John 17:1-3 Bible Teaching

Welcome to all near and far.

This is CAMPUS Milk Gathering where we are working our way through the Gospel of John and will continue on verse by verse beginning at verse one of chapter 17 – where every verse makes up the Lord’s intercessory prayer.

But first let’s pray and then listen to the Word of God set to music.

After a few moments of silence we’ll come back and enter into our study.

PRAYER
MUSIC
SILENCE

Alright last week we read through the entire chapter of 17 and tried to hear what the Lord was asking the Father for on their behalf.

Let’s read through verse 16 this morning and then come back and break it down.

John 17.3
February 22nd 2015
MILK

John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

So after all He has said to them in chapter 16 John writes (verse 1)

John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,

Now, I spent some time doing a word count on this prayer.

Admittedly it is an English word count (I didn’t have the drive or inclination to do a Greek) but I walked through and captured the major words of the prayer and put them in order of highest quantity to the lowest.

I have NO idea what prompted me to do this – but I did. And this is what I discovered through this approach to understanding the prayer.

Because this is a prayer that the Son is making to the Father can you guess what the most common word or words are in the prayer:

“Father” (and any word that relates to the Father from Jesus mouth) including “Thee, Thine, thy, God, own, and self” – total times used? 63.

The next most used term? Jesus or a word referencing Jesus to the Father or the apostles or world including “Me, Mine, My, Son, Him and I” Again, 63 times.

And EQUAL number of references to the Father and to the Son.

The next? They or Them (referring fist to the apostles and then to believers that trust in the apostles witness) – 39

World or earth is next – 20 times

“Father,” “Son,” “they/them or us,” and “world . . .”

Then “gave given, gavest” – 7 times

Then a three way tie for “one,” “sent” and “Glory or glorify” – 6 each (a tie)

Then “Known” – 5
And then “Truth or True,” “Word” and “Believed” are tied at 4
“Declared or declare” – 2
And “love” – 1

If we string the most oft used words together in order of use it reads like this without conjunctions or adverbs:

“FATHER, SON, US, WORLD, GIVEN SENT ONE GLORY KNOWN TRUE WORD BELIEVED DECLARED LOVE”

I like that. I think it gives us a summation of the point and meaning of the prayer itself and possibly of the whole purpose of God.

Plus there are a number of connections to John 3:16 in this.

Anyway, Jesus says

“Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:”

It was time to go to the Garden of Gethsemane. And prior to going the Lord chooses, both to fulfill His role as High Priest to the world AND to communicate to the Father on their behalf, He addresses the Father in prayer.

This is the longest prayer recorded in the New Testament and the occasion upon which it was given was highly charged and solemn (if that combination is possible).

Knowing He was about to offer Himself up and over to the enemies, He lifted up His eyes (which was the common New Testament stance for the Lord) and said:

“Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.”

When scripture generally speaks of the day it typically means a undefined space of time in the future. When it uses the term hour it is getting much more specific and typically means the exact time or day.

Here He was speaking of the appointed time for His trial – His being brutalized and His death.

He requests that in the face of His hour arriving that His Father would:

“Glorify thy Son.”

Honor me with your power, give to the world the demonstration that I am your Son by sustaining me through what I am about to undergo and support me by your power in my death, in my coming resurrection, and ascension which will PROVE (glorify) me as yours in the end.

“Glorify thy Son that thy Son also may glorify thee.”

This line is up to interpretation but I understand it this way:

As God supports and sustains Jesus in what He is about to do for the world the world would, in turn, turn to God and glorify Him through the finished work His Son is about to provide.

That through the Gospel (made possible by the sacrifice and death of His Son) God would be glorified.

We might also read it saying that Jesus Himself would glorify the Father by the way He approaches His coming death (just as He glorified the Father by and through His life lived).

It may refer to all of this when we think of it.

But paramount is the fact that when good things, when miraculous things occur in this world which can only be attributed to the power and goodness of God, God is glorified.

Think about this – throughout the Gospel narrative whenever there was a miracle the COI would “glorify God.”

Especially the recipients of the miracles – recall how they all walked away “glorifying God,” right?

Well, over the course of human history no act would bring more miracles in the lives and hearts of men that would glorify God than Jesus suffering for the sins of the world.

So by and through His vicarious work on the cross the world would in time shift from selfishness and arrogance and sin and one by one experience the miracle of new spirit, a new heart, and renewed life.

All giving glory to God who through the weak things of the world overcomes the mighty.

Referring to Himself Jesus adds some insight into His role in the redemption of Man, saying:

2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

It is interesting but at this point Jesus speaks in terms of things having already been accomplished.

He does this in several areas – the binding of Satan, of having been given power over all flesh, etc.

Now we could say that none of this was really given Him until He overcame the grave OR we could suppose that what He says is true at that time – that all these things have happened (in the spiritual sense) and only needed to be validated in the flesh.

What we do know is Jesus has all power now over all flesh, He says – this would include those who are His (given to Him of the Father, He says) and frankly over everything else that lives. All flesh. To what end? Jesus tells us, saying:

“that he (Jesus) should give eternal life to as many as thou (the Father) hast given him.”

We’re heading into some deep waters here but bottom line, God has a plan. His will and His plans are fulfilled.

Part of this plan was the redemption of the world through the life and death of His only begotten.

Speaking prophetically, Isaiah said:

Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Verse 11 of these passages, which says

11 He (God) shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

We have a tie into what Jesus says here, that

“he (Jesus) should give eternal life to as many as thou (the Father) hast given him.”

In this it seems, taking all of scripture into account as best as possible, that the Father had given the Son a portion of the human family who He would save from sin and death and by justifying them, would redeem them from hell.

This would be accomplished by and through Christ having the power over all flesh (not just those who are His) to bring about Gods will.

In all of this we have a tension that I am not so sure can be solved by us anymore than the tension of understanding the makeup of God can be solved or understood by us.

But it seems then that, from scripture, God has established and destined everything to accomplish His purposes and part of this includes the fact that He has given some of the world to the Son, that the Son.

“should give eternal life to as many as the Father hast given him.”

In John 6:65 Jesus said “that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.”

Back in John 10:26-30 Jesus added:

26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.

In the face of scripture and our limited ability to take it all in, I presently stand on the following:

God chooses and elects all to certain things and does so according to His loving wisdom.

That He so loved the world that He gave His Only begotten Son to save it.

That all who believe on the Son here were given to the Son by the Father according to His goodwill and foreknowledge.

And that every knee will ultimately bow and every tongue will ultimately confess that Jesus is Lord.

Speaking of those who have been given Him by the Father (and admittedly, in the context of this prayer Jesus may be speaking only of these eleven men) Jesus continues and says:

3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Now, we are going to step it up here a bit. Just as Jesus has lead these eleven men along and taught them of His identity and origins so have we been taught of the same.

Have you ever considered this? That we have been privy to the key teachings the Lord had directly given to His apostles.

That this May it will be two full years that we have been studying His words and teachings in this book alone.

And here He reiterates a conclusion I think it is important for all Christians to someday comprehend – that

THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL that they might KNOW thee the only true God AND Jesus Christ who God has sent.

(TCNT) And the Immortal Life is this–to know thee the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent as thy Messenger.

(WNT) And in this consists the Life of the Ages–in knowing Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.

(YLT) and this is the life age-during, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and him whom Thou didst send–Jesus Christ;

First of all, and in an effort at consistence, the word of eternal here is age-related, which is why the literal translations provide words like age-during and Life of the Ages I their descriptions of the passage rather than saying eternal life.

In would suggest that this is the more honest approach to scripture because God relates to us through ages and periods and existence into the ages beyond this may also include ages or periods and not just an eternal expanse as we have come to describe the after life.

Secondly, we have to note that Jesus did NOT say, in His prayer:

And this is life into the ages to have faith in thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ who thou has sent.

But He said, to Know.

Back in John 6:29 Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

But now in this prayer He says that Age Abiding life is to know the only True God (MONOS ALEUTHEA THEOS) and Jesus Christ whom He (the MONOS ALEUTHEA THEOS) has sent.

The word for “know” here – Ginosko – as in other places, naturally means far more than just hoping for or believing and it does NOT refer to a speculative acquaintance with the character of God.

It means knowing Him.

Now, I realize what the world says about a believers claims to knowing spiritual things in this world. From Voltaire of the past to the Christopher Hitchens of today, the mockery is everything is by faith.

EVERYTHING RELATED TO GOD IS THIS FALLBACK FROM REALITY CALLED FAITH, they claim.

But this is not what Jesus implies here in His prayer. He says that the very definition of life eternal or age abiding life is to KNOW the single true God AND His Son whom He sent.

Looking at scripture we have to admit that we begin or enter into relationship by faith and believing.

This is the state of the milk drinker and it’s a great one. We are fortified and grow thereby and there is no shame in the fact that we all begin our Christian walk in this place – any more than there is shame in the fact that we all used to wear diapers and drink from bottles.

But here, praying with these men, Jesus says that life enduring is to know God and Jesus whom God has sent.

Two weeks ago we came to a place where the apostles claimed to KNOW that Jesus came from above – that there was no doubt.

Jesus quickly assured them that they had spoken too soon – that their faith and knowledge was so weak they would soon be scattered.

But here in this intercessory prayer He speaks of a future state where they would all arrive – where they KNEW God and His Son.

In essence, what we are talking about going from believing in information, and possessing all the facts of a matter – even aquiesing to the facts and/or ascenting to them by faith – to actually “knowing them (and therefore Him) by the Spirit, which entering into the human heart, reveals the person of God and His Son to the individual.

I’m going to get a tad bit graphic here – cover young children’s ears if you’d like.

I think it was either Bultman or Bonhoffer who said that when it comes to God we are all female.

The idea being that by His Holy Spirit God penetrates all of us, entering into our hearts and thereby becoming known to us and thereby knowing us.

The Bible uses the term “knowing” when describing a man knowing a woman sexually.

Prior to sexual union a man could not be said to having known a woman nor a woman a man.

But upon intercourse – penetration – the knowing begins.

It is thought or believed (could be a myth) that the origin or our F word comes from a time when men or women were caught engaging in unlawful intercourse that they were placed in stocks for humiliating punishment and the phrase:

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge printed above their heads became abbreviated in time.

In the sexual or carnal sense the knowing is not simply due to the intimate nature of the engagement but is also due to the fact that such engagement launches those entering into it into another phase where tremendous familiarity ensues – one where all the former facades begin to crumble – and where real knowing on all levels – begins.

Prior to penetration there is only the hope, the imagination, faith in, the believing, even the romance.

But following this entering knowing begins. The make-up comes off, the sicknesses are acted out in each others presence, the heart reveals itself . . . and a person is both known and knows.

So here we have Jesus praying with His disciples – who – in spite of all the dating they have done with Jesus – still remain outside of Him.

They have yet to KNOW Him or the Father who sent Him as His messenger which will come when they have their hearts filled – penetrated – by the Holy Spirit.

And so He prays that those who God has given Him will know them because this is life abiding into the ages.

It is to this destination – that of knowing, not believing in but knowing God and Jesus – that all believers seek. And until they experience aionous life will escape them.

To experience it, the believer is given access and insight and relationship with God here – while in the flesh – with the true God and His Son whom He has sent.

And for every individual this knowing begins at rebirth.

Come to church all you want – gain all the head knowledge humanly possible – but until He enters us we will fail to know Him and fail to experience true full lasting relationship with Him.

In John the Beloved’s epistles – 1st 2nd and 3rd John – the word Ginosko is used 22 times.

So even though they are relatively short compared to other books in the New Testament the message toward KNOWING is strong.

Speaking of the Apostles witness of God and Christ, for instance, John writes:

1st John 1:3 That which we (the apostles) have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

It is not by mistake that the Greek word for fellowship that John uses here to describe the relationship the Apostles have with the Father and Son is KOINONIA, a word from which we get the word coitus , an ugly word (in my opinion) that is used today to refer to sexual intercourse.

Koinonia – the fellowship John describes as having with the Father and the Son Jesus Christ – is also expected and encouraged among believers.

It describes that communal engagement (spiritual intercourse) that believers have which is entirely based on the fact that our spirits know and love each other.

It is a relationship where pure agape love binds and unites hearts of people of all races, genders, lifestyles and walks in the love of God.

By THIS love will all men know that we are His.

Because we are flesh the intimacy levels can be mistaken and misidentified for sexual connection and it is not mistake that pagan groups and cult leaders for centuries have tied sexual intercourse into the collective activities of their gatherings and called them “of God.”

Jim Jones did it.
The Family was all about it.
Joseph Smith and Brigham formalized it but it all stems from the same place and because of its binding and unifying nature has the capacity to cause believers to think what they do is of God.

But with Him being spirit, and Jesus being filled with His Spirit, and with true believers being regenerated and penetrated by His Spirit there is zero application to union in flesh – and when or if this is ever taught or suggested – run.

Later John says:

1st John 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

This knowing, John says later, will be received by others who know God too and it is what allows us the ability to discern truth verses error, as John says in 1st John 4:6

“We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”

Finally, the way to tell if we really know God, to tell if He is really in us, is by and through love, or, as 1st John 4:7 says:

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”

He goes on (at verse 8 saying)

8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

So here’s the deal – the summary – and the summary may surprise you once it has been explained.

Ready?

All who come to God come to Him by faith (pistis in the Greek) by believing (pisteuo) in His Son, who He sent into the World.

To believe or receive what He offers is to enter into a time of discipleship with Him.

It is a time where you are learning of Him, following His teachings. It is a good thing, and it is a time to get nourished by the word.

The Holy Spirit may or may not have entered you when you believed. That is up to the Holy Spirit.

But by and through faith we trust in His promises that all who believe in their heart and confess with their mouths will be saved.

Looking to the apostles we known that Peter confessed long ago that Jesus was the Christ, Son of the living God, but right here we see that Peter was not yet filled with the Holy Spirit – and therefore Peter did not KNOW the Father nor His Son whom He sent.

Neither Peter, nor John, nor any of the others had koinonia with God or Christ – yet.

But they certainly believed didn’t they?
They would certainly have gone to paradise by their faith right?

But we are not called to just believe. We are called to know. And knowing ONLY comes when we have become one with God and Christ – which occurs by the indwelling – the penetration of the Holy Spirit – into our hearts.

How can we tell if the Holy Spirit has “had his way with us?” so to speak?

Our love – for God and others.
Our peace – that is not of this world.
Our desire to live for God above living for anything else.

There is a long debate on the following points within the Body:

Does the Holy Spirit enter us when we first believe or later?
Are we born again when we first believe and if so does this mean we know Him?
Does the Holy Spirit move in later, allowing us to know God and Jesus in a far deeper and personal way than just believing?
Is there an outward sign (like tongues) that has to occur in our lives to prove the Holy Spirit has filled us?

All of this plus a lot more have made the rounds among the churches for centuries.

I cannot say nor provide a formula.

All I can say is this:

We are all invited to believe. We are all then invited to hear and learn of Him. And the Holy Spirit moves where and how and in whom He will.
And once He does individual believers will transition from believing God and Christ exist – to knowing, and having relationship not only with them, but with ALL other believers far and wide.

(beat) questions?

Prayer