1 After Jesus had finished speaking to his disciples, he looked up toward heaven and prayed:
Father, the time has come for you to bring glory to your Son, in order that he may bring glory to you. 2 And you gave him power over all people, so that he would give eternal life to everyone you give him. 3 Eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent. 4 I have brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, give me back the glory that I had with you before the world was created.
6 You have given me some followers from this world, and I have shown them what you are like. They were yours, but you gave them to me, and they have obeyed you. 7 They know that you gave me everything I have. 8 I told my followers what you told me, and they accepted it. They know that I came from you, and they believe that you are the one who sent me. 9 I am praying for them, but not for those who belong to this world. My followers belong to you, and I am praying for them. 10 All that I have is yours, and all that you have is mine, and they will bring glory to me.
11 Holy Father, I am no longer in the world. I am coming to you, but my followers are still in the world. So keep them safe by the power of the name that you have given me. Then they will be one with each other, just as you and I are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost, except the one who had to be lost. This happened so that what the Scriptures say would come true.
13 I am on my way to you. But I say these things while I am still in the world, so that my followers will have the same complete joy that I do. 14 I have told them your message. But the people of this world hate them, because they don’t belong to this world, just as I don’t.
15 Father, I don’t ask you to take my followers out of the world, but keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They don’t belong to this world, and neither do I. 17 Your word is the truth. So let this truth make them completely yours. 18 I am sending them into the world, just as you sent me. 19 I have given myself completely for their sake, so that they may belong completely to the truth.
20 I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me. 21 I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.
22 I have honored my followers in the same way that you honored me, in order that they may be one with each other, just as we are one. 23 I am one with them, and you are one with me, so that they may become completely one. Then this world’s people will know that you sent me. They will know that you love my followers as much as you love me.
24 Father, I want everyone you have given me to be with me, wherever I am. Then they will see the glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the world was created. 25 Good Father, the people of this world don’t know you. But I know you, and my followers know that you sent me. 26 I told them what you are like, and I will tell them even more. Then the love that you have for me will become part of them, and I will be one with them.
Read John 17:1-26 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
At the close of Jesus’ prayer on the night of His arrest, He makes a powerful but odd request. This request might not seem possible when looking at His words on the surface, but when we look a little deeper, we see an incredibly powerful truth that we can take and apply into our own lives and perspectives.
John recorded Jesus’ prayer, and he tells us that Jesus finished by praying, “Father, I want everyone you have given me to be with me, wherever I am. Then they will see the glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the world was created. Good Father, the people of this world don’t know you. But I know you, and my followers know that you sent me. I told them what you are like, and I will tell them even more. Then the love that you have for me will become part of them, and I will be one with them.” (v. 24-26)
In the closing words of this prayer, Jesus touches on the single characteristic that makes us one with Him. Jesus prayed that “the love that you have for me will become part of them, and I will be one with them.” (v. 26)
Love becomes the key characteristic that unites us with Jesus, and when we are united with Jesus in love, we are also united with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Through this love, we are able to show Jesus to others and only with His love can we be an effective witness while sharing Him with others.
But Jesus starts this concluding section off in a challenging way. He asks the Father, “I want everyone you have given me to be with me, wherever I am.” (v. 24a)
Since Jesus was nearing the time when He would return to heaven, this request doesn’t make sense when placed alongside His earlier statement about not removing His followers from the world. Unless we are capable of being in more than one place at a time, we cannot be here in the world but also in heaven with Jesus – at least in the most literal way of understanding this concept.
Part of me wonders if Jesus is talking about something differently from being physically present with Him in heaven while also being physically present here on earth. I wonder if prayer and perspective hold the key to staying connected with Jesus while He is in heaven while we are living here on earth. Through prayer, the Holy Spirit, and a focus on growing within God’s love, we are able to be one with Jesus while also being present on this earth. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is able to be with us wherever we are, and through prayer, we are able to connect with Him wherever He is.
While here on earth, we are called to be Jesus’ representatives, and we do this by being connected through God’s love that He has given to us through Jesus and through the Holy Spirit. While we live lives that represent God, we help those in the world know God better – and while not everyone who we interact with will respond favorably to God’s love through us, we are not called to change, convert, or convince people into choosing God for themselves. Jesus has called us to love as He loved and the greatest example of this is that He came into a world that was hostile towards Him and He loved it even though it ultimately cost Him His life.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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