Day 17, John 17

Blogger: Dave Wilks

Just as Moses delivered the series of sermons found in Deuteronomy to prepare the Children of Israel to enter the Promised Land, we have seen in the last few chapters that on the eve of his crucifixon, Jesus prepared, taught, encouraged, warned, emboldened and reassured his disciples. Jesus concluded the discussion with the prayer found in Chapter 17. For him, prayer was the most natural and essential of all acts -- as natural and essential as eating and drinking are for us -- because Jesus, even in his fully human form, had a relationship with the Father that provided all that sustained him.

Much can be learned from the three parts of this prayer, but Jesus' most prevalent request is for relationship. We see that Jesus' purpose in leaving the Father's side and coming into the world is to give eternal life, which is defined as knowing who God and Jesus are. vv. 2-3. Jesus prayed that the revelation of that knowledge would saturate us and that we would become one with God. He prayed that our relationship with him would transform us in such a way that we would become one with each other. So, at the end of Jesus' ministry, what does he remind us of? That the greatest commands are to love God and love each other. And that those relationships will change the world by revealing the truth of the gospel to the rest of the world (v. 21).

How do we build the kind of relationship with God that Jesus so badly wants for us? Jesus taught us that, too. We know that Jesus rose early in the morning to pray, prayed late at night and prayed in between. We also know that Jesus was so saturated with Scripture that it was always on his lips. Daily prayer and Bible reading…we can do that. The relationships that are built and nurtured as a result will change us and change the world. That was Jesus' prayer and that was Jesus' promise.

Notes: This passage contains two illustrations of how the gospel teaches that the world is upside-down from the Kingdom. First, in verses 1 through 5, Jesus speaks of how he is about to be glorified, though he was about to die a hideous and humiliating death. Second, in verses 13 through 15, Jesus does not pray that the disciples be spared hardship or persecution, but rather that they experience "the full measure of my joy within them." What's going on here? Simple: we've had it backwards all along. True glory and joy come to the loving, sacrificial servant who is in intimate relationship with God and with others.

Editor note: We are coming to an end of our 21 days. Would you like us to continue a blog with a new series? What would you think of Acts?