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     The Gospel of John reflects the later composition of its story compared to that of the three other gospels.  There is clearly an effort to find larger and broader themes in the purpose of God's plan and Jesus' role in that plan.  Today's passage, still from the Farewell Discourse, reflects the broad idea of Jesus coming from the Father and returning to the Father, what scripture scholars refer to as exitus and reditus.  In the other three gospels, Jesus is more an innocent victim, although a fulfillment of the Old Testament promises.  In John, Jesus is in charge of the mission given to him by his Father and when he accomplished this mission (his "hour"), he returned to the One who sent him.

     If we keep this in mind, from the Prologue to the "Appendix" (ch. 21), we will have the big picture of the gospel and understand Jesus' actions and words more clearly.  Jesus is the truth about God and those who accept him, in the Gospel of John (1:12), are called "children of God." This helps to explain the many contrast images of light and darkness, above and below, and others which were being lived out in the conflect between those who accepted Jesus and those who did not.  The former were being expelled from the synagogues.  All of this had an impact on the composition of the gospel.

     Our own understanding of the story of Jesus will be impacted by a broader reflection based on the whole New Testament as well as the Old Testament.  Seeing how one of the gospels was shaped by circumstances of the time may help us to understand how our own picture of Jesus is shaped.  AMEN