“Glory Revealed” by the Reverend Michael J.
Heggen
Based on the Gospel reading found in John
17:1-11 for May 8, 2005
For Easter VII; I.N.I.; Hope Lutheran
Church, Park Forest, Illinois
One
writer invites – or almost challenges – us to compare this almost serene prayer
of our Lord with Jesus’ final prayer in Gethsemane before his betrayal and
arrest recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
It is a challenge to remember the earthly life of Jesus from the
perspective of the risen, ascended, and eternally reigning Lord (Proclamation
3, Easter A, p. 63). I suppose
one factor would be that the events of Pilate’s hall and Calvary were looming
much closer as Jesus prayed with such agony in Gethsemane, yet still we are
struck with the calm in what we now call Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John
17. With all that is about to happen to
him, Jesus is praying for his disciples, for us. As we come to the end of the Easter season and celebrate the
Ascension of our Lord to the glories of heaven, we’ll look at this first
portion of this great prayer to see GLORY REVEALED.
Glory is
revealed, surprisingly, in a cross.
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son.” The “hour” is the time of his death. We would probably say that’s hardly a time of glory – the agony and death of
crucifixion. But throughout St. John,
Jesus’ true glorification is seen in his crucifixion. Even at the beginning of his public ministry Jesus invited people
to drink of “living waters,” but then John adds that he was “not yet glorified”
(7:39). And later, in Chapter 12 Jesus
told the disciples, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” and
then he went on to use the illustration of seed dying in the earth in order to
produce “much fruit” (verse 24). That’s
the understanding of glory that leads us to love to sing “In the Cross of
Christ I Glory.”
“This is
eternal life,” Jesus prays, “that they may know you, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” The
glory revealed in the cross of Jesus is the awesome truth that the only true
God so desires eternal life for all that he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to
die and rise again to pay for the sins of the world and to secure that eternal
life. Many years ago H.G. Wells wrote:
“The world is now a very tragic and anxious world…more people are asking, ‘What
must I do to be saved?’ The trouble
with the Christian churches is that they give a confused, unconvincing and
unsatisfying answer” (quoted in John W. White, Re-entry, p. 52).
That was over 25 years ago. Are
we giving a better answer in our day of “spiritual searching”? When people ask, “What must I do to be
saved?” or “How do I find spirituality?” what am I to say? If we go back to our Lord’s own prayer for
us, we find glory revealed as Jesus finishes the work the Father gave him to
do. We find glory revealed through us
as we do the work the Father gives us to do – to proclaim eternal life in Jesus
Christ and faith in him.
Secondly, glory is revealed in God’s name. “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the
world,” Jesus prays. Think back to
Moses when God was about to send him to the people of Israel. Remember how Moses objected, “If I come to
the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’
and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?’” (Exodus
3:13) God revealed his name, I
AM, to Moses, but
think of how God has made himself known to us through Jesus. Think of the marvelous “I am” passages
especially in St. John – I am the vine, the Good Shepherd, the bread of life,
the light of the world, the way, truth, and life. Today we share the glory revealed in God’s name. When the ancient Greeks wanted wisdom, they
went to the oracle at Levadia. There
drugged women would answer from deep within the caves. But to receive wisdom from the oracle at
Levadia one had to pass through an ordeal, an ordeal so painful it was said
that those who passed through it never laughed again (Pulpit Digest,
9-10/84, p. 20). When you get wisdom
from God’s Word, the Living Oracle, it has just the opposite effect. You rejoice in the Lord, as St. Paul puts
it, always, and in all circumstances.
God’s
glory is revealed in his name and in his Word.
Jesus prays, “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.” Do you want to see the glory of God in your
life? It’s right there in Holy
Scripture! Do you want to see the glory
of God in Jesus touching your life? It’s right there in Holy Scripture,
assuring you that Jesus came from the Father to be your Lord and Savior, that
as we celebrate today he is ascended to the glories of heaven and with us in the power of the Holy
Spirit.
Third, glory is revealed in prayer – Jesus’ prayer for us. “Holy Father,” he prays, “protect them in your name that you have given me.” A pastor compared this to a builder turning the keys to a new house over to the new owner. “Take good care of it,” he says, proud of his accomplishment, feeling almost as though he is giving away a part of himself, and yet certain that the glory of his work can best be seen as people live in the house, use it, and enjoy it (Reverend Paul Hansen, 3-12-72). Unlike a builder who walks away to the next project, the risen and ascended Lord still prays for us. The glory reflected in Jesus’ prayer is also in Paul’s word’s of triumph in Romans 8, that Christ Jesus, who died, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, “indeed intercedes for us” (verse 34). That glory is reflected also in John’s words in his first letter, “If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John. 2:1).
A man
tells of a strong childhood memory – that of he and his siblings moving about
the house quietly at a certain point in the evening. They could be a “lively bunch,” but they knew to be quiet – they
went about in a hush – because they knew mother was praying for them. On a day set aside to honor mothers, we
thank God for the realization that our mothers have been in prayer for us. Perhaps for some that has not been their
experience, and we all seek to take to heart Peter’s words of encouragement to
a suffering church in today’s Second Reading (1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11). But what a comfort to know that our Lord
himself is praying for us. One writer
suggests that there is no doubt that the original readers of John’s gospel
would have no difficulty, in a day of persecution, seeing themselves included
among those Jesus “gave back to the Father.”
Although Jesus was no longer physically present with them, he had lovingly
entrusted their care to the heavenly Father (Insights,
5-12-02). We too can get a sense of
peace as we see the glory of God himself revealed as Jesus continues to pray
for us – that we be protected from the assaults of evil, that we be one in Christ. May that glory be reflected in us.
Amen.
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Heggen at heggens@juno.com.