Saturday, March 08, 2008

A Study of John 17

1WHEN JESUS had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify and exalt and honor and magnify Your Son, so that Your Son may glorify and extol and honor and magnify You.

Jesus knew this was His time to suffer. And at this time He asked our Father to glorify Him so that He in turn could glorify our Father glorify. The time was going to be tough, so Jesus went to God and asked for glory to see Him through. And to see Him through Jesus asked for glory. He asked for splendor, He asked to be magnified, and honored.

The first thing to see here is that Jesus knew the hour had come. Can we know when the exact time for events in our lives like Jesus did, or is this just a privilege of being Jesus?

But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you. John 14:26

But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future]. John 16:13

We can look at scripture and see that Paul knew that he was going to be attacked when he went to Jerusalem, Acts 21:13. So scripturally we see that we have been given the Holy Spirit, the exact same Holy Spirit that Jesus has, and we can know what is going to happen in our lives, just as Jesus knew.

Next look how Jesus asked God to glorify Him. Only God can glorify us in a way that we can glorify Him. And God is willing and He is more than able to do it! Later in this chapter we will read that we have been given the exact same glory that Jesus has!

2[Just as] You have granted Him power and authority over all flesh (all humankind), [now glorify Him] so that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him.

Many are called but few are chosen. We are not born of the will of man, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of the blood, but we are born by the will of God, John 1:13. God chooses us and God gives us to Jesus. We do not choose Jesus, God chooses us and gives to Him! Big deal here, if we chose God first, we could un-choose Him, but since He chose us, since He grafted us into the Vine, we are chosen for eternal life! I always get a kick out of people who think we can be saved and then unsaved, think about it, did we fool God in the first place? God is not going to give eternal life to someone whose heart isn’t right. Sure many may look like they are saved, but that doesn’t mean they were saved.

3And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent.

To know our Father, really know Him. What He is, how He is, why He is, what He wants, how we fit in, to know the depth, height, and breadth of His love. We share in His power, His glory, His faith, His love, His hope, His wisdom, knowledge, grace, and ability. No questions, we have the Holy Spirit, our Fathers very Spirit within us, teaching us all about our Father, there is nothing, except the exact time of Jesus’ return, that our Father doesn’t want us to know about Him.

4I have glorified You down here on the earth by completing the work that You gave Me to do.
5And now, Father, glorify Me along with Yourself and restore Me to such majesty and honor in Your presence as I had with You before the world existed.

When our Father glorifies us, it glorifies Him. God wants to glorify us, He is willing and able. Faith comes from hearing the Truth that on this earth, we can be as glorious as our Father is. Don’t think we can be? Then how is it that God transfigured Jesus when He had a body that could be killed? God is God and in 1 John 4:17 our Father teaches us that as He is, so are we in this earth! In Ephesians 5;30, God proclaims that we are members of His body, flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bone. Later in this chapter we will read that Jesus prays that we are one with our Father just as He is one with our Father. Our flesh in no way hinders our Father’s ability in glorifying us with His very glory and His Light will drive out all of the darkness!

6I have manifested Your Name [I have revealed Your very Self, Your real Self] to the people whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have obeyed and kept Your word.

Notice how Jesus teaches that those who would be given to Him were God’s to give. But wait, what about free choice, free will, we own ourselves and it is up to us to choose? God is the Gardener, God is the Potter, and God is the Creator.

7Now [at last] they know and understand that all You have given Me belongs to You [is really and truly Yours].

All who are given to Jesus know that we belong to God and that He knew us before the world ever was. 2 Corinthians 1:12, Ephesians 2:10, Galatians 1:15-16, Proverbs 20:24, 2 Thessalonians 2:13

8For the [uttered] words that You gave Me I have given them; and they have received and accepted [them] and have come to know positively and in reality [to believe with absolute assurance] that I came forth from Your presence, and they have believed and are convinced that You did send Me.

We have the same Words that the disciples had, and the Word still allows us to be convinced that Jesus is Lord.

9I am praying for them. I am not praying (requesting) for the world, but for those You have given Me, for they belong to You.

The ones that belong to God will absolutely receive the things of God. Religion will try and teach us that only if we accept it, they teach that’s faith. But we are God’s and He is the Gardener, Jesus is the Shepherd, the Holy Ghost is the Teacher, the responsibility on us receiving the things of our Father are squarely on Him, and He knows how to teach, lead, and prune each of His to insure that we receive everything He wants us to. Faith is not man’s ability to believe the Truths of God, faith is Jesus’ ability to believe the things of God working through man, Hebrews 12:2.

10All [things that are] Mine are Yours, and all [things that are] Yours belong to Me; and I am glorified in (through) them. [They have done Me honor; in them My glory is achieved.]

We belong to God. Take this Truth to heart, God has chosen us and Jesus is glorified through us. This means that God is responsible for us and we will see what this means as we continue to study this Chapter.

11And [now] I am no more in the world, but these are [still] in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep in Your Name [[a]in the knowledge of Yourself] those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We [are one].

We belong to God so He is responsible for keeping us. We are sealed until the day of our redemption by the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:30. This is why Jesus is our Shepherd, God is our Gardener and the Holy Spirit is our seal. Jesus always received what He prays for and Jesus prayed the Truth that God would keep us, not that we would be strong enough to keep ourselves. Think about sheep, it is the responsibility of the owner of the sheep to keep them. The owner doesn’t say I love the sheep so much, my love is so deep for them, that I allow them to choose whether to stay in my flock or not. Also Jesus teaches us to have any part in the Kingdom of Heaven, than we have to be live little children, Matthew 18:3. Now what responsible and loving parent says I love my little child so much, that I leave the choice up to them whether or not they will stay in my home, they have free will?

A lot of religion tries to talk about God’s love being so deep for us that this is how He is with us, but the Truth is something far greater. God’s love for us is so deep that He will never leave us or forsake us! Anyone preaching that we can walk away from God has never known Him.

12While I was with them, I kept and preserved them in Your Name [[b]in the knowledge and worship of You]. Those You have given Me I guarded and protected, and not one of them has perished or is lost except the son of perdition [Judas Iscariot--the one who is now doomed to destruction, destined to be lost], that the Scripture might be fulfilled.(A)

13And now I am coming to You; I say these things while I am still in the world, so that My joy may be made full and complete and perfect in them [that they may experience My delight fulfilled in them, that My enjoyment may be perfected in their own souls, that they may have My gladness within them, filling their hearts].

We have Jesus’ joy full and complete in us. We actually experience Jesus joy and delight within us, His joy perfected within our souls, gladness fills our hearts. Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for. And how will they hear without a preacher! To experience this level of joy on this earth is one of the reasons that Jesus came for us!

14I have given and delivered to them Your word (message) and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world [do not belong to the world], just as I am not of the world.

James wrote if he was the friend of the world than he was the enemy of the cross, James 4:4. Trust me on this one, if your truly of God, you wont even have to try and be hated by the world!

15I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one.

Once again it is God that keeps us and protects us from the evil of this world.
[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while [b]effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and [c]delight. Philippians 2:13

16They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), [just] as I am not of the world.
17Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth.

Who does Jesus pray that sanctifies us? Is it us or God? Who makes us holy our actions or God?

For both He Who sanctifies [making men holy] and those who are sanctified all have one [Father]. For this reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren; Hebrews 2:11

18Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

19And so for their sake and on their behalf I sanctify (dedicate, consecrate) Myself, that they also may be sanctified (dedicated, consecrated, made holy) in the Truth.

Jesus is the Vine, John 15:1 and we are the branches, John 15:5. There is a reason that Jesus spoke using the example of the Vine and branches, because the branch produces only what the Vine is. A grape vine’s branches does not produce tomatoes. Jesus is sanctified, we are now one with Him, as we will read in a couple of verses. So we are what He is and Jesus is sanctified and holy. A branch produces fruit based on the strength of the Vine and we are one with the Vine of Vine’s, Who is perfect, glorified, powerful, and complete. God chose us branches to graft into His Vine and now Jesus is glorified in and through us!

20Neither for these alone do I pray [it is not for their sake only that I make this request], but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word and teaching,

Jesus wasn’t just asking for His glory to be with the Apostles, or that God only keep them, everything that Jesus prayed here in John 17 was for each and every believer that would ever be! We all are one with Him and we all are one in Who our Lord is, What our Lord is, and How our Lord is.

21That they all may be one, [just] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me.

The only way that we will believe and be convinced that Jesus is Lord is by being one with Jesus, Who is one with God. This is what gives us boldness to stand in the day of judgment because we are one. And since we are one, as Jesus is, so are we in this world, 1 John 4:17. And this is why our love is perfected.

22I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one [even] as We are one:

Jesus gave us His very own glory. Not a substitute glory, but His very own glory! Think of how glorious Jesus is and then praise Him, for He has made us one with His glory! When Jesus was ready to face the challenge of betrayal, separation from God, and crucifixion, He prayed to be glorified and it worked. Jesus was successful! Now we have His glory and through His power we are successful in each and every thing that He Shepherds us through. He won almost 2000 years ago and He wins through us today. Always glorious and always bringing glory to our Father!

23I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and [definitely] recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them [even] as You have loved Me.

We are loved by God every bit as much as our Father loves Jesus. The only way that we will ever be perfectly united is by being made one with our Father by Jesus. And the only way that the world will ever know that Jesus is Lord is by us being one with God! There is absolutely no separation between God and His children, none. Every bit as much as Jesus is one with God, so are we. We are Jesus’ body, flesh of His flesh, bone of His bone, Ephesians 5:30, so as He is, so are we. Jesus is our Head.

Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God, Romans 10:17, and faith is the evidence of things hoped for, Hebrews 11:1. So for us to truly evangelize the world, we must first be one with God the way that Jesus is one with Him. This is salvation, being made one with God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. No difference whatsoever, as Jesus is, so is His body, and we are His body!

24Father, I desire that they also whom You have entrusted to Me [as Your gift to Me] may be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory, which You have given Me [Your love gift to Me]; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

We are with Jesus always. He never leaves us or forsakes us, Hebrews 13:5. He is constantly our Head, He is always the Vine. We have been raised up together with Him and made to sit together with Him, Ephesians 2:6. We are with Him today, and we are with Him tomorrow and with Him forevermore!

25O just and righteous Father, although the world has not known You and has failed to recognize You and has never acknowledged You, I have known You [continually]; and these men understand and know that You have sent Me.

26I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very [c]Self, and I will continue to make [You] known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them.

Jesus lives to make God known unto us, so that we may have eternal life. Jesus ever lives to intercede for us so that we might be saved to the uttermost, Hebrews 7:25.

Jesus is always in us. The Word of God is always in us. Jesus is glorified we are glorified. The Light has driven out the darkness. In Him there is no darkness at all, 1 John 1:5. Jesus came and allowed Himself to be sacrificed so that we would become one with God, our Father, in the exact same way that Jesus is one with Him. No difference whatsoever, and this is how the world will believe. There have been and will be a lot of people who preach Jesus, but the way that the world will believe is when we finally are empowered to accept and believe that we are one with God just as Jesus is one with God. This is when we will be one with each other and this is when the Gospel will be preached effectively throughout the entire world! How will they hear without a preacher and how will you preach unless your called?

This Chapter more than any other gives us a clear and exact reason for why Jesus came and died for us. It is a prayer and everything that Jesus prays for He receives. So the Truth that has set us free is this: we are one with God through Jesus. We have the exact same glory Jesus has, He gave it to us. The world will believe because we are one, and God keeps us from all of the evil in this world! Not a bad deal. And I know that many times it may not feel this way, but the Truth is the Truth, and now all things work together for our good, who love the Lord, Romans 8:28.

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