I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

 

 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour. 

 

 Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them. When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  

 "He Himself took our infirmities

And bore our sicknesses." 

 

- Matthew 8:5-17 

 

On Saturday we read the following words given at the end of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7):  And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

 

 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  This centurion is a Gentile.  A centurion commanded one hundred men in a Roman legion.  My study Bible comments that Jesus is the Savior of all, and in Him ethnic distinctions are void.  

 

And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  My study Bible indicates that, according to many Greek scholars, Jesus' phrase, "I will come" has been read as a question: "Shall I come?"   Either way it is read, Jesus is ready to deal graciously with this Gentile and even to enter his house, which would make Him unclean in the eyes of the Jews. 

 

 The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." This centurion expresses an unusual faith in Jesus; it is remarkable that he would call a Jew Lord.  His statement, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof," is frequently quoted in liturgical texts.  My study Bible calls it an ideal expression of humility. 

 

 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"  My study Bible points out that there are only two occasions reported in the Gospels in which Christ marveled.  Once is at the unbelief in His hometown of Nazareth (Mark 6:6), and here at the belief of this foreigner.  

 

 "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.  My study Bible comments that here Jesus nullifies any ideas of ethnic superiority.  Those who are rejected sons of the kingdom are both the Jews who deny Christ and those raised in the Church who do not live their faith; outer darkness and weeping and gnashing are descriptions of the state of the unrighteous dead in Sheol (Hades) in the Jewish tradition (1 Enoch 108:5).  These are common expressions in St. Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30), and they occur also in St. Luke's Gospel (Luke 13:28).  

 

 Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them. When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."  This passage and 1 Corinthians 9:5 (in which Peter is called Cephas) tell us that St. Peter was married.  My study Bible comments that Christ's healing miracles are diverse.  Here He heals by touch; earlier with the centurion's servant, He healed with a word.  In the case of St. Peter's mother-in-law, the healing is immediate and complete, but others are gradual (Mark 8:22-25), or they require the cooperation of the person healed or of their loved ones (Luke 8:54-55).  

 

There are several elements in today's reading that mark particular themes in the Gospel.  For example, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, we were told that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes (see Saturday's reading, above).  This is an important concept in today's reading as well, as the centurion is a man of authority within the Roman Empire, and a Gentile.  He's a military commander of one hundred Roman legionnaires, those who occupy and make possible the colonization of Israel, and expansion of empire.  But here in today's reading, one authority clearly recognizes the authority in another; the Roman soldier and commander recognizes authority in Jesus, and even calls Him Lord.  He goes even further, and states that he is not worthy that Jesus should come under his roof, humbling himself before Christ as One having greater authority.  It seems almost instinctive in the centurion that he recognizes in Jesus One who can command.  It is an important lesson in authority to understand that a command -- as the extent of authority -- can reach beyond individual to individual and work through servants and others of lesser rank.  The centurion tells Jesus, "But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  We know that Jesus as Lord also is a Commander who works through His servants, soldiers, and messengers (His disciples and apostles, the faithful, and the angels), and His commands go out through such agency and via such authority.  But how does the centurion understand this about Jesus?  No wonder Jesus marveled.  Jesus says, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"  Perhaps this is meant to teach us something special and particular about faith, that it is rooted in a kind of love and purity of heart that recognizes and instantly grasps something about identity, that knows Christ who knows us (1 Corinthians 13:12).  The centurion is one with ears to hear and eyes to see (Matthew 13:16-17).  In a sense, he is also like Christ in that Christ's imperative for the use of His power is to heal; the entire purpose of the Incarnation is a healing and saving mission, offering us a way to rectify and put right what has been disordered and unhealthy in our world.  In this perspective, what we understand as the Fall is unnatural, against our true nature.  What we witness of the centurion in today's reading is his own impulse to heal; he desperately seeks out healing for his suffering servant.  Listen to his compassion in this statement, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  Did not Christ Himself condescend to become one of us in order to heal human beings, who lie paralyzed and dreadfully tormented with sin and all the cumulative adverse effects of sin in our world?  Besides the things my study Bible points out, the faith of this centurion tells us a great deal about what faith is and does and how it can act.  He recognizes Christ in ways that others do not, he also knows what Christ can do and will do with His (Genesis 1:26).  We may perhaps be taken aback that this could be true of an occupying soldier and commander, but we should not be.  Christ Himself refers to His angels as those who come in legions (Matthew 26:53).  Authority as we understand it in Christ and in His servants (such as the angels) is also power, and we need to recognize the proper and correct use of authority suitable to our true nature (such as the authority which God gave human beings in Genesis 1:26).  Let us consider all the ways we can learn from today's passage, and from the centurion's example.

 

 

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep

 

 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. 

Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  

"I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leave the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of the fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."

 

- John 10:1–18 

 

 In our current reading, Jesus is in Jerusalem, and attending the Feast of Tabernacles.  This is an autumn harvest festival commemorating the time that Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai, and dwelt in tents or "tabernacles."  It is now the final year of Christ's earthly life.  The religious leaders have sought to arrest Him and even stone Him, but unsuccessfully.  We have just read the sixth of seven "signs" in John's Gospel, the miraculous healing of a man blind from birth.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued His dialogue with them, and they have been grilling the formerly blind man.  We read that the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."  So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know; that though I was blind, now I see."  Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.  Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."

 

  "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep."  Of today's entire passage, my study Bible explains that Christ's conversation with the Pharisees continues, as there is no break between the final verses of the last chapter (above) and today's reading.  All of this is taking place at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles (readings since the beginning of chapter 7 cover this events of this festival).  Here Christ contrasts the religious leadership in Jerusalem with His own.  My study Bible comments that they have failed as pastors of God's people ("pastor" comes from the Latin word for "shepherd").  It notes that their leadership has been marked by deceit and pride and has lacked compassion.  But Christ, on the other hand, fulfills all virtue.  My study Bible says that according to St. John Chrysostom, the door is God's Word, meaning both the Scriptures and Christ our Lord Himself (verses 7, 9), as the Scriptures reveal God the Word.  The one who tries to lead in a way that is neither in Christ nor according to the teaching of the Scriptures is a thief and a robber.  Instead of using this door so that all can see Christ's works openly, these false shepherds are using underhanded means to control, steal, and manipulate people, ultimately destroying their souls (verse 10).  By contrast, those pastors who lead according to Christ will find eternal life (verse 9).  

"To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. My study Bible explains that, as Christ has intimate knowledge of every person, so also true pastors in the Church seek to know their people by name; that is, personally.  These pastors, it says, seek to understand each person's situation and needs, from the greatest to the least, and having Christ-like compassion for each one (Hebrews 4:15).  In return, people will respond to a true leader, whom they trust to be a follower of Christ.  St. Ignatius of Antioch is quoted as saying, "Where the bishop is present, there the people shall gather."  My study Bible adds that the response of the faithful can be a better indicator of who is a true shepherd than the claims of leaders (John 7:47-49).  

Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  My study Bible notes that the phrase all whoever came before Me doesn't refer to Moses or to genuine prophets, but to people who claimed to be the Messiah both before and after Christ, such as Judas of Galilee and Theudas (Acts 5:36-37).  The ultimate thief, it says, is Satan.  Satan spreads lies and heresies among the people of God, and lures away both leaders and people.  Life in this context means living in God's grace here on earth, and life more abundantly is that of the Kingdom to come.  

"I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leave the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."  Here Jesus reveals Himself as the good shepherd.  My study Bible lists those characteristics as follows:  He enters by the door; that is, He fulfills. the Scriptures concerning Himself.  Secondly, Christ knows and is known by the Father (verse 15).  He also knows His people personally, and therefore He is known by them (verses 3, 14).  Finally, He gives His life for the sake of His people (verse 11), which is a direct prophecy of His coming Passion. 

 

"And other sheep I have which are not of the fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd."  Other sheep are the Gentiles, my study Bible says, who will be brought into the one flock with the Jews under the one shepherd.  So, for instance, the Church transcends ethnic and racial lines.  From the beginning centuries of the Church, it has been the Orthodox teaching that there be one bishop serving a city (Canon 8 of I Nicea), a principle which is affirmed in every generation.  In the early second century, St. Ignatius wrote to a Church which held separate liturgies for Jewish and Gentile Christians; he taught:  "Be careful to observe a single Eucharist, for there is one Flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup of His Blood that makes us one, and one altar, just as there i one bishop. . . . This is in line with God's will."

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."  Jesus states clearly, I lay down My life.  His life-giving death will be voluntary, and He does nothing apart from the will of His Father.  As He laid down His life for us, my study Bible says, we lay down our lives for Him and for the sake of others.

Christ is the good shepherd; He is our good shepherd.  And in today's reading, He gives a number of reasons why He is that good shepherd.  Strongly, Jesus affirms that "My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again."  These words indicate, in the context of John's Epistle that declares to us that God is love (1 John 4:8), that the good shepherd is beloved of the Father because of the great love Christ shows for the sheep -- that He is willing to lay down His life for the sheep.  Within the embrace of Father and Son there is a union of love that includes the faithful, the sheep.  As Jesus' words seem to indicate the more that love is shared, the more love results; He is beloved because He loves -- and the Father loves in turn because the Son loves the sheep; so much so that the Son will even lay down His life out of love.  So, in this, Christ is the good shepherd.  He shows His love of and loyalty to the Father by loving the sheep to the greatest extent possible, making the greatest sacrifice because of that love.  This Jesus contrasts with the hireling, the one to whom the sheep do not truly belong, the one who presumably works simply for a wage, and not for love:  "But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leave the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep."   Moreover, here is the great characteristic of love, it is personal, it makes all things personal:  "To [the good shepherd] the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  We the faithful are these sheep; we are those who are called by name: called by name out of the love so great on the part of the shepherd that He would lay down His life for us.  It's in that love that we hear His voice; we know Him and He knows us.  So where do you hear this call of love?  Can we forget that this tremendous, exalted love begins with the Father, circles through us and is once again reciprocated by the Father?  It's a great kind of dance of limitless potential and unending process, and perhaps that is also part and parcel of what makes the kind of life Christ offers "everlasting."  Moreover we must consider that it is this great circulating love that gives us life, and even life more abundantly.  If there is ever any doubt about what and Whom we follow, let us look to the heart, to this love, to its deeply personal call and voice that comes to us.  The One who loves us so much He would lay down His life, because the Father asks it, for the purpose of our life, so that we may have life more abundantly.  The one thing we need to know most assuredly is that love and that it runs through us.  This is where we know and are known.  For this, He is the One in whom we trust.

 

 

 

 

I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own

"Most assuredly, I say to  you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."

- John 10:1-18

Yesterday's reading continues on the events in the reading of the day before, in which Jesus healed a man who was blind from birth.  This is the sixth of seven signs in John's Gospel.  This is now the eighth (and last) day of the Feast of Tabernacles, in the last year of Jesus' life.  He taught, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  Yesterday we read that the leadership (Pharisees with whom Jesus had been disputing) did not believe concerning healed man, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."  So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."  Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."   The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.  Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."

"Most assuredly, I say to  you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.  Jesus begins to contrast His leadership with that of the religious leaders of His time.  We remember that He is continuing His dialogue with the Pharisees.  They have failed, says my study bible, as pastors of God's people ("pastor" being from the Latin word for "shepherd").  Their leadership is marked, as illustrated in the Gospels, by deceit and pride.  It has lacked compassion.  Jesus, on the other hand, fulfills all virtue.  Here Jesus teaches that as Son He has intimate knowledge of every person; therefore also true pastors in the Church strive to know people by name, says my study bible.  That is, personally.  Good pastors are those who endeavor to understand each person's situation and needs, from the greatest to the least, and thereby possess Christlike compassion for each one (Hebrews 4:15).  In return, the people will respond to a true leader, trusting they are a follower of Christ.   My study bible quotes St. Ignatius of Antioch, who writes, "Where the bishop is present, there the people shall gather."  It is often thought that the response of the people can be a better indicator of who is a true shepherd than the claims of leaders (7:47-49).

Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."   St. John Chrysostom writes that the door is God's Word, meaning both the Scriptures and also our Lord Himself, since the Scriptures reveal God the Word.  Someone who tries to lead in a way that is neither in Christ nor according to the teaching of the Scriptures is a thief and a robber.  Instead of using this door so all can see His works openly, the false shepherds use underhanded means to control, steal, and manipulate people, ultimately destroying their souls.  On the contrary, those pastors who lead according to Christ will find eternal life.   When Jesus says here, all who ever came before Me, He is not referring to Moses or genuine prophets, but to those who claimed to be the Messiah both before and after Him, such as Judas of Galilee and Theudas (Acts 5:36-37).  But the ultimate thief is Satan, who spreads lies and heresies among the people of God, luring away both leaders and people.  Life means living in God's grace here on earth, says my study bible, while the more abundant life indicates the Kingdom to come.

"I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."  My study bible says that here Christ reveals Himself as the good shepherd:  First, He enters by the door -- that is, He fulfills the Scriptures concerning Himself.  Secondly, He knows and is known by the Father.  Third, He knows His people personally and is there known by them.  Finally, He gives His life for the sake of His people, a direct prophecy of His coming Passion.  Note again the emphasis on the relationship to the Father:  in His love for and depth of knowledge of the sheep, He expresses the loving depth of relationship to the Father.

"And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd."   The other sheep here are the Gentiles, who will be brought into the one flock with the Jews under one shepherd.  The Church, says my study bible, transcends ethnic and racial lines.  From the beginning of the Church, it was understood that there is one bishop serving a city (Canon 8 of I Nicea), a principle affirmed in each generation.  My study bible also notes that writing in the early second century to a Church that held separate liturgies for Jewish and Gentile Christians, St. Ignatius taught, "Be careful to observe a single Eucharist, for there is one Flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup of His Blood that makes us one, and one altar, just as there is one bishop . . . This is in line with God's will."

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."  Jesus makes it clear here that His life-giving death will be voluntary, when He says, I lay down My life.  He does absolutely nothing apart from the will of His Father.  My study bible says that as He laid down His life for us, we lay down our lives for Him and for the sake of others.

In teaching us that He is the Good Shepherd, Jesus once more emphasizes the depth of relationship and intimacy that He has with the Father.  He teaches us here that because of His love for the sheep, His true knowledge of them, and His dedication to them, the depth of relationship to the Father is absolute.  In earlier teachings, He emphasized His closeness to the Father, repeatedly throughout John's Gospel.  Here, He takes it one step further.  His love for the sheep, His identity as the Good Shepherd, His willingness to lay His life down for the sheep, all indicate and are inextricably bound to His relationship with the Father.  The love between Father, Son, and their sheep is a bond so close that it is unbreakable.  It is the sheep, those who believe in Him and are given to Him by the Father, whom He will raise up with Himself at the last day (John 6:27-29).  And here we also get closer to the meanings of "raise up" when He indicates His voluntary death on the Cross that is coming.  He will lay down His life for the sheep; this is the picture of what it is to truly be our Good Shepherd, an expression of love and care that is without restriction and returns life in abundance.  Whatever else we know of Jesus' Passion, death, and Resurrection, this we know from His own explicit words:  that it is an act of the deepest love.  This love extends not only as does the love we know as human love (without its imperfections), but to the depth of intimate knowledge of each one of us.  He knows us by name, He calls us by name.  We who are the sheep respond to this call and this depth of knowing us.  He knows us better than we know ourselves, and His name for us is our true name.  All those who would follow Him, including other pastors, must turn to this example as His Way.  He is the Door, our Light, our Good Shepherd.  This is a depth of love that teaches us all that love really is, in which we can abide and grow.  In that we put our trust and faith.

If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free

 Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"  And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"  And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.  I have many things to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."  They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.  Then Jesus said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

- John 8:21-32

In our current readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles.  It is now the eighth day, the last day of the feast, when water is first taken from the pool of Siloam for a particular ceremony commemorating the water from a rock struck by Moses, and great lamps are lit in the outer court of the temple imaging the pillar of fire by which God led the Israelites by night.   In Friday's reading, Jesus taught, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  On Saturday, we read that Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.  You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.  And yet if I do judge, my judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.  It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.  I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me."  Then they said to Him, "Where is Your Father?"  Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."  These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

 Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"  And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  Jesus speaks here of His going away -- His death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.  He is speaking to the religious leadership, among whom there are some believers, but nearly none dare speak openly for fear of those who want to kill Him. 

Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"  And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.  I have many things to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."  They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.  Then Jesus said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.  There is that important question again, the center of debate, "Who are You?"  Jesus says that they will lift up the Son of Man.  This has the double meaning of both being nailed to the Cross and also of being exalted by His Father upon completion of His work.  Earlier, when speaking privately to Nicodemus, the only member of the Council to have spoken in Christ's defense (see Friday's reading), Jesus also used the same phrase, when He said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed." My study bible says that Jesus expects all who follow Him to be disciples, that is, literally "learners."  To abide in Christ's word is the responsibility of all believers, not just for the clergy or an "elite class of zealots," says my study bible.

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  The truth here refers to two things.  One is the virtue of truth, says my study  bible.  The other is Christ Himself (see 14:6).  To be free refers to the freedom from "darkness, confusion, and lies, as well as the freedom from the bondage of sin and death."

Jesus teaches:  "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  There are things here that we must think about that extend beyond the literal understanding of these words (as it happens so often in John's Gospel).   As my study bible emphasizes, Jesus will also teach about Himself: 
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (14:6).  What we understand from this statement, and in the subsequent theology developed in the early centuries of the Church, is that truth is a Person.  This may seem like a crazy statement in terms of common parlance, and a common way of understanding ideas.  But there is nothing common about Christ, and about the extraordinary "other-worldly" reality that He brings into the world.  Jesus comes from a place of cosmic identity, something beyond all our understanding of reality.  We think of ideas as lacking real substance -- a sort of ethereal reality that has its impact on our thinking, on intellectual discourse, on the ways in which we choose to analyze our lives.  That in itself has an impact we can't even begin to calculate properly.  But that in itself is a somewhat watered down, inconsequential understanding of what this kind of truth really is.  Jesus isn't just a heavenly being, a man from "outer space," or the "sky" (heaven).  He is Logos Incarnate.  He's the Second Person of the Trinity.  This is a reality born into the world that is of an absolute level of reality, of dimensions within which our world exists but that we are "commonly" unaware of in our worldly state of consciousness.  When we speak about a Person who is Truth, when Jesus states, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," this is something much more than can be understood by thinking of "truth" as an idea, or even one we may easily disagree about, or say all kinds of things about.  This is Truth as a reality that exists beyond us, within us, within which we and all the things we know exist.  This is Truth that shapes what is, even giving us life.  And it is Truth that is mostly beyond our comprehension, our ability to grasp in its completeness and fullness.  Moreover, it is a Person.  We have to start to grasp toward what it is that constitutes personhood, exactly.  What do we have in common with this Person who is Truth, as we are also persons?  How can Truth be a Person?  Jesus teaches, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed."  This is linked to the understanding of Truth as a Person.  We must abide in His word, but He is also the Word, Logos.  To follow His teachings is one thing; to abide by His teachings is something we can understand.  But He has already just taught, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him" (see last Monday's reading).   To abide in His word, in the Word, then, is something akin to abiding in Him -- as He abides in us.  This is what it is to relate to a Person, beyond an "idea" or intellectual concept.  To truly abide in His word, to abide in Him as He abides in us, is to know the Truth as we come to know a person.  That is, with something more than merely an intellectual assent, or with debate, or with something that is not personal.  To know this truth is to come to know Someone as a lifelong -- even eternally long -- relationship unfolds and grows.  It is also a relationship of love, as He abides in us and we in Him.  In John's 15th chapter, Jesus says, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me" (15:4).  This is a depth of abiding within one another, of relationship, of love and sharing, that is all about the personal.  It is all about extending what it is we share in image and likeness of God; it is about shaping, affirming, growing, and transformation of the fullness of what it means that we are persons.  This is not merely intellectual choice alone.  It is a truth that affects all of who we are, that shapes our experiences and understanding, and will change even the ways in which we make decisions and grow in our own relationship to the world and our environment and the persons around us.  It will shape everything we look at and make choices about.  It will shape our joy and our serenity.  It will give us the fullness of the reality of love we don't know.  These are all components of what it means to truly be a person created in the image and likeness of God.  We cannot really understand truth in the fullness of this reality on offer to us unless we understand Truth as a Person, or rather the Person who is Truth -- who is the gift to the world, for the life of the world.  When we begin to grasp this reality, we begin to understand not only the fullness of life that we don't fully know beyond ourselves and our world, but even the fullness of what it means to be persons beyond what we already know and understand and experience in the world, from a "worldly" perspective.  We don't even really know what the fullness of our own identity is, our own "self."  It all comes from relationship, and love, and touches us in places we don't know in ourselves, depths we don't know are there.  This is the truth we need that makes us truly free.  We need relationship to find that, this relationship of abiding in His word, in Him, and He in us as well.

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

 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.  For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.  I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."

- John 17:1-11

From the beginning of last week (see last Monday's reading)  the lectionary has been taking us through the Farewell Discourse of Jesus to the apostles.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus taught, "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 do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.  I came forth from the Father and have come into the world.  Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."  His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!  Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You.  By this we believe that You came forth from God."  Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?  Indeed, the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone.  And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him."  My study bible says that Christ's prayer, which begins here in today's verses, is often called the High Priestly Prayer, as it contains the basic elements of prayer a priest offers to God when a sacrifice is about to be made:  glorification, remembrance of God's works, intercession on behalf of others, and a declaration of the offering itself.  It notes also that the hour has come signifies that Christ is Lord over time - He goes to the Cross voluntarily in His appropriate timing.  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.  It says, "In this redemption, the Father and the Son are glorified.  This is why 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."    Here is news indeed!  Eternal life is knowing God!  My study bible tells us that knowledge of the only true God is far more than intellectual understanding.  It is participation in His divine life and in communion with Him... thus, "eternal life is an ongoing, loving knowledge of God in Christ and the Holy Spirit."

"I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."   My study bible suggests here that Christ's work cannot be separated from who He is.  It says, "This verse is a statement each believer can make at the end of life, no matter how long or short that 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 men whom You have given Me -- the apostles.  (We should note, however, that this word for "men"  in Greek generally means "human beings.")   My study bible says that these are the ones through whom God's word comes to us:  "This handing down of God's word to successive generations is called apostolic tradition.  Isaiah prophesied that in the days of the Messiah, the knowledge of the Name of God would be revealed (Isaiah 52:6).  Your name:  In 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, for Christ manifested the Name not only by declaring the Father, but by being the very presence of God and sharing the Name with Him." 

"I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them."   A note tells us that Christ first prayed for Himself, and secondly for them (the apostles) -- and then in these verses He prays for those whom You have given Me.  That is, all who will come to believe in Him (which will be further addressed in further readings).  It says, "Here the world is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to His 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."   The Didache (the earliest known teaching document of the Church, linked to the teachings of the apostles) contains a eucharistic prayer (10:2) that echoes these words:  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts" (10:2).

In this prayer (at least what we have read of it so far) Jesus touches on themes that have already been explored in John's Gospel.  First we note that the hour of His glorification has come, the Cross.  In His words here, perhaps the Son acknowledges fully the assent to this plan:  "The hour has come.  Glorify Your Son."   Again, as we've been taught, this glory is reflexive between the Persons in this relationship; it is not a self-centered prayer nor plea, nor is it a statement concerning only Himself.  Glory is something shared, reflected -- just as He has taught us that we, too, may reflect this glory in the world through faith.  Jesus makes this more explicit when He says, "I have manifested Your name."  Again, reflecting upon teachings we have already received in this Gospel, Christ manifests the Person and traits of the Father in the world:  through Him "we have seen the Father" -- we have been given the Father through the Son.  (See John 14:7-11.)   Here, He prays for us, He prays for His sheep, the ones who have heard His voice.  That includes the apostles through whom all will hear, and it also includes those who will follow.  But to my way of thinking, there is something new and emphatic, perhaps a great big glint of a facet we know from this Gospel but which Jesus makes really, really explicit:  "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."    To know God is eternal life.  This form of the word know in the Greek indicates something that grows through time, familiarity, relationship, to come to know a person, a growing intimacy, a true meeting of  persons and growth in the depth of that coming together.   This is not about a simple declaration of faith.  It is living in communion with God and growing in that life.  It is abiding in God (John 15:4-8).   When Jesus prays, "All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them," He is magnifying this relationship into the fullness of what Church really means.  This is a relationship of love in which all are inseparable from one another, it is love that includes Creator and creations in which we are embraced and "come to know" God and grow in that knowledge and reciprocal love.  It also is an embrace of glory in which we, too, glorify and are glorified by sharing that light.  Let us remember, this is a prayer.  We are embraced by Christ's prayer, and embraced by the Father and the Spirit.  Prayer is our means of communication, the thing that connects us. Jesus prays not just for knowledge, but a depth of "knowing" so deep "that they may be one as We are."

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent

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 all the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."

- John 17:1-11

All through last week, we were reading Jesus' Farewell Discourse to His Apostles. Today, we continue with the discourse, starting chapter 17. On Saturday, the lectionary gave us the passage in which Jesus spoke of His going away "for a little while" and of the great sorrow the Apostles would feel -- albeit temporarily. Jesus said, "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." Jesus warns them again that in the coming times, they will be scattered, and leave Him alone. But He warns them so that they may have peace when all happens. He said, " In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as you have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 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 says that the fact that Jesus says, "the hour has come" signifies that He is in charge of time. It is He who decides whether or not the time is right to lay down His life. It is the time of glory: of recognition of true identity in both Father and Son. The eternal life that we may be granted is just this, to participate in the life of Father and Son and Spirit so that we may live with and grow in knowledge of God. My study bible has an important note: "The knowledge of God, which is eternal life, goes far beyond rational or academic pursuit; it is participation in divine life and communion with God. Thus, eternal life -- life proper to the age to come -- is an ongoing, loving knowledge of God in Christ." Jesus has finished His work on earth, the hour has come -- and in all things in that work, He has glorified the Father. He has followed God's will in all things; and the time has come in which God restores Him to the fullness of life with God, as before Incarnation (even "before the world was"). But He has authority over all flesh: my study bible says: "For Christians, there are two important and interrelated aspects of Christ: (1) who He is: the eternal Son of God incarnate; and (2) His work: accomplished through His Incarnation. His work is not limited to the Cross. It incorporates everything from His conception in the womb of Mary to His Ascension and enthronement in the eternal Kingdom."

"I have manifested Your name to all 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." To manifest the name is to reveal or make it real and present to others. God's "name" (as we have previously discussed) is all that belongs to God, just as with the name of an emperor or king. My study bible says, "Isaiah 52:6 prophesies that in the messianic days the knowledge of the Name, which is an extension of the being and power of God, will be revealed (see Rev. 3:12; 22:4)." The name of God is linked to all the acts that God commands -- the word given to Christ to give to those whom the Father chose out of the world. So, together with what has come earlier in the passage, above, Jesus has gathered those to Himself whom the Father has gathered to Him -- and through the understanding of the "name" of God, through the words He has been given with which to teach, all become one, a Church. It is all about relationship: from the Father to the Son to the Apostles -- and by extension, of course, to us. Jesus does more than return to the glory and state He had "before the world was" -- He has established His church on earth through the depth of relatedness expressed here, to those whom the Father has gathered to Him, and this is the work in the world which He has completed. It is a full relatedness of faith and love and discipleship, which extends from the Father down to the human beings who will live in that faith.

"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." And here is the depth of prayer for this new thing in the world, this singular relatedness of the group of human beings together with Father and Son (and Spirit, of course) who constitute "Church." He prays that His work will continue, that not one will be lost, despite the fact that His work as Incarnate Jesus in the world is over and He is leaving to rejoin the Father in glory. He also prays, so significantly for us, that He is glorified in us. It is not only a heavenly glory, distant from this world, but a glory that lives through us and in us. It is a full relationship of each to each, with the presence of God with us -- Emmanuel. As so often in the past, He prays a full circle of reality here: the Father has given Him the Apostles, He has kept them and glorified God's name in His work with them in the world. They have full faith in the relationship between Father and Son and the word they have been given. And now He prays for one more powerful thing to be real and kept alive in the world: "that they may be one as We are." My study bible quotes the eucharistic prayer of Didache 10:2: "We give You thanks, Holy Father, for Your Holy Name which You have made to dwell in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality which You have made known to us through Your Son Jesus."

Over and over again, we will encounter Jesus' restatement of relationship, and how significant it all is in the face of the great truths He teaches us. Here, the relationship of Father and Son is highlighted, and the glory that is to happen as Jesus returns to that state He was in "before the world was." But there is so much more to it. We cannot see Jesus as simply returning to that early state of communion or oneness with the Father in the divine reality; instead He carries us with Him. The great work He has done is for our salvation, to bring us to eternal life, or -- as it says in today's reading -- "that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." To know is to live in relationship, as in to get to know someone, to grow in an intimate understanding. And, as my study bible says, this involves so much more than rational or academic pursuit, but rather to "live in participation in divine life or communion with God." All in all, this is a prayer about love -- and the relatedness in love that extends from the exalted heights of mystery in the Father, right down to us: or rather, to the Apostles, through whom the word will come to the world. When we accept that word, which is so much, then we too may be gathered into this communion. My study bible says, "The word which they have kept is Jesus' revelation, and especially the new commandment to love one another, which is a definitive mark of discipleship (13:34)." God is glorified in us when we keep His word, and as we grow in this relationship, which is eternal life. Today, this moment, you have a choice to step onto that eternal road. Will you take it? As the prayer says, "Your Holy Name which You have made to dwell in our hearts" -- it is right there. Will you open the door to it and see where it takes you today?