Uniform Lesson for January 24, 2021
Scripture passage and lesson focus: John 17:14-24
At first glance, John 17 seems like a strange passage for the theme of call. Jesus has already called the disciples and in fact is preparing to leave them. These verses appear toward the conclusion of Jesus’ farewell discourse with his followers. Further, Jesus is not even talking to the disciples but to God, whom he calls Father. However, if we place ourselves with these disciples and understand ourselves to be some of “those who will believe in [Jesus] through [the disciples’] word,” then we may overhear Jesus’ call to us even through this intercessory prayer.
John 17:14-17 — On not belonging to the world
It’s easy to see why this passage has sometimes been used to call the church away from worldly matters in order to tend to spiritual ones. Jesus leads off by making the point that the disciples “do not belong to the world” just as he does not “belong to the world.” As the world hates the disciples, so the world hates Jesus and will soon send him on his way via the cross. Many Christians have heard such language and supposed that Jesus’ primary call is one that moves out of the world and into the “sweet bye and bye.”
However, such an otherworldly calling ignores the repetition of the verb sent: “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” From the beginning, Jesus has understood his calling as an act of giving or sending (John 3:16-17). This giving/sending is rooted in the love of God, who participates in this calling through the Word made flesh. All those, then, who would claim the vocation of disciples must embody this sending into the world as the heart of their mission.
God sends Jesus and the disciples into the world because God loves the world. Jesus and the disciples do not belong to the world, because their authority does not come from the world but from God. When Jesus stands before Pilate, he does not say, “My kingdom is not of this world,” but “My kingdom is not from this world” (John 18:36). It’s a matter of authority and the ground of our calling. Jesus and the disciples do not look to the world for validation and support. No, as Jesus came from God, so the disciples are welcomed into fellowship with God in order to do God’s work. This is why the world hates them both. They report to a higher authority and respond to a higher call. So, Jesus prays for the disciples’ protection, and for our protection, as we engage in sharing the word we’ve been given for the sake of the world.
John 17:18-21 — The word is truth
Though Jesus elsewhere in this discourse talks about the gift of the Spirit, which will come in his place, in these verses the primary gift of Jesus to the disciples is the word. This word is truth and the primary thing that sets them apart, or sanctifies them, for the sake of the world. This word is the means by which other disciples, including ourselves, will become part of this family in generations to come. So, it would be easy to reduce the church’s work to the word, just as some have reduced the Christian cause to otherworldly pursuits. As long as we spread the good news of the gospel with our words, we have fulfilled our calling, right? Now, for the rest of the story.
John 17:22-24 — That they may all be one
Any reader of this lesson must remember that Jesus is the Word made flesh. And while Jesus, in John, does a lot of talking, he is always, at the core, love in action. The Gospel of John, in its essentials, is a love story. The story of a God who experienced love in Godself from the beginning. A God who then loved enough to create a world into which God sent Godself in order to demonstrate God’s glory. A God who then invites those who follow God to enter into the same kind of fellowship through Jesus. Jesus brings his disciples a new commandment — that they love one another. Christian unity then becomes the primary calling of Christ’s disciples in the world.
For discussion: The Book of Order declares, “Unity is God’s gift to the Church in Jesus Christ” (F-1.0302a). How are we doing with this gift lately?
Richard Boyce is the dean of the Charlotte campus of Union Presbyterian Seminary, and associate professor of preaching and pastoral leadership. He is a minister memberof the Presbyteryof Western North Carolina.
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