Acts 1: 1 – 14; Psalm 47; I Peter 4: 12 – 19; John 17: 1 – 11“What time is it?” “Where is Jesus?” “Where are we?”
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker; given at: Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, May 4th, 2008
These questions naturally arise out of today’s Gospel reading, from John, chapter 17.
Here, today, we hear the words of Jesus’ prayer to the Father. Indeed, scholars have, since the 16th century, applied a title to the entire 17th chapter of John’s Gospel, calling it “Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer”.
Before we look more closely into today’s reading, let’s remind ourselves of its setting:
Jesus has been reclining at table with His inner circle of disciples, the original twelve, at the Last Supper….John’s reporting of the Last Supper is the most extensive of any of the Gospel writers, for he devotes four chapters to it, including lots of Jesus’ teaching[1] along the way.
But now, with the beginning of chapter 17, we mark a shift in Jesus’ focus (which has been between Himself and the disciples until now): Jesus now begins to pray to the Father for the disciples, both those who have been called by God to gather around Jesus, and then He prays for those who will come to believe as a result of the witness of those original believers,[2] a group that includes us today.
Those original twelve are privileged to “listen in” on Jesus’ conversation with the Father, and so are we, by virtue of John’s recording of Jesus’ words.
Now, let’s make some points about key aspects and key words that Jesus uses along the way:
- The prayer is a summation of all of Jesus’ words and works, from the beginning of John, chapter one, until now. Jesus’ purpose has been to make the Father known, and to show the Father’s love for the world. And so, in this prayer, we hear Jesus say “I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world.”[3] At the close of the prayer (in a portion of the prayer we do not read in our lectionary cycle today), at verse 26b, Jesus will conclude, saying, “that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
- Key terms that we read again and again in John’s Gospel account appear here as well. In order to more fully understand Jesus’ prayer, we need to remember the meaning of these terms. They are:
Glory/glorify: Jesus’ “glory” in John has to do with Jesus’ passion, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. It is in the passion, death, resurrection and ascension that Jesus is most in command of all of these events. Jesus’ glory, the glory that God the Father gave Him (see verse 3), is most clearly seen in His victory over suffering and death.
Hour: A word we read frequently in John, it is closely related to other key words we see John using, namely “glory/glorify”. Jesus’ “hour” refers to Jesus’ passion, death, resurrection and ascension.
Remember the questions we began with? “What time is it?” “Where is Jesus?” “Where are we?”
These questions arise from the prayer itself. Time and space are brushed aside as we gaze into God’s eternal-ness. Jesus is the window by which we are drawn into God’s eternal nature and love. Notice the following:
- “And now, I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. ”(verse 11): Jesus uses words that suggest that His departure from the world is already an accomplished fact, even though He continues to say that He “is coming” to the Father. Time (past tense/present tense/future tense) is brushed aside as we see that the temporal setting of Jesus’ prayer (the Last Supper), as well as the disciples’ witnessing of the prayer (and our witnessing of the prayer) all fades into the timeless plan of God. Furthermore, space also collapses, as Jesus seems to indicate that He is already in God’s very presence, even as He also says He “is coming” to the Father.
- “Glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made.” (verse 5): Here, we see a glimpse of Jesus Christ’s pre-existent nature. Earlier in John’s Gospel account, we hear Jesus’ words, when He says, “Before Abraham was, I am.”[4] We also catch a glimpse of Jesus Christ, the eternal “Word”, in the glory He had with the Father, “before the world was made.”[5] Here again, time and space collapse as we see Jesus Christ’s true nature, He who is one with the Father,[6] He who makes the Father known.
It is no mistake that Jesus uses the words “eternal life”[7] during the course of this prayer.
Understanding the nature of the prayer, which spans not only the passage of time but also spans the distance between the Father, the Son and those who believe, “eternal life” takes on new meaning and a new dimension.
Eternal life then becomes a matter of unity with the Father, which is made possible through the work of the Son.
This unity:
- Spans the entire spectrum of time: God’s eternal plan includes us, who were chosen by the Father, who then gives us to the Son (verse 6).
- Unifies us with the Father and with the Son: “All mine are thine, and thine are mine,”[8] Jesus prays. He will go on to pray (verse 21) that “they may all be one, even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us…”
Eternal life then becomes a matter of unity with the Father through the Son, a unity with spans time.
Eternal life is not something we will take possession of at some point in the future (either after our deaths or at the Lord’s coming), but it is a reality which is present here and now. The “eternal-ness” of eternal life extends not only forward into the future, but backward into our lives today. Eternal life has no limit as to its timeframe or its endurance.
Since eternal life is to “know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent”,[9] eternal life becomes a matter of knowing the Lord personally and intimately. It becomes a matter of recognizing that we are drawn into the intimate life and love of God the Father for the Son, and the life and love of the Son for the Father. The reciprocity between Father and Son draws us, by the work of the Son, into that free-flowing exchange of love, which gives true life to all who believe, both now in this temporal life, and in the life of the world to come.
So, now we close by repeating those three questions we began with:
“What time is it?”: It’s God’s eternal time, kairos time. For eternity breaks into our “chronos” time, transforming our lives as God breaks into our everyday existence, and we realize we are made a part of God’s eternal purposes for us through the words and work of Jesus Christ.
“Where is Jesus?”: Risen and ascended into heaven,[10] present with us who are gathered together in worship,[11] present with us until the end of time,[12] present with us in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and present with us in our hearts. Jesus Christ, who is “Lord of Lords and King of Kings”[13] is able to be present in all these ways, even as God the Father is.
“Where are we?”: Caught up into the vast and ageless plan of God! That God the Father would have such love for us as to send His only begotten Son, to the end that all who believe in Him should not perish, but have eternal life,[14] seems beyond human comprehension. But, in Jesus Christ, we have the perfect revelation of God the Father, for “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.”[15]
Thanks be to God!
AMEN.
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[1] Sometimes characterized by biblical scholars as “Jesus’ last will and testament”.
[2] Beginning at verse 20.
[3] Verse 6
[4] John 8: 58
[5] See also the “Prologue” to the Gospel according to John, chapter one, verses 1 – 2.
[6] John 10: 30
[7] Verses 2 - 3
[8] Verse 10
[9] Verse 3
[10] See Luke 24: 49 – 53 and Acts 1: 1 – 11.
[11] See Mathew 18: 20 “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
[12] See Matthew 28: 20 “and lo, I am with you always, even unto the close of the age.”
[13] Revelation 19: 16
[14] A paraphrase of John 3: 16
[15] John 1: 14
