Eternal Life!

John 17:1-11

17 When Jesus had finished saying all these things he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Reveal the glory of your Son so that he can give the glory back to you. 2 For you have given him authority over every man and woman in all the earth. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. 3 And this is the way to have eternal life — by knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth! 4 I brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you told me to. 5 And now, Father, reveal my glory as I stand in your presence, the glory we shared before the world began.

6 “I have told these men all about you. They were in the world, but then you gave them to me. Actually, they were always yours, and you gave them to me; and they have obeyed you. 7 Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, 8 for I have passed on to them the commands you gave me; and they accepted them and know of a certainty that I came down to earth from you, and they believe you sent me.

9 “My plea is not for the world but for those you have given me because they belong to you. 10 And all of them, since they are mine, belong to you; and you have given them back to me with everything else of yours, and so they are my glory! 11 Now I am leaving the world, and leaving them behind, and coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your own care — all those you have given me — so that they will be united just as we are, with none missing.

Food for thought!

Three gates lead into the magnificent cathedral of Milan. Over one gate is an inscription which says: “The things that please are temporary.” Over the second gate is the inscription: “The things that disturb us are temporary.”And over the central gate is a big inscription which says: “Eternal are the important ones.” We tend to understand eternal life as meaning life without end. Eternal life has to do, not so much with duration of life, for life which went on for ever would not necessarily be a boon. Its main meaning is quality of life. 

Eternal life differs from everlasting life which is merely quantitative. The devil and his angels have everlasting life because they never die. But they do not enjoy eternal life which is a life of perfect happiness and peace in union with God. What the human soul desires is not just everlasting life, but eternal life, a life of perfect union with God which cannot be diminished neither in duration nor in satisfaction. This is the life that Jesus gives, as he says in today's gospel: "He gives eternal life to each one you have given him." John 10:10: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” To have eternal life is to be fully alive. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus points out that the way to eternal life is through the cross. There is no eternal life without the cross. The Cross was the glory of Jesus because it was the completion of his work. "I have accomplished the work," he said, "which You gave me to do." For him to have stopped short of the Cross would have been to leave his task uncompleted. Why should that be so? Jesus had come into this world to tell men about the love of God and to show it to them. If he had stopped short of the Cross, it would have been to say that God's love said: "Thus far and no farther." By going to the Cross Jesus showed that there was nothing that the love of God was not prepared to do and suffer for men, that there was literally no limit to it.

 “And this is the way to have eternal life — by knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth!” (John 17:3). Some people may be surprised that Jesus talks about “knowing” rather than “believing in” God. But knowing is used in the Bible to represent the intimacy that exists between two people. To know somebody is to have a personal, intimate relationship with that person. For instance, “Adam knew his wife Eve” (Genesis 4:1). Jesus is saying that what leads to eternal life is not intellectual but relational; it is intimacy with God and with Jesus Christ.

Eternal life demands knowledge of two people: to know the Father; to know the Son. Everyone is looking for long life and the good life. Eternal life is unending good life. This is what we all seek. Jesus today tells us how to attain this all-important goal of life. We need to cultivate an intimate, personal relationship with God and with Jesus the Messiah whom He has sent to make Him known to all humankind.