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And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves... John 17:22 |
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......a LivingWordStudy
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Jesus prayed often. He taught His disciples how to pray. He encouraged prayer. God has given us many precious promises concerning prayer. If God didn't plan on answering the prayers of Jesus or us, He wouldn't have told us to pray. John 17 is Jesus intercessory prayer to the Father for all those who believe. Selah... Jesus had just left His disciples. In John 16:28, Jesus told His disciples, I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father." {Paul tells us all about that awesome event from the heavenly perspective in Phil. 2:5-11}. His disciples (John 16: 29), after having been with Him for about 3 years replied, "Lo, now speakest Thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that Thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask Thee; by this we believe that Thou camest forth from God." Jesus does know all things. Jesus is God the Son. Jesus then told the disciples, "Behold the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered.... and shall leave me alone; but I am not alone, because the Father is with me...." (John 16:32) Most likely most of us have thought about just what we would do if we knew ahead of time exactly when God was calling us home. We've thought about just what would be important to do in the few weeks or days or hours before we left. Well, Jesus knew that the hour had come when He would be brought before Pilate and then crucified for the sins of the whole world. In John 17 we see Jesus alone with His Father. We see Him looking up to heaven and praying for you and for me and for all believers. We see what was supremely important to the heart of our Redeemer and Lord on our behalf. In John 17 verse 1, Jesus isn't demanding or pressuring God. He goes to His Father with the heart of a Servant, "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify Thee." His primary concern is that He might Glorify His Father. He asks for help to do that. And so it should be for us. With hearts that are yielded and ready to do His will, we ask for His help that we may live each day to glorify Him among men. In verses 2 and 3, Jesus addresses the fact that His Father has given Him power over all flesh, so that He (Jesus) should give eternal life to as many as the Father had given Him. The Scofield Bible notes says: Jesus Christ is God's love gift to the world (3:16), and believers are the Father's love gift to Jesus Christ. It is Christ who commits the Christian to the Father for safekeeping, so that the believer's security rests upon the Father's faithfulness to His Son Jesus Christ. That is such an awesome and secure place to be in. Verse 3 is such a curious verse... and truly deserves much contemplation ....this is Life Eternal, that they might KNOW Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. For me, on one level, I see Jesus meaning that we shall spend all of eternity getting to know our Loving, Heavenly Father and Jesus. The Greek word for "life" here is " zoe .." it literally means "to live" and includes the idea of vitality. For Jesus, life in His Eternal Kingdom is full of liveliness and vitality as we continue to get to KNOW Him and the Father. It sounds like so much fun to me!!!seeing them face-to-face and not through a glass darkly. In verses 4 and 5, Jesus asks His Father to glorify Him with Himself (the Father)... with the glory that He had before He set it aside and humbled Himself and came and dwelt among us as a Servant of men.... He declares to the Father that He has finished the work that He had sent Him to do. Jesus came not as a King who ruleth, but as a Servant who showed by example just how His disciples should live. He lived that daily among them. Healing the sick, strengthening the faint-hearted, serving the 5,000, rescuing them from drowning in a storm, making wine from water, healing the broken-hearted... and so much more... that the world would be covered with volumes of books if everything were to be told. In verses 6-8, Jesus rehearses with His Father that He had told His disciples that He had come from the Father. He had made sure that His disciples knew that whatever He had came from the Father. He had told His disciples everything that God had given Him to tell. Jesus had been a faithful Son and faithful Servant as He walked and lived among His creation. He didn't exalt Himself, but pointed men to His Father. And because Jesus was faithful, His disciples believed that God had sent Jesus. Jesus isn't praying for the world here (v. 9). He is praying only for His disciples and those who would come to believe through their testimonies and lives. He prayed for us because we belong to the Father.... Jesus wants to protect those things that belong to His Father... We have been bought with a price. We are His! And we belong to Jesus.... "..all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them." We have become the repository of Jesus. Christ IN us, our hope of Glory.... and Jesus says that in us, in our living out His indwelling, He is glorified. Oh, my goodness, talk about POWER! In verses, 11-12, Jesus speaks plainly that He is no longer going to be in the world. He won't be here to act as our example, as the One who is always in the forefront of the battle. He is going to return to sit at the right-hand of His Father where He will be our advocate, our Righteousness. And so, Jesus knowing that we go on alone... without Him walking among us... so that we can touch Him and see Him and partake of His grace and truth.... He prays to His Father, "...Holy Father, keep through Thine own Name those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are." Jesus thinks of His Father as Holy. Jesus says that He and His Father are one. Jesus prays that we may be one even as they are. Jesus was not conformed to this world. Jesus and His Father are Holy. In Romans 12:1-2, Paul writes, "...present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Jesus came to serve. He declared to us (John 13:15-16) that He had given us an example as He had washed their feet, and that we should do likewise. Then He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than His lord; neither He (Jesus) that is sent greater than He (the Father) that sent Him." We are not greater than Jesus in any way. Jesus was not conformed to this world and neither should we.... but be ye transformed the renewing of your minds, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God. It is God's will (and Jesus, also) that we be Holy even as they are Holy.... and that we, being Holy in Christ, become of one mind and heart... living to bring glory to our Heavenly Father and our Redeemer and Lord, Jesus Christ. As we abide in Christ, we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.... in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. In whom we also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. We are all different parts, all taking our God given place in a holy temple IN Christ Jesus.... and are built together so that we can be a dwelling place of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22). Truly we become a compound unity. All separate, but all joined together to make one temple. In John 17:12, Jesus continues His wonderful intercessory prayer for us.... "..while I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name; those that Thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled." And today, Jesus is at the right-hand of the Father, interceding on our behalf... keeping us in the Father's Name. Jesus keeps repeating that same thing over and over again through this priestly prayer for us. That He has us firmly in His grasp. That He hasn't lost anyone. That He was a faithful Servant and told us all things that His Father had wanted Him to, and that He'd kept us in His Father's Name and hadn't lost any. Our hearts should be responding with praise and honor and glory to the Father at this point. We've been chosen and the secrets of eternity have been revealed to us, and we are being kept by Jesus in the Father's Name.... unto Life Eternal that we might continually be growing in our KNOWLEDGE of God and Jesus.... as we experience them face-to-face. In verse 13, Jesus says triumphantly, "And now come I to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves." In Hebrews 12:2, Paul tells us that "...Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Here in John, Jesus looks toward the cross.... and yet He speaks of JOY. His joy comes from that fact that by the cross, He will forever redeem those that the Father gave to Him. All those that would come to believe... down through the ages until He comes again. Our joy comes from our redemption. Our joy comes from knowing that we are kept by Jesus in the Name of the Father.. and that He loses none. He is the author and finisher of our faith... He is our Redeemer, Lord, King and Friend. And He loves us supremely. This is a good place to stop.... that we might be full of the joy that Jesus had when He looked beyond the cross to Life Eternal and that we would be with Him forever and forever learning of Him and His unfathomable LOVE for us. * See Bible Studies #2 & 3 for John 17, Parts II and III. |
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This study was originally given online on AOL, 3/22/99 in the
LivingWordStudy (private room). |
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~~ I would love to hear from you ~~ |
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