Knowing Jesus

Homily for May 21, 2029
The Seventh Sunday of Easter
John 17:1–11

“And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

When in John’s Gospel John speaks of “eternal life” (as in today’s lesson that we just heard), John is not speaking (as do the Synoptics) of escaping the flames of hell (e.g., Luke 16:23 and Matt 18:8; 25:41).  Nor when John speaks of “eternal life” is John speaking (as does Paul in 1 Thessalonians) of being “caught up in the clouds” to “meet the Lord in the air” (4:17).  Neither when John speaks of “eternal life” is John speaking (as imagines the author of Revelation) of being in a place called “heaven” and singing as part of a large choir (e.g., Rev. 5:9–14).  For John, “eternal life” is different than it is in the rest of Scripture.  In John’s words that we just heard, eternal life is: “knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

For John, “knowing” is a verb, and in John’s Gospel “knowing” Jesus means to be in relationship with Jesus.  Nowhere in John’s Gospel does John use the noun form “knowledge” [gnosis].  For John, eternal life is not about knowledge—eternal life is not about what you know.  For John, “eternal life” is about whom you know, with whom you are in relationship.  As John wrote in this morning’s passage, “eternal life” is “that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

Some identify in John three different ways of “knowing” or being in relationship with Jesus.  The first is knowing Jesus through his “signs,” or miracles, as in John chapter 6, “A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing” (6:2).  Though John himself never uses the word “faith,” we might call this kind of relationship with Jesus “signs faith” [e.g., Culpepper].  A second way of knowing Jesus in John’s Gospel is through Jesus’ words, as in the case of the Samaritans in chapter 4, with whom Jesus stayed two days, and where “many more believed because of his word” (4:41).  We might call this second way of knowing Jesus “faith in Jesus’ words” [e.g., Culpepper].

Before we come to the third way of “knowing” in John’s Gospel, a note about John never using the word “faith” in his Gospel…. For John, relationship with Jesus is not static such that (as do Matthew and Mark) one could say that a disciple “has” faith.  In John, relationship with Jesus is always dynamic, always continuous, unfolding and progressive.  Further, as John never uses the word “faith” in his Gospel, so also does John not use the word “belief” [pistis].  Dozens of times John uses the verb form “believe” [pisteuo], as if to drive home the point that being in relationship with Jesus—being a disciple of Jesus—is active and is best described with verbs.  For John, being a disciple of Jesus is something we do.

Which brings us to the third way of “knowing” or being in relationship with Jesus, which in John—appropriate to a dynamic, unfolding relationship—does not appear until near the end of John’s Gospel.  This third way of knowing Jesus is exemplified by the so-called Beloved Disciple, who first appears in John’s Gospel at the Passover meal in the upper room on Maundy Thursday.  John introduces the Beloved Disciple simply with: “One of the disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining close to his heart…” (13:23).  And in these latter chapters, John helps us better come to know the Beloved Disciple and this third way of knowing Jesus—in a way that is perhaps unfair to Peter—by using Peter as a foil.  In the upper room, Peter protests against Jesus washing his feet (13:6ff), and he must ask the Beloved Disciple whom Jesus means when Jesus said that “One of you will betray me” (13:21, 25).  In the garden Peter is scolded for cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant (18:10–11), and Peter can enter the high priest’s courtyard only after the Beloved Disciple puts in a word on his behalf (18:15–16).  Though Peter is not among those present at the crucifixion, the Beloved Disciple is (19:25–27).  Though he arrives to it first, Peter does not understand the meaning of the empty tomb, but John reports that the Beloved Disciple does (20:3–9).  Though active in his discipleship and though well-intentioned, Peter’s way of knowing Jesus is not yet the Beloved Disciple’s way of knowing Jesus.

In addition to reclining close to Jesus’ heart in the upper room, the most famous scene of the Beloved Disciple is at the cross when Jesus said to his mother, (and here I quote from John’s Gospel): “‘Here is you son.’  Then he said to the disciple [whom he loved], ‘Here is your mother.’  And from that hour, the disciple took her into his own home’” (19:26–27).  Origen, writing in the early third century and speaking about what later scholars would call this third way of knowing Jesus, says that if one wants truly to understand John’s Gospel, they—with the Beloved Disciple—must recline close to Jesus’ heart, and also take Jesus’ mother into their own home.

I wonder, in what way would you say you know Jesus?  I wonder, in what way would you like to know Jesus?  Do you follow Jesus because—like the large crowd—you see his signs?  Or do you follow Jesus because of his words?  Or… do you desire to recline close to Jesus’ heart?  And would you like to “take his mother into your own home”?  John is not neutral in how we respond; John hopes for a particular answer, which is: John wants to move us through these different ways of “knowing” Jesus, through these ways of being in relationship with Jesus, until—having seen Jesus’ signs and having heard Jesus’ words, and knowing him and loving him—we ourselves (like the Beloved Disciple) recline at the heart of Jesus, until we ourselves (like the Beloved Disciple) take his mother into our own home.

I pray that each of us may hear Jesus’ personal invitation to us to recline close to his heart and to take his mother into our own home.  For John wishes that we have eternal life.  “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

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