Mission
John 17:20-26
Every time I read this Gospel passage, I can't help but hear The Beatles singing "I am the Walrus" in my head.
Photo by Francis Nie on Unsplash
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. "Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." - John 17:20-26
The song begins with this: "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together."
Doesn't that sound like what Jesus is saying here?
This is how my mind works. I immediately associate what I read with pop culture, and I don't think that is bad.
Jesus was trying to reach people in his time in a way they would understand, although at times, he was a bit confusing, speaking in parables and stories.
In my childhood, those stories and parables were songs on the radio. Why not? We have always turned to songs, stories, and poems to convey our message.
And what is Jesus's message here?
We are all one.
Jesus tells us he had a mission, and that mission was to make God known to his people. How did he do?
In a way, this is Jesus reporting back to the Father on his mission. I have done what you asked and I did it well.
But there is something else going on here, something that is easy for us to miss. Jesus is asking the Father to let him bring these apostles with him to where he is going.
Now we could say he is asking that for all of us, and I'm good with that, but what it says is that Jesus loves them.
Just as we want those we love to be saved along with us, he wanted glory for those he loved.
Was that not in the plan all along?
I have a theory that is somewhat controversial. I think by becoming human and living among us, God, through Jesus, was able to personalize His love for us. He always loved us as His Creation, but through Jesus, He got to know us and His children.
Jesus did that for us.
We are now heirs.
How cool is that?
"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together."
More to come...