John 17.20-end
(NRSV)
25 ‘Righteous Father, the
world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent
me. 26I made your name known to
them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me
may be in them, and I in them.’
This is one of
the most beautiful passages of Scripture, where Jesus, in effect, prays for us
as ‘… those who will believe in me …’ through the message of the Apostles which
they have passed down to us. The prayer is that we are united – that we are one
– because this is the only way that the rest of the world will be able to see
that what we stand for, what we believe in, and what guides our lives, is the
truth, as Jesus put it, ‘… so that the world may believe that you have sent me
…’
When people
abide in Christ, this means living in love and obedience to the guidance Jesus
has given us in the example of his life and teaching, we experience a wonderful
unity that becomes real for us personally (as we are united with God) and as a
community (as we are united with each other and God). This is especially true
as we gather for worship, to reflect on the Word (our personal experience of
Jesus in his Holy Spirit) and as we partake in Holy Communion.
Historically, as
the witness of the Church spread, it became increasingly difficult for there to
be unity because of the diversity of believers that accepted the ways of Christ.
At the same time, this unity is vital because this is the only proof to the
world that Jesus was sent by God the Father, and that the Gospel is true
(Filson 1963:130). When true unity happens ‘… with Father and Son and with one
another …’ (ibid) something of the glory of God will be evident. But this is
impossible if one tries to achieve this without divine help; it only becomes
possible when the Church is truly open to the leading and guidance of the Holy
Spirit.
The bond
holding the unity together is that of divine agape love, as revealed in the life and teaching of Jesus. It is as
verse 26 explains – ‘…so that the love with which you have
loved me may be in them, and I in them.’
The world does not naturally know God, but Jesus
has known the Father intimately, and through his life and teaching so have the
disciples, and through their witness, so have we. Jesus has revealed God’s
nature and name, not only the formal name Yahweh,
but also his nature and purpose – expressed most fully on the Cross – because
through the death and resurrection of Jesus ‘… he [has made] the Father known
in a unique way …’ (ibid. 131) In the passion of the Cross, God’s true nature
as divine love is given its fullest expression. As we are filled with the
Spirit of Jesus, we experience and also learn, not only with our minds but with
our whole being, the truth of the love of God. This is real ‘knowing’. The
reason why the world does not know God is because they think that knowing is
purely a mental thing – a cerebral experience that can be articulated using
words alone. We all know that this is not true, because everything that makes
our lives meaningful and rich, while it does find some expression in words needs
more, because it includes our souls and our spirits. This is why music, art,
poetry and other expressions of beauty are so important for our flourishing.
Filson writes:
Jesus has made the love of God real to them [the
disciples], and as Jesus dwells in their lives they will know that God’s love
has taken possession of them, to uphold them in their Christian witness and to
bless them in their Christian lives.’ (ibid. 131)
Even here,
those outside the faith will misunderstand, because the word ‘possession’ today
implies the surrender of control that leads to a loss of freedom. But we who
have experienced the love of Christ know that it is utterly liberating, setting
us free to love so that we are no longer bound by the constraints of sin and
the human weaknesses and frailties that tempt us away from what is good and
beautiful and true. The love of God makes our fulfillment possible, because it
sets us free.
It is
interesting to note that even secular thinkers find it easy to understand the
flawed nature of humanity. This was the essence behind Freud’s thinking; he was
trying to find ways to explain, understand and then remedy those things that
hinder us from being truly good people. The same was true for others like
Stanley Milgram, who sought to understand how otherwise lovely people – the
German nation – could have stooped so low as to sanction the Holocaust. He
tried out his experiment in his native USA first, before travelling to Germany,
and found that the same is true for all people. He discovered this: that there
is a willingness to do the most devastating things, if we feel that we are not
responsible because someone in authority has told us to do it!
The only remedy
for human frailty is love, and we know what this love is because Jesus has
explained it to us, demonstrated it to us – revealed it to us - and he gives it
to us the power of his Spirit. We learn it ultimately when we experience it
first hand, and we do this when others, filled with the same love, love us and
give us the privilege of loving them in return.
So, the unity
that Jesus prays for here, is not - as Barclay reminds us – a unity of
organization or administration – because people will always like to do things
differently. This is good because it gives us the freedom to express our love
and faith in different ways. What Jesus prays for here is a unity ‘… in which [people]
loved each other because they loved him, a unity based entirely on the
relationship between heart and heart.’ (Barclay, 1975:218)
I believe that
some have misunderstood true ecumenism, thinking that we all need to become
part of the same denomination. But as Barclay adds, we will always want to
organize our churches differently, worship in different styles and ways, and
believe different things to be paramount, things we like to emphasize above
others, ‘… but Christian unity transcends all these differences and joins
[people] together in love …’ (ibid. 218)
The trouble is
that some people love their own church organization systems, creeds, rituals
and other things, more than they love other Christians. This is the hub of the
problem. We must not be surprised if the world is not attracted to us as
Christians, if we remain so divided. We should celebrate that there are differences
and therefore styles and ways of doing things, but we should never say that our
way is the ‘only’ way, just a ‘different’ way.
Verses 22-26
speak of Jesus giving his disciples the ‘glory’. In the commentaries I have
consulted Barclay seems to give the best explanation of what is meant by the ‘…
glory of Jesus …’ Barclay suggests that there were THREE ways in which Jesus
used the term: (i) The Cross what his glory: Jesus did not speak of being
crucified; he spoke of being glorified. Sometimes, we as Christians have to
face our own personal ‘crosses’ and it should be an honour to share in the
sufferings for Christ’s sake. Barclay explains: ‘The harder the task we give a
student, or a craftsman, or a surgeon, the more we honour him.’ In effect we
are saying that they are up to the task. ‘So when it is hard to be a Christian,
we must consider it as our glory given to us by God.’
(ii) The perfect
obedience to the will of God was his glory. Barclay explains that we find glory,
not in doing what we like, but by doing what God wills – the greater the obedience;
the greater the glory.
(iii) Jesus also
speaks of glory when referring to eternity in the presence of God. We will share
in all the experiences of Christ, including all the wonderful things. The second
Letter of Timothy explains that ‘… if we endure, we shall also reign with him.’
(2 Timothy 2.11-12)
‘Tis mystery all,
and I am not sure that I am in accord with everything Barclay suggests here, but
he has certainly provided food for thought.
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