A look at the gaps in the lectionary.
This week: the gap between Easter 6 + 7 (Year A)
The text: John 14:22-16:33
It is interesting that the lectionary cuts off the story in Easter 6 right before Judas speaks. His question isn’t bad. And the fact that people often quote Judas unironically makes me wonder if we aren’t a little too much like Judas ourselves.
Chapter 15
Like 14, chapter 15 is a shorter chapter for John. He continues the theme of the love commandment—that this is the purpose and our way. This time, he uses an image of the vine and speaks to world’s hatred.
For the reader, we find two strands of thinking intertwining as Jesus weaves them together.
- One is the general sense of hatred that comes from being different.
- The other is the hatred the Temple leadership have for Jesus.
It strikes me that we might be tempted to treat this like a universal teaching. A sort of “don’t hate people” mantra. Which, is always fitting. Because such generalities are designed to always fit.
But the specificity of this hatred—that they will be hated because they hate Jesus—is bound to specific repercussions. Namely, that they will be condemned, hunted, and eventually killed.
Against the warning of this kind of persecution, a general reminder that some people hate sometimes and maybe we shouldn’t is not the most honest response.
Because…
Chapter 16
He opens the next chapter by saying directly that they are going to be hunted. And that he is telling them this now so that they might remember.
What good is remembering?
I doubt it has any told-you-so-ness to it. Or a wonder at Jesus’s power to predict the future. If I’m betting on anything, it’s that Jesus wants them to be prepared. That is a huge theme in the gospel of Matthew, more than in John. But nonetheless, it is the most obvious.
Be prepared. And understand why. Why they seek to persecute Jesus’s Way of Love. To seek the murder of this message.
Going Away
Then Jesus turns his focus to going away, reiterating the work of the Advocate. The one coming to be with them and within them.
They don’t understand now, but the Spirit will lead them to truth.
The disciples will feel pain now, but joy in the future.
Then the disciples claim that they understand Jesus now. That it is plain (therefore, it isn’t becoming plain, but already is). And Jesus pushes back.
They can’t truly understand yet because they haven’t faced any difficulty yet. They aren’t fearing for their lives yet. When that comes, they will shudder. [He doesn’t say this, but he’s already told Peter he’ll deny him…] They will fear. That’s when they need to remember.
Jesus is offering peace in the midst of persecution. Promise in the midst of despair. That is the courage they will need for the trials ahead. And what he will pray for.