Daily Scripture Reading John 17:1-19
Modern society is oriented towards feelings and emotions. Many people believe the greatest sin is to offend another person. Meanwhile, truth is often maligned or disregarded. Seeking knowledge and truth is not high on the priority list of many people.
Many churches and Christians have bought into the emphasis on feelings and have knowingly or unknowingly adopted the mentality that the key to holiness is an emotional experience. Many Christians believe an emotional experience is worship.
Today’s passage is part of a prayer Jesus prayed to the Father. In this prayer Jesus mentioned truth. His statement about truth teaches us that feelings are not the key to holiness. Instead, truth is the path to real holiness.
Yesterday, we finished reading a dialogue which took place between Jesus and His disciples when they were gathered together to eat the Passover meal. As was His habit, Jesus used figures of speech that the disciples did not completely understand. Then Jesus warned His disciples that He was going to leave them, but that the Father would send the Holy Spirit in His place.
John 17:1 ¶ Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,
Jesus was glorified when He rose from the dead and went back to heaven. Rising from the dead, thus conquering death, glorified God.
John 17:2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.
Notice the phrase “all whom You have given Him”. Christians have long argued about predestination and free-will. Free-will says humans are free to choose or reject salvation. Predestination says God determines who receives salvation. The phrase “all whom You have given Him” seems to favor predestination.
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
We often define eternal life as living forever in heaven. This verse defines it as knowing God and His Son. Those definitions are not contradictory. However, knowing God is different than simply living forever in heaven.
John 17:4 I glorified You on the earth, having finished the work which You have given Me to do.
John 17:5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
John 17:6 ¶ “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
The word “manifest” means to make known or to make clear. The verse does not say Jesus manifested God. It says He manifested God’s name. The phrase “men whom You gave Me” refers to the twelve disciples. Thus, Jesus manifested God’s name to His twelve disciples.
This verse also favors predestination over free-will. The disciples are referred to as “the men whom You gave Me”.
The name “Yahweh” means “He is”. When Jesus manifested the name “Yahweh”, He made it clear that Yahweh exists.
John 17:7 Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You;
John 17:8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
John 17:9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;
The phrase “I ask” refers to the requests found in verses 1 and 5. Jesus asked the Father to glorify the Son. He did not ask that on behalf of the world, but on behalf of the twelve disciples.
John 17:10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.
John 17:11 And I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.
When Jesus was on earth, He was able to keep the disciples focused on the Father. He was also able to keep them focused on the same objective, which made them one. When Jesus went back to heaven, He was no longer physically with the disciples and able to keep them unified and focused. Thus, He asked the Father to do that for Him.
John 17:12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
The word “perdition” means waste or destruction. Judas was a waste and he was destructive. It seems that Jesus should have been able to avoid having a disciple who betrayed Him, and indeed He could have avoided it. However, the betrayal had to happen because the Scripture needed to be fulfilled.
John 17:13 But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.
John 17:14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Note the word “hated”. In John 15:19 we see that Jesus had warned the disciples that the world would hate them. The world hated the disciples because they were not of the world. Jesus and the disciples had values, beliefs, and priorities that were different than the beliefs, values, and priorities of the world.
If we have values, beliefs, and priorities that are different than those of the world, and we should, then we should expect the world to hate us.
John 17:15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
Jesus did not ask the Father to remove the disciples from the hate. Instead, He asked the Father to keep them from Satan.
John 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.
The word “sanctify” means to make holy. Christians should aspire to holiness and sanctification. Pay attention to the means Jesus asked the Father to use to sanctify the disciples. Jesus asked the Father to use truth. The Bible is truth.
Modern society is oriented towards feelings and emotions. Movies, television shows, art, and music cater to base emotions. Comfort is a god.
Meanwhile, truth is often maligned or disregarded. In fact, there is so much misinformation on the internet that we have no idea what is true and what is a lie. The cost and skill needed to post ideas on the internet is so low that anyone can create a blog or website and say anything they want, even if contains no truth whatsoever.
Many churches and Christians have gone along with the emphasis on feelings and emotions and have knowingly or unknowingly adopted the mentality that the key to holiness is an emotional experience. Contemporary Christian Music is void of substance, but high on emotionalism. Church leaders want to attract large crowds, so modern church services are designed to make people feel good. Biblical truth is often offensive so many pastors ignore biblical teachings that are controversial in our society.
However, Jesus asked the Father to use truth to sanctify the disciples. As Christians, truth is the key to holiness, not feelings and emotions. Since the Bible is truth, this means we need to read and learn the Bible in order to gain holiness and righteousness. We should not avoid bible verses just because the world around us is offended by what it says.
John 17:18 As You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world.
John 17:19 For their sake I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
Here, Jesus repeated the concept that truth is the element that sanctifies people.
What are some Biblical truths that our culture rejects?
How do those truths lead to holiness?
What are some controversial truths that your church teaches boldly and unapologetically?
What are some controversial truths that your church avoids?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”