7TH SUNDAY OF EASTER (YEAR A)

1st Reading              1:12-14

Psalm                         27: 1, 4, 7-8a (R. 13

R:// "I believe I shall see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living"

2nd Reading           1 Peter 4: 13-16

Gospel                      John 17:1-11a

THE HOUR HAS COME

Friends, Peace and Goodness! Today is the 7th Sunday of Easter (Year A), the final Sunday before Pentecost, and we find ourselves in that peculiar in-between space of the liturgical calendar. Jesus has departed. The Spirit has not yet come. The community is left waiting. The Ascension is only days behind us and Pentecost is days ahead. This Sunday makes us stand suspended between departure and arrival. Finding ourselves within this space of seeming neglect because of the Ascension and hopeful anticipation of the Pentecost, the Gospel passage for this liminal Sunday is not a narrative. It is a prayer, one that makes us wait and hope. 

The Gospel passage gives a window into the prayer of Jesus himself on the night he was betrayed, a prayer directed not to the disciples but to his Father. This is John 17:1–11, sometimes called "The High Priestly Prayer" of Jesus. It is a moment of breathtaking vulnerability and clarity. Let us look at the text closely, focusing on three minute details.

The first detail we should pay particular attention to is Jesus' first words, "the hour has come" (Jn. 17:1). This is not the first time we are reading something close to this. Remember that at the wedding at Cana, when Mary asked Jesus to act, he responded that, "...my hour has not yet come" (Jn. 2:4). Also, when opposition was mounting, Jesus said again that "this hour had not yet come" (Jn. 7:30; 8:20). 

What actually constitutes the HOUR [Hora (ὥρα)]? Here, we need to consider the Gospel according to John in totality. In John, Jesus does not explicitly talk about his death on the cross. This death on the cross is rather hidden behind expressions and words. Prominently, "HOUR" hides Jesus' expression about his death on the cross. That hour even suggests that Jesus' will be glorified. Therefore, in John's Gospel, the hour of glorification is simultaneously the hour of crucifixion and death. The cross is the throne. Crucifixion is exaltation. 

In fact, this double and linking meaning of the HOUR is reinforced by John 12: 23. In John 12:23, when some Greeks come to see Jesus, he says, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." What follows? The discourse about a grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying (Jn. 12:24). Death is the path to glory. Sacrifice is the language of glorification. 

We can glimpse Temple activity to further understand the HOUR. In Jewish religious practice, particularly in the Temple, there were appointed hours for specific actions. The evening sacrifice had its hour. The morning oblation had its hour. The priestly service was governed by precise, divinely ordained times. When John says "the hour has come," he is invoking this liturgical sensibility. Earlier in John 1:29, Jesus was referred to as the "Lamb of God". Lambs are sacrificed in the Temple as appointed HOURS of the day. What this suggests is that Jesus' death, like the sacrifice of a Lamb in the Temple, is the appointed hour of his priestly sacrifice. 

What do we make of the HOUR? What interests is that Jesus does not resist his hour. He rather welcomes and accepts it. He begins to understand that his suffering is salvific. Our acceptance of life's appointed seasons such as aging, diminished, untimely death, disappointments and sickness can become like Jesus' hour. Every hour and appointed season of our lifetime is a work of God's glory and purpose.

The second detail is that Jesus said "It is Finished". The Greek word used there us τελειόω (teleiōō), and means "completion or perfection". The idea presented is something done in the past. However, the author put it the perfect past tense. In Greek, the perfect past tense does not describe something in the past as though it is over. describes a completed action with present significance. The results of the completed action persist. 

I want to suggest that the language used here looks like the Old Testament language about God's creative work. In Genesis 2:3, after God's six days of creation, "God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation." The completion is perfect. God's work is whole, entire, and standing complete. What Jesus is saying is analogous to this, thus "I have finished the work". The work of redemption, like creation, is brought to a whole and perfect completion. It is not partial or provisional. It is finished. 

The third detail is lies in Jesus saying, "They are yours, and you gave them". The Greek word for "give" is δίδωμι (didōmi). In today's Gospel passage, the verb appears more than a dozen times, suggesting that it carries something very central to enriching our understanding of the text. The Greek concept of didōmi has roots in Hebrew thinking about mattin (מתן) and natan (נתן), which mean "giving". In Hebrew Scripture, when God "gives," it often means God establishes a people, makes a covenant, and secures an inheritance. When God "gives" to someone, they are entering into a relationship of absolute dependence and grace.

In Isaiah 43:4, God says: "Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life." The language of divine giving establishes the entire relationship. This relationship is more than a personal one. There is a collective one seen here. In Deuteronomy 7:6–8, God says, "You are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession." The election is collective. God chooses a people, not only individuals. The disciples are also seen as a people. .

The implication is that you are not accidents. Your faith is not a private achievement. You belong to a people chosen by God, given to Christ, and held in the divine purpose. You are part of something larger than yourself, bound together with others in a gift that preceded your birth and will outlast your death.

Pax et Bonum