After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all people,* to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
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. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for 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. 9I 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. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11And 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.
Today's lection contains the phrase off-cited in the ecumenical movement--"that they may be one." In recent years, some say the ecumenical movement has flagged, and its energy has dissipated. If so, it's because the ecumenical movement has been so wildly successful.
Fifty years ago, it was not difficult to find a Lutheran or a Catholic or a Baptist who thought that everyone but them was going to hell. Today, that sort of thing is still around, but has been abandoned by the vast majority. People today regularly visit, participate in, and join up with various traditions in the course of their lifetime.
The recent Pew Forum study on religion in America found that, more and more, people were willing to change from one tradition to another. The study described the American religious landscape as "fluid and diverse." “People will be surprised by the amount of movement by Americans from one religious group to another – or to no religion at all,” said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum.
The people are speaking. They obviously no longer see various doctrinal issues as "church dividing." In fact, as the various Christians traditions engage in dialog, they are, in effect, trying to catch up with where the people already are.
The text, often called the "high priestly prayer," brings to a climax the "farewell discourses" of Jesus in the fourth gospel. He speaks directly to God the Father. He speaks of the fateful "hour," which, in the fourth gospel, refers to his crucifixion. The fourth gospel has been pointing to Jesus' "hour" ever since chapter two: "Woman...my hour has not yet come."
But now the "hour" is come--present tense. The "hour" is not the resurrection--not yet--but the cross. In the cross, the Son will be "glorified" and will "glorify" the Father. The word is doxa, which means to make radiant and clothe with splendor. The way of the cross, the downward descent into nothingness and annihilation, is proclaimed the path of true glory.
It is through the cross that all will be drawn to Jesus--"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (12:32)--which is why Jesus can now say that he has "authority over all people." Authority for what? To give them all eternal life, which is here defined in an interesting and unusual way. Eternal life is knowing God and knowing Jesus.
The word "life" is zoe, which means true life, life at its core. The word for "know" is ginosko, which means intimate, even mystical, knowledge. More than any of the other gospels, the fourth gospel lifts up intimacy and love as hallmarks of true life. Through the Son, the chasm between the Father and the people has been bridged, enabling the "children of God" to participate in the life of God.
Jesus has "finished the work." The word translated as "finished" is a form of telos, a very rich word in the New Testament. It has the sense not only of finishing, but also "bringing to the goal." Jesus' last word in the fourth gospel, proclaimed from the cross, is a form of telos, tetelestai, which means, "it has been accomplished," or "it has been completed," or "it has been brought to the goal." This is reminiscent of Iraneus, who spoke of the anakephalaiososthai ta panta--the "summing up of all things into the head"--and reminiscent also of Teilhard who spoke of the "omega point" toward which the cosmos was heading.
Verse six: Jesus has "made known" the name of God throughout the fourth gospel. God's name, revealed to Moses, is YHWH--"Yahweh," though pronunciation is uncertain since the Hebrews didn't actually speak the word out loud. I'm told that YHWH contains within it every conjugation of the verb "to be." "I am who I am," or "I will be who I will be." When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek--the version known as the Septuagint--the YHWH of the Old Testament was rendered ego eimi, an emphatic form of "I am."
Jesus says "ego eimi" all over the fourth gospel--45 times, in fact. "I am the door," Jesus says. "I am the good shepherd." "I am the bread of life." "I am the resurrection and the life." "I am the light of the world." "I am the true vine." "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
In the ancient world, accessibility to a "name" meant accessibility to the power behind that name. In so openly expressing himself as "I am," the fourth gospel is saying that the power of God is made accessible to the people through Jesus himself. (Moreover, in calling God "Father," Jesus is saying that our relationship with God is like the intimacy of a parent. God is rarely spoken of as "Father" in the Old Testament.)
Somewhat surprisingly, the disciples are said to have "kept" God's Word--logos. They "know"--ginosko again--and, what's more, they "have received," "truly knew," and "faithed." This is high praise indeed since "knowing" in an intimate and mystical way, receiving Christ, and "faithing" in Christ are three of the major themes and exhortations in the fourth gospel. Jesus is even "glorifed in them."
The fourth gospel understands "them" as both the Johannine community, and, more broadly, the children of God. The community of the children of God "knows" Jesus in an interior and mystical way. They live out the teachings of Jesus through "faithing"--following in radical trust--which is made manifest in an open community that reaches across all worldly barriers. Through them, Jesus himself is glorified--indeed, "made radiant."
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