Gospel of John [17:7-8]. The Lord's priestly prayer; part 7. Isa 55; Joh 13:1; 7:16-18.

Title: Gospel of John [17:7-8]. The Lord's priestly prayer; part 7. Isa 55; JOH 13:1; 7:16-18.

 

 

JOH 17:1 These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee,

 

JOH 17:2 even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life.

 

JOH 17:3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.

 

JOH 17:4 "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do.

 

JOH 17:5 "And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.

 

JOH 17:6 "I manifested Thy name [person and character] 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.

 

JOH 17:7 "Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee [His humanity did not originate anything but relied completely on the Father];

 

The Father has fully supplied every believer's needs. Through His grace supply the fruit of the Spirit, knowledge of Him, action upon that knowledge, perseverance, devotion, brotherly love, and agape love.

 

JOH 17:6 "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.

 

JOH 17:7 "Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee;

 

JOH 17:8 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 'world' as a whole had failed to recognize Jesus as the Revealer of the Father, but a select company of men and women was given to Him 'out of the world' - those who are called His own people.

 

The words, the doctrines given by the Father has been given to all believers. A Bible in the hands of an unbeliever is just ink and paper, but in the positive believer it is alive and powerful.

 

The words given to the Son from the Father have been a mystery up to this point. But like the words already given through Israel's writers and prophets, they will accomplish what they are sent to accomplish. All believers have been given the equal privilege and equal opportunity to be a part of that accomplishment by receiving those words.

 

ISA 55:1 "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk [prosperity] Without money and without cost.

 

ISA 55:2 "Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance [more than enough].

 

ISA 55:3 "Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.

 

ISA 55:4 "Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples.

 

ISA 55:5 "Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you."

 

ISA 55:6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near [before the dispersion].

 

ISA 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts [idol worship; rejection of Mosaic covenant]; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

 

ISA 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.

 

ISA 55:9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

 

ISA 55:10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth, And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

 

ISA 55:11 So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

 

ISA 55:12 "For you will go out with joy, And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

 

ISA 55:13 "Instead of the thorn bush the cypress [large tree] will come up; And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up; And it will be a memorial to the Lord, For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off."

 

The things accomplished by the word of God throughout history will be like an everlasting large tree and a beautiful forever flowering bush. No opponent will be able to cut off its accomplishments and they shall be eternal. The believer has the opportunity now to have partnership with that word and so become a part of God's eternal accomplishments in history.

 

Through their willingness and tenacity the disciples were able to be a part of this.

 

He speaks of them as the success stories they will be though they are struggling spiritually at this time. This is an exhibition of agape love.

 

They have kept Your word, they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You, and they have received these gifts and have come to truly understand them. This is not true at this time, but it will be in the future. This is much more than having a positive outlook. It is agape love.

 

1CO 13:4-8

Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails [is eternal];

 

JOH 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

 

Some would not lump Judas Iscariot in with this group. God so loved the world and that includes him. While we would not say that Judas belonged to Christ as one of His own since Judas refused to believe in Christ as the Savior. However, Judas was chosen by Christ to be one of the twelve. In this I would say that Judas, among all non-believers, was uniquely loved by Christ who wished him to repent, but through prophecy Jesus knew he would not, which was confirmed by Judas' own refusal from his own free will.

 

JOH 6:70 Jesus answered them, "Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?"

 

PSA 41:9

Even my close friend, in whom I trusted,

Who ate my bread,

Has lifted up his heel against me.

 

PSA 55:12-13

For it is not an enemy who reproaches me,

Then I could bear it;

Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me,

Then I could hide myself from him.

But it is you, a man my equal,

My companion and my familiar friend.

 

Yet Christ loved even him to the end. Christ speaks of the 11 remaining with Him in their success and deep faith and understanding that would come in the future. He is love and so is patient, kind, not jealous (for they are at this time more concerned about themselves than Him), does not brag (He's faithful and they're not), is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own (Himself only), is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness (theirs for the moment), but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. His love is eternal as it is with us to whom He has graciously given it.

 

The disciples, though struggling with much of the doctrine presently, desired and were willing to do the will of God. Their yielding and tenacity would bring them to understanding.

 

Because of this desire they were able to discern that the words Christ spoke came from the Father, and if the words did, then He did also.

 

JOH 7:16 Jesus therefore answered them, and said, "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.

 

He graciously gave it to the humanity of Christ and He also graciously gives it to all of His brethren who are willing.

 

JOH 7:17 "If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.

JOH 7:18 "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

 

They are still struggling with their faith, but the Lord prays for them as He knows they soon will be. Arrogant Christians determine that they only know the truth and that their esteemed learning is exclusive to them and that it will elude others. This is arrogance which is found in every area of life where knowledge of a subject is esteemed. All who seek His glory will find it. All who are willing to do His will are going to know the truth. God did not exclude the truth from any believer who is willing to know it. He died for the whole world, including the unbeliever. How is it that He would exclude certain ones who are His children from knowing His truth?

 

ROM 8:31-32

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

 

And the mind of Christ is:

 

Php 2:3-4

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.