·  8 Dame Julian of Norwich, c. 1417 was an English anchoress and an important Christian mystic. Her Revelations of Divine Love, written around 1395, is the first book in the English language known to have been written by a woman

·  9 Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Constantinople, 389 also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen, was a 4th-century Archbishop of Constantinople, and theologician.

·  10 Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, Prophetic Witness, 1760

·  13 Frances Perkins, Public Servant and Prophetic Witness, 1965

·  16 Martyrs of Sudan

FIRST READING:  Acts 16: 16 - 34   (all but Roman Catholic)

Acts 16:16 (NRSV) One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. 17 While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." 18 She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.

19 But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 20 When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews 21 and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe." 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." 29 The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 34 He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Acts 7: 55 - 60   (Roman Catholic)

Acts 7:55 (NRSV) But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" 57 But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. 58 Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.

PSALM 97   (RCL)

Psalm 97: 1 - 2, 6 - 7, 9   (Roman Catholic)

Psal 97:1 (NRSV) The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice;

let the many coastlands be glad!

2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;

righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

3 Fire goes before him,

and consumes his adversaries on every side.

4 His lightnings light up the world;

the earth sees and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,

before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness;

and all the peoples behold his glory.

7 All worshipers of images are put to shame,

those who make their boast in worthless idols;

all gods bow down before him.

8 Zion hears and is glad,

and the towns of Judah rejoice,

because of your judgments, O God.

9 For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;

you are exalted far above all gods.

10 The LORD loves those who hate evil;

he guards the lives of his faithful;

he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light dawns for the righteous,

and joy for the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,

and give thanks to his holy name!

97   Dominus regnavit      (ECUSA BCP)

1          The Lord is King;

let the earth rejoice; *

     let the multitude of the isles be glad.

2          Clouds and darkness are round about him, *

     righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.

3          A fire goes before him *

     and burns up his enemies on every side.

4          His lightnings light up the world; *

     the earth sees it and is afraid.

5          The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, *

     at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

6          The heavens declare his righteousness, *

     and all the peoples see his glory.

7          Confounded be all who worship carved images

and delight in false gods! *

     Bow down before him, all you gods.

8          Zion hears and is glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice, *

     because of your judgments, O Lord.

9          For you are the Lord,

most high over all the earth; *

     you are exalted far above all gods.

10        The Lord loves those who hate evil; *

     he preserves the lives of his saints

     and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11        Light has sprung up for the righteous, *

     and joyful gladness for those who are truehearted.

12        Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, *

     and give thanks to his holy Name.

SECOND READING:   Revelation 22: 12 - 14, 16 - 17, 20 - 21   (RCL)

                                        Revelation 22: 12 - 14, 16 - 17, 20   (Roman Catholic)

Reve 22:12 (NRSV) "See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone's work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.

16 "It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."

17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come."

And let everyone who hears say, "Come."

And let everyone who is thirsty come.

Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.

20 The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon."

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

h/t Montreal Anglican

John comes to the end of God’s revelation to him: God “has sent his angel to show his servants [faithful Jews and Christians] what must soon take place” (v. 6). People then expected time to end soon. The angel says that he is a “fellow servant” (v. 9) with John: “Worship God!”, not me. He continues: make the contents of this book widely known (v. 10). The time is already too late for evildoers (v. 11) to change their ways; those who are godly now will be faithful to the end.
In v. 12, Jesus (the Lamb) speaks (see v. 16). He will soon return, bringing reward and recompense for the faithful, to the extent they have acted for Christ. “Those who wash their robes” (v. 14) are those who, after enduring suffering (“the great ordeal”, 7:14), are transformed – as was Jesus in his sacrificial death. 22:1-5 tell of the glorious estate of the godly when Jesus comes again, of the “tree[s] of life” which nourish them continually, and of free entry into the “city”, the heavenly Jerusalem. V. 15 tells of the exclusion of the ungodly. Jesus identifies himself in v. 16; he, born of David’s line, sent his angel to John’s readers (“you”) with this revelation “for the churches”. He is the “star [that] shall come out of Jacob [Israel]” (Numbers 24:17); the “morning star” was a deity in ancient Near East and Greco-Roman religions, so Jesus is for all people. The “bride” (v. 17) is the Church ( 21:2, 9); both the “Spirit” and the Church are integral with God, and both seek Jesus’ return. The “water of life” flows from “God and ... the Lamb” (v. 1); God’s “gift” (v. 17) of eternal “life” is available to all. Vv. 18-19 seek to ensure (long before copyright laws) that this book is transmitted accurately to all, for it is from God. In 1:2, John wrote of “the testimony of ... Christ”; in v. 20, he is “the one who testifies”. V. 21 is a fitting closing to the book, and to the Bible.

Verse 6: “he”: i.e. Jesus, who is “coming soon” (v. 7). [ NJBC]
Verse 7: “Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book”: This parallels 1:3, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of prophecy ...”. (For many centuries, one read aloud, or at least with one’s lips moving, not silently as we do today.)
Verse 7: “I am coming soon!”: In 2:16, John, addressing Christians at Pergamum who have adopted the teachings of an errant group, writes: “Repent then. If not, I will come to you soon and make war against them with the sword of my mouth”, and in 3:11 “I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown”. See also vv. 12, 20. [ JBC]
Verse 10: “Do not seal up”: This is the opposite of Daniel 8:26: “... keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time of the end”. In Daniel, there was no expectation that times would end soon. See also Daniel 12:4, 9. [ NJBC] Various pseudepigraphical books also advise keeping them sealed until the end of time. See 1:3, quoted above. See also vv. 16, 18.
Verse 11: John has little hope for the repentance of the ungodly in the short time remaining before Christ comes again. He says in 9:20-21: “The rest of humankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands or give up worshipping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk ...”. See also 16:2-9 (“... ‘"Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God’” ...) and 1 Enoch 81:7-8. [ NJBC]
Verse 11: “Let the evildoer still do evil”: Daniel 12:10 says: “Many shall be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked shall continue to act wickedly ...”. See also Ezekiel 3:27. [ JBC]
Verse 11: “the filthy”: Immoral pagans, unconcerned with purity and modesty: James 1:21 advises: “... rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls”. [ JBC]
Verse 12: 11:18 says “... the time ... for rewarding your servants ... [has come]”. Isaiah 40:10 says “See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him”. See also Proverbs 24:12; Jeremiah 17:10; Romans 2:6 (“For he will repay according to each one's deeds”). [ JBC]
Verse 13: “I am the Alpha and the Omega”: Christ applies the titles to himself, identifying the risen Christ with God. See also 1:8, 17; 21:6. [ NJBC] Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Omega the last. From A to Z, God is sovereign over all events of human history.
Verse 14: “Blessed ...”: This is the last of the seven beatitudes in Revelation. For the others, see 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7. [ CAB]
Verse 14: “those who wash their robes ...”: This verse particularly applies to those who have died for the faith: 12:11 says: “they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death”. [ JBC] 7:14 says: “Then he [one of the elders] said to me [John], ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’”.
Verse 14: “... tree of life ... city ...”: In 21:1-2, John tells us: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”.
Verse 15: “the dogs”: Impure, lascivious people. Paul uses the term in Philippians 3:2: “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh!”. [ NOAB] Dogs was a epithet used by Jews to refer to outsiders. See also Deuteronomy 23:19; Matthew 7:6; 15:26 (Jesus to the Canaanite woman); 2 Peter 2:22. [ JBC]
Verse 15: “sorcerers”: Literally poisoners: those dealing in love potions and poisons. In 21:8, God tells John: “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death”. [ NOAB]
Verse 16: “you”: NJBC notes that the Greek word is plural.
Verse 16: “this testimony for the churches”: Chapters 2 and 3 provide advice to the seven churches.
Verse 16: “the root and the descendant of David”: See also 3:7 (“... These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David ...”); 5:5 (“... See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered ...”); Isaiah 11:1, 10; Matthew 1:1; Romans 1:3; 2 Timothy 2:8. [ NJBC] [ JBC]
Verse 16: “the bright morning star”: Christ is also called this in 2:28, the final words to the church at Thyatira. Contemporary Judaism saw Numbers 24:17-19 (“... a star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the borderlands of Moab ...”) as a messianic prophecy. [ JBC]
Verse 17: “bride”: See Clipping on v. 14. In 21:9, a angel says to John: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb”. [ CAB]
Verse 17: “let everyone who is thirsty come”: In John 7:37-38, Jesus says “"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink”. See also John 6:35. [ JBC]
Verses 18-19: For similar warnings, see Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32. See also 1 Enoch 104:9-13. 1:1 tells us that the revelation is God-given: “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John”. [ NJBC]
Verse 20: “Come, Lord Jesus!”: The Greek form of an early Christian prayer is preserved in transliterated Aramaic as maranatha in the Greek of 1 Corinthians 16:22b. Perhaps this was used in liturgy. John emphasizes the imminence of Jesus’ return by placing this verse so close to the end of the book. See also vv. 7, 12. [ NJBC]
Verse 21: This is the normal closing benediction for New Testament letters (but unusual for an apocalyptic composition). Variations of it are found in 1 Corinthians 16:23; Ephesians 6:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:28; Galatians 6:18; Philippians 4:23; Philemon 25. [ NJBC] [ JBC]
Verse 21: “Amen”: This closing word echoes 3:14, part of John’s words to the church at Laodicea. [ JBC]
Revelation began as a letter to the churches, to be read in churches; it concludes with a blessing on all who hear what has been read

GOSPEL:   John 17: 20 - 26   (all)

John 17:20 (NRSV) "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

25 "Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."

Our reading is from Jesus’ high priestly prayer: he consecrates his body and blood for the sacrifice in which they will be offered, and he blesses the Church. Jesus’ time of perfect obedience even to death has come, securing eternal life for all who really know him and, through him, the Father (vv. 1-5). May the Father restore him to the place he enjoyed before creation began (v. 5). In vv. 6-19, Jesus prays for his followers, that they may be protected from the evil, be “one” (v. 11) as he and his Father are one, have “joy” (v. 13), and fulfill his mission as his agents in the world.
He now prays for the Church of all times. He looks beyond those who follow him now, to those who will come to believe through their witness. May the Church be rooted in the oneness he shares with the Father (v. 21), a relationship of mutual love (v. 23). May his followers attain the ultimate goal: to be with him in heaven (at the end of time), sharing in his “glory” (v. 24, in part by continuing his earthly ministry), given to him before time began. Christians know that the Father sent him (v. 25); he has given them intimate knowledge of God (“... name”, v. 26) and will continue to do so, so that they may have the love for each other and for God that he and the Father share.

The passage that follows describes Jesus’ arrest and trial but v. 11 implies that he has already left the world, i.e. ascended. Theology, not chronology, is John’s emphasis.
Verses 1-26: Jesus’ high priestly prayer falls naturally into three parts:

• Vv. 1-5: Jesus’ prayer for himself
• Vv. 6-19: His prayer for his disciples, left in the world after his ascension, and
• Vv. 20-26: His prayer for the Church universal. [ NOAB]

There are parallels to the Lord's Prayer. [ NJBC]
Verse 6: “I have made your name known”: The Greek verb ephanerosa is used of the manifestation of Jesus, or his glory, or God’s works, in 1:31 (“revealed”); 2:11 (wedding at Cana); 9:3; 21:1 (“showed”), 21:14. Here it is to those given to Jesus by the Father that Jesus, by his words and deeds, makes known God’s “name”, i.e. his character and person. [ BlkJn]
Verse 7: “everything you have given me”: i.e. the entire ministry of Jesus with all that this involves. [ BlkJn]
Verse 8: “for the words ...”: Jesus’ words are the Father’s words: 3:34 says: “He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure”. See also 7:16; 12:49-50; 14:10, 24. [ BlkJn]
Verse 8: “they ... know in truth that I came from you”: In 16:27, Jesus tells the disciples: “On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God”. In context, Jesus does not merely mean that he is Messiah, far less that he is a superman, one of the divine heroes of the ancient world, but that his claims to pre-existence (see v. 5) are justified. [ BlkJn]
Verse 9: “I am not asking on behalf of the world”: Who are not capable, unless they come to faith in Jesus (see v. 20), of sharing in what the Father gives. [ BlkJn]
Verses 11-12: On Jesus’ imminent departure, 13:1 tells us “Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father”. For the disciples being left exposed to the hostility of the world, see also 15:18-21; 17:14; 16:1-5a (for an alternative presentation of the ideas). [ BlkJn]
Verse 11: The unity of believers is modelled on the shared purpose and character of the Father and the Son, who are in complete unity. [ BlkJn]
Verse 12: “the scripture”: That “scripture” is in the singular implies that John has a particular passage in mind. It may be Psalm 41:9: “Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.”, a verse quoted in 13:18. [ BlkJn]
Verse 12: “the one destined to be lost”: This phrase is also found in 2 Thessalonians 2:3: “Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction”. There it refers to the Antichrist. [ BlkJn]
Verse 14: “word”: See also 1:1-19, the Prologue, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ...”.
Verse 17: “your word is truth”: God’s “word” (Greek: logos) is the means of sanctification. The Father’s “word” is characterized as the revelation of ultimate reality. 1:14 says that the incarnate “Word”, Jesus, is “full of grace and truth”. The “truth” sets free those who persevere in Jesus’ word: see 8:31-36. [ BlkJn]
Verse 18: 20:21 says: “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you’”. [ BlkJn]
Verse 19: “sanctify myself”: In 10:11, Jesus says: “‘"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep’”. See also 10:15 and 15:13. In the Septuagint translation, the Greek verb agiadzo (“sanctify”) is used both for the setting apart for God (in Exodus 3:2 and Deuteronomy 15:19) and for the consecration of people to God’s service (in Jeremiah 1:5, of a prophet, and in Exodus 28:41, of priests). Christ’s perfect self-offering is the means by which the disciples whom he is sending into the world are dedicated in obedience to God. [ BlkJn]
Verses 24-26: Jesus is the one who brings his followers into community with God. In 10:38, Jesus tells some Jews: “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father”. See also 14:10-11, 23; 15:4-5. [ NJBC]
Verse 24: “may be with me where I am”: In 13:36, Jesus tells Peter: “... ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward’”. This verse implies that until Christians have come to be with God as Jesus is they have not fully experienced the reality of Jesus’ relationship with the Father.
Verse 25: “Righteous Father”: God alone is perfectly just: 1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. [ JBC] BlkJn notes that the adjective “righteous” is applied elsewhere in John only to judgements (see 5:30 and 7:24), so it may be used here to characterize the Father as the just judge in the situation where “the world” fails to recognize either the Father or the Son who has come to reveal him (see 1:10 and 16:3), though the disciples have come to know that the Father sent Jesus.
Verse 26: “I in them”: Jesus speaks not only of love but also of presence.
The vertical relationship of mutual love is the example for the horizontal relationship of love between and among members of the Christian community, and for their relationship with God, Father and Son.