The Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year B)
April 28 2024
O Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know thy Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leadeth to eternal life; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Deuteronomy 4:32-40
Acts 8:26-40
John 14:15-21
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This week and last we are in the world of Jesus’ farewell discourse. It is material unique to John, and in may ways, despite its being set before the Passion, reflects the perspective of the post-resurrection experience of the Johannine community, and by extension our experience, as we continue in our lives as disciples.(1) Here Jesus talks about the life of the disciples and, in fact, of all his followers, in a time when he is no longer present with them in his body.
From the outset, Jesus makes it clear that “where I am going, you can not come,” and in consequence, because he will no longer be with them in the same way, “a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you love one another.” The commandment to love is a guide for the conduct of the disciples’ lives, and also a sign of their continuing relationship to Christ for all the world to see. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another,” Jesus says, as he demands of his disciples not purity of heart or right thinking, but faithful love-in-action.
Jesus then tells them that “in my father’s house there are many rooms,” that the Church, which is none other than that House of God, is ample and that there are places for all within it. It is here that they will dwell and develop in their relationship with God in Christ, and manifest it to the world in the love they express to each other. This is the way for the disciples – and for us – in this next phase, for this way is Christ himself, who is also “the truth, and the life.” What this all looks like in practice is that “he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.” Jesus is saying that believing in him is more than simply some inward acknowledgement, acceptance of Jesus’ identity. To be real, it must be expressed into the world in the form of living in a way that shows the difinitive nature of God’s intervention into history.
In the passage we heard today, Jesus is focussing on the theme of what life in this post-resurrection, post-ascension world will be like. He first tells them flat out: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” And then he tells them how they will be able to accomplish this difficult task, how he “will not leave you desolate ... [and] will come to you.” He says, “I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth.” Finally he explains how we are to remain close to him and to the Father, how we are to “abide,” to keep together and live with each other and with him, an image that will be fleshed out in his parable of the Vine that comes in the next passage. Here he says that we will still see him “because Ilive, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” Life in the post-resurrection and ascension world is a life of indwelling with God.
And this is our life. It is our life of discipleship, our life forever abiding with Christ in his Father’s House, the Church, living the commandment to love as best we can. Discipleship for us, then, is not “adherence to ideas, but practice characterised by observance of the command to love and the presence of the advocate.”(2) We are to focus on fulfilling the commandment to love in full knowledge that we are, and have never been, alone. The Advocate, the Spirit of God, abides with us and we with the Spirit, so as to strengthen us and give us courage to fulfil the commandment, and show that we belong to God in Christ. As well we know, this work is not easy, and it is often hard to love our neighbour. Indeed, sometimes it seems impossible. But when we focus on the task of acting in love, acting with the best interest of our neighbours for their sake and not our own, rather than somehow getting it right in out hearts first, we can embody and express something that we thought was out of our grasp. We can be assured that what we are called to is right abiding, not simply right thinking. For in right abiding and embodying love-in-action, even when we may not feel like it, that we shape our hearts and minds and continue to conform our whole selves to God’s desire for us to be one with him and each other.
The very essence of our ongoing participation in the life of the Church, of the Body of Christ suffused by the presence of the Spirit, is right action in orienting everything that we do towards loving God and loving each other. Although Jesus makes it clear that without love-in-action, we are not a part of that community of the House of God, we don’t love in order to achieve a reward, to be admitted to heaven and gain the prize of eternal life. We love as a response to Jesus’ love for us, and because this was his parting desire for us so that we might ever be bound in relationship with him. It is nothing less than an outward and visible sign emanating from us, from the Church, of all that God has achieved in Christ Jesus, defeating the powers of death and ushering in this new age.
Andrew Charles Blume ✠
New York City
Easter Feria, 27 April 2024
1. Andrew McGowan, Substack: Andrew’s Version
2. Andrew McGowan, Substack: Andrew’s Version
© 2024 Andrew Charles Blume