John 17:25-26 - Making Known the Father's Name

John 17:25-26

25 “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 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.”

Message: Making Known the Father's Name

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: As Jesus is praying, I continue to see the words that he is saying and how he is praying to see whether or not I need to pattern my prayers after him. This prayer is for the disciples as in the last several chapters of John I believe Jesus has been all about encouraging them that while He is leaving they will be fine and they will be good and actually in the best place possible in their lives. This chapter has chronicled an interesting prayer. In less than 2 weeks I am going to teach on it in Sunday school. Got some work to do on it and putting it together still. 

This proclamation by Jesus here in these 2 verses seems rather simple. The gist of it that I see is He is proclaiming not necessarily interceding and stating that the Love will be present in us and Jesus will be present in us. May our lives be about love. And may Jesus be in us as we live. He voices truths about who we are and theology he proclaims as well, almost educating us a little through His words - that Jesus and His purpose is to bring the Father's love to them. And so that that love - the Love of the Father - may reside in us. May God's love be in us. 

How easily I could pray this for my kids but I don't. Lord, may your love always be present in my kid's lives. And Jesus may you be in my kids. May you live and act and breath through them so that their lives and our lives better represent You. 

The other interesting idea from this next is the fact that Jesus says that for His children He has made the name of God known to them. I am not sure we recognize completely the ramifications of this statement. We are so appalled often by the sinfulness of our society and yet should we really be that surprised and should we not first have such compassion and understanding toward people that do not know the name of God in their lives. We know the Father because of Christ's work. We have an understanding of God that others don't have. The reason we preach the gospel and speak it to people is they simply don't have this understanding. I see this clearly when we approach people at the mall. Sometimes they have such a distance from God and have conjured up so many other ideas of who God is to them. But we are His people, knowing His name and His very character. 

The other promise from Jesus is the name of God will continue to be made known. At times, it feels like the world is getting darker and less are knowing Him, but in reality Jesus as promised is continuing to make the name of God known. He says in this scripture that the world does not know Him. 

From Tabletalk, "Christ's goal is that we may way, in some mysterious way, having in our hearts a love for God that is like the very love that God has for us, and that on account of that love Christ would dwell among us." 

We know His name and we are strengthened in the process by knowing that name. Do we realize the significance of having the love of the Father in us? Our world has been changed and all we are has been changed. Our entire perspective on life has been changed. We see life differently from others. This can be hard because the difference between the two does seem to be increasing. But if anything what we have now is more clarity in the difference between the two. 

Summary: Contrary to the world, we who have been sent to Jesus by God, know Him and Jesus will continue to make God's name known so Christ will be in us and know God's love. 

Promise: From RC Sproul, "The knowledge of His everlasting love for us gives us the strength we need to fulfill the mission that He has given to us." 

Prayer: O God, you love me. I know this now. You have an extreme love for me that I don't think I grasp completely on a daily basis. So much of my life is me centered and wanting the best for me. I realize that often I am selfish and want people to stay here on this earth and so I pray for them to not suffer. That is not bad, but help my words to You be more focused on that Love that you desire for all men. That the most important thing for me and for everyone is to have the love of God in them. For my children, may the love of God be in them. May you be present in their lives and be in them. Work through them. May their lives be about You and making You known. 

Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.