St. John Evangelist

December 27, 2022

20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.

23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.

25 He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?

26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

31 Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.

33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Verse 33: “Ye shall seek me:”. Wise men still seek Him (Matt 2:1-2). Even we who are called by His name seek Him. Every December we wait, looking for His arrival. Every Lent we wait, looking past the Cross. We celebrate His Incarnation; we mourn Him on Good Friday; we celebrate His glorious Resurrection at Easter. We seek Him in our daily prayers. We seek Him in the lonely and sad times. We seek Him in our most frightening situations. We seek Him.

We seek Him and rest in the knowledge that He is always with us. He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6). He will meet us where we are and prepare us for where He is. The great gift of the Incarnation is the eternity He reigns. The great gift of the Cross is the entrance to His eternity that He has made for us.

Amen.

Advertisement