Seventh Sunday of Easter, 21st May 2023

St John 17:1-11
17:1 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,

17:2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

17:4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.

17:5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

17:6 “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.

17:7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you;

17:8 for 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.

17:9 I 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.

17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.

17:11 And 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.

1 Ταῦτα ἐλάλησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, καὶ ἐπῆρε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ εἶπε· πάτερ, ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα· δόξασόν σου τὸν υἱόν, ἵνα καὶ ὁ υἱός σου δοξάσῃ σε,

2 καθὼς ἔδωκας αὐτῷ ἐξουσίαν πάσης σαρκός, ἵνα πᾶν ὃ δέδωκας αὐτῷ δώσῃ αὐτοῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

3 Αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωή, ἵνα γινώσκωσί σε τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν Θεὸν καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν.

4 Ἐγώ σε ἐδόξασα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὸ ἔργον ἐτελείωσα ὃ δέδωκάς μοι ἵνα ποιήσω·

5 καὶ νῦν δόξασόν με σύ, πάτερ, παρὰ σεαυτῷ τῇ δόξῃ ᾗ εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί.

6 Ἐφανέρωσά σου τὸ ὄνομα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις οὓς δέδωκάς μοι ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου. Σοὶ ἦσαν καὶ ἐμοὶ αὐτοὺς δέδωκας, καὶ τὸν λόγον σου τετηρήκασι.

7 Νῦν ἔγνωκαν ὅτι πάντα ὅσα δέδωκάς μοι παρὰ σοῦ ἐστιν·

8 ὅτι τὰ ῥήματα ἃ δέδωκάς μοι δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔλαβον, καὶ ἔγνωσαν ἀληθῶς ὅτι παρὰ σοῦ ἐξῆλθον, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας.

9 Ἐγὼ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐρωτῶ· οὐ περὶ τοῦ κόσμου ἐρωτῶ, ἀλλὰ περὶ ὧν δέδωκάς μοι, ὅτι σοί εἰσι,

10 καὶ τὰ ἐμὰ πάντα σά ἐστι καὶ τὰ σὰ ἐμά, καὶ δεδόξασμαι ἐν αὐτοῖς.

11 Καὶ οὐκέτι εἰμὶ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ οὗτοι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ εἰσί, καὶ ἐγὼ πρὸς σὲ ἔρχομαι. Πάτερ ἅγιε, τήρησον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ᾧ δέδωκάς μοι, ἵνα ὦσιν ἓν καθὼς ἡμεῖς.

Comments

A formal tripartite prayer that begins with the uplifting of the eyes and an address (πάτερ); then comes a narration and a petition that concludes with an address (Πάτερ ἅγιε). The vbs γιγνώσκω and δίδωμι are prominent.

[1] ἐπῆρε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ: ἐπαίρω, ‘lift, lift up’ (cl. Gr).

ἡ ὥρα: ‘hour’, here ‘hour of death’. In cl. Gr. the term can mean ‘season’, ‘maturity’ (with overtones of beauty). Cf. modern Greek ωραίος, ‘lovely, handsome, etc.;

δόξασόν σου τὸν υἱόν, ἵνα καὶ ὁ υἱός σου δοξάσῃ σε: δοξάζω = ‘honour’; ‘glorify’. Cf. δόξα (v.5), which among a plethora of meanings in cl. Greek poetry and prose, e.g. ‘opinion’, can signify ‘glory’. The word order is chiastic (A ~ B, b~ a), ‘you’/Father crossing over to Son.

[2] ἐξουσίαν πάσης σαρκός: ἐξουσία, occurring 102 times in the NT, means ‘power’, ‘authority’. σάρξ = ‘flesh’, ‘body’ occurring 147 times in the NT;  πᾶσα σάρξ, ‘all flesh’, ‘every body’ is traditional in OT Greek, and means ‘all mankind’ (Exeg. Dict. NT, s.v. σάρξ, p. 232). Cf. Engl. sarcophagus.

[3] ἵνα γινώσκωσί σε: γινώσκω (koine for γιγνώσκω), ‘Ι know’ (through perception). Cf. vv. 7 and 8 for the vb.

[4] τὸ ἔργον ἐτελείωσα: τελειῶ (όω) = ‘complete’, ‘bring to completion’.

[5] τὸν κόσμον: κόσμος = ‘world’, ‘universe’. For pagans the term κόσμος implied order and beauty (as in cosmetic). It occurs 78 times in St John alone and a total of 186 times in the NT. In 1 John, ‘the world’ functions almost as code for all that is opposed to Christ and to the Father (see for ex I Jn 2:15-17).

[9] περὶ αὐτῶν ἐρωτῶ: ἐρωτῶ in later Greek means ‘I request’.

[10] τὰ ἐμὰ πάντα σά ἐστι καὶ τὰ σὰ ἐμά: another telling chiasmus, bringing out the interconnectedness of ‘my’/’mine’ and ‘yours’.