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John 17:1-5 His prayer for Himself

Jesus addressed the Father and tells Him that He has done the work He came to earth to do. Christ further asks God to bring fulfillment to Him. Wm. Barclay expresses it this way, “For Jesus life had a climax, and that was the Cross. To Him the Cross was the glory of life and the way to glory of eternity.” (1)

There was a time I wondered why Jesus had to go to the Cross. I later understood that the outcome was to save us from our sins and from perdition. But, why such a terrible death?

“The Cross was the glory of the completion of His work. For Him to have stopped short of the Cross would have left His work uncompleted.” (2)

Jesus had a mission while He was here, one given by the Father. He lived his mission statement each day of His itinerant ministry.

“His mission on earth was to tell the people of God’s love and extend it to them. . . By going to the Cross Jesus showed that there was nothing that the love of God was not prepared to do and suffer for men, that there was not limit to it.” (3)

John 17:6-19 He prays for His Disciples

Jesus had shown the Father to those God had given Him. These followers ‘obeyed’ the Father’s word. Jesus explains that those who followed Him had learned everything he taught them came from God.

Jesus reports that those men knew ‘with certainty’ of Jesus’ deity-that He came from God.

He prays for the followers to be protected by the power of God’s name-‘so they can be one as we are one.’ He relates that the world hated them ‘because they are not of the world,’ like He was ‘not of the world.’

He asks the Father to keep them safe from ‘the evil one.’ We have a scriptural picture of the devil’s modus operandi-that of a ‘roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5; 8) How cunning is the adversary?

Jesus requests these followers be set apart for Kingdom service and by the truth.

When we first read this passage we automatically think Jesus prays for the inner circle of His followers-the eleven, finally understanding what he had taught them about who He was. As we study what Jesus presents to God we come to the conclusion that our Lord speaks of the larger group of followers, those supporting the inner circle of the twelve. Also we learn of the role of ministers of the Gospel,

Set apart to carry God’s word to our fallen world.

John 17:20-26 He prays for future believers

Our Lord and Savior prayed for those who will believe as a result of the witness of the disciples. He prays that those later followers will be unified.

In order to understand the concept of unity among believers, let’s look at some other scriptural passages.

●Psalm 133:1-3-David compares living in unity as being fragrant as oil. Matthew Henry says it is a rarity. The oil when poured out is so plentiful that it runs down the face and onto the collar, binding itself into the fabric. (4)

●Philippians 2:1-4-Paul gives us four motives to pursue unity.

1.) If Jesus encourages us,

2.) If we received any love from Him,

3.) If we experienced fellowship in the Spirit,

4.) If we received any tenderness and compassion,

As we think on these motives, let us each one reflect on the circumstances where God has blessed us with these things.

He then tells us to be “like-minded, have the same love, become one in spirit and purpose.” Paul seems to tell us to share the love we receive from Christ with those we meet-the poor, the lonely, those who grieve- who hurt.

It happened at a community Thanksgiving dinner our church prepared. I stopped in to snap a couple of pictures for a project I was doing. One of the women entered the narthex with her son. She sat down and talked with me. Another lady and her sister came from the fellowship hall. The sister had a couple of balloons she blew up and played with the young boy. Then he started blowing them up. They had a grand time. I realized that I had become invisible in the festive play. There was a reason. I am allergic to latex. Before I left, I told the mother, “Isn’t it neat the way God works, they are having such a good time with those balloons. They didn’t ask me to participate.” Then I told her why I couldn’t have.

● Ephesians4:1-6-Paul told the believers at Ephesus and later believers that we should live worthy of the calling of Christ on our lives. He urges them-and us to:

1.) Be completely humble and gentle-to always remember we belong to Christ and honor Him in all we do.

2.) Be patient, bearing with one another with love, -the King James Version used the phrase ‘long-suffering.’ I believe this phrase basically describes the meaning.

3.) Keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of. We have times when we have to ignore a slight or an inappropriate comment from someone in order to keep peace-both inner and interpersonal. If we react to a comment we run the risk of escalating the bad feelings. I once heard a pastor say that a situation has to stop somewhere. Barney Fife, a character in a 1960s sitcom had the right idea-“Nip it. Nip it in the bud.”

Paul continues by reminding those reading that we have ‘one body’-the body of Christ, ‘one Spirit’- that of God, ‘one hope’- to spend eternity with Jesus.

My wish for the people of Christ during Advent is that we remember these very special truths.

_____________

1. The Gospel of John, revised edition © 1975 by Wm. Barclay. p. 204The Daily Study Bible Series (Saint Andrew Press, Edinburg, Scotland)

2. Ibid p. 205

3. Ibid p.206

4. Commentary on the Whole Bible © 1960 by Matthew Henry p 720 (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan)

"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

Washed by the Water of the Word