Taking it Home: When we say that we know someone, what are we saying? Typicallyto know someone means that we have some information about that person: what his/her name is, where they live or work, what their likes and dislikes are and perhaps, a little information about their family and friends. We usually associate knowing with being a casual acquaintance of someone. It is like saying "I know that person. I know who she/he is and I know they are likable or not." Knowing is not a word we would usually use when describing a deeper, more intimate relationship with someone. So why would Jesus use the term "knowing" to describe the relationship he wants to have with us?
  This weekend is the Fourth Sunday of Easter. It is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. It is called Good Shepherd Sunday because the gospel for this Sunday always refers to Jesus as the Good Shepherd, the one who lays down his life for his sheep. But the gospel for this weekend also has a little bit of a twist. Jesus is not just the Good Shepherd because he is willing to lay down his life, but also because he "knows" his sheep and they know him. Does this mean that Jesus only wants to be our acquaintance? 
   Knowing in John's gospel is really a word full of deep meaning. For Jesus to know us and for us in turn to know Jesus is more than simply having information about each other. It is not saying I know who Jesus is, what he did and where he lived or that Jesus knows us in the same way. Knowing for Jesus as well as knowing as a word in scripture is a word, which expresses deep intimacy. It is the equivalent of saying "I know you as a lover knows the other." Knowing implies a union that is so deep that our very thoughts and desires, all our hopes and fears and all our dreams and needs are known. It really means that we are laid bare to each other in such a way that we are on fire with love for each other and that we are, in fact, one with each other. This is the way Jesus knows us and the way that we in turn are to know Jesus. So what does Jesus know about us? 
   Jesus knows our anxiousness. He knows that deep down in our hearts we have a need for love, security and happiness. So we are often lost and ill at ease, which causes our sense of loneliness, isolation and fear that often leads to our missing the mark - our sin. Jesus also knows our confusion that we do want to know him, but many things get in our way; things like a world that tries to claim us for its own, a world where we are bombarded by so many false gods that we don't know where to turn. But Jesus also knows how to calm our anxiousness and how to quiet our confusion. Jesus does this by loving us so completely and totally that he is willing to lay down his life for us. He sees through our dis-ease and sees the goodness that is at the center of our hearts and calls forth that goodness. He is willing to be our strength; our help in a chaotic world if only we would let him.
   And so what does it means for us to know Jesus? To know Jesus is to allow his love, which is the very center of our lives, to penetrate our hardened hearts and to heal our anxiousness; to truly let Jesus be that center, that foundation from which we live our lives so we won't feel lost and confused and that we know that in Jesus we have a home; a place where we can rest and be at peace.And then to know Jesus is to let that love go out from us to reach out to our sisters and brothers, where instead of competing against one another we can learn to live in right relationship. We can be free; free for each other.   

                                                  Deacon John