Year 5, Day 265: John 17

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Identity

• Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father.  Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.

John 17 is an incredible identity chapter.  After all, this chapter is laced with the ideas that we are from the Father and we are for the Father.  How many times does Jesus tell us that we have everything that has been given to Christ because His disciples are in Christ and Christ is in the Father?  Jesus guards His disciples.  Jesus protects His disciples.  They are not lost; rather they are kept secure in the Father.  Our identity is that we are Christ’s because we are in the Father.

However, there is more to this than simply a passage of encouraging identity from the Father.  Jesus prays that His disciples be kept from the evil one.  Now, let’s remember that all of Jesus’ disciples were wither exiled or killed for their faith. At first, this feels like Jesus’ prayer isn’t answered.  After all, His own disciples have lives of strife and persecution!

But this is actually Jesus’ point.  Our identity is in the Father and not our greatness, glory, and peace!  Our identity is in living out our obedience to the Father and not to the world.  Our identity is rooted in our eternal security not our temporal ease!

We are the Father’s.  Jesus has kept us, matured us, and helped us grow.  But that doesn’t mean that we will have it all or have it easy.  We will be the Lord’s and our identity in that will always be secure.  But that doesn’t mean our life will be free of difficult decisions and potential hardship.

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