Fifth Sunday Of Easter
JOHN 13:3 l-33a. 34-35
On this fifth Sunday of Easter, it may seem strange to find ourselves at the Last Supper in this gospel reading. "Going away" is a major theme of the several long discourses of Jesus at the Last Supper in the Gospel of John. The primary meaning of Jesus' departure in these discourses may have been in reference to Jesus arrest., crucifixion and death. However, his ascension to his Father as a "going away" is not excluded. In the context of today's gospel reading Jesus had just revealed to the Beloved Disciples the identity of the traitor, "The one to whom I shall give the bread after I dunk it." Judas accepted the piece of bread and left the table. Jesus commands him, "What you do, do quickly." The command is consistent with a principle of John's Passion Narrative, 'The Father had given all things into his hands." Nothing happens without Jesus' command or permission.
Judas is the means by which Jesus' glorification begins. (At this point this Sunday's gospel reading begins.) As soon as Judas is gone, Jesus says, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, then God will also glorify him (Jesus) in himself, and will do so immediately." In the theology of John's gospel, the glorification of Jesus is not just the resurrection/ascension. It includes the whole process that leads to glory - arrest, trial, torture, crucifixion and death. In the Gospel of John the cross is Jesus' throne from which he rules, and from which he will make his last will and testament. Earlier in the gospel, 8:28, Jesus said, "When you have exalted the Son of man, then you will know that I AM." The exaltation or lifting up on the cross is his enthronement through which his glory as the I AM will be made known.
Now emerges the theme of departure, when Jesus says, "Little children, I will be with you only a little while longer." If however we compare this statement with other statements John attributes to Jesus at the Last Supper, we could say that he will both leave and remain. It is true that he promises a replacement, a substitute for himself, another defense attorney (Paraclete), but he also speaks of the divine indwelling whereby he remains in and with those united to him in faith and love, as the branch is united with the vine.
John adds another theme: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Even as I have loved you, so you must love one another." John considers this commandment of Jesus so important that he will depict Jesus repeating it twice more. In 15:13 he defines what Jesus means by this commandment of love -to love each other as he loved them. Jesus says, "Greater love than this no one has, than to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you," that is, to love one another. For Jesus this "greater love" which no one can surpass meant to give up his physical life for his friends, that is, for his disciples, for all Christians. Even today the "greater love" can still mean a martyr's bloody death.
For most Christians however it can mean devoting one's life to the service of others - in ministry, parenting, feeding, educating, healing, nurturing, teaching, etc. Every day we encounter good women and men who live this greater love. This love which Christians (and others) demonstrate toward each other will be a "sign" in the very sense in which John uses the word "sign" for Jesus' miracles. Therefore our gospel reading closes with these words, "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Are we dealing here with the ideal or the real? Much of Church History, even the New Testament itself reveals how often Christians scandalize the world by ignoring Jesus' commandment of love. It is clear from John's gospel and the three Letters of John that in the very community in which this literature originated the practice of love was often quite absent. The impression is given that the authors of New Testament literature were much like ourselves - preaching to themselves because they needed it.
ACTS 14:21-27
Paul and Bamabas are on their first missionary journey. They were sometimes in danger of death. At other times they had great success. They had been commissioned to preach in the area now in central Turkey. Church organization was already taking place, "They appointed elders (presbyters)...in every church, with prayer and fasting, committing them to the Lord/' and early form of ordination. As Jesus experiences not only death, but also glorification, so Paul and Bamabas proclaim to their new converts, "...through tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."
REVELATION 21:l-5a
The key word in this reading is "new/9 This word connects this reading with today's gospel, "A new commandment I give to you... ." The prophet John envisions a new heaven and a new earth." The sea would disappear because in this type of literature the sea is usually a symbol of chaos and evil. The most beautiful lines of this reading are these, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore.... Behold, I make all things new.”
