Easter 7 – 2023
John 17:1-11 (12-end)
Marian Free
In the name of God, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver. Amen.
When someone learns that they have a life-threatening disease, not only do they have to come to terms with what it means for themselves, but very often they have the agonizing task of preparing their family, their friends, and even their business partners for life without them. I witnessed something of this when I was in my teens. The father of a friend of mine was diagnosed with leukemia. There were few treatment options at that time, and it was clear he was going to die. Knowing that, this man – we’ll call him Paul – did what he could to prepare his family. He insisted that his wife study law so that she could support the family, and he made a video for each of his children to be played when they turned 21. His advice was good. His wife excelled at law, and the children grew up confident in their father’s love.
I cannot imagine what it would be like to know that one was dying and to know that there was so much more left to do, people who relied on your support, or children who would be left without a parent. It must at least initially, make the knowledge of pending death so much harder to bear.
Jesus had always known that he was to die and, as the time grew closer, he knew only too well that the disciples (his children) were far from ready to continue without him. So, on this his final night, Jesus tried to prepare his disciples for his departure. Their response was anything but reassuring. They responded with bemusement and misunderstanding – “you won’t wash my feet”, “we don’t know where you are going” and so on. Jesus was only too aware that he did not have enough time to ensure that they were ready for him to go. You can almost hear his anguish: “I still have many things to say to you” (16:12).
Still Jesus tries. His farewell speech (which takes up 5 chapters of the gospel) is an attempt to form the disciples into a community and to model what leadership would look like in that community. (It is worth reading John 13-17 in one sitting.) Among other things, Jesus gives the disciples a new commandment (love one another) and assures them that not only will they not be left alone, but that he will send the Holy Spirit who will teach them all that he does not have time to teach them. More than that, he himself and God (the whole Trinity) will live in them. And even as Jesus warns them that the world will be hostile to them, he promises that their joy will be complete.
In the short space between dinner and his arrest, Jesus has tried to prepare the disciples in every possible way for life without him, but still, it is clear that he is anxious about leaving them. The disciples seem to be so confused. They are so vulnerable, so exposed – if the authorities are going to kill Jesus, there is no guarantee that they will not come for the disciples as well. In response, Jesus does the only thing he can do – he prays. He pours out his soul to God, sharing with God his anxiety for his disciples and pleading with God that God will do what he can no longer do – bind the disciples in love and protect them from a hostile world .
This prayer is very different from the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane – recorded by the other Gospel writers. In the Synoptics, Jesus moves away from the disciples to pray alone, to wrestle with God and to ask that the cup be taken from him. The disciples fall asleep and so are not privy to Jesus’ anguish or to his words. In John’s account, Jesus prays not for himself, but for the disciples. He doesn’t question his fate but asks only that God will do what God has promised to do – glorify him. According to John, Jesus doesn’t take himself apart to pray – the disciples (and by extension) ourselves – both see and hear Jesus’ outpouring of prayer. They, and we, are witnesses to this most intimate moment between Jesus and his Father. We see Jesus at what is perhaps his most vulnerable. He might be ready to face the cross alone, but abandoning his disciples is another thing altogether.
Unfortunately, our lectionary reading only gives us the beginning of his prayer, but the prayer – which continues to the end of the chapter – should be read in one piece. It is the most selfless, most all-embracing, and most forward-looking prayer. He prays not for himself only that his death will lead to his glorification (which is the purpose for which he was sent, and which will lead to the glorification of the Father). He prays primarily for his disciples and more than that he prays for all who will come to faith through them. In other words, he prays for his children, his children’s children and for every generation yet to come. Jesus’ prayer is an outpouring of concern for the world – that it might know God, and knowing God, might be united in love.
We who are witnesses to this prayer have been shown not only Jesus’ fears, but indirectly we have been shown how to pray. We are to pray that God’s presence might be known through all the world, and we are to pour out our hearts in anguish over the state of the world – hoping against hope that the world will be united in love, yearning for a time when there will be an end to the war in Ukraine (and all other wars and conflicts that tear lives apart), pleading that the vulnerable might be protected, the hungry fed, the oppressed liberated, and all the children have a place to sleep. With Jesus, we through prayer, fulfill the command to love – metaphorically laying down our lives for others, putting aside (at least for a time) our self-interest and our fears, thinking only of the needs of others and trusting God to do what needs to be done.
For whom do you pray and what do you most desire?
Swallowsrest 