Easter 7(B): Sorrow & Joy Made Complete
By: The Rev. Canon Manoj Matthew Zacharia
Some call John 17 the “High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus. Whether it is the prologue that stresses Jesus as the incarnate word (Jn 1) or the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus where Jesus proclaims: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (Jn 3:16) there is an ostensible shift in the theological emphasis of the Gospel of John.
The theological emphasis of our gospel today seems to depict a world negation not present in the rest of John’s gospel. The experience of angst seems to guide the High Priestly prayer of Jesus.
The words of Jn 12 sets a context: “Now my soul is troubled. (Jn 12:27-28) Confronting one’s non-existence puts things into perspective. Facing the reality that his time on the earth is limited, Jesus, according to the accounts of Matthew and Mark, goes to Gethsemane to pray (Mt 26:36-46; Mk 14:32-42) and becomes vulnerable to his companions. Jesus reveals, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”
The Chalcedonian (451 AD) formulary that emphasizes the equal and full divinity and humanity of Jesus is fully realized in Jesus’ grappling with physical non-existence but a social deprivation where those closest to him will abandon him for their self-preservation than in that statement of deep anguish.
The funeral liturgy of the Antiochene Rite gives us a glimpse of such anguish. The liturgy prays:
My beloved, why are you standing away from me?
` Come near, bid me farewell… pray for and lament over me,
for today death has stripped me at the gates of Sheol.
Beloved, I am truly in distress, for terror and dread encompass me…
My mind is distressed for the Savior of the world has sent and taken me away and I am bidding farewell with deep grief. [1]
While it is understandable to be swept away with lament when facing the reality of our finite existence, the emphasis of Jesus’ prayer is that we are sanctified into the truth. To be sanctified by the truth is to give ourselves over to the vision of the world as God has intended, a vision that has been lived out in incarnation, earthly life, and resurrection.
One aspect of this truth is that while the world was created by God, we have chosen to alienate it from God’s vision of, and for, the world. Jesus as the Light of the World (Jn 8:12, 9:5) is shining truth amidst the layers of darkness that has been enfolded the world. Being sanctified by the truth is to give our heart over to Easter Hope. Such hope is the transformation of sorrow into joy (Jn 16:16-24) or death into life. The experience of resurrection is guided by a hope of a restored creation – a new earth and a new City of Peace. We are invited through the resurrection to:
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
…See, I am making all things new.” (Rev. 21:3-5)
As we continue in the joyous celebration of Easter, let us remember that being sanctified into the Truth is not merely offering a giddy ephemeral panacea that all will be well; but, a thrust to confront the reality of non-existence as we know it with the hope of a glorious re-creation rooted in the fullness of God through Christ. For the Christian, there is no resurrection without the cross and no cross without the resurrection as the words of the Taize’ community signify: We adore your Cross O Lord, and we praise you for your resurrection.
The truth is that life is sorrow and joy made complete and the cross and resurrection symbolize that wholeness.
The Rev. Canon Manoj Mathew Zacharia serves as Sub-Dean/Vicar of Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati. A native South Asian and New Yorker, he along with his wife Joelle and children Abigail and Johan are avid NY Mets fans and passionate about the gospel! Manoj is about to defend his Ph.D. dissertation on “Pluralistic Inclusivism as Theological Methodology” from the Toronto School of Theology (University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto.) He requests your prayers!
[1]Burian Service IV for Men of the Malankara Orthodox Church. Trans and Ed Manoj M. Zacharia.
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