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John 17 is sometimes called the "High Priestly Prayer" of
our Lord Jesus Christ. This prayer is for all who believed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ then, who
believe now, and all who are yet to believe. It is for those He calls His own whom God has given
Him. Jesus' prayer must be seen through the words of John 16:32-33 as He prepared His
disciples for His departure. When Jesus said, "I have overcome the world," He spoke
in faith. Jesus sees God's work already accomplished. The final battle still lay before Him,
yet He was completely assured of the victory. Jesus' mission on earth was first to reveal the glory of the person of God. God is glorified by people who are changed into Christ's likeness. If the disciples and all believers are going to overcome the world, they must have the supernatural keeping power of God. Our Lord prays for us to know and have this power. Only in proportion as believers are made perfect in oneness with God, Jesus, and one another will the world recognize that God indeed sent Jesus into the world. Like a parent Jesus prays to preserve us from evil, and enable us to complete our mission to the world. Our power to convince the world is in the oneness of the believers of Jesus Christ. Do not confuse the oneness for which Jesus prayed with the oneness of a universal church. He was not praying for a oneness in organization. He was praying for a oneness of belief. Jesus is equal with God. God's purpose in sending Jesus was to redeem us from our sins by His sacrifice on the cross. Jesus ascended into heaven in His human body, and when we believe in Him we have eternal life. There can only be an inner oneness with one another as each person is one with Jesus and God. Jesus prayed not to protect them from physical harm but to protect them from the harm of sin. What separates the believer from the world is the believer's holiness as found in Christ. Christ's holiness is given to all believers at the point of conversion. Once we have placed our faith in Him, we should never be anxious concerning keeping our salvation. God is able and faithful to keep us true to Himself. Jesus had accomplished His aim that His disciples, "know that God sent Jesus" as His unique representative. In verse 5 see the confidence and intimacy which existed between Father and Son even before the foundation of the earth. Jesus looked not only to the cross, but also to His resurrection. We also must see our future. We share in Christ's destiny and glory in heaven. We will be with Jesus forever in eternity. The cross is the complete manifestation of God's glory as it reveals His goodness and love to the utmost. This glory is only complete when that love is accepted and reproduced in people's lives through the gift of eternal life. Eternal life is a gift. Jesus Christ is the only one who has the authority to give it. Eternal life includes a person to person relationship with God. Next to God Himself, there is nothing greater than the Word which reveals God. It is the Bible that is the source of absolute truth. In accepting the Bible as the revealed Word of God, we come to understand the truth of John 17:8. It is by faith in the words and the speaker that we come to know God and our own inheritance. To know God is to know that He not only accepts you, but that He treasures you as a most precious possession. Jesus knew the struggles and hardships His disciples would have to endure. You can hear the sympathy in His words, that His dear loved ones were still caught up in the thick of the battle. Jesus knew that if He stayed with them physically they would not have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. It was this gift of the counselor that would enable them to stand boldly in the face of hardship, persecution, and death. Think of the powerful work that they would accomplish. Through the testimony of these men, a great harvest continues to be repeated from every age of people whom God has drawn to Jesus. The disciples and all believers are strengthen to withstand all the power of Hell because Jesus is there to strengthen us. When we are united to Christ in God, we are also bound by strong eternal cords to one another. There is no room for prejudice of race, status, or intellect. The words, "I want" in John 17:24 are very emphatic and used nowhere else by Jesus. To have an awareness of God's love for us individually and fullness of joy through the Holy Spirit is the highest answer of this prayer of Jesus. |