6th Sunday of Easter
Acts 16:9-15, Psalm 67, Revelation 21:10, 22—22:5, John 14:23-29
Jesus’ love discourse continues on this 6th Sunday of Easter. In the verses before (21-22), Jesus had said: “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and my Father will love those who love me, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” Such a statement prompts the other Judas to ask: “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world (22)?” Jesus’ answer is basically: not everyone will keep my command to love one another. What the Lamb-Shepherd has taught us in that upper room (John 13) is what opens the door to the divine city come to us.
Verse 28 implies that even the closest disciples struggle to keep the commandment: “If you loved me …” Believers, however, should not be afraid. The Lamb-Shepherd sitting at the throne gives differently than the world does (27). Even if we forget, the Holy Spirit is now charged to help us remember (26).
In Acts, this Spirit gathers a group of strangers in a foreign land. Paul and his companions are in Philippi, a Roman Colony in Macedonia, modern-day Greece (verse 12). There, they meet a woman known only by the country (Lydia) and the town she comes from (Thyatira), which were across the Aegean Sea in what is now Turkey (14). The Advocate (John 14:26), the one who works on their behalf, brings them to the river to pray, and together they make home in the name of Christ (15).
In Revelation, the majestic good news that concludes God’s history of reconciliation with humanity and all creation through the Lamb – also known as the Christian Bible – continues from last Sunday, and we are given a glimpse of the divine gathering place, the new city, the beloved community, the Kingdom, brought to us. God now makes home among mortals from all nations (Revelation 21:3; 22:3-4). What Jesus had promised in John 14 is now made real.
The psalmist sings:
“May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you (Psalm 67:1, 4-5; NRSVue).”
Bridging Faith 