Farewell, Part 1 of A Unity That’s Big Enough

Our reading this week is from the gospel of John:

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.

For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.

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Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.

Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.

For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” (John 17:1-11)

Our reading this week is John’s version of Jesus’ farewell prayer. This passage deeply influenced Christians during the fourth and fifth centuries C.E., and it became the basis of the discussions and conclusions that became the orthodox doctrinal understanding of Jesus’ relation to God.

When Jesus’ followers are referenced in this prayer, it’s difficult to discern whether the prayer is talking about Jesus’ first disciples before his crucifixion or the whole Johannine community in the century afterwards.

The prayer is unique to John’s gospel. Some consider this prayer to be the Johannine community’s equivalent of the “Lord’s Prayer” in the synoptic gospels. The key words, phrases, and expressions in this prayer are all uniquely Johannine.

Firstly, this community defined eternal life or salvation as a special knowledge.

We’ll discuss this knowledge, next.

(Read Part 2)