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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

- John 15:12–27 

 

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

 

"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."  Jesus has already given this commandment to them at the Last Supper (John 13:34), now He is repeating it.  My study Bible comments that many religions and philosophies teach people to love one another.  But what makes this commandment new (as Jesus called it in chapter 13) is the measure that is required of this love:  we're to love as Christ has loved us, laying down His life not only for His friends, but even for His enemies.

 

"You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you love one another."  My study Bible comments here that friendship is higher than servanthood.  Servants obey their masters out of fear or a sense of duty; friends obey out of love and an internal desire to do what is good and right.  Abraham was called a "friend of God" (James 2:23) because he obeyed God out of the belief of his heart.  The disciples -- even all of the saints -- are honored as friends of Christ because they freely obey His commandments out of love, my study Bible notes.  It says that those who have this spirit of loving obedience are open to receive and understand the revelations of the Father.  

 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own.  Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.'  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.  If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.  But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'"  My study Bible explains that the term world is used in several distinct ways in Scripture.  In some cases, it is a reference to all that is glorious, beautiful, and redeemable in God's creation (John 3:16).  At other times, it refers to that which is finite in contrast to that which is eternal (John 11:9; 18:36).  At still other instances, it indicates all that is in rebellion against God (see also John 8:23).  Moreover, it notes that the rebellion of this world against God reveals many things.  First, while union with Christ brings love, truth, and peace, it also brings persecution, because the world hates love and truth (verse 19).  Second, the world hated Christ, and so therefore it will hate those people who try to be Christlike (verse 20).  Additionally, the world hates Christ because it neither knows nor desires to know the Father (verses 21-24).  Finally, hatred for Jesus Christ is irrational and unreasonable, for Christ brings love and mercy; so, therefore, Christ is hated without a cause (verse 25).

 

 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds  from the Father, He will testify of Me.  And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning."  With respect to God's working salvation in the world, my study Bible comments, the Son sends the Holy Spirit from the Father.  With respect to the divine nature, it notes, the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father alone.  In other words, the Holy Spirit receives His eternal existence only from the Father.  In conformity with Christ's words, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed confesses belief "in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father."  While the Son is begotten of the Father alone, my study Bible explains, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone; the source, the Fountainhead, of both Persons is the Father. 

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

 

 

 

 

 

My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready

 

 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  Now the Jews' Feast of the Tabernacles was at hand.  His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. 

 

- John 7:1-13 

 

Yesterday we read that, after Christ's teaching, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him," many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by the Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

 

  After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.   This chapter begins a section in John's Gospel (John 7:1-10:21) which covers events during Christ's visit to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.  This entire section (nearly three chapters) covers eight days.  It is now the final year of Christ's earthly life, in which He taught in the temple and attracted much public attention.  My study Bible comments that some thought He was mad (John 7:20); others believed He was the Messiah (John 7:31, 40); and still others (such as the religious leadership of the Sadducees and Pharisees) considered Him to be a threat (John 7:32, 45-52).  The text tells us that the Jews sought to kill Him.  We must remember that in John's Gospel, the term the Jews is used like a political label, and most often denotes the leadership in the temple at Jerusalem and those who serve them.  Some suggest this term is more accurately translated "Judeans," and in that context we understand that those designated as such in this Gospel are either among the leaders in Jerusalem (in the region of Judea) who generally treat Christ as a threat, or among their followers in Galilee or elsewhere.  As stated frequently here on this blog, all of the people in this text, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are Jews, including Christ and His disciples among whom is the author of this Gospel. 

Now the Jews' Feast of the Tabernacles was at hand.  The Feast of Tabernacles (Hebrew Succot) is an eight-day autumn harvest festival.  It commemorates the time when Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai and the people lived in tents, or "tabernacles."  Together with Passover and Pentecost (the Feast of Weeks), this was one of the three most important festivals of the ancient Jews.  My study Bible explains that it contained numerous sacrifices and celebrations (Leviticus 23:33-43), and we will be examining Christ's preaching and teaching in light of those events.  In later terms, the final day of the festival included drawing water from the pool of Siloam (which plays a role in the text) which would be mixed with wine and poured out at the foot of the altar.  My study Bible explains this was both a purification and done in remembrance of the water flowing from the rock that Moses struck (Exodus 17:1-7).  Moreover it include the lighting of the great lamps in the outer court of the temple, reflected in Christ's teaching in references to light.

His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  Christ's brothers are extended family, either children of Joseph (His earthly guardian) by a previous wife, or cousins.  In the language of the Bible, and still today across the Middle East, various relations are referred to as "brothers" (for example, Lot, the nephew of Abram, is called his brother  in  Genesis 14:14-16).  Pertinent to this passage, my study Bible references Matthew 12:46-50, Jesus' relatives have still not yet understood His identity and mission.  In that passage, Christ points to a spiritual family which is based on obedience to the will of His Father.  

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.  My study Bible explains that Jesus' going to the festival not openly means not with a grand, public entrance.  This will happen on Palm Sunday, a week before His death and Resurrection (John 12:12-16).  Let us note how the people are already afraid to speak of Jesus openly for fear of the religious leaders.

As happens frequently in the Gospels, we notice Christ's cautious response to the circumstances in which He finds Himself.  So often He is dealing either with those who have hostility toward Him, or reject His mission and message in another way (such as seeking to force Him to be king (John 6:15).  In today's reading, His "brothers" (or kinspeople) seem to ridicule Him, suggesting that if He is really such an important figure He should act in accordance with what is expected of someone who seeks to be publicly known.  They say, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."   Judea is the center of Jewish authority and official life; it is the region in which Jerusalem sits.  His brethren almost sound like modern publicity agents, encouraging someone who wants to be a pop star or a famous public figure to go out and show themselves to the world, making an impression to get more followers.   Again, as is often the case in the Gospels, the encouragement is to show His "works" -- the marvelous healings and other signs.   Often it's demanded of Jesus that He shows a proof to those who don't believe, so that they will be convinced.  This repeatedly happens on the part of the religious leadership; they demand proof of His authority to act in the temple as He does (John 2:18).  It's as if we're supposed to understand that there is a worldly way to go out into the world and show greatness, and then on the other hand, there is God's way.  There is Christ's way.  And Jesus always sticks to the mission.  He always follows what His Father tells Him.  In this case, to go out and prove to the world -- and especially to the religious leaders, or even to His disciples as His relations suggest -- is not the way of Christ the Savior.  It is not the way to know faith and to understand it.  At this stage of His ministry, it is not the way that salvation must be brought to the world.  Faith must work on a different basis; His ministry must unfold in a particular way, and not through means of sheer publicity, public impression, or signs designed merely to convince rather than to point toward God.  Jesus teaches us to be discerning, and to know the time.   In today's reading, He tells His relatives, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready" and  "I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  Elsewhere we're told that His hour had not yet come (John 2:4, 7:30, 8:20).  And still at other times we will be told that His hour has come, meaning the time of His glorification in His Passion, death, and Resurrection (John 12:23, 27; 13:1; 17:1).  These examples teach us about our own need for discernment; the right time is not at just any time for particular things. While we may not have the perfect discernment of Jesus, but we may in faith seek to live prayerful lives, seeking that kind of guidance and discipline that He shows.  He doesn't follow the world, doesn't live by conventional worldly "wisdom" such as the challenges His kinsmen submit to Him to show Himself to the world.  There are times when we are, in fact, called out of the world.  This is indeed the very definition of the sacred, something set apart for God, and that is also the story of the whole of the Bible, and all those called by God.  What we should aim for is to fulfill the promise in the life that Christ leads to show us by example, and seek in a prayerful life to find our own particular time and discernment about what we do.  It is not so much that we need to be as perfect as Christ is in such obedience and discipline, but we do need to understand that we might be called out of the world, out of what is conventional, through a life of devotion and prayer in seeking what God wants of us.  Just like Christ's hour, this is the way of the Cross, to forego what might be expected or even demanded by "the world," and find instead God's way for us.  Let us seek to bear that difference in the struggle marked by the love of God.

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 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 into 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."

 

- John 3:16–21 

 

Yesterday we read that when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And 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."

 

 "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."  My study Bible says that in order to show the reason the Son must be crucified ("lifted up" -- see yesterday's reading, above), Jesus declares God's great love which is not simply for Israel but for the world.  My study Bible adds that this single verse expresses the whole of the message of John's Gospel, and moreover, of salvation history.  

"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 into 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."  Christ, the text tells us, came to save and not to condemn.  But, my study Bible comments, human beings have free will.  Therefore, we are capable of rejecting this gift.  In so doing, our very rejection condemns us to live without that salvation Christ's gift offer to us. 

 

 In yesterday's reading and commentary, we discussed extensively the connection between Christ's crucifixion, and the defeat of death itself -- and the defeat of the one by whom death sin came into the world.  Again, to quote St. Paul (from Hebrews 2:14-15):  "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."   As Jesus explained to Nicodemus in yesterday's reading, Christ being "lifted up" (John 3:14-15) is, akin to Moses' lifting up of the shining image of the serpent to defeat the poisonous serpents, a way to defeat death itself.  But here in today's reading, we're given the verse that follows, in which we're taught the beginning and the outcome of such a gift to us:  "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."   The defeat of death through Christ's suffering and death on the Cross is not only given out of love (God's love and the Son's love), but that powerful love works so that we may share in the very everlasting life of the divine Son and Father.  We are called, out of love, to be with our heavenly Creator, and to share in the life which is eternal, unstoppable, everlasting.  But the gift is in the sharing of both Christ's sacrifice and the eternal life He offers:  it is our faith in both the Son of Man and Son of God, the way of the Cross and the way of everlasting life, that makes this gift available, receivable, realizable.  It is through faith (which in Greek is rooted in the word that means "trust") that we find our way to the salvation we're offered from an abundance of love.  Christ leads us to "the way" so that we may find ourselves in Him and in His life for us, even as we each are invited to take up our own crosses with Him.  That lifting up of the Cross is a way in which death and evil are defeated -- stung through the devil's own wiles, even as a sort of trap sprung back upon the trap-setter -- because Christ's is the power to turn poison back on its source.  But it is also made possible through extraordinary love:  a divine power come into the world which, through God's own sacrifice, invites us to share in even in His divine life.  The theology seems complicated, and invites a way of thinking that is not worldly in order to grasp it.  But the intuition and experience of love guides us to grasp it immediately:  a sacrificial love shows the better way of the stronger man so that we may live truly as His children.  Death, sin and evil  are not defeated through a greater violence or evil, but they are instead defeated through love.  We, too, are invited to be part of the Cross and its working, to take up our own crosses, and to defeat sin and death through living faithful lives.  Jesus takes up the task of teaching Nicodemus about Holy Baptism, and so we come to this image of the fullness of our baptism and its promise, a capacity fulfilled through a life of faith and our own sacrifices of the "old"  through its leading, in order to receive the "new" of Christ's love and life.   Let us follow Him into His light, and see the redeeming power of the Cross that lives through faith, trust, and love -- and to join in what St. Paul called the "good fight."  To prefer darkness is to lose that gift.

 

 

 

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world

 

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

 

- John 17:12-19 

 

In recent readings, Jesus has been speaking to the disciples at the Last Supper.  He first gave them what is known as His Farewell Discourse (beginning with this reading).  Then Jesus began what is known as the High Priestly Prayer, a prayer to God the Father, which we began reading in yesterday's reading.  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."  My study Bible comments that the son of perdition (which can be understood to mean "destruction") is Judas Iscariot (John 6:70, 71).  It says that 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" refers to the Antichrist).

 

"But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."  Inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, my study Bible explains, those who are joined to Him become like Him.  Therefore, all believers attract the world's hatred.  The second-century Letter to Diognetus (6:3) states, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world."  Reborn in Christ, my study Bible says, Christians have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-5), yet their vocation is in the world, where they are protected by God against the evil one.  When we pray the Lord's Prayer that Christ gave us, we say, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4). 

 

"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, my study Bible explains, is to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  It notes that St. John Chrysostom interprets this verse as effectively saying, "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

Jesus speaks of believers being separate from the world.  During His Farewell Discourse, He said to the disciples, "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:19).  In today's reading, He prays to God the Father, "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."  What distinguishes His followers from "the world?"  He prays to the Father, "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name," and, "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."  So we have an understanding of a split, a boundary, between "the world" and those who are kept in God's name, who kept in God's word.  In this way, disciples of Christ are taken "out of the world."  We can also think of this as a boundary between light and darkness, with the world being in darkness, and those who keep Christ's word walking in the light, dwelling in it, becoming "enlightened" and drawing upon that light for their identity.  This we should understand as a kind of a process, not a one-time exclamation of faith, but a path which we walk.  John's Gospel tells us from the beginning that "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:5).  The darkness is that which can neither understand, nor "take in" the light.  "Illumination" is therefore the process of receiving, living, dwelling in God's word, making this word given by Christ a part of ourselves and our lives, a deeper and growing indwelling, reflected through us.  In this way, we glorify Him and the Father who gave Him the word He taught us.  Now in today's reading, Jesus prays to the Father, "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth."  Here Jesus begins to speak of sanctification.  As noted above, my study Bible describes sanctification as meaning to consecrate, make holy, separate, to set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  So sanctification, the act of making holy, is also a setting apart, a separation from the world in the sense of putting something aside as exclusively for God's purposes.  And as Jesus indicates in His words as He prays, a person is sanctified through God's truth -- and God's word is truth.  So, light, sanctification, God's word, and truth all become concepts related to this sphere of the kingdom of God, this place where we are in the world, but not of it.  If we look closely at all of these aspects of Christ's prayer, what we observe is a kind of exhortation to follow this path of sanctification in our lives, and as His disciples.  Yes, He prays to the Father, but in describing His work in the world, it is to take the disciples into the Kingdom even as they are in the world, and to set them apart in the sense that they will continue in this place of bearing the word of God, remaining in His name, and dwelling in the world as those who will be sanctified by His truth.  If we listen closely to His prayer to the Father, we conclude that this is what He desires, that we remain in the world, but as part of "His" world, the Kingdom that lives not "here or there" but "within" us and among us (Luke 17:21).  Let us know that He prays for us to be protected from "the evil one," even as we may be sanctified in His truth, set apart by it.  Let us remember this is who we are, and who we are called to be in this world, even as we seek to bear His light into it ever more deeply (Matthew 5:16).

 

 

I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do

 

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

"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.  For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.  

 

"I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.  

"Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.

 

- John 17:1-11 

 

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

 

  Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him."  My study Bible tells us that Christ's prayer, begun in today's reading, is often called the High Priestly Prayer, because it contains the basic elements of prayer which a priest offers to God when a sacrifice is about to be made.  These are:  glorification (verses 3-5, 25); remembrance of God's works (verses 2, 6-8, 22-23); intercession on behalf of others (verses 9, 11, 15, 20, 21, 24); and a declaration of the offering itself (verses 1, 5).  In the Orthodox Church, verses 1-13 are read on the occasion of remembering the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council (Nicea I) in AD 325.  This is because at that council the heresy of Arianism was condemned, which taught that the Son of God was created by the Father, and that there was a time when the Son of God did not exist.  Christ's words bear witness to His divinity, and to His filial relationship with the Father.  My study Bible says that this testimony is sufficient in itself to dismiss Arianism.  The hour has come signifies that Christ is Lord over time.  A hymn of Lent proclaims, "He voluntarily willed to ascend the Cross in the flesh."  Glorify, my study Bible explains, is a reference 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, 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," called 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."  The knowledge of the only true God is far more than intellectual understanding, my study Bible comments.  It is, in fact, participation in Christ's divine life, and in communion with Him.  Therefore, eternal life is, effectively, an ongoing and 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."  Christ's work, my study Bible says, can never be separated from who He is.   This verse ("I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do") 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."   The men whom You have given Me is a reference to the apostles.  They are the ones through whom God's word comes to us, my study Bible says.  It explains that 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 the times of the Old Testament, the phrase "the Name" was reverently used as a substitute for God's actual Name "Yahweh," which was too sacred to pronounce.  The more full revelation of the Name was given to those who believe in Christ, my study Bible explains, as Christ manifested the Name not only by declaring the Father, but by being the very presence of God and also 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."  My study Bible notes that Christ first prayed for Himself (verses 1-5) and secondly, for them, the apostles (verses 6-19).  It is only afterward that He will pray for those whom You have given Me.  That is, all who will come to believe in Him (verses 20-26).  My study Bible comments that 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."  Holy Father, my study Bible points out, is echoed in 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."

 

In today's reading, we observe that Jesus makes it very clear He knows He is going to the Cross, and that this act, in this special hour, is one that is central to His glory, or glorification by the Father.  We may well ask what "glory" and "glorification" means, as so much of today's part of Jesus' High Priestly Prayer is concerned with the idea of glory.  Glory is ascribed to Himself (Glorify Your Son), to God the Father (that Your Son also may glorify You), to the work that Christ has done on earth (I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do), to Father and Son together (O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself), and even to the disciples (And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them).  So let us consider what "glory" means, and what it means to "glorify."  The word for glory in Greek is δόξα/doxa.  According to Strong's Dictionary, this word literally means "what evokes good opinion; that is, that something has inherent, intrinsic worth."  This word can also be associated with weight, as in substance, and also value.  (At the time of Christ, the value of coins, for example, was correlated with weight, such as the value of a certain amount of gold or silver.)  But in the case of this meaning, to glorify, or to possess glory, we are speaking of good opinion, a value that is recognized, known, and understood.  We might think of it as to make precious.   But what we might think of in social terms as the currency of good opinion or popularity is not really the same as the meaning here.  That is because this particular glory is rooted in the Father, is given by the Father, is achieved only by virtue of living the life of the Father (manifesting God's name), and glorifying the Father.  We might say that this glory comes through positive association with the Father; it is rooted in this Source.  Therefore Christ can ask the Father to glorify Him, and in turn glorify the Father.  In turn, Christ Himself is glorified in His apostles, "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."  To glorify (again according to Strong's Greek Dictionary) is also to give honor, to to ascribe weight by recognizing real substance (value).  To glorify God in this context means valuing God for who God really is. Thus, for example, "giving (or ascribing) glory to God" personally acknowledges God in His true character (God's essence).  So we glorify God by our own recognition of God, God's goodness and truth and beauty, and the same is therefore true of Christ -- even through us.  So, with all of this, let us take into account what it means to glorify God, and for God to be glorified through us.  When we live our lives according to Christ's word, we recognize the value in that word.  When we live "in His name," and following His commandments according to His will, we glorify Christ, because we are showing the value and esteem in which we hold Him.  If we think about it, glorification would also include gratitude, for glorification -- according to the definition quoted -- implies a recognition of intrinsic worth, an esteem.  How can we glorify that which we take for granted, or for which we don't bother to feel any gratitude?  If we glorify God, and God is glorified through us, then, it means more than to pay a kind of nominal honor or praise.  It means to live the commandments given by Christ from the Father, to honor God's name or Person through the "work" that we do, just as Christ did so by completing the work given to Him.  Let us consider, then, what glory is and what we choose to glorify.  For glorifying Christ (and God the Father) implies giving honor to all that is offered through Christ, through His work in the world, and that necessitates a certain way of life, the honor we show in all our choices in life, the glory we bring to God through expressions of that honor and true esteem.  Let us be like Christ, and take wisely our choices for the "work" we do.

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!

 

 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

"Hosanna!

'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'

 The King of Israel!"

Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

"Fear not, daughter of Zion;

Behold, your King is coming,

Sitting on a donkey's colt."

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"

 

- John 12:9-19 

 

 On Saturday, we completed the story of the raising of Lazarus, the seventh sign of seven in John's Gospel.  After Jesus had spoken with Martha, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you."  As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.  Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there."  Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."  Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.  And He said, "Where have you laid him?"  They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."  Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"  And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?"  Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb.  It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  Jesus said, "Take away the stone."  Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days."  Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"  Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.  And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.  And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me."  Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"  And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.  Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."

 

  Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.  Today the lectionary moves forward from yesterday's reading, skipping John 11:45-12:1-8.  Here the time is the beginning of what we know as Holy Week, and the Passover festival is about to begin.  These verses explain the setting.  "The Jews" we recall is used as a type of political term, to designate the religious rulers.  Many had come from among this class of people in Jerusalem to mourn with Mary and Martha, and had witnessed the raising of Lazarus.  Therefore, among the leadership of Israel many knew not only that Jesus was there, but they also want to see Lazarus.  Such is the effect, that those who plot to put Jesus to death also have plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because even among the ruling classes, many "went away and believed in Jesus."

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:  "Hoseanna!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!"  This is what is called Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  It is celebrated in the Church on the day known as Palm Sunday, due to the branches of palm trees described in the text.  The people's cry is from Psalm 118:25-26, which was associated with messianic expectation.  It was recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom), and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!" and is said therefore to a Deliverer or Savior.  My study Bible explains that by this time, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah to deliver them from Roman control, and to reestablish the kingdom of David.  

 

Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:  "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."  In humility, my study Bible explains, Jesus shows that He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom.  He does not ride on a horse nor in a chariot, as a contemporary king or conqueror would do, but on a young donkey -- a sign of humility and peace.  This is reflected in the people's cry, from Zechariah 9:9.  My study Bible comments that this entrance into the Holy City declares the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  It notes also that it is a promise of Christ's final entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem, with all believers and of His accepting the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride (Revelation 21:2).  

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"  Note how the understanding of the disciples became enlightened after Jesus was glorified; for then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  The people bore witness in their acclamation from Scripture, that prophecy is fulfilled in Christ -- as they were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead.  And others have also meet Christ with this proclamation, because they heard from those others from Jerusalem that He had done this sign.  As so many among their own in Jerusalem now go after Jesus due to the seventh sign of raising Lazarus (see Saturday's reading, above), the Pharisees conclude in exasperation that whatever they have done so far is accomplishing nothing, as their own world has gone after Him.

 

 Today begins Holy Week for most of the Churches in the West (also for the Armenian Apostolic Church).  Next week will begin Holy Week for most of the Orthodox.  So for my readers, from whichever denomination you are, Palm Sunday was either yesterday or is this coming Sunday.  Our reading for today gives us John's version of the events of that day, when Jesus was hailed as a king coming into Jerusalem.  Let us not forget the tone of John's Gospel, which is so important.  People -- including many from among the class of the leadership -- witnessed the seventh and final sign given in John's Gospel, the raising of Lazarus from the dead.  (See the readings from Friday and Saturday.)  Therefore the expectations in Jerusalem run high that the Messiah has, indeed, come among them.  This is true even among the classes of the rulers in the temple (and therefore of the Jewish people).  But Jesus will defy the expectations of an all-conquering king, someone who will rival Caesar as an earthly ruler, and make Israel's fortunes grow great in a similar manner.  This is because Jesus is a different kind of a King, a different kind of Deliverer or Savior.  Jesus issues in a Kingdom, but it is a different kind of kingdom, one in which spirit and truth will play a role, in which the spirit of the law must be upheld by the letter, and not the other way around.  There will be no "special charges" that God must deliver us in order to outmaneuver political opponents and rivals for power in this Kingdom.  There is only Christ and those whom the Father will give Him to remain with Him for an eternal kingdom, for a life in which abundance does not come through manipulation but through faith and trust and the power of the Holy Spirit to bless the meek and the poor in spirit.  So Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a young donkey, and all of this will be brought later to the remembrance of the disciples, and in the understanding of the fulfillment of the Scriptures in the proclamations of the people.  Of course, the people have no idea that they are truly proclaiming the fulfillment of prophecy -- but in a particular sense they would not have understood.  It is not the first time that prophecy is unwittingly proclaimed in John's Gospel (see also John 11:16; 11:49-50).  As we go through the readings of Holy Week in the churches, we will see the tide turn, and the effective manipulative power of those in high positions.  We can see false witnesses produced who contradict one another, who twist Christ's words, and who are brought only for the purpose of finding ways to get rid of Him.  The readings in John's Gospel that the lectionary gives us before moving on to Luke's Gospel will give us Jesus' perspective, His farewell words to His disciples, and His prayer to the Father.  Let us consider the realities we are given, for they are timeless and remain with us.  If we are true to Him and to the lessons of the Gospels, we remember that truth and righteous judgment always remain our duties -- and that we also will be witnesses to such events.  Let us remember the One who goes before us, and all that He asks of us also.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 "I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."

 

- John 17:9-19 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were given what is called Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, which He prayed to the Father before His trial and Crucifixion.  Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.  I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.  For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me." 

 "I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them."  My study Bible notes that Christ first prayed for Himself (verses 1-5) and secondly, for them, the apostles (verses 6-19).  Only then does He pray for those whom You have given Me -- that is, all who will come to believe in Him (verses 20-26).  Here, my study Bible says, the world is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to God's light.  

"Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  Holy Father is echoed in the eucharistic prayer of Didache 10:2 (the Didache the earliest known Christian teaching document):  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts."  

"Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled."  The son of perdition ("destruction") is Judas Iscariot (John 6:70-71).  Old Testament prophesy alludes to Judas, my study Bible says (Psalms 41:9, 109:2-13, Zechariah 11:12-13), and Judas becomes a type for all who will fall away in the last days (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where "son of perdition" refers to the Antichrist.

"But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."  As Christ is from heaven, my study Bible explains, so those who are joined to Him become like Him.  Therefore, believers attract the world's hatred.  In the second-century Letter to Diognetus (6:3), it is stated, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world."  To be reborn in Christ is to have citizenship in the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-5), yet the vocation disciples is in the world, where they are protected by God against the evil one.

"Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."  My study Bible explains that to sanctify is to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ is saying, "Make them holy through the gifts of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

Jesus makes a distinction in His prayer between those who are His and the world.  My study Bible explains that "the world" is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to God's light.  He indicates that those who come to Him, those who hear His voice, are those whom the Father first has given to Christ ("those whom You have given Me").  As we have seen consistently in John's Gospel, all things begin with the Father, including the identity of the Son, and we who hear the Son's voice.  It is the Father through whom all things begin, including our capacity to hear Christ's voice, the word of truth (Matthew 16:17).   What is extremely notable in this section of the High Priestly Prayer is Christ's clear distinction between "the world" and His followers, the faithful.  He begins by saying to God that He does not pray for the world, but for those whom the Father has given to Him, for they are the Father's.  Jesus prays, "Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled."  Let us note that what is of greatest importance to Christ is simply that His followers remain faithful; that they remain true to the Father and true to the word which Christ has taught.   To have been kept in the Father's name is to have been kept and held within the Kingdom, the realm of the Holy Spirit, this reality to which we respond which is planted in our hearts, for this is how the Name of God works.  It is a sense in which we belong to God, we are stamped in our hearts with God's Name.  It's important, essential, to remember that what Jesus prays for is that we remain in this condition of belonging to God.  He is not praying that we always get our wish, that we live in a mansion and have every worldly success we can think of.  Far from it.  What Christ prays for is that we are kept by God and not lost, and that we are kept from "the evil one."  That is, we are not lost to the ways of the one who opposes God, whether that be a spiritual power or a worldly manifestation of spiritual darkness, which is in opposition to God.  It is this life and this safety that Christ prays for, for us.  He prays that we not become "of the world" in the sense that we give up God's ways for the ways we see in the world that are in opposition to God.   Jesus says, "Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth."  We must remain within God's word and God's truth; and we know God's ways from the Scripture, from the teachings of Jesus.  He says, "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."   Jesus will remain loyal within God's truth and God's way for Him all the way to the Cross, putting everything on the line, so that He might be sanctified in order to sanctify us in God's truth.  It is we who are the beneficiaries of this prayer, we who must take it seriously that we are in the world and not of it.  And this is Christ's joy, that we remain in this place of truth and sanctification, even when the world would demand a different way, of manipulation and lies, coercion in all its forms, expedience, and serving all manner of forms of selfishness over our call from God.  Let us consider the ways we need to keep alert to the temptations of the world, so that Christ keeps us for Himself, and we may have His joy fulfilled in ourselves.

Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt

 

 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. 

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

"Hosanna!

'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'

The King of Israel!"

Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

"Fear not, daughter of Zion;

Behold, your King is coming,

Sitting on a donkey's colt."

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. 

 

Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"

 

- John 12:9-19 

 

Yesterday we read that the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.  Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think -- that He will not come to the feast?"  Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.  Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

 

 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.   The Gospel emphasizes for us the significance of the raising of Lazarus from death; many of those from Jerusalem have now begun to believe in Jesus.  This is the home ground of the chief priests and the religious rulers, where people begin to have faith in the authority of Jesus.  So great is the perceived threat that the chief priests plot to put Lazarus to death also.

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:  "Hosanna!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  The King of Israel!"  The people's cry is from Psalm 118:25-26.   These verses are associated with messianic expectation.  They were recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles, which is the Feast of the Coming Kingdom, and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means "Save, we pray!"   It is a plea to the Messiah.  In this context, the pronouncement of Caiaphas that it is "expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish" takes on heightened significance, as we can see the growing tension of the religious rulers as Jesus is greeted as Messiah and Deliverer. 

Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:  "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."   His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.   My study Bible explains that by Christ's time, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah to deliver them from Roman control and to reestablish David's kingdom.  But Jesus does not come as conqueror with horses and chariots and army to establish and earthly kingdom.  He rides on a young donkey, a sign of humility and peace.  The quotation is from Zechariah 9:9, which the disciples only later come to understand as fulfilled by Jesus when He was glorified, and upon receipt of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"   Again, the text emphasizes for us this peak of tension with the religious rulers.  The people welcome Jesus as liberating Messiah, and are filled with expectation and hope, especially because of the testimony of those from Jerusalem who had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead.  This final and seventh sign of John's Gospel has sent the people to Christ, as the Pharisees say to one another, "Look, the world has gone after Him!"

John's Gospel builds up for us the political tension in Jerusalem and especially among the religious establishment toward Jesus.  Jesus is now hailed and received into Jerusalem as a Messiah, and we know that political tensions are high because of the Roman occupation.  The expectations of the people clamor for a political Messiah, one who will liberate them from occupation, and restore David's kingdom.  It is in this context that John seems to ask us to understand what is happening.  Jesus has come into Jerusalem riding on a young donkey, a "donkey's colt," as the quotation from Zechariah says.  He has come as the Messiah or Prince of Peace, and not to establish an earthly kingdom.  As He will say to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here" (John 18:36).  But the people expect something else, await something else, deeply desire a kingdom that is "of this world."  The religious leaders, who have positions of authority and are entrusted by the Roman rulers to keep the community in order, also fear the people's faith in Jesus, that "the world has gone after Him!" also for political reasons.  They want to guard their places, and they fear Roman response and repression because of the popularity of Jesus.  So what we seem to have in this story are false expectations all around about Jesus.  Neither those who welcome Him as conquering Messiah nor the religious rulers who fear loss of their own authority because of Jesus truly understand what He is about.  Let us also observe the disciples who follow Him in faith.  John's Gospel makes it clear that at the time when this event occurs (which we commemorate as Palm Sunday), the disciples really do not understand what is happening.  They don't understand the significance of the young donkey, for example.  It is only after Jesus is glorified, John tells us, that they begin to more fully understand Christ's gospel of the Kingdom.  But they show us a way through times of great tension and confusion, when all about us seem to be caught up into movements of the day, and especially times of conflict and violence.  In today's reading, we're given a picture of the mixed motivations that are all around in such times, and that would also include the story of Judas and the role He will play, even the betrayal that will come from among them.   But the way the disciples show us, when we are caught up in such times of confusion ourselves, is to follow Christ in faith, even if we do not have sufficient knowledge of the fullness of the time to understand what is happening.  For it is our God of peace whom we truly need; it is Christ who shows us the way to true order and true justice; it is His way and His love we need to seek for ourselves, for through Him we are also the children of God's house by adoption, and there is one Lord we serve and in whom we trust.  The people of Jerusalem greet Him as material Savior and Deliverer, but we have been shown the greater meaning of those titles.  There will be all kinds of people who present themselves to the world as liberators, but it is Christ who truly cares for our souls, and who has suffered for (and with) all of us.