Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time, May, 9, 2023

John 14, 27-31

Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.”

St. John devotes more than a third of his Gospel to the events of Holy Thursday and Good Friday (chapters 13-20), more than any of the other Evangelists.  By comparison, St. Matthew’s account of these events takes up less than one-seventh of his Gospel.  Much of St. John’s account is given over to the Lord’s last discourse to his Apostles (chapters 13-17).  In this discourse, St. John records a sort of last will and testament of our Lord, who admonishes his disciples to serve one another and to preserve their unity with one another in him.  In the final part of the discourse, part of which makes up today’s Gospel Reading, the Lord Jesus speaks of his going to the Father and his sending forth the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles.  A certain melancholy characterizes this discourse for the Lord is saying goodby and the Apostles do not know what the descent of the Holy Spirit will mean for them.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”  The Lord’s “leaving” his peace with the Apostles does not mean mere good wishes but rather grace which will affect their interiors as well as their relations with one another.  The world’s “peace” means growing accustomed to sin and becoming comfortable and complacent in selfishness.

Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”  The Lord repeats his injunction that the Apostles not allow their hearts to be shaken by his imminent departure.  Troubling things will occur: threats, danger, and persecutions, but if their faith in Jesus is strong they will be able to note the presence of these things without becoming upset by them.  This is part of his message to persevere in their faith, a key theme in all the Gospels and the Book of Revelation.

“If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.”  The Father is “greater” than the Son inasmuch as it was the Father who begot the Son, not the Son who begot the Father.  The Father is the source of all life, human and divine.  The Father and Son are equal in their power, knowledge, and love.  The Apostles should rejoice because the Son is returning to the Father’s passionate embrace, and also that the Son will return to bring them into it as well.

“And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.”  The Lord had spoken before in some detail about his betrayal, arrest, deliverance to Pilate, crucifixion, and death and the Apostles had not understood.  It conflicted so grievously with the destiny they anticipated for him and for them: victory over the Romans.  But the Lord does not even mention the Romans.  He is fighting against a much graver foe than them.  “I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming.”  After he finishes his discourse he will lead his followers to the Garden of Gethsemane where he will prepare for the final conflict.  “He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.”  Indeed, he will crush the devil, but he will do so in a way that requires his own unspeakable suffering, a suffering he endures out of obedience to the Father and which will be the model of obedience for us all from that time onward.