March 31, 2021
John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
It’s fascinating here that Jesus says he desires that they “be with me where I am.” Where is Jesus at this moment? He is with his closest disciples in a room on Earth and yet he knows he is in his final hours. So where is Jesus? He may be modeling the very concept that we talk about a lot at our church - one foot in Heaven and one foot on Earth. He doesn’t say what we would expect here - I want them to be with me where I am going, which is almost precisely what he said earlier in this discussion. Now in his prayer, in this impassioned state, he is in heart with the Father. We don’t need to be embarrassed by the emotions of Jesus in his final week - in Gethsemane we’re told he wept so violently that it was like tears of blood coming down his face. He was in agony. He felt intense sorrow on the cross; he simultaneously felt betrayal by his followers who abandoned him and also had startling compassion on his executors when he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus came to earth to experience all that we experience including real human emotion -it doesn’t make him sinful or less than God - it makes him human - which is precisely what he is.
How are we to think about our own humanity and also cling to the promise that we share in the glory of Jesus because of our union with Christ? Just look at Jesus - that’s how we do that. We can’t do it in the sinless that Jesus does, that ship has sailed, your heart is not all that it could be - but we can live our lives like him - we can share in his compassion, his emotions, his hurt and anger, and also in his righteousness. Can we reflect his goodness and obedience to the Lord? Of course we can.
Jesus further reiterates here that he has been loved by God from the foundation of the world. He wants us to understand the cosmic love of the Trinity from all eternity - God himself is selfless, pouring out love to the Son and to the Holy Spirit - God has always lived in community. This is exactly why humans are made to live in community too - in relationship with others, pouring out love to others - we were made to be this way because we were made in the image of God.
Prayer: Lord, as image bearers, help me to understand that we were made for an outpouring of love - that to love oneself is not the end of our love - but it’s always meant to be expressed in community. Help me to find those places in my own life where I have been afraid to love in community, and open new doors for me to share that love with someone else. Make it hard on me - and then help me to know you are always with me no matter where I go. Amen.
40 Days of Joy: “Cosmic Love,” Florence and the Machine. There is something transcendent about this harp and these vocals - and the theme, cosmic love? I’m down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gMq3hRLDD0
