Wednesday 11 February, 2015

2 Comments/in /by

John 17:1-19

17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour 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 know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing 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. 6 “I have revealed you[a] 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[b] 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[c] 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[d] 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.

This is the prayer of Jesus before He separated from His disciples and was crucified on the Cross.

Jesus prays for His disciples and Himself. For Him, He prays that God will glorify His Son so that the Son can in turn glorify the Father.

For His disciples, He prays protection by the power of God’s name and for unity just like He and God (The Father) have as One. Also, Jesus prays that His disciples are not taken out of the world but are kept from the evil one and sanctified by the truth (God’s word), while they are still in the world.

Jesus also reviews all the works God has given him to do. So, He made above prayer and asked God to keep the disciples safe because they were sent to the world to proclaim the good news.

The challenge of this passage to me is:

  1. Do I glorify Jesus name over myself and others day by day?
  2. Am I sanctified by His words?
  3. One day, when my time has come, will I dare to say to the Lord: I have done all the work which you gave me to do?

Dear Jesus, thank you for praying for me. You are my saviour, my rock and my fortress. Though a mother forgets the baby at her breast and has no compassion on the child she has borne, You will NOT forget me! Amen.

Written by Allen Leu

2 replies
  1. Justin Ware says:

    This passage makes me light up every time I read over it because it shows that Jesus actually confirms and affirms so many of the beliefs about Him: as saviour; his pre-existence before he was a man; his unity with the father and many others.

    The challenge here for me personally is in my lack of confidence to discuss these important tenets of my faith with those who question Jesus’ position as Lord and Saviour.

    I am learning that the only way that I can develop this confidence to discuss the particularly challenging faith concepts is to not only understand them deeply, but to actually memorise sections of scripture like this one that will give eternal truth to my own understanding.

    Lord, bless me with the ability to commit Your word to memory, so that I would be able to use it more readily to disciple others.

  2. Richard Botta says:

    John 12:36b-43

    They cared more for man’s approval than for God’s

    What a telling statement. How easy it is for this to be true, for my focus and actions to be moderated by my need for affirmation and approval. How often and who do I seek approval from.

    How actively do I seek God’s approval, do I seek Him, looking out for His interests above my own? Do I deliberately go out of my way to ensure that the God story is told, or do I draw attention to myself.

    Father I need Your help to live in such a manner that I do not seek the approval of men, but of the audience of one, You.

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