Sixth Sunday Of Easter
JOHN 14:15-21 (Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 Peter 3:15-18)
The Last Supper Discourse attributed to Jesus by the Gospel of John continues from last Sunday’s gospel reading. A major theme of last Sunday’s reading was faith/trust in Jesus. On this Sunday it is love, as if love of Jesus is the consummation of faith/trust in him. The reading begins, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” What commandments? The use of the plural "commandments" should be understood as Jesus’ repetition of the one commandment of love expressed for the first time in John 13:33, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” Jesus said this at the Last Supper soon after he washed the feet of his disciples. Washing their feet was intended as an example of service, “If I then, your Teacher and Lord, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should also do as I have done to you.”
In John 15:5, Jesus repeats and expands on the meaning of his disciples loving him and loving one another, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Thus far the repetition. Now the expansion: “Greater love than this no one has, that one lays down one’s life for his friends.” In earliest Christianity this could mean actual martyrdom, just as Jesus’ death is theologically interpreted as an offering to God for the sins of all. There are martyrdoms that do not necessarily involve the death of the body, the separation of soul from body. There is the martyrdom undergone by those who give up all to follow Jesus and dedicate their lives entirely to mission work. There is the martyrdom of parents who bring children into the world and dedicate their whole life to serving those children in feeding, clothing, housing and educating them. There are numerous other ways of laying down one’s life in the service of others, often done with the joy of consciously serving Jesus in those to whom they have dedicated their life.
The next theme of this Sunday’s gospel: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, that is, the Spirit of truth….” The word ‘counselor’ translates John’s Greek word parakletos. Various meanings: someone called to the aid of another, a legal assistant, an advocate, a counselor for the defense. Since the Paraclete is also called the Spirit of truth, the usage at this point seems to be not so much a defense counselor, but One who keeps disciples of Jesus in the truth. John explains later, “The Counselor (the Paraclete), whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” A similar mission statement for the Holy Spirit is given in 16:8-11, 13-14. When John writes of the Holy Spirit as another Counselor, he implies that Jesus is the original Counselor. In fact, the First Letter of John 2:1 refers to Jesus as our Parakletos in the presence of the Father.
The theme of Jesus’ departure from his earthly life is woven into much of the Last Supper Discourse. It comes to the fore also in today’s gospel, “I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.” Does that not seem to be a contradiction? Jesus will leave, will give them another counselor, and yet Jesus will not really be gone, as the next sentence implies, “Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me, because I live and you will live also..., I in my Father, and you in me and I in you.” Jesus will not be present to them as he was up to now in his earthly existence. His presence will be differ-ent, a spiritual indwelling that is perceptible first to those who share it, and secondly per-haps to those who perceive the joy of followers of Jesus who submit to the divine indwel-ling inferred by the words, “I in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” The Holy Spirit joins this indwelling, “You know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.”
Church Fathers, beginning with Gregory Nazianzus, died 390, used the Greek word perichoresis – singing and dancing together, to describe the relationship of the divine and human natures of the Son of God. John of Damascus, died 749, used the same term to describe the relationships between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is legitimate to extend the meaning of this expressive word also to describe the relationships between the Holy Trinity and the individual Christian, and between the Holy Trinity and the Christian community.
ACTS 8:5-8, 14-17
In Acts 1:8, Jesus gives final instructions to his disciples, “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Chapters 2-6 describe the mission in Judea. Chapter 8 describes the mission northward into Samaria by the deacon Philip and the first "Confirmation" of Samaritans thru the imposition of hands by the Apostles Peter and John.
1 PETER 3:15-18
In this letter to Christians living an uneasy existence in what is today northwestern Turkey, the author gives a vital directive for Christians of all time, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do with gentleness and reverence….” Meaning: study the catechism, then teach and defend it!”
