Lectionary readings for Sunday 24th May 2020 – Easter 7 (Year A)

• Acts 1:6-14
• Ps 68:1-10, 32-35
• 1 Pt 4:12-14, 5:6-11
• Jn 17:1-11

Eternal Life – a reflection on John 17:1-11

I’m sure most people would be familiar with John 3:16. It is one of the most commonly quoted verses in the Bible.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This verse summarises the foundation of our faith as Christians and points to the hope we have, in Christ, for eternal life. But what exactly is eternal life? We tend to think of it as the life we will have in Heaven once our earthly lives are over – the “next life” for want of a better term.

But in our Gospel reading today, John 17:1-11, while Jesus is praying to the father he tells us exactly what eternal life is. In verse 3 he says: –

“Now this is eternal life; that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

Jesus points out that eternal life does not begin when our earthly lives end, but as soon as we come to know God and Jesus Christ. Therefore, as Christians, we need to acknowledge and understand that our eternal lives have already begun, even though we have not yet reached our eternal home. Our hope is for our eternal home in Heaven, where we finally see Jesus face to face and will no longer experience the pain and suffering that goes hand in hand with earthly life. But we are still living eternal lives while we wait for this hope.

So how do we live as citizens of Heaven while still residing here on Earth? We do what Jesus instructed his disciples to do, “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19). We have been given the job of spreading the good news of the Gospel to those we encounter in life. Jesus continues praying in verse 4 of our reading: –

“I have brought you glory on Earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.”

We too will bring glory to God when we do the work of spreading the Gospel that God has assigned to each and every one of us.

Matthew West: Heaven is the Hope