Remain in the Spectacles of Jesus (John 15:9-17)

My junior high and high school students have made fun of me recently because I finally broke down and got my first pair of glasses.  I knew for a long time that I had a slight sight deficiency but I chose to avoid the inevitable for as long as I could.  There was something defeating about acknowledging that my body was failing me in some small way.  After consecutive days of squinting at my computer screen I dragged myself over to the Lenscrafters and purchased my very first pair of glasses.  I came home that night and to my amazement I could see things much clearer than before.  The computer screen had a clarity that I didn't think it possessed.  It was as if a whole new world was now open to me. 

Through our study in the Gospel of John, the high school guys noticed a continual theme of Jesus doing exactly what he sees his father doing.  The will of the son was in perfect alignment with the will of the father.   One gets the sense from the Gospel of John that Jesus functions as a pair of glasses enabling those who hear his word and see his actions to get a clearer perspective and understanding about who their God is.  In the passage that we are reflecting on this week, Jesus says that "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have a called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."  And in John 17, Jesus says that he has come to give eternal life.  He goes on to say that eternal life is that they might know the one true God.

In lent, we are reminded of our poor eye sight caused by sin that blurs our ability to see God clearly.  We come to confess that we need a new pair of glasses and that we desire to see God with a renewed sense of vision.  The call of this passage then is to remain in the spectacles of Jesus, to dwell in his word, to reflect on his actions and to anticipate the fruit that comes from this "remaining."  Let us this Lenten season "see" Jesus and experience the power of the clarity that he brings to our lives.