Word to the Wise
Tuesday, May 10, 2016 - 7th Week of Easter - Tues
[Acts 20:17-27 and John 17:1-11a]"Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ." [John]
Chapter 17 of the Gospel of John is still set at the Last Supper, but is distinct from the "Farewell Discourse." This section is called by scripture scholars "the High Priestly Prayer," in which Jesus prays for himself and those who believe in him. The gospel scriptures for the next several days will be taken from this chapter. I recommend reading the whole chapter, even though it is a rather convoluted cmposition. To begin with, I will simply note a coujple of things in today's section.
The first is the use of the word "hour." The Gospel of John was written for a largely Greek-speaking world. In that language there were two notions of time. The time on our clocks was called "chronos." The notion we express when we say, "The time has come...." is expressed by the word "kairos." Jesus' "hour" means that he is about to be "lifted up" as he had told Nicodemus back in Chapter three. Another example is in Jesus' response to his mother's request at the marriage feast at Cana in chapter two: "My hour has not yet come." On retreats, I challenge retreatants to ask what "hour" it is in their lives.
The second thing I want to note is the importance of faith that consists of knowing Jesus as the one whom God has sent. Jesus says that this knowledge and faith are eternal life. He speaks of his disciples as the ones whom his Father has given to him. We are included in that number by virtue of our baptism. Our faith in Jesus, therefore, is a taste of eternal life. We tend to think of eternal life as something that begins with our earthly death. In the Gospel of John, eternal life begins with faith in Jesus. It is a challenging and consoling thought. AMEN
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