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Faith Daily | 18 May 2021

PRAYER of the DAY - EASTER SEVEN APBA p519

O God,

you withdraw from our sight

that you may be known by our love:

help us to enter the cloud where you are hidden,

and to surrender all our certainty

to the darkness of faith

in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

GOSPEL for the Day: John 17: 1-11

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

6”I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.

11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

GOSPEL Reflection: Contributed by Rev'd Graham

In the previous passage, Jesus has confirmed the role of the disciples and also warned them of their future. He has also given them confidence in his presence with them in the future. In today’s passage, he turns to the Father and begins by reflecting on what he was appointed to do. John picks up on the eternal nature of God as God was from the beginning of time.

As I reflect on the second part of the passage, I cannot help but think how much each of us is called to be Christlike. Jesus set the example of displaying God’s love – his love – in both word and example, and we are called to do the same. What we do, we do not for our own glory or honour, but we do humbly and sensitively for the glory of God and for those to whom we minister just as Jesus did. If we think it is difficult to do this, then we can turn to the example of many people like us who have shown that it is not impossible. I know from my own experience how easy it is to get caught up in our own agendas and become “of the world” rather than simply “in the world”.

John, the author of the Gospel, was in a privileged position to be living at a time close to the physical presence of Jesus, and hearing the reflections and reminiscences of other people who may have been in Jesus’ close presence. Two thousand years later, these words have been brought to us. We are fortunate however, that this time span does not take away from us – and for us – the import that they would have had on John and those around him. May we continue to note their significance, and use the messages to see that our we are helped in our relationships with others – and with God – as we show God’s presence in our lives.

FINAL PRAYER: Stephen Orchard, All the Glorious Names, UK

Come, Holy Spirit, and show us what is true.

In a world of great wealth

where many go hungry

and fortunes are won and lost

by trading in money,