The Gospel for Friday, February 27, 2004
John 17:9-19
It is for them that I pray. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. All I have is yours and all you have is mine, and in them I am glorified. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one like us. While I was with them, I kept those you had given me true to your name. I have watched over them and not one is lost except one who was destined to be lost, and this was to fulfil the scriptures. But now I am coming to you and I say these things in the world to share my joy with them to the full. I passed your word on to them, and the world hated them, because they belong to the world no more than I belong to the world. I am not asking you to remove them from the world, but to protect them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world, and for their sake I consecrate myself so that they too may be consecrated in truth. - The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y.
A Study
This, from John, is a bit strange. John has emphasized the unity of God and Jesus all along, yet suddenly, here is Jesus, turning over his disciples into God's care. Was it because he was going to be "dead" for three days? Or does John have it wrong, or is this so metaphorically written that the author forgets that unity has been so firmly established that at this point the metaphor is puzzling [at least to some]?
As usual, scripture seems strange to motivate our our minds to stop, pause, reflect on the meaning[s].
Perhaps the key is the phrase "... I say these things in the world to share my joy with them to the full." Jesus is making sure that they understand that while he may not be physically present in the sense to which they are accustomed, he will still be with them, but as one reunited with the Father. Further, he reaffirms his desire and intent to be obedient to the Father, to go to his death in joy.
Contrast this attitude to the Markian prayer of desparation in the garden. We are given two different possible ways to view Jesus' approach to the Cross. One is very human, in Mark and the synoptics, while one is very divine, in John. Our Lord is very God and was very man.
On their surface, these are comforting words and appear to want to make us feel good that Jesus is about to go to his death as one set apart especially for us.
A Reflection
In his final prayer with his disciples before his crucifixion, Jesus speaks to his Father so that his followers can hear him, encouraging them with words that describe them as creatures far better than they deserve. "They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world." That is, for this rag-tag group, quite a stretch. They haven't shown much more than the ability to follow somewhat inadequately. Peter the Rock often acts as if the rock is in his head, and he's been chosen to lead? Wait a minute, here.
God's grace is not given in response to deservedness, but in reponse to our great gaping need. These eleven (who remain after Jesus had sent Judas to fetch his captors) are every bit as imperfect as I am. But they have received Jesus, the Word -- the Word made flesh that dwelt among us. Jesus asks that they be consecrated (made holy, or set apart) in the Word, that is, to be set apart from the world ruled over by the Evil One, and set apart in Jesus, in unity with the Father. John's continuing emphasis on Unity now includes the humans who have accepted the words of the Word. Not the whole world, just those who have become the property of Jesus through belief.
And Jesus says that he is glorified in those imperfect human vessels containing only a smattering of the Word -- and that by grace . Not that he "will be glorified" but that he is glorified. He acknowledges and confirms that the justification that God works through Jesus is entirely through faith alone. If it were through works, or righteousness, these eleven and their fallen comrade Judas would be just as lost as all unbelievers.
They belong to you. In them I am glorified. Keep [them] true to your name, so they may be one like us. They belong to the world no more than I belong to the world. Protect them from the Evil one. Consecrate them in the truth.
He was working for us right up until the minute they came to take him away. And he works on our behalf still.
6:48:54 AM 
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