JESUS' DEDICATION OF HIMSELF (JOHN 17:1). In opening His final discourse in John 13:31 Jesus had said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. And God will glorify Him in Himself and will immediately glorify Him' (John 13:31). We note first that Jesus is to be glorified as ‘th... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS PRAYS IN THE UPPER ROOM (JOHN 17). Depending on how we interpret John 14:31 this prayer appears either to have been made in the Upper Room, or at some spot on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane. As we have seen John 14:31 may be seen simply as indicating a rallying cry, or as a call to leave... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus spoke these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven he said, “Father, the hour is come. Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you”.' ‘Lifting up his eyes to heaven'. The main purpose of these words is to stress where the response will come from, but it also illustrates how Jesus praye... [ Continue Reading ]
“Even as you gave him authority over all flesh that to all whom you have given him he may give eternal life.” ‘Even as You gave Him authority over all flesh.' The idea is that this One Who goes to His death is primarily the Judge of all the earth (John 5:27 compare Genesis 18:25; Acts 17:31), and ha... [ Continue Reading ]
“And this is life eternal, that they should know you the only true God and him whom you did send, even Jesus Messiah.” This life, we now learn, consists of men entering a plane whereby they “know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent”. They enter into a deep and personal experience o... [ Continue Reading ]
“I glorified you on the earth having accomplished the work which you have given me to do, and now, Oh Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world was.” Jesus claims that He has faithfully fulfilled the task given to Him by the Father. He has accomplishe... [ Continue Reading ]
“I openly revealed your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.” He points out that He has revealed to the Apostles what the Father essentially is. He has revealed ‘His Name' to them, that is, His very nature (compar... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS' DEDICATION OF HIS APOSTLES (JOHN 17:6). Having prayed for the fulfilment of His own destiny Jesus now turns His attention to the needs of His Apostles. They are men of proved faithfulness, but He is aware of all that they must face in the future, and He thus commits them to His Father's care... [ Continue Reading ]
“Now they know that all things whatever you have given me are from you. For the words which you gave me I have given them, and they received them and knew of a truth that I came forth from you, and they believed that you sent me.” ‘Now they know.' This especially refers to John 16:29. They have pro... [ Continue Reading ]
“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. And all things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.” Jesus' prayer is ‘for those whom you have given me.' Those ‘who are given to Him' strictly means true bel... [ Continue Reading ]
“And I am no more in the world, and these are in the world and I come to you. Holy Father, keep those whom you have given me in your name that they may be one even as we are.” Jesus stresses the disciples' predicament. They are still in the world which is at enmity with God, while He will no longer... [ Continue Reading ]
“While I was with them I kept those whom you have given me, and I guarded them and not one of them perished except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Jesus has faithfully and successfully fulfilled His task with regard to those whom the Father has given Him. He has watche... [ Continue Reading ]
“But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world hated them because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them from the world, but tha... [ Continue Reading ]
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth.” By following Jesus the disciples have removed themselves from the world system and the world's ways. They are no longer tied to the world or absorbed by its interests. Just as Jesus thought o... [ Continue Reading ]
“As you sent me into the world, even so I sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” Just as Jesus was sent by the Father to ‘the world' as a light, to open its eyes, shake its complacency and make it aware of its evil (Joh... [ Continue Reading ]
“Neither for these only do I pray, but for those also who are believing on me through their word.” ‘I pray'. Literally, the verb means ‘make request'. This encompasses the many believers who had already responded to Jesus and His Apostles and all those who would do so in their future. As the later... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS DEDICATES ALL WHO WILL RESPOND TO HIM THROUGH HIS APOSTLES (JOHN 17:20). Jesus was now looking far ahead, beyond His own group of disciples, as He began to pray for all who would become believers through their ministry, and through the ministry of others who would proclaim the same truths in... [ Continue Reading ]
“That they may all be one, even as you Father are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” His prayer is that the unity which He has requested for the Apostles may also be experienced by His people as a whole. That unity He likens to the unity... [ Continue Reading ]
“And the glory which you have given me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” The glory of Jesus was ‘full of grace and truth' (John 1:14... [ Continue Reading ]
“Father, that which you have given me, I will that where I am they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.” ‘That which you have given me'. This refers to the gift from the Father to the Son of His true people,... [ Continue Reading ]
“Oh righteous Father, the world did not know you, but I knew you, and these knew that you sent me. And I made known to them your name and will make it known, that the love wherewith you loved me may be in them, and I in them.” In all our dealings and thoughts concerning the Father we have to recogn... [ Continue Reading ]