22 And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; they they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity; that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me.
Message: Loved by the Father in the Son
Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."
What the Lord is Saying: From Tabletalk, today's lesson hones in on the idea of Unity - with the idea that this is the meaning of the High Priestly Prayer. So far what has stood out to me about these verses is how there isn't much intercession in the prayer and instead Jesus is often declaring truths - and how I don't often see this as a focus when we pray. We are all about God rescuing us from whatever ails us at any one time. In our Sunday School class, with so many at the end of life, it is the pains of living and the struggles of things hitting people now at this stage of life which brings about most of the prayer requests and yet I notice this has been a point of emphasis even when we were in classes of younger families. I often think this is also a symptom of how we live - with all of the creature comforts of life and health is the only thing that bothers us.
As Jesus prays for the disciples or the world, the prayers are often about keeping the disciples united in God, have joy, sanctify them in truth and now today, perfected in unity. Why don't we pray like this? Rather than these things being a given in our life, Jesus is showing us we need to pray for these things. Jesus here recognizes the need for us to be in unity.
The previous lesson made mention of the importance of unity. Of being one; that the crux of the disciples witness to everyone and believing in Jesus is to be One. But Jesus also says that Truth is important (v. 17) as He asks us to be sanctified in Truth. Jesus has been speaking about Himself often and the relationship the Father has with Him.
I have mentioned previously, in the attempt to keep the Main thing the Main thing - this is difficult as what I call non-essential others called essential.
But this passage in verse 22 starts with a proclamation that Jesus begins with a strange request or hard to understand request by Jesus and that is - "I have given to them the glory which Thou hast given Me."
Going back to John 1:14 - "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." In this verse, glory is something we behold and is a culmination of the God becoming man - there is a purpose in Jesus being here and it is for us to see the Glory of God, passed on by God to Jesus, but in the form of Jesus. It is to see God for who He is. It is proclaiming God to us. It is to really see God as God. If we behold God as He is, doesn't our life then look different? Don't we approach life differently once we understand God? Perhaps that is what Jesus is trying to get across when He prays for us - that the truth of Him of God is what is important and that we need to behold this.
And so when Jesus says, "I have given to them the glory which Thou hast given Me," it seems that Jesus is saying He has delivered God to man. The truth of God has been given to Man. And in that truth resides our oneness. Unity is grounded in God in us and His glory in us.
It does seem we are not united because of truth - of how we define our lives, ourselves. We are too focused on differences and Jesus is saying He wants us to be defined by God's truth as He has been revealing it through these many messages.
And we are to be One, to be united with what purpose? "that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them." That everyone would know God loves them. God loves you. That is the crux of our message and who we are and what we are to know and what everyone is to know. God loves us.
Summary: Jesus has come to declare God's glory - the truth of Who He Is and we are to be united, One, so that all we know God loves them.
Promise: God's love for us cannot end.
Prayer: Lord, to know Your Glory is what I am seeking. And for everyone to know Your love is what everyone needs. It is really that simple.
Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.
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