John Chapter 17 - Lesson
Jesus has been speaking very intimately with His 11 disciples after the departure of Judas Iscariot, His betrayer. He has been preparing them for His death, for their identity with Him that will bring the same hate and the same persecution for them that He has had to endure, and yet..
..He has given them the most comforting words of peace and joy, ...all wrapped up in what the world cannot give them or even receive for themselves apart from a relationship with the Lord Jesus themselves - the promise of the HELPER, the HOLY SPIRIT. He will guide them into all truth and bring all of the words of Jesus to their remembrance after Jesus has left them. He will be their helper, and they will have PEACE and JOY within. Others may take their physical lives, but no man can take their joy in Christ away!
In John 16, Jesus has taught them about the POWER OF PRAYER and how the Father loves them and will answer their prayers as they pray in the Name of Jesus. He tells them what He has told them over and over again....."I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again, and going to the Father." (vs.28)....like a light going off, they really see it and confess that they believe it - "You came from God" (vs.30) In verse 31, Jesus answered them: "Do you now BELIEVE? Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to LEAVE ME ALONE; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
These things I have spoken to you, that in ME you may have PEACE. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
And without a break (our chapters are inserted by man).....
Jesus then lifted up His eyes to heaven, and began to PRAY Himself for the 11 and also for YOU and for ME! This is truly the Lord's Prayer - JESUS' PRAYER FOR HIS OWN and it is so precious. Let's just look at it verse by verse.....and be bathed in His love and care for us.
JOHN 17
"Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou has given Him, He may give eternal life."
According to verse 3, what does Jesus Himself say that ETERNAL LIFE is?
Can we have eternal life only by knowing God?
Who else must we know?
"I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do. And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was."
Remember John 1:1 -"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was WITH God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God."
"I manifested Thy NAME to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy Word. Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee; for the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them; and they received them, and truly understood that I came forth from Thee, and they believed that Thou didst send Me."
THE NAME OF GOD
What does that mean? He showed them, He revealed to them the CHARACTER of GOD, the NAME of GOD, everything that GOD HIMSELF is was made MANIFEST to them! Jesus manifested these Names among others that are in the Old Testament that God was called by the Jewish people:
Elohim - The Creator
El Roi - The God Who Sees
El Shaddai - The All Sufficient One
El Elyon - The Most High God
Adonai - Lord and Master
Yahweh - (Jehovah) - I AM that I AM
Jehovah Nissi - The Lord our Banner
Jehovah Rapha - The Lord That Healeth
Jehovah- Raah - The Lord My Shepherd
Jehovah-Shammah - The Lord is There
Jehovah- Shalom - The Lord is Peace
Jehovah Tsidkenu - The Lord our Righteousness
Jehovah - Sabaoth - The Lord of Hosts
Jehovah-Mekoddishkem - The Lord Who Sanctifies You
When you think back through the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, can't you see Him displaying every part of the Character, the Name of God, to His disciples through the works, the signs that He performed?
Jesus showed them God through Himself, for He was God made flesh (John 1:14)
John 17 (Continued)............
"I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them."... I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You, Holy Father, keep them in YOUR NAME, the NAME which You have given Me; that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in YOUR NAME which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled."
As you look through some of the Names of God listed, what Names are you being kept in today?
Which attribute of God is most meaningful to your life at this time?
"But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My JOY made FULL in themselves. I have given them YOUR WORD; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. SANCTIFY THEM IN THE TRUTH; YOUR WORD IS TRUTH."
They are hated and yet kept from the evil one.
"As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.".......
To be sanctified means to be "set apart". We are "set apart" for God's use in the world through THE WORD OF GOD.
How much time are you giving to God's Word?
In the Lord's prayer, we have now come to verse 20....Write it out and rejoice
Who else is this prayer by Jesus FOR those who will hear the msg.
According to verse 21, what will these words and this prayer cause us all to be?
....even as ....You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in US, so that the world may BELIEVE that You sent Me."
Think through it again. Answer this.
How will the world believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?
Are you striving for UNITY in your walk with other believers?
JESUS PRAYED THAT WE WOULD BE ONE! Let's see the rest of His prayer!
"The glory which You have given Me I have given them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world." ..."O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made YOUR NAME KNOWN TO THEM, and will make IT KNOWN, so that the LOVE with which You LOVED Me may be IN them, and I in them."
Jesus came to make that evident to you. The LOVE OF GOD. He laid down His life because God so LOVED THE WORLD. You are loved by God.
Jesus came to make God's Name, His Character made KNOWN to You so that God's LOVE can be IN you through the Lord Jesus Christ.
THIS PRAYER IS FOR THE 11 AND IT IS FOR YOU!
Your Prayer and Summary:
The tone is about to change.
In John 18, Jesus will be betrayed and arrested. Jesus will be denied by Peter and beaten by Pilate. The Romans in John 19 will put the crown of thorn on His head and He will be mocked and spit upon. He will be CRUCIFIED.....on the day of the Passover Feast. THE LAMB OF GOD, sacrificed for You - because He loves You enough to die in your place so that He can make God's LOVE made known to You.........
Read on - We have 5 chapters of this Gospel left!
Created For RTB msn group by B. LeMoine, used by permission only. Please join us at www.read-the-bible.webs.com
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