May They Be One—Lectionary Reflection for Easter 7A/Ascension Sunday (John 17)

El Greco, Christ at Prayer

John 17:1-11 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

17 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, ² since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. ⁵ So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

⁶ “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, ⁸ for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹ I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰ All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹ And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

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                If only the followers of Jesus could be one as Jesus and the Father are one. Wouldn’t that be nice? Isn’t the unity of the body of Christ something worth praying for? Is it not something worth pursuing? Unfortunately, despite many efforts down through the centuries, we’ve not done a good job as Christians to stay together. It’s not that we need to have uniformity of practice or even doctrine, but might love one another. That was the desire in the heart of Jesus as he neared the conclusion of his earthly life. There, as they sat together at the Table following their final meal, as he prepared for what was to come, he prayed for his followers, asking that they stay together so that they might glorify God. While we may not have achieved that unity, it seems like it is something to seek after.

                We’ve reached the end of the season of Easter (Eastertide). Pentecost is on the near horizon. But, we’re not quite there yet. If the Spirit is to come upon the believers, then Jesus must depart. We call this departure the Ascension of Jesus. Thus, the Seventh Sunday of Easter can also be celebrated as Ascension Sunday. While the First Reading for the Seventh Sunday comes from Acts 1 and covers the Ascension of Jesus, our reading from the Gospel of John takes us back to that final evening as Jesus prepares for death. In John’s telling, the meal is over (John 13) and Jesus has concluded his farewell lectures (John 14-16). With this time of instruction completed, Jesus looks up to heaven and begins to pray (Jn. 17:1). Jesus begins prayer by acknowledging that the hour had come. This prayer marks the turning point in the story. From now on the story’s trajectory leads to the cross and beyond.

                The entirety of John 17 records what is often known as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. In this prayer, Jesus intercedes on behalf of his followers. He wants to make sure that they stay together in the aftermath of his death on the cross. He wants them to reflect in their own relationships the unity that Jesus shares with the Father so that in doing so Jesus might be glorified, even as the Father is glorified.

                Liturgically, this Sunday serves as the conclusion of Eastertide and since most Protestant churches don’t have Ascension Day services, it is also celebrated as the day of Ascension.  Now, John’s Gospel doesn’t offer us an Ascension story. Instead, the Gospel ends with Jesus responding to Peter’s question about the destiny of the Beloved Disciple, the one who testifies in this Gospel to Jesus. Jesus tells Peter that whether or not the Beloved Disciple remains until his return is not his business (John 21:20-23). So, in preparation for Pentecost, we return to Jesus’ night of preparation, in which he prays for the unity of his followers (including us). In doing so, we hear the message that Jesus' ultimate destiny is to share in the glory that is God.

                So, whether or not the Ascension is part of the day’s observance, John wants to connect us to one another so that in our unity we reflect the unity that exists between Jesus and the Father. It is that message, that Jesus would have his disciples be one, that stands out, perhaps because it has proven so difficult to achieve. Verse 11, where Jesus prays that his disciples would be one, even as he is one with the Father, has been a foundational text for my own denominational tradition. That is because the Disciples of Christ (my denomination) has made Christian unity a centerpiece of our core message. One of our founders, Barton Stone, referred to Christian unity as being our “Polar Star.” Thomas Campbell, another founder, wrote that “the church of Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one; consisting of all those in every place that profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him all things according to the scriptures, and that manifest the same by their tempers and conduct, and none else as none else can be truly and properly called Christians” [Declaration and Address, Prop. 1]. While my tradition has not succeeded in uniting all Christians into one body or even maintaining unity among ourselves, the Polar Star remains a powerful beacon for the Christian life. According to Jesus’ prayer found here in John 17 whatever unity we have as believers is rooted in Jesus’ prior unity with the Father. 

                Jesus begins his prayer by asking that God would glorify the Son, even as the Son has glorified the Father. He speaks in this prayer of the gift of eternal life that is given to those who know the true God and Jesus whom God has sent into the world. In this, both Father and Son receive glory (Gk. doxa). The Greek word doxa reflects the Hebrew word kabod, which in turn carries the meaning of divine presence. Thus, in verse 5, Jesus prays that the Father would glorify him “in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed” (Jn. 17:5). Jaime Clark-Soles notes that the glory of the Lord is God’s presence. Thus, as John 1:14 reveals, the Word became incarnate and tabernacled among us. Thus, Jesus becomes the locus of God’s presence. Then Jesus draws us fully into that presence. With every word, the author of John pushes to intimacy” [Reading John for Dear Life, pp. 120-121].  Thus, by knowing—experiencing—relationship with Jesus the disciples have the opportunity to participate in the divine glory, which involves a relationship that had existed from before this world even existed. This is, of course, a strong witness to the preexistence of the Son (Logos).  

                One way to read this passage is to use the Trinity as a lens of interpretation. The relationship that the passage reveals lends itself to Trinitarian interpretation, for there is both a distinction of persons but also a relationship that appears to be eternal. Perhaps this works best from a relational/social understanding of the Trinity, but that is not necessary. What we read here is a call for Jesus’ followers to mirror the unity that exists between Father and Son.

                While we know that God loves the world (Jn. 3:16), here in the 17^th chapter Jesus is focused loss on the world than his followers, whom he will soon leave behind. Earlier in the Farewell discourse, he has spoken of the Paraclete (Holy Spirit) whom he will send to serve as their Advocate/Comforter/Counselor, here in John 17 he is concerned for the welfare of his followers who face a hostile world. Thus, in verse 9 of John 17, Jesus states directly that in this moment he’s not concerned about the world but about the welfare of his followers. As Luke Powery notes, “Jesus appears a bit exclusive here, even careless toward ‘the world,’ a word that God so loved (3:16). He pays for the disciples’ protection ‘so that they may be one, as we are one’ (17:11, 21-23). Their unity is crucial in a hostile world” [Preaching God’s Transforming Justice, p. 250]. There is in this prayer a concern that Jesus’ followers step back from the world, and remain separate, perhaps so that they do not reflect the ways of a world hostile to the ways of God.

                We live in a different world from John’s readers. Nevertheless, our witness falls short when we reflect the divisions of the world. Our divisions surely do not bring glory to God. Thus, as we move toward the Day of Pentecost, the day when we celebrate the coming of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, might we commit ourselves to be one in Christ, even as the Father and Son are one? According to John, if we do this, then God will be glorified!

Image Attribution: Greco, 1541?-1614. Christ at Prayer, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59700 [retrieved May 9, 2023]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dom%C3%A9nikos_Theotok%C3%B3pulos_(called_El_Greco)_-_Christ_in_Prayer_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg.