He Knows
John 17 is
a very humbling chapter for me to read.
It opens with a very solemn statement.
“Father, the hour has come.”
Jesus knows what is coming. He
knows what is about to happen. He knows
the pain of the hours ahead. He goes
ahead anyway. That’s impressive. It’s inspirational.
It is
these words that Jesus’ disciples likely thought about as they marched to their
own death. It is these words that Jan
Hus likely remembered as he was burned at the stake. It is these words that Martin Luther likely
remembered as he stood before the tribunal and said, “Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me, amen.” It is likely these words that Dietrich
Bonhoeffer remembered as he was put to death by the Nazi regime. It is a humbling way to begin this chapter.
This Is Eternal Life
Then Jesus
says, “This is eternal life, that they know the only true God…” That’s a very powerful statement as
well. So many people in this world think
that there are many paths to God. So
many people think that it is okay to have a “you have your religion and I’ll
have my religion” approach to life. But
that’s not really what Jesus says here, is it?
There is one way to know eternal life: know the only true God.”
God Is Known
Then we
get to verse 6. Jesus says, “I have
manifested Your name to the people whom You gave me out of this world.” The word here in the Greek means “to make
known clearly; to reveal in detail.”
Jesus clearly tells us His agenda.
When Jesus came, His agenda was to display God to the world. His agenda wasn’t about Himself. His agenda wasn’t about materialism. His agenda was introducing God to the
world. I read those words and can’t help
but ask myself how I’m doing with respect to that agenda. After all, if that was Jesus’ agenda
shouldn’t it also be the agenda of anyone who calls themselves one of His
disciples?
Disciples Changed
Then Jesus
talks for a while about doing the will of the Father and how it relates to His
disciples. At the end of this thought is
a reaffirmation of what we’ve been talking about for the last few days. Jesus has given God’s Word to His disciples
and it has changed them. They are no
longer of this world. But the world has
hated them because of it.
Then Jesus
lowers the boom. He says, “I do not ask
that you take them out of it.” Now, let’s
put this in perspective. Jesus just
prayed for the disciples while confessing that the world hates them. Now Jesus specifically asks God not to take
the disciples out of the world. Jesus is
setting a pretty substantial bar here as well.
Jesus is telling His disciples that life is going to be tough, but it is
necessary. Doing the work of God is
challenging and it is often thankless as far as the world is concerned, but it
is exactly where God wants us to be. The
same God who sent His Son to this earth to die for our sake is the same God
that wants us to continue on in this life in the midst of persecution. We might long to be with God; but God wants
us right here to do His work.
Jesus Prays
Then Jesus
does something really cool. Jesus prays
for those in the world who the testimony of His disciples will reach. In a sense, Jesus prays for you and me right
there. Jesus prays for us who will
believe through them. How cool is it to
think that as Jesus prayed those words that He was praying for you and me!
Jesus
prays that we would be one. He prays
that we would know the Father through Him and the words of His disciples. In a nutshell, Jesus is praying that we would
give up our agendas and turn to the agenda of Christ. We will never be one so long as we seek after
our own path. But we will be one when we
drop our personal agenda and seek after the same path of our God and spiritual
Father.
The world
may not know God. Many of the people
around us may not know God. But we know
God. How glorious it is to know that we
have been invited to know the Creator!
Should we really be so afraid to pursue God’s agenda instead of our own
agenda? Should we really be so afraid to
make His love know through us?
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