Weekly Bible Notes, 1st June 2003
Easter 7
Year B, White
| First Reading: | Acts 1:15-17,21-26 |
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| Second Reading: | John 17:6-19 | |
| Commentary: | A report back to the top? | |
| Meditation: | Father | |
| Prayers: | Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead | |
Opening Verse of Scripture—Acts 1:11
Why stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.
Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray
O God the king of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: we beseech you, leave us not comfortless, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us and exalt us to the place where our saviour Jesus Christ has gone before, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
First Bible Reading
Acts 1:15–17, 21-26In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus— he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.” Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles. (This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God)
Second Reading John 17:6-19
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (This is the word of the Lord - Thanks be to God)
Post Communion Prayer
Eternal God, giver of love and power, your Son Jesus Christ has sent us
into all the world to preach the gospel of His kingdom: confirm us in this
mission, and help us live the good news we proclaim; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen
Commentary: A report back to the top?
In chapter 17 of the gospel of John Jesus looks up to heaven and speaks to the Father, summing up what’s about to happen and praying for His disciples and for all believers.
In verses 1 - 5 Jesus reports that he has completed the task of making the Father known and asks to return to the Father’s glory. In verses 6 - 8 He amplifies His report.
He has passed on to the believers that which he received from the Father.
This is variously described as the Father’s name or word or ‘everything’ or
words. But the focus is not about communicating information but about the
establishment of a special relationship with God. In this relationship is
life, eternal life. And for all those who have entered into this
relationship they are special. Special because they not only belong to the
Father through this new relationship, but because they also share in the
task which the Father gave the Son, a task we share in today. The task of
being sent into the world as the early disciples were sent. And, just as
they did, we too may face challenges, the same challenges that Jesus
highlights in His report back to the Father; the challenge of a hostile
world, the challenge of temptation to give up when the going gets tough, and
the challenge of disunity among believers as we try to get on with the task
of extending God’s kingdom.
This passage from John is Jesus’ prayer for what the Father will do for the
world, through his risen Son, through the church. It is not a declaration of
what is, but an intercession for what shall be. It is not a blueprint for
how unity will take form or mission take place, but a plea for the Father’s
strong name to protect those who are in the world, hated by the world, yet
called and open to the task of doing mission with joy and hope. A heartfelt
appeal from Jesus to His Father that the believers may withstand the
challenges which will lie ahead.
As Jesus ascended into heaven and left the earth in bodily form, the believers must have wondered what the future held. In an uncertain, sceptical and hostile world they must have felt alone and overwhelmed by the task to which Jesus had charged them. Would they be ignored as irrelevant, ridiculed for trying to speak out about their faith, brushed aside as they tried to show God’s love or paralysed by fear and uncertainty? Would the pressure to conform to the prevailing lax attitudes overwhelm them? Would they be split by arguments and dissention? Time would tell.
It did. History shows that through the power of the Holy Spirit they, and
countless others through the ages, were more than ready and able for the
task. The question is, are we?
Meditation: Father
For much of their history, the Jewish people considered God's name, YHWH (Yahweh), too sacred to pronounce, and so they substituted the word adonai. But Jesus not only makes the Father's name known "to those whom you gave me from the world" he also makes it accessible. Not only are we free to speak God's name, but we are free to call God our Father.
Hymns (Mission Praise)
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Rejoice the Lord is king, 575;
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Jesus put this song into my heart, 376;
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Thou art the way, 695;
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Jesus the name high over all, 385;
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Immortal, invisible, God only wise, 327
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
Saviour Christ, of ourselves we
cannot love you, cannot follow you, cannot cleave to you; but you came down
that we might love you; ascended that we might follow you, bound us round
you as your girdle that we might be held fast t
o
you. You loved us, so make us love you; you sought us, so make us seek
you; you found us when we were
lost, so be yourself
the way, that we may find you
and be found in you, our only hope and everlasting joy.
Amen
Blessed are you, Lord God almighty, who gave your Son, Jesus Christ, to be our redeemer and the author of everlasting life; and exalted Him above all for ever; that at all times and in all places we might be partakers of His power and His glory. Amen
We have a great high priest who has passed into the Heavens, Jesus the Son of God. Amen
The God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, establish, strengthen and settle you in the faith; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you always. Amen