It is always said
that what a person says in their last moments carry a lot of weight in regard
to who they truly are and what they believe. In John 17, we read the last
piece of extensive teaching of Jesus that is recorded. We know in the
days after his resurrection, that he continued to teach, but that teaching is
only briefly recorded for us. What is recorded for us extensively are the
last words just hours before his arrest. John 17 is the last piece of
this, it is a prayer, and in this prayer we can uniquely see what he prayed for
most, what He wanted most.
Our prayers reveal the deepest
things in our hearts.
Jesus' prayer
here in John 17 reveals His deepest things.
I was once
again reminded what is the priority of Jesus for us, 2 things: 1. His
Name 2. His Word. Let's look at these core things from John
17.
1.
The Words of Jesus
This prayer
contains theology, Trinitarian language, a call to love the name of Jesus and
the Father, to see that Jesus and the Father are pre-existent, etc. The
words of Jesus are always significant. So actually, his final words are
words, full of grace and truth and we need every one of them.
Jesus wanted
the Word to be deeply entrenched in our lives. That is why in the verses
below, the emphasis is on keeping the Word, receiving the Word, knowing the
Word as truth, and that sanctification happens in truth.
John 17:1
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and
said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify
you,
John 17:6
“I
have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.
Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
John 17:8
For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received
them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have
believed that you sent me.
John 17:14
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they
are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
John 17:17
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
John 17:19
And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be
sanctified in truth.
2.
The Name of God
Jesus also
emphasizes in His last words the priority of the name of God. Jesus says
that he manifested the Father's name to people and would continue to make it
known. He also stresses that we are kept in His name - the safest place
in the world.
John 17:6 “I
have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.
Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
John 17:11
And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am
coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me,
that they may be one, even as we are one.
John 17:12
While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given
me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of
destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
John 17:26
I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known,
that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
These last words
from Christ give us a clear picture of Christ's priority for us. So, how
are you and I doing in regard to these 2 priorities of Jesus. We can
never allow the Words and the name of God slip from us. It is my prayer
today that we build our life on His great name and powerful Words.
