Easter 7

Easter 7 What Jesus Asks from His Father 5/25 & 28/06

Last week our Gospel lesson indicated what Jesus asks, or expects, from all who follow Him and claim His blessed name: “Love one another.” As we read on in the Gospel according to Saint John, we now learn what Jesus asks from His Father in heaven. What Jesus asks from His Father is precisely what makes it possible for us to fulfill our invitation to faithfully and daily follow Him.

Our reading from John 17 is part of the prayer which concludes His farewell discourse. Since the Middle Ages, this 17^th chapter of John has been referred to as “The High Priestly Prayer”. Jesus’ last supper with His disciples in the Upper Room has concluded. Jesus has given final instructions to His followers. But there is more Jesus needs to do: He turns to His Father God in supplication for those with whom He has eaten and those He must soon leave. In reading the entire chapter, we can identify three key themes of Jesus’ life and mission: (1) Jesus is God’s Son, (2) Jesus has come to give glory to God, and (3) those who believe in Him will have eternal life.

The first two verses of our Gospel lesson identify those who have followed Jesus. In verse 6, Jesus acknowledges to his Father, “They were yours; you gave them to me.” In verse 7 Jesus illuminates that these disciples “have obeyed (God’s) your word.” Verse 8 reveals that these first disciples “accepted” the words God gave Jesus to preach and teach. The final identifying marks of these early disciples is that “they knew with certainty that” Jesus “came from” God the Father and “they believed that” God “sent” Jesus. Hear those actions words, those verbs describing the followers of Jesus, then and today? They knew that Jesus came from God, and they believed that God sent Jesus, and they obeyed God’s word! Know it, believe it, and obey it!

The direction of the prayer changes at verse 9 as Jesus begins to pray for those He has just identified. The language of this prayer speaks of not only those earliest followers, but the future life of the faith community. Therefore, I believe the language here is best understood as relating to the future community of believers, the Church of ensuing generations, including you and me. So, what does Jesus ask from His Father?

1) Jesus does not prayer that His disciples be taken out of this world. Jesus never prayed that His disciples might find escape; He prayed that we might find victory. Christianity, lived out in separation from the world, is foreign to the One Who died for the world and was raised from death to save the world. Of course we need time for prayer, quietness, re-creation, and re-newal; but all these things are not the end of life, nor the goal of living. Christianity was never meant to:

-withdraw us from life, but to equip us for life;

-release us from problems, but offer a way to encounter our problems;

-offer us an easy peace, but a triumphant battle;

-provide us with escape from trouble in life, but a life in which troubles are faced

and conquered.

It was Saint Teresa who told the women under her instruction: “Don’t coop your

soul up in a corner!” We have work to do and this world is where we do it!

2) Jesus prayed for the unity of His disciples (vs. 11)…that we might be one as He and His Father are one. Where there is division within a congregation or between congregations, the mission of Christ is harmed and hindered. The world cannot be evangelized by competing Christians…not in the first nor 21^st century!

3) Jesus prayed in verses 11 and 15, that God would keep and protect His disciples from the attacks of the Evil One. Jesus implores His Father to protect all who follow Him in this world. This is similar to what Jesus prays for in The Lord’s Prayer: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Reading verses 11 and 15 in the Revised Standard Version, the term “keep” is substituted for the term “protect”: “Holy Father, keep them in thy name” and “I pray that you would keep them from the evil one.” This language might serve to remind us of the words pronounced after we share Holy Communion: “The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” and the Benediction we pronounce before we depart from worship into the world: “The Lord bless you and keep you…”

4) “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (vs. 17) “Sanctify” means to become more like Jesus by accepting and living and giving the truth of God’s Word. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” Sanctification is the process through which our conduct corresponds with our creed. This is what Jesus asks. Amen.