Lenten Reflection for Saturday, February 29
Carrie Thomas-Carlson
John 17: 20-26
20 ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that 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. 22The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23I 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. 24Father, 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.
25 ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26I 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.’
The piece from the passage that first resonates with me most is the idea that God's glory shines through us because he made us and allows us to demonstrate and be seen in this glory. John reminds himself of this when he says: " ...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." --What better gift we can give back to God than for others to know him through us?
Secondly, I make direct parallels to a New Testament verse Isaiah 6:8 that I memorized as a child. The first time I heard it, I felt God was truly calling me: "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!' ” New International Version (NIV) Hearing Isaiah's ecstatic rejoinder to the Lord's invitation helps us imagine what spiritual awakening looks like.
We see John now responding in a similar way to the way Isaiah did, with wholehearted conviction when he says, "26I 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.’ " We can imagine that both a prophet and disciple would follow the ebbs and flows of belief in all their days, but from these moments on they would both be committed to serving the Lord in action. We might waver in our everyday feeling but it is in our decision to follow Jesus's way that we truly become one with others and demonstrate the same love that he has shown for us.