For a long time, I have thought of this last set of chapters in the Gospel of John as Jesus’ Evensong: The song of prayers at the end of the day… In this case, at the end of a life. Chapter 17 is the prayer itself: From Jesus to the Father.

John 17:1 These things Jesus spoke, and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee;

Thus, it begins. Jesus returns to a phrase that He has used before to describe the successful completion of His mission: Through that completion. He glorifies the Father. As Strong’s Concordance tells us, the word being used here means: to render (or esteem) glorious… to honor, magnify.” That is: “to ascribe weight by recognizing real substance (value).”

Jesus’ full acceptance of the Plan of Salvation, His wholehearted commitment to it, His carrying it out against all opposition already faced and all the agony that He is about to endure, honors the Father; it proves to the whole universe that the Father’s plan was right and that the Father is worthy of whatever it takes to bring about His Will. No One else would be worthy of such sacrifice or devotion. But God the Father is… Which makes sense because He is the Author of all that is Good and Worthy, He is the very definition of it.

And the Son, even though He existed as co-equal with the Father for all eternity, willingly became subservient to the Father to carry it out: all, so that He could bring us back into His family. That selfless sacrifice of absolute Love to the Will of the Father then, itself, brings deserved glory to the Son.

Pauls’ explanation in Philippians says it best:

Philippians 2: 5 For let this mind be in you which [was] also in Christ Jesus; who, subsisting in the form of God, did not esteem it an object of rapine to be on an equality with God; but emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form, taking his place in [the] likeness of men; and having been found in figure as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and [that the] death of [the] cross.

Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and granted him a name, that which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly and earthly and infernal [beings], and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord to God [the] Father’s glory.

The Plan of Salvation and its supernatural consequences

And so, here is the concise statement of the mission:

John 17:2-3 … that thy Son may glorify thee; as thou hast given him authority over all flesh, that [as to] all that thou hast given to him, he should give them life eternal. And this is the eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

That is it: God the Father, Who, as Creator, has total and complete authority (meaning, not only has the rights but also the power to carry out those rights) chose to give that authority over all living beings – and in particular, human beings – to the Son. The Father has delegated all those rights and power to the Son. (Jesus already alluded to this in Chapter 5.)

To what purpose? That Jesus would have the power to give us all eternal life.

Notice that that is an important implication of the way it is worded: “all flesh.” Every human being under the authority of God the Infinite Father – which has to mean absolutely everyone born or ever to be born – has been turned over to the Son and made therefore eligible to receive eternal life.

Everyone.

In principle, every single human being in the history of our planet (a history which is not ended yet) could receive eternal life. There is no preference in God’s eyes. Everyone could… But Jesus already has told us that not all will be saved because… “many are invited but few are chosen.”

This statement, repeated by Jesus several times, and illustrated with the parables of the Great Banquet, makes it clear that the dividing line is created by us… we condemn ourselves. How? When we reject the Plan. That is how that verse ends: The definition of eternal life:

this is eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God,

and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent

It is all in the knowing. Which, as you would expect, is more than just human knowledge of facts. It is a supernatural knowing. John has declared as much from the very beginning of the Gospel, where He refers to the Son of God as the Logos: the supernatural Word of God: Who was God, Who was with God in the Beginning…

John 17:4-5 I have glorified *thee* on the earth, I have completed the work which thou gavest me that I should do it; and now glorify *me*, *thou* Father, along with thyself, with the glory which I had along with thee before the world was.

It is important that we never lose sight of this supernatural reality. Jesus was not just a Teacher…

The human words of instruction that we receive from our human parents and teachers impart to us worldly knowledge and give us the skills that we need to live a useful and prosperous life. In a similar but infinitely greater sense, the Word of God came down from Heaven to dwell among us, to give us knowledge of the Kingdom of God, to open our eyes and ears to its reality and its Truth. And that Truth, when received, does much more than give us skills, it transforms us from the inside.

John 17:6-8 I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world. They were thine, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.

Now they have known that all things that thou hast given me are of thee; for the words which thou hast given me I have given them, and they have received [them], and have known truly that I came out from thee, and have believed that thou sentest me.

It is through that believing, receiving and accepting that Word (“keeping” in the sense of guarding it as the treasure it is) that we receive eternal life and all the power and responsibilities that come with it. And we know, from the previous chapters, that that work begun in our hearts by the Word of God is then continued by His Spirit, so that we ourselves – through His power – can complete the work assigned to us.

It is now our mission

Just as Jesus accomplished His work through the power from the Father (for He has told us over and over that all He did was to speak what the Father was speaking and to do what He saw the Father doing), likewise we will need the Father’s caring power to accomplish ours.

John 17:9-11 I demand concerning them; I do not demand concerning the world, but concerning those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine, (and all that is mine is thine, and [all] that is thine mine,) and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one as we.

Notice how the mission of the Messiah is beginning to be transferred to us. It is the same mission. And, therefore, it will require the same conditions (and yield the same effects).

As the Father was glorified by the Son carrying out His mission, Jesus will be glorified when we carry ours out for Him.

As Jesus was able to accomplish the mission because He remained one with the Father we will also need to be one to do it. And we have a supernatural guarantee that we can do it: The Father will keep us in His Name. (Again, keep = guard.)

John 17:12-13 When I was with them I kept them in thy name; those thou hast given me I have guarded, and not one of them has perished, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now I come to thee. And these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in them.

It needs repeating, time and again, that this mission of being a follower of Christ is supernatural. It cannot be carried out by human strength. It requires the power of God. And Jesus demonstrated that during His time in this world.

We see many times in the Gospel how His enemies tried to take Him, stone Him, entrap Him; but they never succeeded. Why? Because the power of the world is nothing compared to the Power of God. It was only when His time had come to defeat death by His Death, by His own choice and on His own terms, that He yielded Himself to the power of His enemies.

Jesus is here telling us that that same supernatural covering will be ours.

As long as we are carrying out His mission, the world cannot stop us or defeat us.

That is why he is essentially telling them:

“Look, I did not mess up by choosing Judas Iscariot. I offered Him eternal life, the way I offer it to everyone in the world. But he made a different choice. But that did not catch me by surprise. I knew, because my Father knew (because He exists beyond Time), that that would be His choice. Still, I welcomed him; still, I loved him; still, I am willing to die for him.

“And no matter how painful it is for Me to see any of My children to choose to walk away. I still can go on and I still live in Joy because I will always stay within my Father’s Will.

“You too will be able to live this way.”

It is in this sense that His Joy is guaranteed to be fulfilled within us.

John 17:14-15 I have given them thy word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world. I do not demand that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them out of evil.

Again, just as Jesus enemies could not touch Him until it was God’s time; so will it be with us. But that is so because Jesus wants us to stay in this world! Yes, he is leaving, returning to Eternity. Yes, He wants us beside Him in Eternity.

But for now, He wants us here.

Even though we already have eternal life; even though we have been moved out of the death of the kingdom of this world into the life of God’s Kingdom.

John 17:16-17 They are not of the world, as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by the truth: thy word is truth.

Again: supernatural. The power that sanctifies us, that is, that which separates us as Holy to God even though we are stuck in this fallen world, is His Truth: His Word.

John 17:18-19 As thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world; and I sanctify myself for them, that they also may be sanctified by truth.

There it is: That is what it means to be a follower of Christ.

It means we have exactly the same mission as Him:

To save the world by the power of agape Love, sacrificial Love.

This is utterly important. This was not an afterthought or an unplanned consequence of the Plan of Salvation. It was an integral part from the very beginning. Notice what Jesus said there: For this reason He sanctified Himself: He set Himself apart as Holy to God, He rejected the lies and temptations of the devil to open up the way to Eternal Life AND to leave behind a body of believers who would go to their own people in Love and show them that they too can live that Way.

There is no Christianity without the Love of Christ. There is no Christianity without children of God reaching out to teach the Way to the rest of the world in the same way Jesus taught it: by living and walking right beside them, by loving the unloved, by healing the wounded, by feeding the poor and hungry, and all the while turning the other cheek to the disdain of the world and rejecting all its lying treasures.

This is our mission today:

John 17:20-23 And I do not demand for these only, but also for those who believe on me through their word; that they may be all one, as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

And the glory which thou hast given me I have given them, that they may be one, as we are one; I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one [and] that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and [that] thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me.

Our mission can only succeed if it presents incontrovertible proof to the world that this is Jesus’ supernatural mission still unfolding. Notice that, time and again, doubters tried to get Jesus to prove His mission was real by demanding miraculous proofs. But Jesus rejected that false measure. Instead, He gave them real supernatural proof in the life-changing power of the Word of God… Think of all the “sinners” that followed Him; think of the woman of ill-reputation at the Pharisee’s dinner; think of Levi Matthew and Zaccheus, tax collectors; think of Roman centurions, and Samaritan lepers…

Are we one?

One of the greatest proofs of the supernatural nature of our mission, is our ability and willingness to work as one. This truly would be supernatural proof because every society in this world has a tendency to draw a line that separates “them” from “us”. Our selfish nature automatically, and immediately, reacts to the stranger with fear that he will take away what is rightfully mine… that if I am kind to him, my hard-earned goods will be depleted. My selfish ego tells me I am worthy and I am right and I am good but looks at the “other” and demands that they prove their worth before I am willing to take a chance of injuring myself by helping them.

Are we one?

Can the world tell, just by observing the way we live and the way we act towards others that we are followers of Christ?

Here are a couple of simple tests:

Is the Will of God the Father the motivating force in our lives? Or are we living our lives to get what we think we deserve?

Is God’s Truth, the words of Jesus, His teachings in the Gospel, our definition of truth? Or do we spend our lives chasing, advocating, and supporting all sorts of ideologies we claim are true?

John 17:24-26 (NASB) “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 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.”

It is through and because of that Love that we will, one day, be with Him and see His glory face to face.

But in the meantime, there is only one way to live this life that makes it worth it: In the Love of God. There is only one way in which we can carry out the mission that Jesus died in order to bequeath it to us: in the Love of God.