7TH SUNDAY OF EASTER

7TH SUNDAY OF EASTER DOCTRINE & FAITH

Some aspects of today’s readings offer us some insights into the glory or honour which the resurrection conferred on the Risen Lord. The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles shows how Stephen emulated Jesus Christ. He prayed that the sins of his executioners should not be held against them (Luke 23,34) and at death that his spirit would be welcomed in heaven. The difference between the prayers of Christ and that of Stephen is, while Jesus directed his prayer to God, the Father, Stephen prayed to the risen Lord: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. This shows that according to Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles, the risen Lord was now identified with God.

    In the second reading from the book of Revelation, it is the Risen Lord himself, not an angelic messenger, who announces to John his immediate return. Then the risen Lord goes further to list, in two self-descriptive statements, five characteristics that describe himself. The first is:  I am the Alpha and Omega, (thus, Jesus encompasses any word, that describes any reality that is composed with letters within the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet), the First and the Last (this expression includes what in time sequence is between the First and the Last), the Beginning and the End (implies the entire action). Here the risen Jesus claims to be both origin and end of all things. By appropriating to himself attributes that belongs to God, Jesus is claiming intimate unity with God. The second self-presentative statement is: I am of David’s Line, the root of David and the bright star of the morning. This certainly refers to his role as the Messiah and rightly so after his glorification at the resurrection.

    In today’s gospel, Jesus prays for the unity of the believers, that they may be one. He prays for his immediate disciples, as well as would be disciples through their missionary activities. The unity which he prays for, is not a superficial unity, for it has to resemble the unity that exists between him and his Father. According to the letter to the Hebrews, Jesus is the refulgence of his (God’s) glory, the very imprint of his (God’s) being (Heb 1,3). In the context, this verse means that Jesus Christ is neither just a prophet, an angel, nor any created being, but the perfect image of God himself. Christ is of God’s image by nature, because he proceeds from God directly. So there is perfect unity between God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. What is more, Jesus as a man confirmed his will to that of his Father. So the unity between Jesus and his Father flows from both divine nature and human obedience.

    The unity of his disciples for which Jesus prays for should not only resemble the divine unity but should participate in it. It is in faith that Christians are intimately united with Jesus. Therefore, it will be through Jesus that they will be brought into the divine union, where the Father dwells in the Son and the Son in the Father.

    There is another way the disciple of Jesus share in the divine life, through participation in the glory of Christ. The glory of Jesus was believed to have been manifested through his death, resurrection and exaltation by God. Joined to Jesus in faith and through Baptism, believers share in this glory because in a very real sense they share in his person (at Baptism the baptized Christian is incorporated into the person of Christ). In this way they enter into the very life of God and share in the union of Jesus and his Father.

    In his prayer, Jesus mentions that the world does not know the Father: Father, Righteous One, the world has not known you… In the mind of John the Evangelist, the world is even hostile to Jesus and his disciples. It is Jesus’ prayer that the situation should be changed, and this will be accomplished through the witness given by the union that exists among and within the believers. That means that, to the world that does not yet know God, they are to manifest the divine union in which they participate. Through this manifestation the world will see not only that God sent Jesus but also that God loves believers with the same love with which Jesus is loved. 
    In some ways, we, the Christians of today, are challenged by the readings of today. Stephen challenges us to emulate Jesus by forgiving our neighbours who offend us in any way. Jesus challenges us to open our minds and hearts to him so that we may enter into true and intimate friendship with him and through him with God the Father and the Blessed Trinity. Therefore, the friendship that we make with Christ should be the model of our union with other Christians.  Thus, we Christians are enjoined to manifest the unity among us so as to convert our non-believing neighbours to the faith. 

Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

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