THE FINAL ACT
Chapter
17 of John’s Gospel is always used in the Church’s liturgy between
Ascension and Pentecost. Within the chapter, Jesus prays for Himself,
for His disciples, and for those who profess themselves as Christians.
One could imagine Jesus raising His eyes to heaven in addressing His
Father and the disciples looking on and joining Him in prayer. The
setting of this scene, over table fellowship, is very intimate.
For John the Evangelist, eternal life is all about knowing Jesus as the
One sent by the Father who reveals the Father. When Jesus talks about
eternal life, He is speaking of eternal life in the present tense. We
are now living the eternal life if we believe in Jesus as the One sent
and anointed by the Father. Eternal life begins with the believer in his
personal relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior. Eternal life is a
gift given to us by the Father from the beginning of our existence. God
wills all to be saved and to have life with Him forever in His kingdom.
As His life comes to an end, Jesus realizes that the hour has come. The
hour first arrived when the Greeks sought Jesus at the Passover. When
they found Jesus, He pronounced that the hour has come for His
self-disclosure. The hour will be fulfilled in the final act of the
Father, wherein the curtain of the Temple will be torn, symbolizing
access to the Kingdom that had been shut over time. With Jesus’ body on
the Cross, the curtain has been removed — the veil between man and God
has been destroyed — and the hour has come to glorify the Son.
Jesus reminds the Father of His imminent return and, as a final act, He
entrusts His disciples — those whom He called, formed and sent — to the
Father. We are the Lord’s possession. We belong to Him and will return
to Him as Jesus Himself has returned to the Father. Fr. Brian Steele, MGL
REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you willing to entrust everything to the Father?
Dear God, let me know You more in my life and believe in the One You have sent, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
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