We might presume, or so it seems, regarding Christ's statement to the disciples in yesterday's reading, that God is at work in this process.  He said to the disciples that "it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given."  Who is the Giver?  Why is something given to one, and not to another?  We must presume, therefore, that this giving and understanding (or receiving) is a kind of two-way street or effect, a synergistic reality that involves both God and the reception of the human being.  We don't know why something is given to one and not the other.  Equally mysterious, do we know why one understands and another does not?  We should recall that the words of Isaiah quoted by Jesus indicate a hardness of heart, a dullness created by habits of not caring, not paying attention, not seeking to understand.    Repentance, also, plays a strong hand in such matters of understanding, because repentance indicates a turning toward God, not simply regret or recognition of past mistakes. In repentance, we seek to place ourselves on the road toward Christ.  And so, we go into the parable of the Sower, and the word sown by Him.  How does that word take root within us?  What kind of soil do we need to provide for it?  And how do we get that, prepare it, fertilize it, make good things grow?  How do we take that word to heart, consider it precious, nurture it?  Do we treasure the word He offers, and what it means for us to be capable of living it?  We have to truly desire it.  This is the spiritual life the Word offers to us, as He sows His gospel of the kingdom of heaven.  Let us seek to produce the good crops He asks of us, a hundredfold, maybe sixty, even thirty.

 

 

 

But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience

 

 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.  And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities -- Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.

 

And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:  "A sower went out to sow his seed.  And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.  Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.  But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold."  When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 

Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?"  And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries  of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that

'Seeing they may not see,

 And hearing they may not understand.'

"Now the parable is this:  The seed is the word of God.   Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in a time of temptation fall away.  Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.  But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience."

 

- Luke 8:1–15 

 

Yesterday we read that one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him.  And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.  And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  So he said, "Teacher, say it."  There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.  One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.  Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more?"  Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more."  And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."  Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."  And those who sat at table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."

 

  Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.  And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities -- Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.  My study Bible comments that these women were faithful to Christ to the end (Luke 23:49, 55), and they were the first to receive and to proclaim the news of His Resurrection (Luke 24:1-10).  In Scriptures, it notes, the number seven often symbolizes totality and completeness, indicating that Mary called Magdalene had been thoroughly given over to darkness before her healing. 

And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:  "A sower went out to sow his seed.  And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.  Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.  But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold."  When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  As the crowds around Jesus have grown extremely large (a great multitude), and many people now come to hear Him speak, He initiates His speaking style in parables with this first one, the parable of the Sower. 

Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?"  And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries  of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that 'Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'"  My study Bible comments here that mysteries are not obscure intellectual concepts, but the presence of the Kingdom of God which cannot be defined.  A person's unwillingness to understand Christ's parables is due to a rejection of His Kingdom.   My study Bible quotes St. John Chrysostom here:  "If the blindness were natural, it would have been proper for God to open their eyes; but because it was a voluntary and self-chosen blindness, He does not overthrow their free will."  To do so would have been not only to "no advantage for them, but an even greater condemnation."  Jesus refers to the words of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10).

 

 "Now the parable is this:  The seed is the word of God.   Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in a time of temptation fall away.  Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.  But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience."  Here Jesus explains the parable to His disciples.  My study Bible comments that, as the sower in the parable, Christ fulfills the prophecy in Isaiah 55:10-13.  It asks us to note that while some might teach that a person is permanently saved at the moment one professes faith -- a view which was never held by the historic Church -- the teaching of Christ is clear in the explanation of the parable that it's possible for one to believe for a while and then fall away.  

My study Bible describes parables as stories in word-pictures, which reveal spiritual truth.  In Hebrew and Aramaic, it says, the words for parable also mean "allegory," "riddle," or "proverb."  They express a constant which persists even today in the Near and Middle East, the seeming paradox of mysteries or riddles that tell us truths which are elusive and not always obvious to our minds.  Parables are also poetical, in the sense that they give us metaphors to think about, ways to conceive of ourselves in our world and before God.  Although their images are drawn from every day life to reach all, they communicate the deep things of God.  But, as my study Bible indicates, and Jesus says Himself in today's reading, the truth communicated in Christ's parables is not evident to all who hear.  Thus, midst these crowds, He's seeking those who can respond.  The parable of the Sower illustrates various levels of acceptance of such truths and the working of faith.  They indicate whether or not we have persistence, or whether difficulties can put us off this pursuit of faith.  The parable expresses the joy with which someone may receive the gospel, only to turn away at a later date.  It also teaches us that not everyone immediately accepts or grasps Christ's truths, and the word (or seed) of God.  The parable of the Sower teaches us what it is to persist in the struggle for our faith, just as St. Paul tells us that we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (see Philippians 2:11-13).  Clearly the "action" of the parable is dynamic, meaning that this central drama of faith is one that persists throughout our lives, and is not meant merely for a moment's decision.  We're all capable of doubt, of struggle with temptation and with hardship, and like St. Peter (for one example in the Gospels), we're capable of failure and return.  There will be times when we struggle to accept what God is trying to teach us, and times when we grasp it with joy.  Today's reading begins with the illustration of the women, who in their own example give us an image of what the parable teaches.  Even Mary Magdalene, who will be the first to see the resurrected Christ, and carry the word to the apostles (as her title, Apostle to the Apostles, indicates), is one who had been fully immersed in darkness, as the text tells us, given over to "the other side," as we might say.  We can imagine their persistence in faith, as they remained true to Christ throughout His ministry, His Crucifixion and death, and in the early Church.  Let us endeavor to be like the women, pursuing our salvation, keeping His word, struggling through temptation and hardship, even tribulation.  For keeping His word produces a value beyond the cares, riches, and pleasures of life with which we may imagine Mary Magdalene herself struggled, and overcame to produce fruit far beyond a hundredfold -- even to inspire us today.  In these women we see those who heard the word with a noble and good heart, kept it, and bore fruit with patience through all things.

 

 

 

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."

 

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."

 

 

 

He must increase, but I must decrease

 

 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.  Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there.  And they came and were baptized.  For John had not yet been thrown into prison.  Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.  And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified -- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!"  John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.  You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'  He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.  He must increase, but I must decrease.  He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth.  He who comes from heaven is above all.  And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.  He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.  For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.  The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.  He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

 

- John 3:22–36 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus taught Nicodemus, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

 

  After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.  Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there.  And they came and were baptized.  For John had not yet been thrown into prison.  Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.  And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified -- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!"  John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.  You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'  He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled."  Here John the Baptist is called the friend (or "best man"), while Christ Himself is the bridegroom.  My study Bible tells us that the bride is the Church, the people of God.  Here John confesses is role in the coming of the Messiah.  He's witness to the wedding of Christ and His people, my study Bible says, and so he rejoices in that celebration. 

"He must increase, but I must decrease."  My study Bible comments that John expresses a humility that serves as an example for all believers.  He renounces all earthly glory and reputation for the sake of Christ.  In allowing Christ to increase in him, he finds true glory for himself.  Moreover, my study Bible adds, John's statement indicates the end of the old covenant.  As the law vanishes, it says, the grace of Jesus Christ abounds.  This declaration is also evident in the liturgical calendar.  John the Baptist's birth is celebrated at a time when the sun begins to decrease in the sky (June 24), while the birth of Christ is celebrated when the sun begins to increase (December 25).

 

"He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth.  He who comes from heaven is above all.  And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.  He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.  For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.  The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.  He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."  Here John echoes the teaching of Jesus Himself (in John 3:18).   My study Bible asks us to note the absence of the word "alone" in this statement of faith.  St. John Chrysostom is quoted as saying, "We do not from this assert that faith alone is sufficient for salvation; the directions for living that are given in many places in the Gospels show this."  See also James 2:14-24. 

 

 John the Baptist says of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease."  As my study Bible indicates, this is also a statement that can apply to the new and old covenants, respectively.  For John the Baptist is a figure of the Old Testament, a prophet in the lineage of the Old Testament prophets.  And he is guiding and "handing off," so to speak, his disciples to Jesus.  We might consider this statement as a type of prophecy in that overarching sense of the story of salvation, and what is happening in Israel and in the world at this time of the early part of Christ's earthly ministry.  But there are also ways in which this statement by John the Baptist applies to all of us.  It also applies to each one of us individually as believers.  St. Paul writes, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).  In this statement, St. Paul makes it clear that as a person, his old life and identity are "crucified," and Christ lives and grows in him through his faith.  This is most important for each of us to understand, because we are all meant to do the same.  For the Orthodox, this process of Christ growing within us, while our worldly identities decrease in favor of the one we come to know through faith in Christ, is called Theosis.  We each, in this sense, are meant to become divinized; that is, to grow in likeness to Christ, so that we can say together with St. John the Baptist (in this particular sense), "He must increase, but I must decrease."  The only irony in such an application is that we don't decrease at all in this process.  Instead, Christ gives us an identity in Him and through our faith that is much greater than the worldly identity we might know without Him.  Like the Prodigal Son, we "come to ourselves" when we return to Christ, the One who loves us and who died for us, as St. Paul writes.  Additionally, along these same lines, St. Paul also has written, "I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily" (1 Corinthians 15:31).  In the context of this letter, St. Paul was defending the imperative of our faith in Christ's Resurrection, and in this sense we can understand how both crucifixion and resurrection play a role in our lives as we participate in the life of Christ through our faith and the sacraments and practices of the Church.  If, as Christ increases in us, we (in our sense of worldly identity) decrease, then what we receive is a resurrection even in this life.  We receive for our faith a sense of ourselves that eclipses who we thought we were, just as Saul who terrified the Church by breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord became St. Paul.   "He must increase, but I must decrease" is also a powerfully iconic statement of humility, and, as such, St. John the Baptist forms the model ideal for monastics.  Sainthood itself is nothing less than this process of growth in holiness, exchanging one identity for another in obedience and humility, and giving up the things that stand in the way of such a process.  St. John, in today's reading, describes just what that process has been for him.  He has found his true identity as the friend of the Bridegroom, and as such, he has come to rejoice:  "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled."  So we, like St. John the Baptist and also St. Paul, and countless myriad other saints known and not known to us, may find our joy in the ways we, too, may become friends of the Bridegroom.  For this, too, is part of the reality of everlasting life,  life given to us more abundantly by the Son and through our faith. 

 

 

 

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."