SCRIPTURE STUDY
PENTECOST, YEAR B
MAY 31, 2009
SCRIPTURE: John 15:26-27; 16:4-15
Jesus said to his disciples, "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
"I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But, now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
EXEGESIS:
CHAPTERS 14-17: THE PARACLETE
Parakletos (the word translated "Advocate" in verse 26 below) is used only five times in the New Testament, four times in this Gospel to refer to the Spirit (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7) and once in 1 John 2:1 to refer to Jesus. Parakletos can mean a lawyer who pleads your case or a witness who testifies in your behalf. It can refer to a person who gives comfort, counsel, or strength in time of need. The literal meaning is "someone called in; but it is the reason why the person is called in which gives the word its distinctive associations.... Always a parakletos is someone called in to help when the person who calls him in is in trouble or distress or doubt or bewilderment" (Barclay, 194).
Parakletos has been translated Advocate, Counselor, Comforter, and Intercessor, but each of those expresses only one facet of parakletos. The original readers of this Gospel would have heard the full richness of its various meanings. Some Bibles use the word Paraclete, which is not an English word but a transliteration of the Greek word. The problem is that most people don't know what a Paraclete is, so using Paraclete without explanation will probably convey less meaning rather than more.
The Paraclete, of course, is the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit dwelling in and among God's people. In this Gospel, two of the Paraclete sayings (14:16 and 14:26) are found prior to today's Gospel lesson. The others (15:26 and 16:7; see also 16:13-14) are part of this lesson.
Note that the various translations of Paraclete (Advocate, Counselor, Comforter, and Helper) all point to the helping, supporting role of the Spirit. In our culture, we are accustomed to paying expensive professionals for these services. We speak of lawyers as Counselors or Advocates, because they advise and defend us in legal matters. We depend upon psychology professionals to comfort us –– to help us through life's difficult times. Not only are such professionals expensive, but they are available only by appointment and are subject to error. The Paraclete is with us always, and offers power and wisdom that are simply unavailable elsewhere at any price. This is not to say that we should not consult lawyers and psychologists, but it gives us an appreciation for the ever-present and powerful help that God makes available to us through the Paraclete.
This was good news to those early Christians, whom the world would hate, the synagogues would excommunicate, and Rome would persecute (15:18-25; 16-1-4). They had no access to professional counsel, but they did have each other –– and they had the Paraclete. This is also good news for us. Neither our lawyer nor our psychiatrist welcomes a phone call in the middle of the night when terror jolts us from our slumbers. The Paraclete, however, is always present and ready to help.
VERSES 18-25: THE CONTEXT
In these verses, Jesus talks about the persecution that his disciples can expect to experience –– about a world (Greek: kosmos –– the realm opposed to God) that will hate them for not belonging to the kosmos. He talks about kosmos-people who hate the Son for exposing them to the light and making them accountable for their sins. He says that these kosmos-people hate both the Father and the Son. He said, "They hated me without a cause," thus fulfilling the prophecy of scripture (either Psalm 69:4 or 35:19).
VERSES 26-27: WHEN THE ADVOCATE COMES
26"When the Advocate (Greek: parakletos) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify (Greek: marturesei) on my behalf. 27You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
"When the Advocate (parakletos) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father" (v. 26a). See above for information about the parakletos.
The language suggests a courtroom setting. Jesus outlined the problem in verses 18-25 (see above), and now outlines the response that the disciples can expect.
"he will testify on my behalf" (v. 26b). John the Baptist testified on Jesus' behalf earlier (1:7, 15, 32, 34; 3:26; 5:33). Jesus' works testified that the Father had sent him (5:36; 10:25), and the Father testified on his behalf (5:37). The scriptures testified on his behalf (5:39). Jesus also testified on his own behalf (8:14, 18). Now the Spirit testifies on his behalf (15:26b).
"You will also testify because you have been with me from the beginning" (v. 27). Jesus' disciples are to testify on Jesus' behalf, because they have been with him from the beginning (15:27). The church must also serve as a witness for Jesus. The testimony (marturesei) of the Paraclete and the testimony of the church go hand in hand. The Paraclete's testimony came first, and provides the power without which the church's testimony would fall flat. The church's testimony, steeped in personal experience and bathed in the Spirit, makes the witness visible to the world. Jewish Law requires two witnesses to convict (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15). The two witnesses, the Spirit and the church, will convict the world of its sin and its need for Christ.
VERSES 1-4a: THEY WILL KILL YOU
1"I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. 2They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. 3And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. 4aBut I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.
In these verses (not included in this Gospel lesson) Jesus warns the disciples that the world will respond with great hostility to their testimony. The Paraclete will not only strengthen the disciples for the trials that lay ahead, but will insure the eventual triumph of the Gospel message. The disciples need not fear, because Christ has already overcome the world.
VERSES 4b-11: IT IS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE THAT I GO AWAY
4b"I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 7Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11about judgment, because the ruler of this world (Greek: kosmou) has been condemned.
"I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you" (v. 4b). Verses 1-4a tell of the coming persecution. Jesus did not tell the disciples of this persecution while he was with them, but is telling them now "so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them" (v. 4a). The world's hostility should not come as a surprise, because the disciples have been warned. Now Jesus is "going to the one who sent me" (v. 5a), with the result that "sorrow has filled (the disciples') hearts" (v. 6b). Not only will the disciples face terrible opposition, but they will face it without Jesus. It is no wonder that they are sad.
"yet none of you asks me 'Where are you going?'" (v. 5b). This seems like a peculiar statement in view of 13:26, where Peter asked, "Lord, where are you going?" and 14:5, where Thomas said, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" Much scholarly ink has been spilled in an attempt to resolve this. Some have suggested that it reflects weak organization on the part of the author or weak editing on the part of a redactor. Lincoln says that Jesus is not saying "none of you has asked me," (past tense) but rather "none of you is asking me" (present tense) (Lincoln, 418). Borchert says that trying to read this Gospel "within sequential time and space frames" doesn't work (Borchert, 164). Morris says that Peter's question "had not been a serious inquiry as to Jesus' destination, (and that he) had been diverted immediately, and he made no real attempt to find out where Jesus was going" (Morris, 617). This diversity of proposals, none of them compelling, suggests that we won't resolve this issue this side of heaven. There is nothing to be gained by airing this kind of unresolved issue in our preaching.
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" (v. 7). The disciples are sad that Jesus is leaving, but he gives them reason to rejoice. He is leaving so that the Paraclete might come. The net result will be a gain for the disciples. "This reflects the characteristic Johannine concept that during his earthly ministry Jesus embodies the presence of God among humans, while after Jesus' exaltation through death and resurrection the Holy Spirit is the way the presence of the Father and the Son is experienced on earth" (Williamson, 209).
Preachers often note that the Paraclete is not subject to the limitations of humanity that Jesus took upon himself. Jesus could be only in one place at a time, while the Paraclete can be present with believers everywhere. Jesus, however, does not call attention to that advantage but to the fact that the Paraclete will "prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment" (v. 8).
"The picture is clearly one of a trial, in which the Paraclete has the role of prosecuting attorney and the world is the defendant, standing before the believing community" (O'Day, 771) "By convicting the world on three counts he will reverse its erroneous judgment passed upon Jesus in his crucifixion" (Howard, 731). The Paraclete will expose the world for what it is –– will convict the world –– will prove the world wrong (elengcho):
• "about sin, because they do not believe in me" (v. 9). In this Gospel, "sin is a theological, not a moral category. The world's sin is not to believe in Jesus" (O'Day, 772). The world's sin is to reject Christ in favor of "the ruler of this kosmos" (v. 11).
• "about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer" (v. 10). The world judged Jesus guilty, and condemned him to a sinner's death. Jesus, however, has overcome the death sentence and is going back to the Father. His resurrection and ascension not only vindicate his life and ministry, but also stand as judgment on those who condemned him. Their joy at Jesus' death has turned out to be "the rejoicing of the damned" (Blank, quoted in Borchert, 167).
"It is possible, however, to understand 'righteousness' in the sense of moral goodness and to read the verb as 'expose'.... On this reading, Jesus' return to the Father exposes the world's error about what constitutes moral goodness. It is not strict adherence to the law.... (It) includes mercy as well as justice" (Williamson, 210).
• "about judgment, because the ruler of this world (kosmou –– from kosmos) has been condemned" (v. 11). In this Gospel, the kosmos (world) is the sphere of evil that is opposed to God. It has given its heart to the ruler of the kosmos –– the devil (6:70; 8:44; 13:2) or Satan (13:27) instead of God. God has condemned the ruler of the kosmos, but still loves the world and seeks to save it (3:16). The kosmos, however, cannot be saved as it is, but must be redeemed –– must accept the Christ that it has rejected. Otherwise, it can expect to suffer the same judgment as the ruler of the kosmos –– the ruler whom it has chosen to follow (Lincoln, 420).
VERSES 12-15: THE SPIRIT WILL GUIDE YOU INTO ALL THE TRUTH
12"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now" (v. 12). Jesus has pointed to the cross, but the disciples were not been able to see it. They expected a warrior-king, and could not imagine a suffering servant. They will have to walk the walk –– to make the journey –– to experience the darkness –– before the light will begin to break through.
Jesus will ascend to the Father a short time after the resurrection, and the Paraclete will assume responsibility for the disciples' enlightenment. The Spirit of Truth "will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears" (v. 13). Jesus has spoken what he heard from God (7:16-18; 8:26-28, 40; 12:49-50), and now the Spirit of Truth will speak what it hears. The faithfulness of Jesus and the Spirit in proclaiming what they heard guarantees the truth of their proclamation as well as its continuity.
The Spirit of Truth "will declare to you the things that are to come" (v. 13b). Every generation of Christians faces new challenges to its faith and practice. What is the right Christian response to cloning? To euthanasia? To abortion? To economic systems such as capitalism and socialism? The Spirit of Truth keeps God's word alive and fresh through every changing circumstance.
"He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you" (vv. 14-15). Earlier, Jesus had declared that his teaching was not his own but was from the one who had sent him. He continued, "Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false about him" (7:18). Jesus has been faithful in glorifying the Father, and the Spirit will be faithful in glorifying the Son.
"Like Elijah, Jesus has ascended into heaven –– but his mantle falls not on just one successor. The gift of the Holy Spirit is poured out at Pentecost upon all people" (Burridge, 572).
THOUGHT PROVOKERS:
God is no distant deity but a constant reality,
a very present help whenever needs occur.
So? So live like it.
And laugh like it!
(The apostle) Paul did.
While he lived, he drained every drop of joy
out of every day that passed.
Charles R. Swindoll
* * * * * * * * * *
Even the most Starless midnight
may herald the dawn of some great fulfillment.
Martin Luther King
* * * * * * * * * *
God's might to direct me,
God's power to protect me,
God's wisdom for learning,
God's eye for discerning,
God's ear for my hearing,
God's Word for my clearing.
Saint Patrick
* * * * * * * * * *
The true believer in the Holy Spirit
is one who knows how to hoist the sail of his own spirit
to catch the winds of God.
Ralph W. Sockman
* * * * * * * * * *
To the church, Pentecost brought light, power, joy.
There came to each illumination of mind,
assurance of heart,
intensity of love,
fullness of power,
exuberance of joy.
No one needed to ask if they had received the Holy Ghost.
Fire is self-evident.
So is power!
Samuel Chadwick
* * * * * * * * * *
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Barclay, William, The Daily Study Bible, "The Gospel of John," Vol. 2 (Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press, 1957)
Borchert, Gerald L., New American Commentary: John 12-21, Vol. 25B (Nashville: Broadman Press, 2002)
Burridge, Richard A., in Van Harn, Roger (ed.), The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday's Text. The Third Readings: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001)
Cousar, Charles B., in Brueggemann, Walter; Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, Beverly R. and Newsome, James D., Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV––Year B (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993)
Craddock, Fred R.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; and Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through the Christian Year, B (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1993).
Gossip, Arthur John and Howard, Wilbert F., The Interpreter's Bible, Volume 8 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1952)
Keener, Craig S., The Gospel of John: A Commentary, Volume II (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003)
Kostenberger, Andreas J., Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004)
Lincoln, Andrew T., Black's New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to John (London: Continuum, 2005)
Morris, Leon, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel According to John, Revised (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995)
O'Day, Gail R., The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume IX (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995)
Ridderbos, Herman (translated by John Vriend), The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997)
Sloyan, Gerald, Interpretation: John (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988)
Smith, D. Moody, Jr., Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: John (Nashville: Abingdon, 1999)
Williamson, Lamar, Jr., Preaching the Gospel of John: Proclaiming the Living Word (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004)
Richard Niell Donovan, SermonWriter.com
Friday, May 29, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
May 24, 2000 - The 7th Sunday of Easter
SCRIPTURE STUDY
THE SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B
MAY 24, 2009
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Psalm 1
1 John 5:9-13
John 17:6-19
The Collect
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
The First Lesson
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, "Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus-- for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us-- one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection." So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
The Psalm
Psalm 1 Page 585, BCP
Beatus vir qui non abiit
1
Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
2
Their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and they meditate on his law day and night.
3
They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither;
everything they do shall prosper.
4
It is not so with the wicked;
they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
5
Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes,
nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
6
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked is doomed.
1 John 5:9-13
If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
The Gospel
John 17:6-19
Looking up to heaven, Jesus prayed, "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth."
EXEGESIS OF THE GOSPEL:
CHAPTERS 13-18: THE CONTEXT
Following the Passover foot washing (13:1-20), Jesus begins to prepare the disciples for his departure. He foretells his betrayal (13:21-30), gives them the great love commandment (13:31-35), and foretells Peter's denial (13:36-38). He then tells them that he is going to the Father's house where he will prepare a place for them (14:2) and that he will come again to take them with him (14:3). He promises them the gift of the Holy Spirit (14:16) –– not to leave them orphaned (14:18) –– and that the Holy Spirit will teach them everything (14:26). Also implied in his call for them to abide in him is a promise of ongoing connectedness (15:1-17). He warns of the world's hatred (15:18 - 16:4a), and gives the rationale that the Spirit cannot come unless he goes (16:4b-15). He promises them joy (16:16-24) and peace (16:25-33).
Jesus then prays his High Priestly Prayer, of which our Gospel lesson is part. This prayer "really belongs to the discourses. Prayers of Jesus in this Gospel are sermonic (11:42; 12:30), and therefore the readers of 17:1-26 are as a congregation overhearing a pastoral prayer" (Craddock, 277). (Editor's note: Lengthy passages of Jesus' teachings are often called discourses. Craddock is suggesting that this prayer of Jesus is also a discourse –– a vehicle for conveying Jesus' teachings.)
After this prayer, Jesus and his disciples will go to a garden in the Kidron Valley where he will be arrested. This prayer, then, serves as a transition from the discourses of the Upper Room to Jesus' passion (his death on the cross).
VERSES 1-26: JESUS' HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER
This prayer concludes the farewell dinner. It is often called The High Priestly Prayer for two reasons: First, Jesus is preparing to offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Second, he intercedes for his disciples (vv. 6-26) in the same way that the high priest intercedes for the people of Israel (see Romans 8:34).
This prayer is often likened to Moses' farewell address (Deuteronomy 31:30ff), which concluded with Moses' final blessing on Israel (Deuteronomy 33). The tone of that address was positive, very much like Jesus' prayer. Moses was preparing to die, but he said, "Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord" (Deuteronomy 33:29). Jesus is preparing to die, but he prays, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you" (17:1).
Lincoln suggests that this prayer is the Johannine equivalent of the Lord's Prayer as found in Matthew 6:9-15. He calls it "the Lord's prayer transposed into a Johannine key," and notes the following parallels (Lincoln 432-433):
• "Our Father in heaven" (Matthew 6:9) is paralleled in John 17:1 by a mention of heaven and Jesus addressing God as Father. Jesus also addresses God as Father in 17:11.
• "hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9) is paralleled in several places by concerns for God's holiness or God's name (John 17:6, 11, 26).
• "Your kingdom come" (Matthew 6:10) is paralleled by a concern for Jesus' hour having come (John 17:1) and a concern about eternal life (John 17:2-3).
• "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10) is paralleled by Jesus' comment that he has finished the work that the Father sent him to do (John 17:4).
• "And do not bring us to the time of trial" (Matthew 6:13) is paralleled by Jesus' plea for the Father to protect the disciples, living as they do in a hostile kosmos (John 17:11b-16).
This Johannine prayer is quite unlike Jesus' Gethsemane prayer in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46). There Jesus sweats drops of blood and prays, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me." In John's Gospel, there is a hint of anxiety in Jesus' earlier prayer, "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say –– 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour," (12:27) but no anxiety about his personal fate in chapter 17. "Far from being shaken and shattered by the ruin of all his hopes, as one might have expected him to be, Christ blesses God with a full heart for enabling him to carry through the task with which he had been entrusted" (Gossip, 744).
But though Jesus' prayer is positive, we hear an urgent, concerned tone. He is, after all, about to depart, leaving his disciples in a difficult world with a critical mission. He includes three petitions for the disciples in this prayer:
• First, he prays, "Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one" (v. 11).
• Second, he prays, "I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one" (v. 15).
• Third, he prays, "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth" (v. 17).
• He also prays, "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:20-21). This expands on the emphasis one oneness in the first petition.
"Although the prayer is set within the ministry of the historical Jesus, the perspective of the prayer is also that of the glorified Christ looking pastorally on his church in the world.... The prayer seems, then, to hang between heaven and earth, between the historical and the glorified Christ" (Craddock, 291).
Verses 1-11 have to do with the interrelationship between Jesus, God and the disciples. While Jesus has promised the Holy Spirit on several occasions (7:39; 14:16-26; 15:26; 16:13), there is no mention of the Spirit in this prayer.
VERSES 1-5: GLORIFY THE SON
These verses are not included in this Gospel lesson. In these verses, Jesus deals with various concerns, including his "hour," by which he means his death and resurrection (v. 1a) –– the glorification of the Son and Father (v. 1b) –– the Son's God-given authority (v. 2) –– and eternal life (vv. 2-3).
VERSES 6-8: I HAVE MADE YOUR NAME KNOWN
6"I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word (Greek: logos). 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words (Greek: rhemata) that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
"I have made your name known" (v. 6a). From the beginning, Jesus' mission has been revelation. He is the Logos, the Word, the one sent to reveal God to us (1:1). He has made the Father's name known.
The Jewish people have always been sensitive about God's name, because they consider God's name to be synonymous with God's true nature or character. At the burning bush, Moses asked God's name, and God replied, "I AM WHO I AM" (Hebrew: YHWH or Yahweh) and commanded Moses to tell the people, "I AM has sent me to you" (Exodus 3:14). In John's Gospel, Jesus frequently uses this "I AM" formula (Greek: ego eimi) to identify himself ("I AM the bread of life" –– "I AM the light of the world" –– "I AM the gate for the sheep" –– "I AM the good shepherd").
For much of their history, Jewish people considered God's name, YHWH, too sacred to pronounce, so they substituted the word adonai. Now Jesus makes God's name known "to those whom you gave me from the world" (v. 6) –– and the name is Father. Jesus makes God accessible –– makes it possible for us to address God as Father.
"to those whom you gave me from the world" (v. 6b). The disciples about whom Jesus speaks are not outstanding in any way. Jesus could easily complain about their mediocrity, but instead speaks of them respectfully, as if they were a treasure that the Father has placed into his hands. As events will prove, once they are filled with the Spirit, they will become worthy witnesses –– powerful advocates for the kingdom.
"and they have kept your word" (logos) (v. 6c). It is surprising that Jesus would say that the disciples have kept the Father's word. Their performance thus far has been mixed at best –– but see below on verse 8a.
"Now they know that everything you have given me is from you" (v. 7). The disciples do not yet understand Jesus' teachings about his death and resurrection, but they have placed their faith in Jesus as God's prophet –– as one who speaks God's word.
"for the words (rhemata) that you gave to me I have given to them" (v. 8a). Note the difference between "word" singular (logos) in verse 6 and "words" plural (rhemata) in verse 8. Logos (singular) and rhemata (plural) are two different words with significantly different meanings.
• Logos is important in this Gospel. Jesus is Logos –– Word –– the revelation of God. "In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word (logos) was with God, and the Word (logos) was God" (1:1).
• Rhemata is a different word. "A good case can be made that when the Fourth Gospel Jesus refers to his words (plural) he is talking about the precepts he lays down, almost equivalent to his 'commands'…, but when he refers to his word (singular) he is talking about his message as a whole, almost equivalent to 'gospel' " (Carson, 559).
"for they have received them and know in truth that I came from you" (v. 8b). Jesus does not say that the disciples have kept his rhemata –– his words –– his teachings –– but only that they have received them. It would be stretching things to say that the disciples have been faithful to Jesus' teachings, which they have thus far understood only dimly. Prior to the resurrection, they are more clueless than faithful. However, they have been faithful to the Father's logos –– to the Father's revelation of himself through the Son, who is the Logos. The disciples have hung in there with Jesus through good times and bad, because, "You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God" (6:68-69). It is the disciples' faithfulness to himself to which Jesus refers when he says, "they have kept your word" (v. 6).
"and they have believed that you sent me" (v. 8c). Jesus establishes the chain of custody by which God's words are transmitted. The words came from the Father, who gave them to the Son, who in turn gave them to the disciples. These disciples have not rejected these words, but have "received" them. They are receptive to the words that Jesus gives them, because they believe that Jesus was sent by the Father. If Jesus is truly sent by the Father, it follows that his words are trustworthy.
VERSES 9-11a: I AM ASKING ON THEIR BEHALF
9I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world (Greek: kosmou –– from kosmos), but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11aAnd now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.
"I am not asking on behalf of the world (kosmou), but on behalf of those whom you gave me" (v. 9). This has a harsh ring to it, as if Jesus cares only about his little band of disciples and nobody else. However, when Jesus speaks of the world, he is not speaking of planet earth or all humanity but of the kosmos, which is the "sphere of enmity to God…. The only hope for the kosmos is precisely that it should cease to be the kosmos" (O'Day, 792). The kosmos poses a threat to the disciples, who "are in the kosmos" even as Jesus is preparing to depart from the kosmos (v. 11).
But God and Jesus do not respond with hostility to a hostile world. Instead, this Gospel portrays them as loving the world and working to redeem it. Jesus said:
• "For God so loved the world (kosmon) that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world (kosmon), but in order that the world (kosmos) might be saved through him" (3:16-17)
• "I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world (kosmon), but to save the world" (kosmon) (12:47).
This was clear even to the Samaritans, who said to the woman at the well, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world" (kosmou) (4:42).
"But the salvation of the world depends on the witness of those whom the Father has given him 'out of the world' (see vv. 21, 23), and it is they that need (Jesus') intercession at this junction" (Bruce, 331).
"All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them" (v. 10). "What strikes one... most in our Lord's prayer is not even (Jesus') moving loyalty to his friends, ...but rather his unmistakable pride in them" (Gossip, 746). It seems astonishing that Jesus would claim to be glorified in these disciples. They are a small and ordinary group of people who exhibit no unusual intelligence or talent. They seem unable to learn from the numerous clues that Jesus gives them concerning his future. No matter what Jesus says, they just don't get it. How can Jesus claim to have been glorified in them?
Keep in mind that this Gospel was written quite late, probably after most of Jesus' original disciples died. The author has seen that, somehow, through the grace of God and the work of the Spirit, Jesus has indeed been glorified by these disciples. The church is growing and spreading. However imperfect these disciples might have been, they have succeeded in glorifying the Lord. In fact, when Jesus says that he has been glorified in them, he uses the perfect tense, suggesting an already completed glorification, showing full confidence that they have glorified him and will glorify him.
This is an encouraging word to those of us who are tempted to despair of disciples and discipleship today –– who long for a wart-free church. While the future of the church might seem compromised by the quality and commitment of its people, we can rest assured that the glorification that began with those first disciples continues with the work of the church today. The church is one example of the principle that God chooses the foolish and weak to shame the wise and strong (1 Corinthians 1:27).
"And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you" (v. 11a). Technically, Jesus is still present in the world, and his death and resurrection lie ahead, but he has begun the process by which he will be glorified and will return to the Father. The kosmos will soon succeed in killing him, but he will emerge victorious through the resurrection. The disciples, however, will continue to live in the kosmos, an alien and hostile kosmos, and we can hear a note of angst in Jesus' voice as he speaks of leaving them behind.
VERSES 11b-16: HOLY FATHER, PROTECT THEM IN YOUR NAME
11bHoly Father, protect (Greek: tereson –– keep, hold, maintain) them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost (Greek: ho huios tes apoleias –– the son of perdition), so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14I have given them your word (Greek: logon), and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
"Holy Father" (v. 11b) –– in verse 25, Jesus says, "Righteous Father." God is indeed holy and righteous. The holiness of God is "a divine characteristic which we are allowing to fall out of sight. We talk much about the love of God. But...we are not blinded these days by the blazing whiteness of God's holiness" (Gossip, 743). Neither have we adequately emphasized personal holiness as an important element of discipleship. It is an emphasis that we would do well to revive.
This righteous aspect of God was emphasized in the Old Testament to the extent that Jewish people did not feel worthy to address God by name. Now Jesus makes known God's name –– and that name is Father. That name helps us to see God in a new light, not simply as holy and righteous, but also as nurturing. But we must not forget that the nurturing Father is also holy and righteous.
"protect (tereson –– keep, hold, maintain) them in your name" or "keep them in your name that you have given me" (v. 11b). Jesus has been their protector, and gives an account of his stewardship (v. 12). Now he is preparing to depart, so he asks the Father to assume the role of protector to these disciples who are in the kosmos (world) but not of the kosmos –– belonging to the Father but dwelling in a hostile land. If we had been praying, we would have asked simply that the Father protect them, but Jesus prays, "protect them in your name" –– by which he means, " 'keep them in loyalty to you' or 'keep them in full adherence to your character' " (Carson, 562) –– the concern being not so much for physical danger –– and by the time of the writing of this Gospel, the church will have experienced the full savagery of Rome's persecution –– but for spiritual victory in the face of great trials.
"so that they may be one, as we are one" (v. 11b). In recent years, the ecumenical movement has worked to bring denominations together organizationally, their efforts reflecting concerns both for this petition of Jesus and for the church's witness. The unity for which Jesus is praying, however, is deeper –– a unity of heart and purpose. Organizational unity is only a first step. We must also be concerned about disunity within denominations –– within congregations –– between individual Christians.
This is a prayer that, in many respects, has not been answered. The church has fragmented into many denominations and factions. Christians spend altogether too much time fighting one another. And yet, in some respects, Jesus prayer has been answered. Christians work together across denominational lines in many ways –– from sponsoring community worship services to financing relief efforts. There have been a number of efforts to bring together denominations, either in formal mergers or through shared initiatives and mutual recognition of clergy. It is not enough, but it is a beginning.
"While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost" (Greek: ho huios tes apoleias –– literally, "the son of perdition" or "the son of utter ruin") (v. 12a). This probably refers to Judas, who is "characterized by 'lostness,' (rather than being) predestined to be 'lost'…. The reference to the fulfilling of Scripture brings out the divine purpose. This does not mean that Judas was an automaton. He was a responsible person and acted freely. But God used that man's evil act to bring about his own purpose" (Morris, 645).
In a dissenting opinion, Moloney regards this as a reference to Satan rather than Judas. "The only figure in the story Jesus could not 'care for' is Satan who planned the betrayal (cf. 13:2). Jesus washed the feet and shared the morsel with Judas despite Satan's designs (cf. 13:2). Nevertheless, Satan entered Judas (cf. 13:27) 'that the Scripture might be fulfilled' (17:12d; cf. 13:18). There is a divine order in the events of the life and death of Jesus beyond his control. The son of perdition is beyond the control of Jesus, but he has cared for his disciples" (Moloney, 467).
"so that the scripture might be fulfilled" (v. 12b). The fulfilled scripture is almost surely Psalm 41:9, which is applied to Judas in John 13:18.
"But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves" (v. 13). Earlier, Jesus commanded the disciples to abide in him and to keep his commandments "so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete" (15:11). The world in which we live –– the kosmos –– tends to think of joy in terms of the baser pleasures. Such joy tastes sweet for awhile, but then turns rancid, leaving a bitter aftertaste. There are joys with deeper roots –– the joy of hearth and home –– the joy of creativity and productivity –– the joy of service and benevolence –– the joy of knowing and serving truth –– the joy of having one's feet firmly planted on a solid foundation –– the joy of being in a right relationship with God. It is these joys that Jesus offers, and they "compensate for the world's hatred, which (the disciples) must encounter because of their loyalty to Christ, whose refusal to accept worldly standards has incurred the hostility of the world" (Howard, 748).
"I have given them your word (logos), and the world (kosmos) has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world" (v. 14). Jesus has given the disciples God's word –– God's logos –– and that word has made them different. These logos-people do not belong to the kosmos-world –– the world that is opposed to God. Their new identity, their separateness, draws the world's ire.
The kosmos-world is suspicious –– afraid of those who have rejected its ways. Kosmos-people feel insecure except in the company of other kosmos-people –– those who accept their values and seek the same pleasures. We see it with drug-addicts, who cannot abide the addict who has quit using drugs. We see it in the criminal world, that cannot abide the person who has "gone straight." Kosmos-people know that the person who used to belong to them but no longer belongs, is especially dangerous, because that person knows their secrets but no longer shares their loyalties.
We see something similar in the shadowy world of enterprises (legal or illegal) that profit from people's weaknesses –– manufacturers of cigarettes or alcohol, people who run casinos and bars, pimps, sellers of pornography and the like. Kosmos-people move among a small circle of colleagues and see the rest of the world as their enemy. They hate anyone who opposes them, whether overtly or by wholesome example, and respond viciously to any perceived threat to their kosmos-enterprise.
We see it in the movies, where Christians are seldom portrayed in a favorable light –– and in the news media, which seldom reports anything good about the church but delights in clergy-gone-awry stories. And we see it in places that we don't expect to see it. I have a neighbor who is likable enough but who has nary a good word to say about the church. I think that he senses something good there, but something that would require a change of heart –– a change that he is unwilling to make. Jesus has not overstated the case at all when he says that the kosmos "hates" the disciples "because they do not belong to the kosmos." That hatred is fueled by guilt, fear of exposure, and fierce resistance to change.
"I am not asking you to take them out of the world (kosmou), but I ask you to protect them from the evil one" (v. 15). "The juxtaposition of the language of being kept in the Father's name and that of being kept from the evil one indicates the two antithetical spheres of power operative in the world" –– God and Satan (Lincoln, 437).
The mission of the disciples is to carry on Christ's work in the kosmos-world, so Jesus cannot remove them from the kosmos. They will do their work in a world to which they no longer belong and in which they no longer feel wholly comfortable. "The church's radical otherworldliness…consists precisely in this: its protection by and orientation to a name not certified by the world. Whenever it neglects its otherworldliness and assumes it exists as an institution like all other institutions, it contradicts its very being" (Cousar, 344). The old gospel song comes to mind: "This world is not my home; I'm just a-passing through." The poetry might be doggerel, but the sentiment is exactly right.
Jesus does pray that God will "protect them from the evil one" (v. 15). Jesus doesn't pray that God would "wrap (the disciples) in some plastic, danger-free safety casing where they would never encounter evil. But the prayer of Jesus was to protect them from succumbing to the onslaught of evil or the evil one" (Borchert, 200).
What does seem to be overstated is Jesus' claim that "They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world" (v. 16). "That sounds by far too generous; more generous than true" (Gossip, 748). These disciples are flawed people who have failed Jesus in the past and who will fail him again in the future. Nevertheless, they have become different, because Jesus has given them God's word (v. 14). That word moved them from the kosmos camp to God's camp. Jesus is not just being generous. The disciples, in fact, no longer belong to the kosmos.
VERSES 17-19: SANCTIFY THEM IN THE TRUTH
17Sanctify (Greek: hagiason –– set apart as sacred to God –– make holy –– consecrate) them in the truth; your word (Greek: logos) is truth. 18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify (Greek: hagiazo) myself, so that they also may be sanctified (Greek: hegiasmenoi) in truth.
"Sanctify (hagiason) them in the truth" (v. 17a). Hagiason comes from the word, hagios, which is often translated holy, but which also means separate or set apart (Barclay, 253). Hagiason (and variants) is the word used in the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament) for the consecration of animals for sacrifice to God (Deuteronomy 15:19). God required that animals set aside for sacrifice be without blemish or serious defect (Exodus 12:5; Leviticus 22:21). People were not allowed to sacrifice an animal that was lame or blind (Deuteronomy 15:19).
This is related to Jesus' concern in this passage for the holiness of the disciples (vv. 15-19). Jesus has already said that the disciples "do not belong to the world" (v. 14), which is simply another way of saying that they are separate or holy. We cannot perform our mission of witnessing to the love of the holy Father in this world unless we ourselves are holy. While the concern with regard to sacrificial animals was physical wholeness, the concern with regard to disciples is spiritual wholeness –– spiritual holiness –– freedom from serious spiritual defect.
Hagiason is also the word used for the consecration of prophets and priests (O'Day, 793). God did not set apart prophets and priests for honor but for service. The same is true today when we ordain people to church offices. While it is, in one sense, an honor to be chosen for such work, it is, in a larger sense, ordination to servitude –– to becoming a servant.
Hagios and its variants are found in only two places in this Gospel –– here and in 10:36 –– part of the Festival Cycle (chapters 10 ff.) where "the high priest, the one who bore the insignia of holiness/set-apartness to God...settled for an unholy compromise to kill Jesus in order to calm religious renewal and zeal and to maintain his own status and position (11:48-52)" (Borchert, 196-197, 202-203). Being holy in an unholy kosmos (world) was fatal for Jesus, and we should understand that being holy will be dangerous for us too.
"your word (logos) is truth" (v. 17b). " 'Your word is truth' (v. l7b) is a subtle allusion to John 1:14. Although Jesus is never explicitly called 'the Word' in the body of the Gospel, this understanding of him underlies the affirmation here. God's Word, incarnate in Jesus, is truth-as well as the way and the life (14:6)" (Williamson, 226).
It was the gift of God's word that made the disciples separate and holy in the first place (v. 14). Now Jesus calls for an additional measure of this same gift to make the demarcation even clearer and to equip the disciples for their difficult work.
"As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world" (v. 18). Jesus is not of this world, but emptied himself so that he might take on human form and live in the kosmos-world on a mission of mercy and salvation (Philippians 2:5-11). Now he is preparing the disciples to continue this incarnational ministry in a world that is no longer their own. "The task is no less than the sanctification of the world through the sanctification of the disciples" (Sloyan, 197). "The parallelism between (Jesus') sending and (the disciples' sending) is to be observed…. (Jesus is at the end of his earthly ministry, and) therefore hands over the mission to his men whom he has prepared for this task…. As Bultmann expressed it, 'The community takes over Jesus' assault on the world' " (Beasley-Murray, 300-301).
"And for their sakes I sanctify (hagiazo) myself" (v. 19a). "If the disciples are to be effectively set apart for the work which they must do, the Son must first set himself apart for the work which he must do" (Bruce, 334). When Jesus speaks of sanctifying himself, he is talking about setting himself apart for the sacrifice of the cross.
"so that they may be sanctified (hegiasmenoi) in truth" (v. 19b). "The holiness of God, made visible in the human story in the holiness of Jesus' gift of himself for his own (v. 19a), is to be matched by the holiness of the disciples (v. 19b) as Jesus is sending them into the world to make God known, just as God sent him (v. 18). To succeed in this mission they must be holy, as God is holy (cf. Lev 11:44; John 17:11b, 17,19)" (Moloney, 469).
TRUE STORY:
Speaking of mothers' prayers, Richard Moore's mother prayed for him for many years. Richard, you see, lost his eyesight as a child. He grew up in Northern Ireland during the troubled times there, and was hit by a rubber bullet fired by a British soldier. He was walking home from school –– ten years old.
Richard's mother prayed for him. He remembers waking up to find his mother kneeling beside his bed, pleading with God that her son's eyesight might be restored –– but, as nearly as anyone could tell, nothing happened.
Many years later, as a grown man, Richard learned the name of the soldier who shot him. He located the man's address and asked if he could come to visit. When the man gave his permission, Richard went to see him and to offer his forgiveness.
When he did that, he felt something change deep inside himself. He discovered a kind of peace that had eluded him throughout his life. He said:
"When I met the soldier and forgave him,
I believe my mother's prayers were answered.
I was given a new vision,
and my real wound,
the one that needed healing more than my eyes,
was healed."
THOUGHT PROVOKERS: (Top of page)
There is nothing that makes us love a person so much
as praying for him....
By considering yourself as an advocate with God
for your neighbors and acquaintances,
you would never find it hard to be at peace with them yourself.
William Law
* * * * * * * * * *
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God that loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
The Ancient Mariner
* * * * * * * * * *
The servants of Christ are protected by invisible,
rather than visible, beings.
But if these guard you,
they do so because they have been summoned by your prayers.
Ambrose
EDITOR'S NOTE: And Jesus' prayer.
* * * * * * * * * *
No Christian escapes a taste of the wilderness
on the way to the Promised Land.
Evelyn Underhill
* * * * * * * * * *
The Church is not so much a continuously living thing,
as something that has survived a thousand crucifixions
through a thousand Resurrections.
Fulton J. Sheen
* * * * * * * * * *
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Barclay, William, The Daily Study Bible, "The Gospel of John," Vol. 2 (Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press, 1955)
Beasley-Murray, George R., Word Biblical Commentary: John (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999)
Borchert, Gerald L., New American Commentary: John 12-21, Vol, 25B (Nashville: Broadman Press, 2002)
Brown, Raymond, The Anchor Bible: The Gospel According to John XIII-XXI (Garden City: Doubleday, 1970)
Bruce, F. F., The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983).
Carson, D. A., The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991).
Cousar, Charles B., in Brueggemann, Walter; Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, Beverly R. and Newsome, James D., Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV––Year B (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993)
Craddock, Fred R.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; and Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through the Christian Year B (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1993)
Gossip, Arthur John and Howard, Wilbert F., The Interpreter's Bible, Volume 8 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1952)
Howard-Brook, Wes, Becoming the Children of God: John's Gospel and Radical Discipleship (New York: Maryknoll, 1994).
Kostenberger, Andreas J., Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004)
Lincoln, Andrew T., Black's New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to John (London: Continuum, 2005)
Malcolm, Lois, in Van Harn, Roger (ed.), The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday's Text. The Third Readings: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001)
Moloney, Francis J., Sacra Pagina: The Gospel of John (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1998)
Morris, Leon, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995).
O'Day, Gail R., The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume IX (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995)
Palmer, Earl F., The Book That John Wrote (Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 1975)
Ridderbos, Herman (translated by John Vriend), The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997)
Sloyan, Gerald, "John," Interpretation (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988)
Smith, D. Moody, Jr., Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: John (Nashville: Abingdon, 1999)
Lamar Williamson Jr., Preaching the Gospel of John: Proclaiming the Living Word (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004)
Wright, Tom (N.T.), John for Everyone: Part 2, Chapters 11-21 (London: SPCK and Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002, 2004)
Richard Niell Donovan, SermonWriter.com
THE SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B
MAY 24, 2009
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Psalm 1
1 John 5:9-13
John 17:6-19
The Collect
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
The First Lesson
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, "Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus-- for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us-- one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection." So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
The Psalm
Psalm 1 Page 585, BCP
Beatus vir qui non abiit
1
Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
2
Their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and they meditate on his law day and night.
3
They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither;
everything they do shall prosper.
4
It is not so with the wicked;
they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
5
Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes,
nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
6
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked is doomed.
1 John 5:9-13
If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
The Gospel
John 17:6-19
Looking up to heaven, Jesus prayed, "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth."
EXEGESIS OF THE GOSPEL:
CHAPTERS 13-18: THE CONTEXT
Following the Passover foot washing (13:1-20), Jesus begins to prepare the disciples for his departure. He foretells his betrayal (13:21-30), gives them the great love commandment (13:31-35), and foretells Peter's denial (13:36-38). He then tells them that he is going to the Father's house where he will prepare a place for them (14:2) and that he will come again to take them with him (14:3). He promises them the gift of the Holy Spirit (14:16) –– not to leave them orphaned (14:18) –– and that the Holy Spirit will teach them everything (14:26). Also implied in his call for them to abide in him is a promise of ongoing connectedness (15:1-17). He warns of the world's hatred (15:18 - 16:4a), and gives the rationale that the Spirit cannot come unless he goes (16:4b-15). He promises them joy (16:16-24) and peace (16:25-33).
Jesus then prays his High Priestly Prayer, of which our Gospel lesson is part. This prayer "really belongs to the discourses. Prayers of Jesus in this Gospel are sermonic (11:42; 12:30), and therefore the readers of 17:1-26 are as a congregation overhearing a pastoral prayer" (Craddock, 277). (Editor's note: Lengthy passages of Jesus' teachings are often called discourses. Craddock is suggesting that this prayer of Jesus is also a discourse –– a vehicle for conveying Jesus' teachings.)
After this prayer, Jesus and his disciples will go to a garden in the Kidron Valley where he will be arrested. This prayer, then, serves as a transition from the discourses of the Upper Room to Jesus' passion (his death on the cross).
VERSES 1-26: JESUS' HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER
This prayer concludes the farewell dinner. It is often called The High Priestly Prayer for two reasons: First, Jesus is preparing to offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Second, he intercedes for his disciples (vv. 6-26) in the same way that the high priest intercedes for the people of Israel (see Romans 8:34).
This prayer is often likened to Moses' farewell address (Deuteronomy 31:30ff), which concluded with Moses' final blessing on Israel (Deuteronomy 33). The tone of that address was positive, very much like Jesus' prayer. Moses was preparing to die, but he said, "Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord" (Deuteronomy 33:29). Jesus is preparing to die, but he prays, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you" (17:1).
Lincoln suggests that this prayer is the Johannine equivalent of the Lord's Prayer as found in Matthew 6:9-15. He calls it "the Lord's prayer transposed into a Johannine key," and notes the following parallels (Lincoln 432-433):
• "Our Father in heaven" (Matthew 6:9) is paralleled in John 17:1 by a mention of heaven and Jesus addressing God as Father. Jesus also addresses God as Father in 17:11.
• "hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9) is paralleled in several places by concerns for God's holiness or God's name (John 17:6, 11, 26).
• "Your kingdom come" (Matthew 6:10) is paralleled by a concern for Jesus' hour having come (John 17:1) and a concern about eternal life (John 17:2-3).
• "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10) is paralleled by Jesus' comment that he has finished the work that the Father sent him to do (John 17:4).
• "And do not bring us to the time of trial" (Matthew 6:13) is paralleled by Jesus' plea for the Father to protect the disciples, living as they do in a hostile kosmos (John 17:11b-16).
This Johannine prayer is quite unlike Jesus' Gethsemane prayer in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46). There Jesus sweats drops of blood and prays, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me." In John's Gospel, there is a hint of anxiety in Jesus' earlier prayer, "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say –– 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour," (12:27) but no anxiety about his personal fate in chapter 17. "Far from being shaken and shattered by the ruin of all his hopes, as one might have expected him to be, Christ blesses God with a full heart for enabling him to carry through the task with which he had been entrusted" (Gossip, 744).
But though Jesus' prayer is positive, we hear an urgent, concerned tone. He is, after all, about to depart, leaving his disciples in a difficult world with a critical mission. He includes three petitions for the disciples in this prayer:
• First, he prays, "Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one" (v. 11).
• Second, he prays, "I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one" (v. 15).
• Third, he prays, "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth" (v. 17).
• He also prays, "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:20-21). This expands on the emphasis one oneness in the first petition.
"Although the prayer is set within the ministry of the historical Jesus, the perspective of the prayer is also that of the glorified Christ looking pastorally on his church in the world.... The prayer seems, then, to hang between heaven and earth, between the historical and the glorified Christ" (Craddock, 291).
Verses 1-11 have to do with the interrelationship between Jesus, God and the disciples. While Jesus has promised the Holy Spirit on several occasions (7:39; 14:16-26; 15:26; 16:13), there is no mention of the Spirit in this prayer.
VERSES 1-5: GLORIFY THE SON
These verses are not included in this Gospel lesson. In these verses, Jesus deals with various concerns, including his "hour," by which he means his death and resurrection (v. 1a) –– the glorification of the Son and Father (v. 1b) –– the Son's God-given authority (v. 2) –– and eternal life (vv. 2-3).
VERSES 6-8: I HAVE MADE YOUR NAME KNOWN
6"I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word (Greek: logos). 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words (Greek: rhemata) that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
"I have made your name known" (v. 6a). From the beginning, Jesus' mission has been revelation. He is the Logos, the Word, the one sent to reveal God to us (1:1). He has made the Father's name known.
The Jewish people have always been sensitive about God's name, because they consider God's name to be synonymous with God's true nature or character. At the burning bush, Moses asked God's name, and God replied, "I AM WHO I AM" (Hebrew: YHWH or Yahweh) and commanded Moses to tell the people, "I AM has sent me to you" (Exodus 3:14). In John's Gospel, Jesus frequently uses this "I AM" formula (Greek: ego eimi) to identify himself ("I AM the bread of life" –– "I AM the light of the world" –– "I AM the gate for the sheep" –– "I AM the good shepherd").
For much of their history, Jewish people considered God's name, YHWH, too sacred to pronounce, so they substituted the word adonai. Now Jesus makes God's name known "to those whom you gave me from the world" (v. 6) –– and the name is Father. Jesus makes God accessible –– makes it possible for us to address God as Father.
"to those whom you gave me from the world" (v. 6b). The disciples about whom Jesus speaks are not outstanding in any way. Jesus could easily complain about their mediocrity, but instead speaks of them respectfully, as if they were a treasure that the Father has placed into his hands. As events will prove, once they are filled with the Spirit, they will become worthy witnesses –– powerful advocates for the kingdom.
"and they have kept your word" (logos) (v. 6c). It is surprising that Jesus would say that the disciples have kept the Father's word. Their performance thus far has been mixed at best –– but see below on verse 8a.
"Now they know that everything you have given me is from you" (v. 7). The disciples do not yet understand Jesus' teachings about his death and resurrection, but they have placed their faith in Jesus as God's prophet –– as one who speaks God's word.
"for the words (rhemata) that you gave to me I have given to them" (v. 8a). Note the difference between "word" singular (logos) in verse 6 and "words" plural (rhemata) in verse 8. Logos (singular) and rhemata (plural) are two different words with significantly different meanings.
• Logos is important in this Gospel. Jesus is Logos –– Word –– the revelation of God. "In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word (logos) was with God, and the Word (logos) was God" (1:1).
• Rhemata is a different word. "A good case can be made that when the Fourth Gospel Jesus refers to his words (plural) he is talking about the precepts he lays down, almost equivalent to his 'commands'…, but when he refers to his word (singular) he is talking about his message as a whole, almost equivalent to 'gospel' " (Carson, 559).
"for they have received them and know in truth that I came from you" (v. 8b). Jesus does not say that the disciples have kept his rhemata –– his words –– his teachings –– but only that they have received them. It would be stretching things to say that the disciples have been faithful to Jesus' teachings, which they have thus far understood only dimly. Prior to the resurrection, they are more clueless than faithful. However, they have been faithful to the Father's logos –– to the Father's revelation of himself through the Son, who is the Logos. The disciples have hung in there with Jesus through good times and bad, because, "You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God" (6:68-69). It is the disciples' faithfulness to himself to which Jesus refers when he says, "they have kept your word" (v. 6).
"and they have believed that you sent me" (v. 8c). Jesus establishes the chain of custody by which God's words are transmitted. The words came from the Father, who gave them to the Son, who in turn gave them to the disciples. These disciples have not rejected these words, but have "received" them. They are receptive to the words that Jesus gives them, because they believe that Jesus was sent by the Father. If Jesus is truly sent by the Father, it follows that his words are trustworthy.
VERSES 9-11a: I AM ASKING ON THEIR BEHALF
9I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world (Greek: kosmou –– from kosmos), but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11aAnd now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.
"I am not asking on behalf of the world (kosmou), but on behalf of those whom you gave me" (v. 9). This has a harsh ring to it, as if Jesus cares only about his little band of disciples and nobody else. However, when Jesus speaks of the world, he is not speaking of planet earth or all humanity but of the kosmos, which is the "sphere of enmity to God…. The only hope for the kosmos is precisely that it should cease to be the kosmos" (O'Day, 792). The kosmos poses a threat to the disciples, who "are in the kosmos" even as Jesus is preparing to depart from the kosmos (v. 11).
But God and Jesus do not respond with hostility to a hostile world. Instead, this Gospel portrays them as loving the world and working to redeem it. Jesus said:
• "For God so loved the world (kosmon) that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world (kosmon), but in order that the world (kosmos) might be saved through him" (3:16-17)
• "I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world (kosmon), but to save the world" (kosmon) (12:47).
This was clear even to the Samaritans, who said to the woman at the well, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world" (kosmou) (4:42).
"But the salvation of the world depends on the witness of those whom the Father has given him 'out of the world' (see vv. 21, 23), and it is they that need (Jesus') intercession at this junction" (Bruce, 331).
"All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them" (v. 10). "What strikes one... most in our Lord's prayer is not even (Jesus') moving loyalty to his friends, ...but rather his unmistakable pride in them" (Gossip, 746). It seems astonishing that Jesus would claim to be glorified in these disciples. They are a small and ordinary group of people who exhibit no unusual intelligence or talent. They seem unable to learn from the numerous clues that Jesus gives them concerning his future. No matter what Jesus says, they just don't get it. How can Jesus claim to have been glorified in them?
Keep in mind that this Gospel was written quite late, probably after most of Jesus' original disciples died. The author has seen that, somehow, through the grace of God and the work of the Spirit, Jesus has indeed been glorified by these disciples. The church is growing and spreading. However imperfect these disciples might have been, they have succeeded in glorifying the Lord. In fact, when Jesus says that he has been glorified in them, he uses the perfect tense, suggesting an already completed glorification, showing full confidence that they have glorified him and will glorify him.
This is an encouraging word to those of us who are tempted to despair of disciples and discipleship today –– who long for a wart-free church. While the future of the church might seem compromised by the quality and commitment of its people, we can rest assured that the glorification that began with those first disciples continues with the work of the church today. The church is one example of the principle that God chooses the foolish and weak to shame the wise and strong (1 Corinthians 1:27).
"And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you" (v. 11a). Technically, Jesus is still present in the world, and his death and resurrection lie ahead, but he has begun the process by which he will be glorified and will return to the Father. The kosmos will soon succeed in killing him, but he will emerge victorious through the resurrection. The disciples, however, will continue to live in the kosmos, an alien and hostile kosmos, and we can hear a note of angst in Jesus' voice as he speaks of leaving them behind.
VERSES 11b-16: HOLY FATHER, PROTECT THEM IN YOUR NAME
11bHoly Father, protect (Greek: tereson –– keep, hold, maintain) them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost (Greek: ho huios tes apoleias –– the son of perdition), so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14I have given them your word (Greek: logon), and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
"Holy Father" (v. 11b) –– in verse 25, Jesus says, "Righteous Father." God is indeed holy and righteous. The holiness of God is "a divine characteristic which we are allowing to fall out of sight. We talk much about the love of God. But...we are not blinded these days by the blazing whiteness of God's holiness" (Gossip, 743). Neither have we adequately emphasized personal holiness as an important element of discipleship. It is an emphasis that we would do well to revive.
This righteous aspect of God was emphasized in the Old Testament to the extent that Jewish people did not feel worthy to address God by name. Now Jesus makes known God's name –– and that name is Father. That name helps us to see God in a new light, not simply as holy and righteous, but also as nurturing. But we must not forget that the nurturing Father is also holy and righteous.
"protect (tereson –– keep, hold, maintain) them in your name" or "keep them in your name that you have given me" (v. 11b). Jesus has been their protector, and gives an account of his stewardship (v. 12). Now he is preparing to depart, so he asks the Father to assume the role of protector to these disciples who are in the kosmos (world) but not of the kosmos –– belonging to the Father but dwelling in a hostile land. If we had been praying, we would have asked simply that the Father protect them, but Jesus prays, "protect them in your name" –– by which he means, " 'keep them in loyalty to you' or 'keep them in full adherence to your character' " (Carson, 562) –– the concern being not so much for physical danger –– and by the time of the writing of this Gospel, the church will have experienced the full savagery of Rome's persecution –– but for spiritual victory in the face of great trials.
"so that they may be one, as we are one" (v. 11b). In recent years, the ecumenical movement has worked to bring denominations together organizationally, their efforts reflecting concerns both for this petition of Jesus and for the church's witness. The unity for which Jesus is praying, however, is deeper –– a unity of heart and purpose. Organizational unity is only a first step. We must also be concerned about disunity within denominations –– within congregations –– between individual Christians.
This is a prayer that, in many respects, has not been answered. The church has fragmented into many denominations and factions. Christians spend altogether too much time fighting one another. And yet, in some respects, Jesus prayer has been answered. Christians work together across denominational lines in many ways –– from sponsoring community worship services to financing relief efforts. There have been a number of efforts to bring together denominations, either in formal mergers or through shared initiatives and mutual recognition of clergy. It is not enough, but it is a beginning.
"While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost" (Greek: ho huios tes apoleias –– literally, "the son of perdition" or "the son of utter ruin") (v. 12a). This probably refers to Judas, who is "characterized by 'lostness,' (rather than being) predestined to be 'lost'…. The reference to the fulfilling of Scripture brings out the divine purpose. This does not mean that Judas was an automaton. He was a responsible person and acted freely. But God used that man's evil act to bring about his own purpose" (Morris, 645).
In a dissenting opinion, Moloney regards this as a reference to Satan rather than Judas. "The only figure in the story Jesus could not 'care for' is Satan who planned the betrayal (cf. 13:2). Jesus washed the feet and shared the morsel with Judas despite Satan's designs (cf. 13:2). Nevertheless, Satan entered Judas (cf. 13:27) 'that the Scripture might be fulfilled' (17:12d; cf. 13:18). There is a divine order in the events of the life and death of Jesus beyond his control. The son of perdition is beyond the control of Jesus, but he has cared for his disciples" (Moloney, 467).
"so that the scripture might be fulfilled" (v. 12b). The fulfilled scripture is almost surely Psalm 41:9, which is applied to Judas in John 13:18.
"But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves" (v. 13). Earlier, Jesus commanded the disciples to abide in him and to keep his commandments "so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete" (15:11). The world in which we live –– the kosmos –– tends to think of joy in terms of the baser pleasures. Such joy tastes sweet for awhile, but then turns rancid, leaving a bitter aftertaste. There are joys with deeper roots –– the joy of hearth and home –– the joy of creativity and productivity –– the joy of service and benevolence –– the joy of knowing and serving truth –– the joy of having one's feet firmly planted on a solid foundation –– the joy of being in a right relationship with God. It is these joys that Jesus offers, and they "compensate for the world's hatred, which (the disciples) must encounter because of their loyalty to Christ, whose refusal to accept worldly standards has incurred the hostility of the world" (Howard, 748).
"I have given them your word (logos), and the world (kosmos) has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world" (v. 14). Jesus has given the disciples God's word –– God's logos –– and that word has made them different. These logos-people do not belong to the kosmos-world –– the world that is opposed to God. Their new identity, their separateness, draws the world's ire.
The kosmos-world is suspicious –– afraid of those who have rejected its ways. Kosmos-people feel insecure except in the company of other kosmos-people –– those who accept their values and seek the same pleasures. We see it with drug-addicts, who cannot abide the addict who has quit using drugs. We see it in the criminal world, that cannot abide the person who has "gone straight." Kosmos-people know that the person who used to belong to them but no longer belongs, is especially dangerous, because that person knows their secrets but no longer shares their loyalties.
We see something similar in the shadowy world of enterprises (legal or illegal) that profit from people's weaknesses –– manufacturers of cigarettes or alcohol, people who run casinos and bars, pimps, sellers of pornography and the like. Kosmos-people move among a small circle of colleagues and see the rest of the world as their enemy. They hate anyone who opposes them, whether overtly or by wholesome example, and respond viciously to any perceived threat to their kosmos-enterprise.
We see it in the movies, where Christians are seldom portrayed in a favorable light –– and in the news media, which seldom reports anything good about the church but delights in clergy-gone-awry stories. And we see it in places that we don't expect to see it. I have a neighbor who is likable enough but who has nary a good word to say about the church. I think that he senses something good there, but something that would require a change of heart –– a change that he is unwilling to make. Jesus has not overstated the case at all when he says that the kosmos "hates" the disciples "because they do not belong to the kosmos." That hatred is fueled by guilt, fear of exposure, and fierce resistance to change.
"I am not asking you to take them out of the world (kosmou), but I ask you to protect them from the evil one" (v. 15). "The juxtaposition of the language of being kept in the Father's name and that of being kept from the evil one indicates the two antithetical spheres of power operative in the world" –– God and Satan (Lincoln, 437).
The mission of the disciples is to carry on Christ's work in the kosmos-world, so Jesus cannot remove them from the kosmos. They will do their work in a world to which they no longer belong and in which they no longer feel wholly comfortable. "The church's radical otherworldliness…consists precisely in this: its protection by and orientation to a name not certified by the world. Whenever it neglects its otherworldliness and assumes it exists as an institution like all other institutions, it contradicts its very being" (Cousar, 344). The old gospel song comes to mind: "This world is not my home; I'm just a-passing through." The poetry might be doggerel, but the sentiment is exactly right.
Jesus does pray that God will "protect them from the evil one" (v. 15). Jesus doesn't pray that God would "wrap (the disciples) in some plastic, danger-free safety casing where they would never encounter evil. But the prayer of Jesus was to protect them from succumbing to the onslaught of evil or the evil one" (Borchert, 200).
What does seem to be overstated is Jesus' claim that "They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world" (v. 16). "That sounds by far too generous; more generous than true" (Gossip, 748). These disciples are flawed people who have failed Jesus in the past and who will fail him again in the future. Nevertheless, they have become different, because Jesus has given them God's word (v. 14). That word moved them from the kosmos camp to God's camp. Jesus is not just being generous. The disciples, in fact, no longer belong to the kosmos.
VERSES 17-19: SANCTIFY THEM IN THE TRUTH
17Sanctify (Greek: hagiason –– set apart as sacred to God –– make holy –– consecrate) them in the truth; your word (Greek: logos) is truth. 18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify (Greek: hagiazo) myself, so that they also may be sanctified (Greek: hegiasmenoi) in truth.
"Sanctify (hagiason) them in the truth" (v. 17a). Hagiason comes from the word, hagios, which is often translated holy, but which also means separate or set apart (Barclay, 253). Hagiason (and variants) is the word used in the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament) for the consecration of animals for sacrifice to God (Deuteronomy 15:19). God required that animals set aside for sacrifice be without blemish or serious defect (Exodus 12:5; Leviticus 22:21). People were not allowed to sacrifice an animal that was lame or blind (Deuteronomy 15:19).
This is related to Jesus' concern in this passage for the holiness of the disciples (vv. 15-19). Jesus has already said that the disciples "do not belong to the world" (v. 14), which is simply another way of saying that they are separate or holy. We cannot perform our mission of witnessing to the love of the holy Father in this world unless we ourselves are holy. While the concern with regard to sacrificial animals was physical wholeness, the concern with regard to disciples is spiritual wholeness –– spiritual holiness –– freedom from serious spiritual defect.
Hagiason is also the word used for the consecration of prophets and priests (O'Day, 793). God did not set apart prophets and priests for honor but for service. The same is true today when we ordain people to church offices. While it is, in one sense, an honor to be chosen for such work, it is, in a larger sense, ordination to servitude –– to becoming a servant.
Hagios and its variants are found in only two places in this Gospel –– here and in 10:36 –– part of the Festival Cycle (chapters 10 ff.) where "the high priest, the one who bore the insignia of holiness/set-apartness to God...settled for an unholy compromise to kill Jesus in order to calm religious renewal and zeal and to maintain his own status and position (11:48-52)" (Borchert, 196-197, 202-203). Being holy in an unholy kosmos (world) was fatal for Jesus, and we should understand that being holy will be dangerous for us too.
"your word (logos) is truth" (v. 17b). " 'Your word is truth' (v. l7b) is a subtle allusion to John 1:14. Although Jesus is never explicitly called 'the Word' in the body of the Gospel, this understanding of him underlies the affirmation here. God's Word, incarnate in Jesus, is truth-as well as the way and the life (14:6)" (Williamson, 226).
It was the gift of God's word that made the disciples separate and holy in the first place (v. 14). Now Jesus calls for an additional measure of this same gift to make the demarcation even clearer and to equip the disciples for their difficult work.
"As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world" (v. 18). Jesus is not of this world, but emptied himself so that he might take on human form and live in the kosmos-world on a mission of mercy and salvation (Philippians 2:5-11). Now he is preparing the disciples to continue this incarnational ministry in a world that is no longer their own. "The task is no less than the sanctification of the world through the sanctification of the disciples" (Sloyan, 197). "The parallelism between (Jesus') sending and (the disciples' sending) is to be observed…. (Jesus is at the end of his earthly ministry, and) therefore hands over the mission to his men whom he has prepared for this task…. As Bultmann expressed it, 'The community takes over Jesus' assault on the world' " (Beasley-Murray, 300-301).
"And for their sakes I sanctify (hagiazo) myself" (v. 19a). "If the disciples are to be effectively set apart for the work which they must do, the Son must first set himself apart for the work which he must do" (Bruce, 334). When Jesus speaks of sanctifying himself, he is talking about setting himself apart for the sacrifice of the cross.
"so that they may be sanctified (hegiasmenoi) in truth" (v. 19b). "The holiness of God, made visible in the human story in the holiness of Jesus' gift of himself for his own (v. 19a), is to be matched by the holiness of the disciples (v. 19b) as Jesus is sending them into the world to make God known, just as God sent him (v. 18). To succeed in this mission they must be holy, as God is holy (cf. Lev 11:44; John 17:11b, 17,19)" (Moloney, 469).
TRUE STORY:
Speaking of mothers' prayers, Richard Moore's mother prayed for him for many years. Richard, you see, lost his eyesight as a child. He grew up in Northern Ireland during the troubled times there, and was hit by a rubber bullet fired by a British soldier. He was walking home from school –– ten years old.
Richard's mother prayed for him. He remembers waking up to find his mother kneeling beside his bed, pleading with God that her son's eyesight might be restored –– but, as nearly as anyone could tell, nothing happened.
Many years later, as a grown man, Richard learned the name of the soldier who shot him. He located the man's address and asked if he could come to visit. When the man gave his permission, Richard went to see him and to offer his forgiveness.
When he did that, he felt something change deep inside himself. He discovered a kind of peace that had eluded him throughout his life. He said:
"When I met the soldier and forgave him,
I believe my mother's prayers were answered.
I was given a new vision,
and my real wound,
the one that needed healing more than my eyes,
was healed."
THOUGHT PROVOKERS: (Top of page)
There is nothing that makes us love a person so much
as praying for him....
By considering yourself as an advocate with God
for your neighbors and acquaintances,
you would never find it hard to be at peace with them yourself.
William Law
* * * * * * * * * *
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God that loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
The Ancient Mariner
* * * * * * * * * *
The servants of Christ are protected by invisible,
rather than visible, beings.
But if these guard you,
they do so because they have been summoned by your prayers.
Ambrose
EDITOR'S NOTE: And Jesus' prayer.
* * * * * * * * * *
No Christian escapes a taste of the wilderness
on the way to the Promised Land.
Evelyn Underhill
* * * * * * * * * *
The Church is not so much a continuously living thing,
as something that has survived a thousand crucifixions
through a thousand Resurrections.
Fulton J. Sheen
* * * * * * * * * *
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Barclay, William, The Daily Study Bible, "The Gospel of John," Vol. 2 (Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press, 1955)
Beasley-Murray, George R., Word Biblical Commentary: John (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999)
Borchert, Gerald L., New American Commentary: John 12-21, Vol, 25B (Nashville: Broadman Press, 2002)
Brown, Raymond, The Anchor Bible: The Gospel According to John XIII-XXI (Garden City: Doubleday, 1970)
Bruce, F. F., The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983).
Carson, D. A., The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991).
Cousar, Charles B., in Brueggemann, Walter; Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, Beverly R. and Newsome, James D., Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV––Year B (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993)
Craddock, Fred R.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; and Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through the Christian Year B (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1993)
Gossip, Arthur John and Howard, Wilbert F., The Interpreter's Bible, Volume 8 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1952)
Howard-Brook, Wes, Becoming the Children of God: John's Gospel and Radical Discipleship (New York: Maryknoll, 1994).
Kostenberger, Andreas J., Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004)
Lincoln, Andrew T., Black's New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to John (London: Continuum, 2005)
Malcolm, Lois, in Van Harn, Roger (ed.), The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday's Text. The Third Readings: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001)
Moloney, Francis J., Sacra Pagina: The Gospel of John (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1998)
Morris, Leon, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995).
O'Day, Gail R., The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume IX (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995)
Palmer, Earl F., The Book That John Wrote (Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 1975)
Ridderbos, Herman (translated by John Vriend), The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997)
Sloyan, Gerald, "John," Interpretation (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988)
Smith, D. Moody, Jr., Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: John (Nashville: Abingdon, 1999)
Lamar Williamson Jr., Preaching the Gospel of John: Proclaiming the Living Word (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004)
Wright, Tom (N.T.), John for Everyone: Part 2, Chapters 11-21 (London: SPCK and Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002, 2004)
Richard Niell Donovan, SermonWriter.com
Thursday, May 14, 2009
May 17, 2009 - The 6th Sunday of Easter
THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
YEAR B
MAY 17, 2009
Acts 10:44-48
Psalm 98
1 John 5:1-6
John 15:9-17
The Collect
O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The First Lesson
Acts 10:44-48
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.
The Psalm
Psalm 98 Page 727 BCP
Cantate Domino
1
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
2
With his right hand and his holy arm
has he won for himself the victory.
3
The LORD has made known his victory;
his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.
4
He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to
the house of Israel,
and all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
5
Shout with joy to the LORD, all you lands;
lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.
6
Sing to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the voice of song.
7
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
shout with joy before the King, the LORD.
8
Let the sea make a noise and all that is in it,
the lands and those who dwell therein.
9
Let the rivers clap their hands,
and let the hills ring out with joy before the LORD,
when he comes to judge the earth.
10
In righteousness shall he judge the world
and the peoples with equity.
1 John 5:1-6
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.
The Gospel: John 15:9-17
Jesus said to his disciples, "As the Father has loved me, so I 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. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."
EXEGESIS:
CONTEXT:
This is near the end of Jesus' life. Jesus' lengthy discourse began in chapter 14 and will run through chapter 16. Chapter 17 is Jesus' prayer for his disciples, and chapter 18 starts with his arrest and betrayal.
Verses 1-8 set the stage for verses 9-17. Those earlier verses introduced the idea of abiding in Jesus ("Abide in me," v. 4), and the later verses continue that imagery ("Abide in my love," v. 9). They also introduce the idea that "everything begins with the Father" (Ridderbos, 519). This is reflected in the earlier portion with Jesus' statement, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower" (v. 1). It is repeated in the second section by Jesus' statement, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you" (v. 9).
VERSES 9-11: ABIDE IN MY LOVE
9As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
In verses 1-8 Jesus told us that the Father is the vinegrower, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. In those verses Jesus said, "Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me" (v. 4). Now he continues, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love" (v. 9). The message throughout is of interrelationships among Father, Son, and disciples.
This Gospel, from the beginning, has emphasized the unity of Father and Son:
• "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being" (1:1-3).
• Jesus has already said, "The Father and I are one" (10:30).
• In his high priestly prayer, shortly before his death, he will pray that the disciples "may be one, as we are one" (17:11, 22).
Now the emphasis is on love. Love begins with the Father and flows through the Son to the disciples (v. 9). It is contingent on obedience –– "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" (v. 10). Jesus provides us with a model of obedience. He has come to do the will of the one who sent him (4:34; 6:38; 8:29). He keeps the Father's word (8:55). He does the Father's will so that the world might know that he loves the Father (14:31). The Father loves Jesus because he lays down his life in obedience to the Father's command (10:17-18).
Borchert speaks of the circle of love. "The Father loves the Son (cf. 3:35; 17:23, and the Son obediently loves the Father (cf. 10:17; 14:31); the Son loves his followers, and they are to love and obey him (cf. 13:34; 14:15, 23); loving and obeying the Son means being loved by the Father (cf. 14:21, 23; 17:23); being loved by the Son also implies loving one another (cf. 13:34; 15:12, 17); God not only loves the disciples but loves the world and gave his Son for its people (cf. 3:16); but many in the world love darkness and do not do the will of God (cf. 3:19; 14:24). In his first epistle John carries the theme of love further and insists that the disciple must not love in words only but in actual deeds of love (cf. I John 3:18) and that hating one's brother is actually an indication of not loving God (cf. 3:15) because love is the sign of knowing God (cf. 4:7)" (Borchert, 146).
Now Jesus asks us to obey the Father as he obeys the Father. "To be a disciple abiding in the love of Jesus means to 'do' something, and that 'doing' is determined by the commandments of Jesus" (Moloney, 421). The reward of faithful obedience is relationship –– abiding in the Son who abides in the Father.
The image that comes to mind is that of nested dolls –– the kind that pull apart to reveal a smaller doll inside –– and inside of that doll there is a still smaller doll. Jesus invites us to obey so that we might abide in him as he abides in the Father. If we abide in Jesus and Jesus abides in the Father, it follows that we also abide in the Father. The little disciple nestles into the larger Jesus, who then nestles into the great Father. This series of relationships is made complete as we keep Jesus' commandments.
Howard-Brook notes that 15:10 is the third time in a short time (see also 14:15 and 14:23) that Jesus enjoins our obedience. We respond, "'Enough of this already –– we get the message!' But alas, the problem is that we do not get the message, for if people kept the commandment to love one another, what a different world we would live in!" (Howard-Brook, 335). Even the church, the body of Christ, often fails at this point. Our focus is too often on programs, dogma, or buildings. Sometimes we field programs and build buildings instead of loving God and each other.
Jesus then says, "I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete" (v. 11). Jesus is not calling us to dreary, lock-step obedience but to joy. "The joy of Jesus is the joy that arises from the sense of a finished work. It is creative joy, like the joy of the artist. It produces a sense of unexhausted power for fresh creation" (Strachan, quoted in Morris, 598). It is not the hollow joy of luxurious surroundings and sated appetites –– joy that dissipates as soon as things change. It is, instead, the joy of the disciplined life, like the joy of the athlete who rejoices after conquering a difficult challenge to win the race. That athlete might have blistered feet or strained muscles, but those matter little while experiencing the joy of victory.
VERSES 12-13: THIS IS MY COMMANDMENT
12"This is my commandment, that you love (Greek: agapate) one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.
"This is my commandment, that you love (agapate) one another as I have loved you" (v. 12). This is a restatement of Jesus' "new commandment" in 13:34.
In verse 12, the "commandments" of verse 10 are narrowed down to one –– loving one another as Jesus has loved us. This Gospel does not emphasize moral teaching in the way that Matthew does. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) includes many specific teachings that are missing here. Part of the reason is that John is a different person with a different style and emphasis. However, it is also true that Jesus' love-commandment pulls together all the law and the prophets. The person who loves needs no commandment not to steal or kill, because the person who loves will not do those things. Reflecting on this principle, Augustine said, "Love, and do what thou wilt."
The agape (pronounced a-GAH-pay) love that Jesus commands "does not primarily represent a feeling, nor is it a synonym for 'like.' To love is to be for another person and to act for another, even at cost to oneself. The supreme act of love is the giving of one's life for the other (v. 13)" (Craddock, 265).
This understanding of love is quite different from that of our culture –– a culture that too often understands love as the satisfaction of one's own needs rather than as satisfying the needs of the other. The person who says, "I love you," may mean only "I want you" and may even resort to manipulation to possess you. How different that is from the person who stands ready to sacrifice in behalf of the other person –– even to quietly walk away if that best meets the other person's needs. To understand the love of which Jesus speaks, it helps to understand how we have debased the word love in our common usage.
"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (v. 13).
"Friendship was very important in the Greco-Roman world. It was commonly recognized that the supreme duty of friendship may involve self-sacrifice for one's friend even to the point of death" (Kostenberger, 458).
At this point, the disciples do not understand that Jesus will soon die for his friends. After the resurrection, they will finally understand the significance of these words. Jesus' love will require him to go to the cross for his friends. His commandment to love each other as he has loved us (v. 12) also requires serious sacrifice. The love of which Jesus speaks is more than a feeling –– it is love in action –– love that pays the price.
1 John 3:16 makes this explicit: "We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us––and we ought to lay down our lives for one another." Note the similar emphasis of 1 John 3:16 and John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." Godly coincidence!
Earlier, Thomas said to the other disciples, "Let us go also (to Jerusalem), that we may die with him" (11:16), but it was clear that Thomas had no enthusiasm for sacrifice. Peter said, "Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you" (13:37), but when the time came, Peter denied Jesus. Talk is cheap! Love is costly!
VERSES 14-15: NOT SERVANTS, BUT FRIENDS
14You are my friends (Greek: philoi) if you do what I command you. 15I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
"You are my friends (philoi) if you do what I command you" (v. 14). What Jesus has commanded is that his disciples "love one another as I have loved you" (v. 12). The Greeks have three words for love:
• Agape, a love characterized by concern for the welfare of the other person.
• Philos, companionate love (Philadelphia, which means the city of brotherly love, is derived from philos, which means love and adelphos, which means brother).
• Eros, romantic or sexual love.
"The Fourth Gospel uses…agapao and phileo interchangeably (cf…. 13:2 and 20:2; 5:20 and 10:17), so when Jesus speaks of friends here, he is really saying 'those who are loved' (cf. the description of Lazarus at 11:3, 11). The English word 'friend' does not fully convey the presence of love that undergirds the Johannine notion of friendship…. A comparison of 14:15 and 21 with 15:14 suggests that to be Jesus' friend and to love Jesus are synonymous, because both are defined as keeping Jesus' commandments" (O'Day, 758).
Jesus says, "I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing" (v. 15a). Earlier, he called them disciples (8:31; 13:35; 15:8), and that is the word that this Gospel usually uses for them –– but Jesus also implied that they are his servants. He said, "Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also" (12:26) and "The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him" (13:16).
There is no shame attached to being God's servant. The people identified in the Bible as God's servants include Moses (Deuteronomy 34:5), Joshua (Joshua 24:29), David (Psalm 89:20), Paul (Titus 1:1), and James (James 1:1). Jesus acted as servant to the disciples at the foot-washing (John 13:13-16).
But now Jesus refers to the disciples as friends, saying, "but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father" (v. 15b). A friend enjoys a deeper relationship with the other than a servant –– or even a disciple. A master gives servants orders, but a friend communicates with friends, sharing knowledge and involving them at a deeper level. "The mark of difference between a servant and a friend is precisely the confidence which is extended to the latter" (Beasley-Murray, 274-275). "As with perfect friendships from time immemorial all secrets are shared, both from above and below" (Sloyan, 190). In the prologue to this Gospel (1:1-18), John refers to Jesus as the Word. A word is a means of communication. Christ came to earth in human form to reveal God and God's mind clearly to us. As God in flesh, he made it possible for us to see what God is really like. He "made known to (us) everything that (he had) heard from (his) Father" (v. 15b). This kind of openness is characteristic of friends.
This friendship is contingent on the obedience of the disciples –– "You are my friends if you do what I command you" (v. 14). Jesus and the disciples have not become equals, and their friendship is not a democracy. "Jesus' absolute right to command is in no way diminished, but he takes pains to inform his friends of his motives, plans, purposes…. In times past God's covenant people were not informed of God's saving plan in the full measure now accorded Jesus' disciples…. The Paraclete…(will) complete the revelation bound up with the person and work of Christ (14:26; 16:12-15)" (Carson, 523).
Jesus' words here gain even more significance in the light of then-contemporary usage. In Roman courts, the phrase "friends of the Emperor" designated the emperor's closest advisers. "At all times they had access to the king; they had even the right to come to his bedchamber at the beginning of the day. He talked to them before he talked to his generals, his rulers, and his statesmen" (Barclay, 208).
VERSES 16-17: GO AND BEAR FRUIT
16You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed (Greek: etheka –– from tithemi –– set aside) you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
"You did not choose me, but I chose you" (v. 16a). Rabbis mentor students preparing for the rabbinate, and prospective students seek rabbis to become their mentors. The greater the rabbi, the more students seek his assistance. Jesus, however, tells his disciples that he has chosen them.
It is a great honor to apprentice under a great rabbi, so we would assume that Jesus has chosen the brightest and best –– but we would be wrong. These disciples hardly qualify as quick to learn. Instead the Gospels present them to us as slow –– a bit thick-headed –– weak of faith –– sometimes denying –– sometimes doubting. A few, such as Peter, James, and John, will become prominent, but even they often veer off course. Most will remain obscure. One will betray Jesus.
We wonder what Jesus was thinking when he chose this very ordinary group of disciples. And yet, the growth of the first-century church shows that Jesus chose well –– or that he empowered well. These disciples will do great things, not because they are great, but because the one who empowers them is great.
There is an important lesson here. God chooses whom God chooses. God empowers whom God empowers. A quick glance around the typical congregation shows that God has not chosen the brightest and the best. Most Godly work is done by ordinary people distinguished by only one characteristic –– they have given God their heart. That should encourage us. It should also make us hesitant to judge any person's potential. The star athlete and the valedictorian might be too full of self to be much heavenly good. The person who seems to have the least to offer might be the person that God chooses to transform the world. God chooses whom God chooses.
"And I appointed (etheka –– from tithemi –– set aside) you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last" (v. 16b). It is this verb, tithemi, that Jesus used in verse 13 to speak of laying down his life. Paul will use this verb in Acts 13:47 to speak of God setting Barnabas and himself aside to be a light to the Gentiles. Paul will use this verb again in 1Timothy 1:12 to express his thankfulness to Christ for appointing Paul to Christ's service. Tithemi brings to mind an ordination where a person is set apart for a particular ministry. The purpose of such appointment is not to honor the person being ordained, although there may be honor associated with it. The purpose is mission –– getting the job done –– bearing fruit. "It is absolutely crucial...to realize that election is not about privilege but purpose" (Borchert, 150).
Jesus says that he appointed these disciples "to go and bear fruit" (v. 16b). Jesus does not specify the fruit, but disciples are appointed to bear the fruit with which God endows them. I am reminded of Dale Bruner, a renowned Presbyterian teacher and scholar. When he was younger, friends told him that he had to be evangelistic –– to buttonhole people –– to tell them about Jesus. He tried, but failed mightily. He then spent a decade as a missionary in the Philippines, producing little fruit. Finally he found his calling. It was not on the street corner or in the pulpit, but in the classroom –– in the library. Bruner loves libraries, and produces beautiful fruit for Christ there. He has written a great commentary on Matthew, and is now working on the Gospel of John. Great scholarship! Great fruit! God calls other disciples to produce other kinds of fruit.
If we are to produce fruit for Christ, it is important that we seek his will for our lives –– to let him direct our appointment. The humblest Sunday school teacher, serving whole-heartedly in a Christ-given appointment, can render as important a service as any pastor or bishop. Christ often uses very humble people to change the world.
"fruit that will last" (v. 16b). Some people are called to produce reports that will be good for a few weeks –– others to build cars that will last for a few years –– still others to build houses that will last for a few decades. Christ appoints disciples to bear fruit that will last for centuries –– for eternity –– forever.
"so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name" (v. 16c). Earlier Jesus said, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (v. 7). The person who abides in Christ –– who becomes one with the Son as the Son is one with the Father –– becomes so attuned to the will of God that God will give that person whatever he or she asks in Christ's name. So it is with the person who serves whole-heartedly in the appointment to which Christ has appointed him or her (v. 16).
"I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another" (v. 17). This is almost a restatement of verse 12, but with an interesting twist. In verse 12 Jesus commands us to love, but verse 17 he says that these commands enable us to love one another. How is that so?
There is a synergy here –– intertwined elements that feed each other. The Father loves the Son, and the Son loves us and invites us to abide in his love (v. 1). As we keep his commandments, we abide in his love (v. 2), and we experience a complete kind of joy (v. 3). This joy fills our hearts, driving out poisonous feelings that would otherwise make it difficult to love our neighbor. Knowing that this neighbor is a child of our Father and is therefore our brother or sister also helps us to love. Thus God's love, Jesus' love, our love, our abiding in Christ, and our keeping of the commandments change us in ways that enable us to love those imperfect souls with whom we rub elbows every day –– to love them warts and all –– and that is a miracle!
THOUGHT PROVOKERS: (Top of page)
I went out to find a friend,
But could not find one there;
I went out to be a friend,
And friends were everywhere!
Author unknown
* * * * * * * * * *
No Cross, No Crown.
William Penn
* * * * * * * * * *
To a world stricken with moral enervation
Christianity offered its spectacle of an inspired self-sacrifice;
to those who refused themselves nothing,
it showed one who refused himself everything.
Matthew Arnold
* * * * * * * * * *
The great use of a life
is to spend it for something that outlasts it.
William James
* * * * * * * * * *
He who bears another,
is borne by another.
Pope St. Gregory the Great
* * * * * * * * * *
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Barclay, William, The Daily Study Bible, "The Gospel of John," Vol. 2 (Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press, 1955)
Beasley-Murray, George R., Word Biblical Commentary: John (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999)
Borchert, Gerald L., New American Commentary: John 12-21, Vol. 25B (Nashville: Broadman Press, 2002)
Brown, Raymond, The Anchor Bible: The Gospel According to John XIII-XXI (Garden City: Doubleday, 1970)
Bruce, F. F., The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983).
Burridge, Richard A., in Van Harn, Roger (ed.), The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday's Text. The Third Readings: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001)
Carson, D. A., The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991).
Cousar, Charles B., in Brueggemann, Walter; Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, Beverly R. and Newsome, James D., Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV––Year B (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993)
Craddock, Fred R.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; and Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through the Christian Year B (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1993)
Gossip, Arthur John and Howard, Wilbert F., The Interpreter's Bible, Volume 8 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1952)
Howard-Brook, Wes, Becoming the Children of God: John's Gospel and Radical Discipleship (New York: Maryknoll, 1994).
Kostenberger, Andreas J., Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004)
Lincoln, Andrew T., Black's New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to John (London: Continuum, 2005)
Moloney, Francis J., Sacra Pagina: The Gospel of John (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1998)
Morris, Leon, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995).
O'Day, Gail R., The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume IX (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995)
Palmer, Earl F., The Book That John Wrote (Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 1975)
Ridderbos, Herman (translated by John Vriend), The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997)
Sloyan, Gerald, "John," Interpretation (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988)
Smith, D. Moody, Jr., Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: John (Nashville: Abingdon, 1999)
Williamson, Lamar, Jr., Preaching the Gospel of John: Proclaiming the Living Word (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004)
Wright, Tom (N.T.), John for Everyone: Part 2, Chapters 11-21 (London: SPCK and Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002, 2004)
Richard Niell Donovan: SermonWriter.com
YEAR B
MAY 17, 2009
Acts 10:44-48
Psalm 98
1 John 5:1-6
John 15:9-17
The Collect
O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The First Lesson
Acts 10:44-48
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.
The Psalm
Psalm 98 Page 727 BCP
Cantate Domino
1
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
2
With his right hand and his holy arm
has he won for himself the victory.
3
The LORD has made known his victory;
his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.
4
He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to
the house of Israel,
and all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
5
Shout with joy to the LORD, all you lands;
lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.
6
Sing to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the voice of song.
7
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
shout with joy before the King, the LORD.
8
Let the sea make a noise and all that is in it,
the lands and those who dwell therein.
9
Let the rivers clap their hands,
and let the hills ring out with joy before the LORD,
when he comes to judge the earth.
10
In righteousness shall he judge the world
and the peoples with equity.
1 John 5:1-6
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.
The Gospel: John 15:9-17
Jesus said to his disciples, "As the Father has loved me, so I 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. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."
EXEGESIS:
CONTEXT:
This is near the end of Jesus' life. Jesus' lengthy discourse began in chapter 14 and will run through chapter 16. Chapter 17 is Jesus' prayer for his disciples, and chapter 18 starts with his arrest and betrayal.
Verses 1-8 set the stage for verses 9-17. Those earlier verses introduced the idea of abiding in Jesus ("Abide in me," v. 4), and the later verses continue that imagery ("Abide in my love," v. 9). They also introduce the idea that "everything begins with the Father" (Ridderbos, 519). This is reflected in the earlier portion with Jesus' statement, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower" (v. 1). It is repeated in the second section by Jesus' statement, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you" (v. 9).
VERSES 9-11: ABIDE IN MY LOVE
9As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
In verses 1-8 Jesus told us that the Father is the vinegrower, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. In those verses Jesus said, "Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me" (v. 4). Now he continues, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love" (v. 9). The message throughout is of interrelationships among Father, Son, and disciples.
This Gospel, from the beginning, has emphasized the unity of Father and Son:
• "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being" (1:1-3).
• Jesus has already said, "The Father and I are one" (10:30).
• In his high priestly prayer, shortly before his death, he will pray that the disciples "may be one, as we are one" (17:11, 22).
Now the emphasis is on love. Love begins with the Father and flows through the Son to the disciples (v. 9). It is contingent on obedience –– "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" (v. 10). Jesus provides us with a model of obedience. He has come to do the will of the one who sent him (4:34; 6:38; 8:29). He keeps the Father's word (8:55). He does the Father's will so that the world might know that he loves the Father (14:31). The Father loves Jesus because he lays down his life in obedience to the Father's command (10:17-18).
Borchert speaks of the circle of love. "The Father loves the Son (cf. 3:35; 17:23, and the Son obediently loves the Father (cf. 10:17; 14:31); the Son loves his followers, and they are to love and obey him (cf. 13:34; 14:15, 23); loving and obeying the Son means being loved by the Father (cf. 14:21, 23; 17:23); being loved by the Son also implies loving one another (cf. 13:34; 15:12, 17); God not only loves the disciples but loves the world and gave his Son for its people (cf. 3:16); but many in the world love darkness and do not do the will of God (cf. 3:19; 14:24). In his first epistle John carries the theme of love further and insists that the disciple must not love in words only but in actual deeds of love (cf. I John 3:18) and that hating one's brother is actually an indication of not loving God (cf. 3:15) because love is the sign of knowing God (cf. 4:7)" (Borchert, 146).
Now Jesus asks us to obey the Father as he obeys the Father. "To be a disciple abiding in the love of Jesus means to 'do' something, and that 'doing' is determined by the commandments of Jesus" (Moloney, 421). The reward of faithful obedience is relationship –– abiding in the Son who abides in the Father.
The image that comes to mind is that of nested dolls –– the kind that pull apart to reveal a smaller doll inside –– and inside of that doll there is a still smaller doll. Jesus invites us to obey so that we might abide in him as he abides in the Father. If we abide in Jesus and Jesus abides in the Father, it follows that we also abide in the Father. The little disciple nestles into the larger Jesus, who then nestles into the great Father. This series of relationships is made complete as we keep Jesus' commandments.
Howard-Brook notes that 15:10 is the third time in a short time (see also 14:15 and 14:23) that Jesus enjoins our obedience. We respond, "'Enough of this already –– we get the message!' But alas, the problem is that we do not get the message, for if people kept the commandment to love one another, what a different world we would live in!" (Howard-Brook, 335). Even the church, the body of Christ, often fails at this point. Our focus is too often on programs, dogma, or buildings. Sometimes we field programs and build buildings instead of loving God and each other.
Jesus then says, "I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete" (v. 11). Jesus is not calling us to dreary, lock-step obedience but to joy. "The joy of Jesus is the joy that arises from the sense of a finished work. It is creative joy, like the joy of the artist. It produces a sense of unexhausted power for fresh creation" (Strachan, quoted in Morris, 598). It is not the hollow joy of luxurious surroundings and sated appetites –– joy that dissipates as soon as things change. It is, instead, the joy of the disciplined life, like the joy of the athlete who rejoices after conquering a difficult challenge to win the race. That athlete might have blistered feet or strained muscles, but those matter little while experiencing the joy of victory.
VERSES 12-13: THIS IS MY COMMANDMENT
12"This is my commandment, that you love (Greek: agapate) one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.
"This is my commandment, that you love (agapate) one another as I have loved you" (v. 12). This is a restatement of Jesus' "new commandment" in 13:34.
In verse 12, the "commandments" of verse 10 are narrowed down to one –– loving one another as Jesus has loved us. This Gospel does not emphasize moral teaching in the way that Matthew does. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) includes many specific teachings that are missing here. Part of the reason is that John is a different person with a different style and emphasis. However, it is also true that Jesus' love-commandment pulls together all the law and the prophets. The person who loves needs no commandment not to steal or kill, because the person who loves will not do those things. Reflecting on this principle, Augustine said, "Love, and do what thou wilt."
The agape (pronounced a-GAH-pay) love that Jesus commands "does not primarily represent a feeling, nor is it a synonym for 'like.' To love is to be for another person and to act for another, even at cost to oneself. The supreme act of love is the giving of one's life for the other (v. 13)" (Craddock, 265).
This understanding of love is quite different from that of our culture –– a culture that too often understands love as the satisfaction of one's own needs rather than as satisfying the needs of the other. The person who says, "I love you," may mean only "I want you" and may even resort to manipulation to possess you. How different that is from the person who stands ready to sacrifice in behalf of the other person –– even to quietly walk away if that best meets the other person's needs. To understand the love of which Jesus speaks, it helps to understand how we have debased the word love in our common usage.
"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (v. 13).
"Friendship was very important in the Greco-Roman world. It was commonly recognized that the supreme duty of friendship may involve self-sacrifice for one's friend even to the point of death" (Kostenberger, 458).
At this point, the disciples do not understand that Jesus will soon die for his friends. After the resurrection, they will finally understand the significance of these words. Jesus' love will require him to go to the cross for his friends. His commandment to love each other as he has loved us (v. 12) also requires serious sacrifice. The love of which Jesus speaks is more than a feeling –– it is love in action –– love that pays the price.
1 John 3:16 makes this explicit: "We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us––and we ought to lay down our lives for one another." Note the similar emphasis of 1 John 3:16 and John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." Godly coincidence!
Earlier, Thomas said to the other disciples, "Let us go also (to Jerusalem), that we may die with him" (11:16), but it was clear that Thomas had no enthusiasm for sacrifice. Peter said, "Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you" (13:37), but when the time came, Peter denied Jesus. Talk is cheap! Love is costly!
VERSES 14-15: NOT SERVANTS, BUT FRIENDS
14You are my friends (Greek: philoi) if you do what I command you. 15I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
"You are my friends (philoi) if you do what I command you" (v. 14). What Jesus has commanded is that his disciples "love one another as I have loved you" (v. 12). The Greeks have three words for love:
• Agape, a love characterized by concern for the welfare of the other person.
• Philos, companionate love (Philadelphia, which means the city of brotherly love, is derived from philos, which means love and adelphos, which means brother).
• Eros, romantic or sexual love.
"The Fourth Gospel uses…agapao and phileo interchangeably (cf…. 13:2 and 20:2; 5:20 and 10:17), so when Jesus speaks of friends here, he is really saying 'those who are loved' (cf. the description of Lazarus at 11:3, 11). The English word 'friend' does not fully convey the presence of love that undergirds the Johannine notion of friendship…. A comparison of 14:15 and 21 with 15:14 suggests that to be Jesus' friend and to love Jesus are synonymous, because both are defined as keeping Jesus' commandments" (O'Day, 758).
Jesus says, "I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing" (v. 15a). Earlier, he called them disciples (8:31; 13:35; 15:8), and that is the word that this Gospel usually uses for them –– but Jesus also implied that they are his servants. He said, "Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also" (12:26) and "The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him" (13:16).
There is no shame attached to being God's servant. The people identified in the Bible as God's servants include Moses (Deuteronomy 34:5), Joshua (Joshua 24:29), David (Psalm 89:20), Paul (Titus 1:1), and James (James 1:1). Jesus acted as servant to the disciples at the foot-washing (John 13:13-16).
But now Jesus refers to the disciples as friends, saying, "but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father" (v. 15b). A friend enjoys a deeper relationship with the other than a servant –– or even a disciple. A master gives servants orders, but a friend communicates with friends, sharing knowledge and involving them at a deeper level. "The mark of difference between a servant and a friend is precisely the confidence which is extended to the latter" (Beasley-Murray, 274-275). "As with perfect friendships from time immemorial all secrets are shared, both from above and below" (Sloyan, 190). In the prologue to this Gospel (1:1-18), John refers to Jesus as the Word. A word is a means of communication. Christ came to earth in human form to reveal God and God's mind clearly to us. As God in flesh, he made it possible for us to see what God is really like. He "made known to (us) everything that (he had) heard from (his) Father" (v. 15b). This kind of openness is characteristic of friends.
This friendship is contingent on the obedience of the disciples –– "You are my friends if you do what I command you" (v. 14). Jesus and the disciples have not become equals, and their friendship is not a democracy. "Jesus' absolute right to command is in no way diminished, but he takes pains to inform his friends of his motives, plans, purposes…. In times past God's covenant people were not informed of God's saving plan in the full measure now accorded Jesus' disciples…. The Paraclete…(will) complete the revelation bound up with the person and work of Christ (14:26; 16:12-15)" (Carson, 523).
Jesus' words here gain even more significance in the light of then-contemporary usage. In Roman courts, the phrase "friends of the Emperor" designated the emperor's closest advisers. "At all times they had access to the king; they had even the right to come to his bedchamber at the beginning of the day. He talked to them before he talked to his generals, his rulers, and his statesmen" (Barclay, 208).
VERSES 16-17: GO AND BEAR FRUIT
16You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed (Greek: etheka –– from tithemi –– set aside) you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
"You did not choose me, but I chose you" (v. 16a). Rabbis mentor students preparing for the rabbinate, and prospective students seek rabbis to become their mentors. The greater the rabbi, the more students seek his assistance. Jesus, however, tells his disciples that he has chosen them.
It is a great honor to apprentice under a great rabbi, so we would assume that Jesus has chosen the brightest and best –– but we would be wrong. These disciples hardly qualify as quick to learn. Instead the Gospels present them to us as slow –– a bit thick-headed –– weak of faith –– sometimes denying –– sometimes doubting. A few, such as Peter, James, and John, will become prominent, but even they often veer off course. Most will remain obscure. One will betray Jesus.
We wonder what Jesus was thinking when he chose this very ordinary group of disciples. And yet, the growth of the first-century church shows that Jesus chose well –– or that he empowered well. These disciples will do great things, not because they are great, but because the one who empowers them is great.
There is an important lesson here. God chooses whom God chooses. God empowers whom God empowers. A quick glance around the typical congregation shows that God has not chosen the brightest and the best. Most Godly work is done by ordinary people distinguished by only one characteristic –– they have given God their heart. That should encourage us. It should also make us hesitant to judge any person's potential. The star athlete and the valedictorian might be too full of self to be much heavenly good. The person who seems to have the least to offer might be the person that God chooses to transform the world. God chooses whom God chooses.
"And I appointed (etheka –– from tithemi –– set aside) you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last" (v. 16b). It is this verb, tithemi, that Jesus used in verse 13 to speak of laying down his life. Paul will use this verb in Acts 13:47 to speak of God setting Barnabas and himself aside to be a light to the Gentiles. Paul will use this verb again in 1Timothy 1:12 to express his thankfulness to Christ for appointing Paul to Christ's service. Tithemi brings to mind an ordination where a person is set apart for a particular ministry. The purpose of such appointment is not to honor the person being ordained, although there may be honor associated with it. The purpose is mission –– getting the job done –– bearing fruit. "It is absolutely crucial...to realize that election is not about privilege but purpose" (Borchert, 150).
Jesus says that he appointed these disciples "to go and bear fruit" (v. 16b). Jesus does not specify the fruit, but disciples are appointed to bear the fruit with which God endows them. I am reminded of Dale Bruner, a renowned Presbyterian teacher and scholar. When he was younger, friends told him that he had to be evangelistic –– to buttonhole people –– to tell them about Jesus. He tried, but failed mightily. He then spent a decade as a missionary in the Philippines, producing little fruit. Finally he found his calling. It was not on the street corner or in the pulpit, but in the classroom –– in the library. Bruner loves libraries, and produces beautiful fruit for Christ there. He has written a great commentary on Matthew, and is now working on the Gospel of John. Great scholarship! Great fruit! God calls other disciples to produce other kinds of fruit.
If we are to produce fruit for Christ, it is important that we seek his will for our lives –– to let him direct our appointment. The humblest Sunday school teacher, serving whole-heartedly in a Christ-given appointment, can render as important a service as any pastor or bishop. Christ often uses very humble people to change the world.
"fruit that will last" (v. 16b). Some people are called to produce reports that will be good for a few weeks –– others to build cars that will last for a few years –– still others to build houses that will last for a few decades. Christ appoints disciples to bear fruit that will last for centuries –– for eternity –– forever.
"so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name" (v. 16c). Earlier Jesus said, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (v. 7). The person who abides in Christ –– who becomes one with the Son as the Son is one with the Father –– becomes so attuned to the will of God that God will give that person whatever he or she asks in Christ's name. So it is with the person who serves whole-heartedly in the appointment to which Christ has appointed him or her (v. 16).
"I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another" (v. 17). This is almost a restatement of verse 12, but with an interesting twist. In verse 12 Jesus commands us to love, but verse 17 he says that these commands enable us to love one another. How is that so?
There is a synergy here –– intertwined elements that feed each other. The Father loves the Son, and the Son loves us and invites us to abide in his love (v. 1). As we keep his commandments, we abide in his love (v. 2), and we experience a complete kind of joy (v. 3). This joy fills our hearts, driving out poisonous feelings that would otherwise make it difficult to love our neighbor. Knowing that this neighbor is a child of our Father and is therefore our brother or sister also helps us to love. Thus God's love, Jesus' love, our love, our abiding in Christ, and our keeping of the commandments change us in ways that enable us to love those imperfect souls with whom we rub elbows every day –– to love them warts and all –– and that is a miracle!
THOUGHT PROVOKERS: (Top of page)
I went out to find a friend,
But could not find one there;
I went out to be a friend,
And friends were everywhere!
Author unknown
* * * * * * * * * *
No Cross, No Crown.
William Penn
* * * * * * * * * *
To a world stricken with moral enervation
Christianity offered its spectacle of an inspired self-sacrifice;
to those who refused themselves nothing,
it showed one who refused himself everything.
Matthew Arnold
* * * * * * * * * *
The great use of a life
is to spend it for something that outlasts it.
William James
* * * * * * * * * *
He who bears another,
is borne by another.
Pope St. Gregory the Great
* * * * * * * * * *
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Barclay, William, The Daily Study Bible, "The Gospel of John," Vol. 2 (Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press, 1955)
Beasley-Murray, George R., Word Biblical Commentary: John (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999)
Borchert, Gerald L., New American Commentary: John 12-21, Vol. 25B (Nashville: Broadman Press, 2002)
Brown, Raymond, The Anchor Bible: The Gospel According to John XIII-XXI (Garden City: Doubleday, 1970)
Bruce, F. F., The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983).
Burridge, Richard A., in Van Harn, Roger (ed.), The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday's Text. The Third Readings: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001)
Carson, D. A., The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991).
Cousar, Charles B., in Brueggemann, Walter; Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, Beverly R. and Newsome, James D., Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV––Year B (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993)
Craddock, Fred R.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; and Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through the Christian Year B (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1993)
Gossip, Arthur John and Howard, Wilbert F., The Interpreter's Bible, Volume 8 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1952)
Howard-Brook, Wes, Becoming the Children of God: John's Gospel and Radical Discipleship (New York: Maryknoll, 1994).
Kostenberger, Andreas J., Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004)
Lincoln, Andrew T., Black's New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to John (London: Continuum, 2005)
Moloney, Francis J., Sacra Pagina: The Gospel of John (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1998)
Morris, Leon, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995).
O'Day, Gail R., The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume IX (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995)
Palmer, Earl F., The Book That John Wrote (Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 1975)
Ridderbos, Herman (translated by John Vriend), The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997)
Sloyan, Gerald, "John," Interpretation (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988)
Smith, D. Moody, Jr., Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: John (Nashville: Abingdon, 1999)
Williamson, Lamar, Jr., Preaching the Gospel of John: Proclaiming the Living Word (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004)
Wright, Tom (N.T.), John for Everyone: Part 2, Chapters 11-21 (London: SPCK and Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002, 2004)
Richard Niell Donovan: SermonWriter.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
About Me
- Calvin Girvin
- Southern Methodist University... (Perkins School of Theology)... Dallas, TX ... Degree: D.Min. (cum laude)... Major: Pastoral Care... Minor: Church History... 1984 - 1987.......... Nashotah House Theological Seminary... Nashotah, WI ... Degree: Master's Degree... Major: Parish Ministry... Minor: Liturgy... 1972 - 1975.......... The University Of Texas At Arlington... Arlington, TX ... Degree: Master's Degree... Major: Medieval Literature... Minor: Shakespeare... Greek: Sigma Tau Delta... 1970 - 1971.......... The University Of Texas At Arlington ... Arlington, TX ... Degree: Bachelor's Degree... Major: English... Minor: History... Greek: Sigma Tau Delta... 1965 - 1969