75. "A Prayer for Believers...Pt. 2, John 17

Now in Part 2 of this study, we'll pick up the traces at approximately where we left off last time. Take notice, as you (I hope) have been reading through this passage, of the deep love of Jesus for the Father, and for us who would follow Him; and second, the joy that He experienced in having been faithful to His mission; and then, that most elusive and highly-prized fruit, of peace, concerning all that He was yet to face! This is especially critical when it comes to fulfilling our own Holy Spirit-inspired, God-glorifying mission within our own families, churches, and the world-at-large. 

It's hard to miss here, the closeness of the Son to His Father, but we have seen many times already, how Jesus has spoken-of Him in previous chapters...maybe 23 times in chapt. 14 (depending on the translation you are using), 10 times in chapt. 15, 12 times in chapt. 16, and 6 times here in chapter 17! When you truly love someone, your first and last thoughts are of them; and you love to speak their name, and to hear it spoken. But Jesus and His Heavenly Father were much closer than we, in any of our own earthly relationships. And of course, Jesus had been commisioned by the Father to a sacrificial cause...for a very high purpose, on behalf-of a very lowly people, so He would have been in vital need of constant confirmation and consistent communication. 

Now when WE pray, it's partly (speaking for myself, at least) because we have sinned, and are sinners in need of God's mercy and grace and forgiveness. But not Jesus...He prayed because constant communication was one very critical aspect of the Father's will for Him...not out of a sense of shame or of guilt, like us sometimes; or because He needed a new pair of sandals, but rather, out of love, and for worship, and in acknowledgement of the Father's glory and grace, as He plodded toward the throne of His cross.    

We’ve seen from Jesus' introduction to His prayer...the first five verses, that His over-riding concern, in fact, was that the Father be glorified...in His birth, by His life and especially so, His death; and that "all who have been given (to Him) may receive the blessing of eternal life"! That is, that "...they may know the only true God, and the Christ Whom He has sent". And notice that, there in vs. 4 He says, "I have finished (the work that you gave Me to do)". You know, I find it so hard to ever really finish anything; maybe some of you are like that, but Jesus finished His terrible mission, without delay, detour, or defeat! Even when He was just a boy, we're told how He was "about His Father's business", there in the temple in Jerusalem. Then, at the end of His mission, when He was tempted in Gethsemane to abandon His calling, He still sought the will of God, for the glory of God, in complete submission to the Father's authority. And even while He was dying upon His cross, some of His very last words just before He "gave up the ghost" were, "It is finished!" 

Now when I appear before His throne, my confession will doubtless be, "I have done things I should never have done, and have left undone, things that I should have done. And have said things I should never have said, and thought thoughts that are best left undescribed. But not our Lord! When He bowed before the Father, He was able to say, "I have glorified You on earth; I have completed My mission." And with that, would sit down at the Father's right hand, having by then, been granted that "Name, which is above all Names"!

I believe that, even the church seems to have a skewed idea of what heaven will be like. We've sung that it's "a wonderful place, filled wth glory and grace", and so it is, based upon Jesus' prayer requests here. Our only concern there, upon receiving the glory that awaits us, will be for the Glorious Ones! Not our loved ones, or for our robe and crown, or the streets of gold, or the many-mansioned house of God...but just His glorious presence. Everything else will not be secondary, but inconsequential!

Then, as He states in vs. 8..."...for they (that is, those given to Him by the Father) have believed and understood that I came from You, and that You sent Me to them." And then goes on to say that, "I have "gifted" them with the very words of the Father Himself"; and He says it with the greatest authority...not, "I wanted", or "I tried", or "I wish", but, "I have"! And He has perfect confidence in the things He has done, all on behalf of those who have been given Him, by the Father (vss. 2, 6, 9, 12) since His arrival on this tired old earth! 

Jesus had indeed, done the Father's will; He had delivered the Father's message; He had demonstrated the Father's love; He had discredited the claims of Satan; He had defused the sting of death; and He would ensure that the Destroyer would be destroyed! He had put away sin, and as we read in Psalm 69.4, "He restored that which He, Himself, took not away." He had finished His work. 

Then notice that in vs. 12, Jesus has referred-to "the son of perdition"...the one called Judas Iscariot, who was deemed by Jesus to be truly lost, in order that you, Believer, might know that you are truly saved! That may seem like a strange statement, but if you would look back to Psalm 109, the first 20 verses almost seem to be a prophecy of that detestable one...the man of perdition. In fact, therein is described the very Satan and his entire tribe, whereas beginning in vs. 21, we have what seems to be a description of Jesus and His family (may His tribe increase!)..."...that they may know...that Thou has done it"! 

If you've ever wondered why Satan rebelled and was cast down from heaven, it could very well have been, in order to ensure the completion of God's eternal plan for the salvation of all who would believe and receive, because-of the betraying ways of the archetypical Satan...Judas, the man of perdition! So we can understand Jesus' confidence, as recorded there, when He states, "I have kept, in Your Name, those You have given Me." And we can find assurance in the fact that He has drawn a line under it, for eternity to come!

Our prayer should be that the Father would be pleased to also honour us by fitting us in the here-and-now, to a life fully committed-to glorifying Him! You know, in the 107th Psalm, the Psalmist declares in four different places..."Oh that men would praise the Lord for His wonderful works to the children of men!" So why wait...take a moment, right now, with me..."I give You all glory, dear Lord, for Your blessing on me!!"