Jesus Prays for HimselfMy Understanding: The Lord woke me with the song, “God’s Great Commands,” which is about loving God and loving others, so when I got to verse 26, the last verse of this passage of scripture, I knew this was to be my key verse for this writing. Jesus Christ, God the Son, made known God the Father, as well as he made known himself and the Holy Spirit – our triune God – to the people of his day, while he was still on the earth. In his prayer to his Father, he said that he would continue to make God known to the people, the purpose of which was so that the love God the Father has for the Son may be in the hearts and lives of the people to whom Jesus was making him known, and also for the purpose that he might, in the person of the Holy Spirit, come to dwell within the hearts and lives of his followers.
1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Jesus was given authority by God the Father over all people so that he might give eternal life to all those the Father had given to him as his true disciples. Jesus used that authority over all men to humble himself, to take on human flesh, to suffer as we suffer, to be tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, to suffer persecution, hatred, jealousy, misunderstanding, mocking, false accusations, beating and scourging, crucifixion on a cross, taking all our sins upon himself, and he suffered betrayal, abandonment and denial by his closest companions, by those who were his own family members, and/or by those who were his own people. He did this because he loved us and because he wanted to give us, not only eternal life with him in glory, but so he could set us free from the control of sin over our lives and so he could set us free to walk humbly and obediently in fellowship with him.
Then, Jesus described what eternal life was or what it consisted of and what it means to have eternal life. He said that it was for us to know God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. Then, he went on to describe those who knew him and were his true followers. He said of them that they have obeyed God’s words and they accepted the words into their hearts and lives. They were not merely hearers of the word, but they were doers of the word, i.e. they obeyed the word, i.e. the word of God was alive in their lives in practice. They were also certain of who Jesus was, who he came from, and they believed in him.
Jesus’ prayer, thus, for those who were his true followers, who obeyed and accepted his words and the Father’s words into their lives and who believed in Jesus Christ for who he was and for who he came from, was that the Father would protect them for they were still in the world. God didn’t always and does not always protect us from hurt, pain, persecution, suffering or even death. In fact, he promises that we will have great trouble in this world. So, I believe the protection that Jesus was speaking about was and is protection against the evil one and the evils of this world, since they were still in the world. So, the prayer was basically that they would be kept from becoming like the world but would rather be kept set apart for God and for his service and that God would purify them and make them holy.
Jesus expounds on that further when he says to the Father that his prayer is not that his followers be taken out of the world, even though they were hated and would be persecuted just as Jesus was, because they had the words of God, they spoke the words of God, and because they were not a part of this world any more than Jesus was. And, the world (including the worldly church) will hate us, too, when we share the words of God and when we separate ourselves from worldly passions and desires and we choose to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in all things, because they will want us to join in with them and be just like them. And, Jesus Christ is not promising us protection from mistreatment or a physical escape from the trials, temptations and tribulations that will face us while we are still on the earth. Yet, he does promise to be with us, to give us strength and encouragement, hope, comfort, joy and peace, even in the midst of great tribulation.
Then, Jesus extended his prayer, not merely for those who were already his followers but also to include those who would yet believe in him. His prayer here was for unity, but not the kind of unity that the world speaks of or even that some churches speak of when they preach unity with men’s visions. Jesus was talking about a unity with the Father and with the Son and if we are united with them in spirit, then we should be united, as well, with others who are also in unity with the Father and with the Son. He prayed that his followers would be brought to complete unity to let the world know that the Father had sent him and that he loved them just as he loved the Son. When we are not unified in Christ, as a people of God, it is a poor testimony of our faith in Jesus Christ and is a poor reflection on the church as a people of God. And, I believe that is why Jesus prayed that God’s love would be in his followers and that his spirit would dwell within them, because God’s love for others is the greatest way in which we can show the world who Jesus is and why Jesus came.
God’s Great Commands / An Original Work / July 10, 2011
Loving God and loving others
Are the Lord God’s great commands.
On these rest all of the others;
Live by them and you’ll not fail.
Be a witness, share the gospel,
Be a light in this dark world.
Share the love of Jesus always
To a world who has not heard.
Serving others; be like Jesus;
Wash their feet and pray with them.
Be a healer; mend their hurts and
Show them how to turn from sin.
Be a living example of
How to live for Jesus Christ,
Walking with Him in His footsteps,
Leading others to new life.
Give to God and give to others
Of yourselves in ev’ry way.
Obey your Lord, do His bidding;
Bow your knees and humbly pray.
Pray for others to know Jesus.
Tell how they can be set free
Of their sins and live for Jesus;
Walk with Him eternally.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Audio, song lyrics and sheet music at:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs/home/songs/god-s-great-commands
Song on video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DWGg3-NvEE
No comments:
Post a Comment