Easter 6, May 25 2014
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 Peter 3:15-28; John 14:15-21
Brookdale
Today’s Gospel passage comes from the Last Supper discourse in John’s Gospel. In the first three Gospels—Mark, Matthew, and Luke—the Last Supper is a short episode. It’s focused on the institution of the Eucharist: Jesus takes the bread; Jesus takes the wine. In John’s Gospel, the Last Supper takes up five whole chapters, but there is no mention of bread and wine. Instead, Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, and he talks. And talks. And talks.
The Last Supper discourse is written as if Jesus is preparing his disciples for life after he is gone. However, Bible scholars do not believe that John gives us Jesus’ exact words from the Last Supper. Rather, the discourse is a literary creation, a response to the concerns of John’s community, as it faced the problem of Jesus’ absence.
Scholars think that John’s Gospel was written about sixty years after the crucifixion and resurrection. By that time, most eyewitnesses were dead, and many Christians were probably asking some basic questions, such as:
- If Jesus rose from the dead, where is he now?
- What is our relationship to Jesus if he is not here?
- If Jesus is Messiah and Lord, why are we suffering persecution?
- Are we all alone?
- What should we do now?
Most of these questions are still good questions today. The author of John’s Gospel (we don’t know his name) answers these frequently asked questions in the Last Supper discourse.
Today’s passage touches on all of the questions. Jesus is not dead, but alive and present and with the Father. The Easter message is that life, not death, has the last word. Can you believe that? Can you believe that someone lives who you can’t see and who was crucified sixty years ago, or two thousand years ago? Normally, you’d be crazy to believe something like that. Faith in the presence of Jesus—or of God, for that matter—is only possible because the Spirit makes that presence known and enables us to encounter them.
John’s Gospel calls the Spirit the parakletos, which our text translates as Advocate. Etymologically it means “called to one’s side.” A parakletos is a helper; in modern contexts, we think of someone who advocates for a child in court, or who lobbies for people who are disadvantaged. It’s tempting to think of the Spirit as someone who advocates for us before God, asking him to have mercy on us. But the direction here is just the opposite. God has already poured out abundant love and life on us, and continues to love us unstintingly. That love creates genuine life. The Spirit is the helper who brings the truth of that love and life in the time after Easter. The Spirit makes faith possible by helping us become aware of the presence of God and of Christ in our midst, even if we can’t see them.
The Spirit is the one who brings us the conviction that God is more powerful than Caesar or the people with guns; that truth can prevail over falsehood; that love can prevail over hatred; and that life can prevail over death.
So as long as we have the Spirit, we are not alone. All we have to do is to keep Jesus’ commandments, and there is only one commandment: to love one another. Of course, that doesn’t mean feeling warm gooey feelings or sending each other saccharine valentines. Jesus defined it by washing the disciples’ feet. It’s that simple: simple service to others. As long as the community loves in this sense, the Spirit will help the members of the community be aware of God’s presence. But otherwise it cannot, because God is Love.
So the plan is for us to be kindly and compassionate. Then the Spirit makes us aware of the presence of Jesus and God, who is Love, among us. Belief in their presence strengthens us, so that we have the courage to be kindly and compassionate, even when it is not easy.