John 17.11
March 1st 2015
Milk
VilKommen~
This is CAMPUS
We pray, hear the Word, reflect on our walk, study the Word – then leave – and go out choosing to be Christians or not.
Glad your with us.
So let’s pray.
Music
Silence
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Last week we left off with Jesus saying in verse three:
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
We talked about this KNOWING (verses faith or believing) but didn’t say too much about Jesus praying that “THIS is life eternal, that they night know thee:
The ONLY true God AND Jesus Christ who (the Only true God) has sent.
Are they different. Yes.
Are they one? Yes.
How to understand? Imperfectly.
I have met with three separate parties over the past six days all of whom having once believed that Jesus was God have now come to see Him as something less than God.
So I want to take one minute and try and lay this out again as best as I can (which admittedly is at best lacking).
They way I see it all (using the Bible) is this:
There is One God. He is from everlasting to everlasting. He has what scripture calls breath and what scripture calls words. What they really are I cannot say.
This one God sent His words to take on flesh – to become a man.
As a man the Word made flesh was capable of succumbing to temptation the same way He succumbed to physical death. But He refrained.
This man – the word made flesh – is who reconciles us to the invisible God by His death and resurrection.
His name is Jesus Christ.
For Human beings to have life eternal with God they must know both the invisible God AND, AND, AND Jesus Christ, whom God has sent.
One last thing – we KNOW God and Jesus Christ whom He sent by His breath (His Spirit).
Note that Jesus did NOT say that Life eternal was to KNOW the TRUE GOD AND JESUS CHRIST AND THE HOLY SPIRIT – just the two.
Because it is by the Spirit that the Father and Son are known.
Hope this adds to your comprehension.
So Jesus continues (verse 4) saying:
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
In our language we might read this as Jesus saying:
I have honored you, I have made you proud, Father, while I have been here on earth. How? He adds:
“I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”
I had a debate a few years ago with a man who claimed to possess some special spiritual insights into scripture for those who accepted him as the prophet of the
restoration.
I asked him if he could give me an example of this special knowledge that he possessed and he said:
Did you know that Jesus didn’t have to go to the cross?
I said that I was not aware of this and asked how he arrived at this conclusion and he turned to this verse and reading it say:
See, right here, before going to the cross Jesus said that He had finished the work that the Father had given him.
His point was interesting and I frankly had never considered it. Why would Jesus say here that He had finished the work the Father had given Him to do when it seems like the greatest work remained – the work of giving His life over for the sins of the world?
There are a couple ways we could approach this. First, we could say that Jesus, like He seems to have done at other times, was praying with these men at this point in His ministry as if all things were now done.
Sort of like working all day in the yard doing what your Dad has assigned you to do, and before washing down the driveway and putting away the tools and wrapping up the hose you go to your Dad and say I’ve done all you have instructed me to do.
That works.
But I suggest there may be another way to understand this line.
Jesus had been given commands of the Father. Come to earth, live without Sin, suffer, call twelve men, perform miracles, correct false teachings, teach and stay out of the hands of your enemies.
“All these things I have done to your glory,” Jesus seems to say. “I’ve finished all the work you have given me to do,” He says.
And now that it is done He will not be working, He will be letting go. He will be placing His entire everything in the hands of wicked men and trusting in God to bring Him through.
See the difference? In His life and ministry He labored to do the will of the Father but now the hour of laboring is over. Now the hour of surrender has come.
I like this approach for a couple of reasons. First, it is a reality. We frequently refer to what Jesus did on the cross as the work of the cross or labor of the cross but I think it was more of a giving up work and power and instead of appealing to His own will and power to call down legions of angels he instead GAVE HIS LIFE for the sins of the world.
Secondly, in this view I find a living model on how we approach the Christian faith.
Often people will ask how they work the work of God? How do they actively pursue being a Christian and overcoming their flesh? What works do they do?
In this model Jesus provides I think we can answer that the work Christians do is giving up control and power and labor and by submitting to God and His will and ways and power we learn to die to our flesh.
In John 6 the Jews asked Jesus point blank:
“How do we work the works of God?”
Jesus plainly replied:
“Believe on the Son whom He has sent.”
I like to explain that the real labor to being a Christian is letting go not grabbing and gripping and working.
This is exactly what Jesus does with His life – He let it go, turned it over and placed it in the hands of evil men, and trusted the Father with the outcome.
Having accomplished the labors that WERE assigned to Him Jesus says:
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
There are claims that we had a premortal existence and a few passages that seem to allude to this point until they are parsed out and understood.
But as we’ve noted Jesus is clear in His claim of having come out from the Father and having had glory (or honor and even the happiness) with the Father before the world was.
John 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
I point out that the scripture does NOT say in the beginning was the Son, and the Son was with God and the Son was God.
John purposely uses the term logos – meaning the Word.
But the WORD was certainly with God from the beginning.
When Jesus said in John 10:30:
“I and my Father are one,” the Jews picked up stones to kill Him. They could NOT comprehend Jesus the Man referring to God as Abba (or papa).
It was blasphemous at best.
Of course Philippians adds some real weight to the topic, saying:
2:5-8 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (the man):
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Colossians 1 ties in all sorts of facts about Christ, including that He
15 is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by him (the Word) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
It really saddens me when I hear otherwise sound people say that Jesus was not or is not God.
I personally place much of the blame for this reaction on doctrine and heavy handed doctrine that tends to try and make every statement in the Bible make sense but in the end only makes dogma.
If we take what the Bible actually says we are left with the ability to say:
God is one.
God’s Word became flesh and dwelled among us.
He was called the Son of God being the product of the Holy Spirit of God.
And He would return to the Father and to the glory He had with Him before the foundations of the World.
Leaving the subject of Himself Jesus now (at verse six) begins to speak of the Apostles and says:
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
When scripture says, “thy name” or “the name” as in:
“I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world,” He is saying, “I have manifested or revealed your attributes or your character to the men you have given me.”
In other words, Jesus revealed GOD to them as the word “name” is often used to designate the person.
When Jesus says:
“Which thou gavest me,” we have to try and remember that God was in heaven, a consuming fire, and over all things.
When the Word was made flesh, becoming the Son of God, He was totally reliant upon God the way we are totally reliant upon Him too.
And it was God who gave Jesus all things – revelation, power, ability, instructions. To Him Jesus prayed, sought directives, and made inquiry.
This being said when Jesus adds, speaking of the Apostles:
“thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
We again have to separate “Jesus the man, housed in flesh and reliant upon all things from the Father of Lights and recall that in this light all things (including the apostles) are God’s and He has the right to do whatever He wishes with any of us.
Since Jesus does nothing of Himself (something He repeats frequently in the Gospels) these men were chosen by God whom were then designated to be the apostles of the Lord.
Jesus, in His work, trained them with the words He received of the Father and says here that they have kept His Word.
(verse 7)
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
Now they are assured that whatever I have taught them has come from you, He says. (verse 8)
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Jesus adds:
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Now, recall that Jesus is about to fulfill His role as High Priest.
When His ministry began He was, like the High Priest of ancient Israel, washed (baptized by John the Baptist) in preparation of the work He was going to do.
Here, prior to offering His own blood (like the High Priest would on the Day of Atonement) He prays.
And, like the High Priest of ancient Israel would, before offering His own blood, the prayer He offers here is
1st for Himself (as Jesus has done)
2nd for the Son’s of Aaron and 3rd for the Children of Israel as a whole.
So when Jesus says in verse 9:
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
This part of His prayer is associated with the High Priest praying for the Son’s of Aaron who were set apart (called out) to do very specific work (like the apostles were).
Jesus prays for these men and justifies His request of the Father on their behalf by the fact that they are His in the first place, that they have heard and believed on His Son and that “they are not of the world.”
Now, there are two important observations we might make about this prayer.
First, at this point, that He is making requests for them and not the world (as He says) and secondly, what it is that He is actually requesting.
Without thinking I automatically assume that He is praying for their well being, for health, wealth, safety, protection – and that He is not asking this on behalf of the rest of the World.
This is not the case.
In all the prayer here is what Jesus actually requests relative to the Apostles – seven points:
VERSE 11 and 22
that they may be one (as Jesus and the Father we are one).
VERSE 13
that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
VERSE 15 (the only protective request)
I pray (ask) not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
VERSE 17 (that He would)
Sanctify them through thy truth
VERSE 24 (that they would)
be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.
VERSE 26 (ENDS WITH)
that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Running this all together Jesus prays or asks the Father that the apostles (Twice)
“May be one (as Jesus and the Father we are one), that they might have Jesus’ joy fulfilled in themselves, that the Father would not take them out of the world but that He would keep them from the evil, that He would sanctify them through the truth which is His Word, that they would be with Jesus where He is; that they may behold the glory which God has given Him, and that the LOVE wherewith God has loved Jesus would be in them, and Jesus in them.”
Now, if Jesus, minutes before going to Gethsemane would ask His Father for these specific things for His apostles whom the Father gave Him, I am convinced that they represent the single most important elements of being a follower of Jesus today.
If you want a written description of what Jesus Himself prayed for on behalf of the men He knew most intimately, men who were going to sacrifice their all for Him, a description of the most important things Jesus would have for any who are His and who follow Him it would be these seven things.
One . . . MORE . . . TIME. (listen)
That we (you and I)
May be one (as Jesus and the Father we are one – TWICE),
that we might have Jesus’ joy fulfilled in us,
that the Father would not take us out of the world but that He would keep us from the evil,
that God would sanctify us through the truth which is His Word
that we would be with Jesus where He is;
that we may behold the glory which God has given Jesus
and that the LOVE wherewith God has loved Jesus would be in us, and Jesus in us.”
These are some beautiful and radical desires and objectives – things to sort of look to access or obtain in our lives as followers.
We could probably break each one down and do a seven part series on it. But let just suggest that they are all accessible and available to us NOT by the will of the flesh or the perfection of the flesh but by the will and increasing presence of the Spirit – which means a dying to the flesh not the increasing presence or perfection of it.
One thing before we move on that I also want to emphasize is the fact that shortly after Jesus ascends James will be murdered in Jerusalem.
So while Jesus does request that these would not be taken from the earth but would be protected from evil it seems like neither request was granted.
Additionally, each of these apostles were also martyred (except for John) and so what are we to say?
Jesus has prayed that they would “remain” and be kept from evil but being this wasn’t the outcome what can we say?
First of all Jesus has told these men over and over that they would suffer and be rejected and would die so it wasn’t like He was unaware of their destiny.
In light of this it seems that the prayer and His requests were all predicated on the Will and timing of God and based on His sovereign will and ways.
We might also have to think that the request that they be kept from evil was a reference to sin rather than harm, and finally, we have to note that the weight of Jesus request to the Father on behalf of these men was that they would be one – with each other, with God and Christ, abiding in joy, in where He was headed, and in love.
Finally, we have to note that Jesus does not request these specific things for the world.
He’s made them on behalf of those who are the Fathers, who have received the Truth from Jesus and have accepted it.
Why not pray the same things for the entire world?
From these very words of Jesus we discover the importance of truth in culling from the fallen world those who are invited to be one with the Father and Son.
Universalism suggests that we are all one –in our future eternal destinies – with or without Christ.
But the words of Jesus tend to suggest otherwise as He clearly indicates that the reason He prays this way for these men is that
they are the Father’s in the first place which He has given to His Son
they have Believed on the Son and loved Him.
They have accepted that He came from God
They have been trained by the Word of Truth
Fulfilling these things, Jesus prays that they be one with He and the Father and each other.
But for the world He makes no such request.
Why? Does God not love the world? Hardly. But it is by and through alienation from God that helps bring seekers of the light to Him and His ways.
This being the case Jesus would never pray for world unity and peace based on peace love and understanding from Man.
Instead there seems to be a resignation that the world will roil in despair and languish in sin and difficulty until the THINGS bring seekers of the light to God.
I’ve been accused of being mean in some of my ideas and attitudes toward people who struggle in this world.
The driver behind my attitude is an eternal view of things rather than the immediate.
That being confessed I have no problem whatsoever with welcoming suffering in the life of an unbeliever, in welcoming difficulty, and in rejoicing over their so called falls and fails in life.
Whatever it takes.
This is frankly my prayer for any who in this life do not KNOW the King by faith and the Spirit.
So don’t think me calloused when you tell me that your unbelieving son has lost his leg in a motorcycle accident or that your daughter and family (who are LDS) have lost their house.
In my opinion if they didn’t know God with two legs and a nice house maybe they will with less.
It’s all that matters friends. And don’t think I haven’t applied this in my own life.
Many of you know (even saw) my eldest daughter Mallory on the show professing Atheism and claiming that those who choose God are only using Him as a crutch.
Privately Mary and I prayed constantly that God would bring her to Him and our manta was, “Whatever it takes,” and that included disease, misfortune and even death.
The key to this approach, in my opinion, is to show utter and total unconditional love to the lost while praying for their physical realm demise – and to NEVER tell them that this is what you are praying for.
The reason is they would not, having natural minds, understand, and would in all probability misinterpret what you mean.
Jesus reiterates the unity He has with the Father, saying (verse 10)
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Previously Jesus speaks of the Father receiving Glory. But here Jesus mentions the way He is glorified or honored.
When it came to honoring or glorifying God the Father no person was able – because He is not honored by sin, or disobedience, or rebellion or untruths but the God of lights and love can only be glorified by sinlessness, obedience, truth and real love for Him and others.
This being the case there is therefore ONLY one who has ever glorified the Father – and that is His only begotten Son.
At verse ten Jesus introduces what glorifies Him – He who glorifies the Father.
This is the primary relationship relative to eternal life – that Jesus Christ came and glorified God by and through His utter love and perfect life.
From and through Him we all have access to the Father who is gloried as we glorify the Son whom He sent.
And we honor and glorify Him by following His commandments – to believe on Him, that He came out from the Father and to love Him and to illustrate this love for Him by following His commands – to love others.
By and through our faith and love He is glorified, which means the Father is glorified.
The Father in turn glorifies the Son who in turn glorifies all who are His, all who love Him, all who believe on Him and love others.
Jesus wraps out time together up by saying (in verse 11)
1 And now I am no more in the world (I am about to depart from this life in the flesh – I will leave it and when I return will no longer be part of it), but these are in the world, and I come to thee (words that would become extremely stark in the minds of these men in very short order). Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
The line after Holy Father, “keep through thine own name those who thou has given me,” is at first sight difficult.
The (ASV) translates it this way:
“Holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we”
(MKJV) “Holy Father. Keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, so that [they] may be one as We [are].
(MNT) “Holy Father, keep through thine own Name these whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are one.
(TCNT) Holy Father, keep them by that revelation of thy Name which thou has given me, that they may be one, as we are.
(WNT) “Holy Father, keep them true to Thy name–the name which Thou hast given me to bear–that they may be one, even as we are.”
“The Keep them” part seem to clearly intimate that that Jesus is requesting to keep them safe them from apostasy.
Through thine own name is the difficult line. What does it mean?
The name of something in scripture means by their whole being. So we would best understand this as Jesus asking the Father to protect them in the knowledge of His whole person.
Recall that Jesus prayed that they would KNOW the True God AND Jesus Christ who He had sent.
To request that God would keep them (protect them) though the knowledge of who He is fits with verse three.
Preserve them in the knowledge of who you are and of what your causes consist.
“And that by doing so . . .
“They may be one even as we are.”
We are talking about unity here again. Koinonia – spirit filled fellowship – to exist between each of the these men.
Obviously Jesus is NOT referring to Jesus (the man in flesh) being one with the invisible God of consuming fire through His flesh.
Not at all.
However, what was IN the Man Jesus – His spirit – was 100% God – completely. And in this sense, He and the Father were one.
Colossians 2:8-9 warns those who would suggest Christ is less than God said:
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”
That word translated Godhead in the Greek is theotace and it means DIVINITY.
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of Divinity bodily.”
And in the chapter before proclaimed (Colossians 1:19) “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.”
At this point Jesus prays that the same unity that exists with He and the Father – a relationship where earlier Jesus said that they are one – would exist between the Apostles.
Later well will read in John’s epistles that the apostles invite all to join them in their oneness they have with the Father and the Son.
Questions/ Comments
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