Reflective Bible Study

On the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, while traveling to the Garden with His remaining disciples, John’s gospel records a powerful prayer Jesus shared and it may surprise you to learn exactly what Jesus prayed for in this prayer. While we might wish for Jesus to have changed certain parts of His prayer, I know that because Jesus prayed the way He did gives us answers to how God may be moving in the world today, even if we would rather He move differently.

This powerful prayer comes immediately following Jesus teaching these disciples and promising them that He would send them the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and teach them.

Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 17, and we will read it using the Contemporary English Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

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.

In this prayer, which seems to end a little abruptly, we see a powerful theme present that many of us might wish was framed a little differently. At several places within this prayer, Jesus emphasizes His request for God to be with His followers while we are in the world and to keep us safe. In verse 11, Jesus prays, “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.” Verse 15 includes the request, “Father, I don’t ask you to take my followers out of the world, but keep them safe from the evil one.” And verse 18 emphasizes this truth even more when Jesus prays to God about His followers saying: “I am sending them into the world, just as you sent me.”

While we might have wished for Jesus to pray that God would rescue all of Jesus’ followers from this world, that was not part of Jesus’ goal. If Jesus had prayed for rescue for His followers, we likely wouldn’t be here today believing in Jesus. Instead, we have people who believe in Jesus over 2,000 years later because Jesus prayed to God to protect His followers while He sent them into the world.

Also, just in case we might have doubts about who Jesus was focusing His prayer on, Jesus quantifies that this prayer is bigger than just these eleven remaining disciples. In verse 20, Jesus emphasizes this point saying: “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.”

Jesus’ clear message in this verse is that we are included in His prayer just like His first disciples when we have faith in Him because of what His followers share. We are also able to spread Jesus’ prayer even further by inviting others to believe in Jesus so they can also experience God’s blessings and His promise.

However, near the beginning of this prayer is a powerful truth that is often overlooked or simply missed. In verse 3, Jesus tells us clearly: “Eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent.”

Eternal life is only found in knowing God, which can only be done through knowing Jesus Christ, the One God sent. Jesus came to show us God, and He died so that we can have the opportunity of redemption. Jesus Christ brings eternal life, and eternal life is only found when we know God the Father through what Jesus Christ accomplished for each of us!

Knowing in this context is more than simply being aware that God loves us, that Jesus died for us, and that belief in Jesus brings salvation. Knowing in this context means letting the truth about God and about what Jesus has done for us transform our lives! We accept God’s gift through Jesus when we let the Holy Spirit Jesus promised transform our lives with the truth of God’s love!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, continue to seek God first in your life and choose to accept the truth of God’s love into your heart and let the Holy Spirit transform your life. Choose to accept the mission God has given all of His followers to go into the world and trust that He will protect our lives. Even if our lives on this earth are given up in service to God, our lives are never lost when we have our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus. When we believe in Jesus, God promises to protect us through the evils of sin and bring us into His recreated New Heaven and New Earth that will exist forever without sin.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. God wants a personal relationship with you, and a personal relationship with God is best formed and strengthened through regularly praying and studying His Word – the Bible.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

In our last podcast episode, we began focusing in on a question several of Jesus’ closest disciples ask Him about the time of the end, and Jesus began sharing His response. However, Jesus’ response is much longer than one podcast could hold, so we stopped part way through, saving the last section for this episode.

If you missed our last episode, Jesus described a time of intense suffering and a time where we should not believe anyone who claims to be the Messiah or to know where the Messiah has appeared. Even if we see signs, wonders, miracles, or other amazing things, we shouldn’t be fooled, because as we discussed in our last episode, Jesus’ return has a distinctly different goal than His first coming.

In our last episode, we stopped reading before Jesus describes the time of His actual return. Let’s pick back up where we left off. Our passage for this episode comes from Mark’s gospel, chapter 13, and we will read from the Contemporary English Version. Starting in verse 24, Mark continues sharing Jesus’ response:

²⁴ In those days, right after that time of suffering,
“The sun will become dark,
and the moon
    will no longer shine.
²⁵ The stars will fall,
and the powers in the sky
    will be shaken.”

²⁶ Then the Son of Man will be seen coming in the clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ He will send his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the earth.

Let’s pause reading here briefly because I want to draw our attention onto what Jesus has just described.

In the days after the time of suffering that God cuts short for the sake of His people, we are warned not to believe any one claiming to have discovered the Messiah, or anyone claiming to be the Messiah. Jesus then describes how the sun will be darkened, the moon will cease to give light, stars will fall, and the powers in the sky will be shaken. All of these things could be describing independent events leading up to Jesus’ return, or they could be describing different aspects of the grand event known as Jesus’ return.

But regardless of these details, verse 27 makes it clear: Jesus “will send his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the earth.” Nothing in this passage hints at Jesus actually coming to this planet to stay. Instead, as I read this, the events leading up to Jesus’ return might be so dramatic that it makes the earth uninhabitable. With no sun, we would have no light, no warmth, and no vegetation.

Everything Jesus has described leading up to His return is so dramatic that if there is any doubt in your mind regarding Jesus’ return, it is likely a false Jesus coming, rather than the real one. In Paul’s writings, we see him describing Jesus’ return as gathering God’s people together in the clouds with Him. (For reference, this can be found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.)

Because of this, we can be certain that Jesus is not returning to set up an earthly kingdom, but to bring us home to a heavenly one.

But Jesus isn’t finished sharing. In verse 28, He continues saying:

²⁸ Learn a lesson from a fig tree. When its branches sprout and start putting out leaves, you know summer is near. ²⁹ So when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time has almost come. ³⁰ You can be sure that some of the people of this generation will still be alive when all this happens. ³¹ The sky and the earth will not last forever, but my words will.

³² No one knows the day or the time. The angels in heaven don’t know, and the Son himself doesn’t know. Only the Father knows. ³³ So watch out and be ready! You don’t know when the time will come. ³⁴ It is like what happens when a man goes away for a while and places his servants in charge of everything. He tells each of them what to do, and he orders the guard to keep alert. ³⁵ So be alert! You don’t know when the master of the house will come back. It could be in the evening or at midnight or before dawn or in the morning. ³⁶ But if he comes suddenly, don’t let him find you asleep. ³⁷ I tell everyone just what I have told you. Be alert!

While there is enough in this last section to fill an entire other podcast episode, for our remaining time together in this episode, I want to focus in on three big ideas in three of these verses.

The first big idea is one of the most time sensitive ideas, and it is stated in verse 32: “No one knows the day or the time. The angels in heaven don’t know, and the Son himself doesn’t know. Only the Father knows.” This is important for us to pay attention to because it tells us that setting a date for Jesus’ return is pure, 100% speculation. Setting a date for Jesus’ return when He tells us that the angels don’t know (which also includes Satan and his angels), and even that He doesn’t know tells us that any date that is set is a guess, and it is way more likely to be wrong than right.

Since Jesus tells us that only the Father knows this, we can conclude that even the Holy Spirit doesn’t know the date for Jesus’ return, which then means that any date set is not an inspired action, but a random guess at a number. This sounds more like gambling or picking lottery numbers rather than being inspired by God. Instead of spending mental energy on trying to figure out a date, we should live each day with the expectation that today could be the day, being ready if Jesus comes, while also planning our future lives in case tomorrow happens. In every case but one, tomorrow will come, but we don’t want to assume there will always be a tomorrow, because if we do, Jesus’ return will catch us off guard.

The second verse and idea I want to draw our attention to is found a couple verses earlier, in verse 30, where Jesus tells His followers, “You can be sure that some of the people of this generation will still be alive when all this happens.” While this might be an easier way of translating Jesus’ words in this verse, when we compare this statement to what some of the more literal translations say, we can see a potential misunderstanding or bias appear.

In the New American Standard Bible translation, we find this verse being worded like this: “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” The NASB translators also include the note on the word generation, saying that an alternate word they could have used is the word “race”.

This means that Jesus may simply be saying that humanity will not cease to exist before all that Jesus predicted comes to pass. This also subtly suggests that after Jesus returns, there may be a point when this race passes away, and in the context of this idea, we could conclude that Jesus may be referring to the sinful race and sinful generation He often describes in other places in the gospels.

However, another way of understanding this verse is in light of our third big idea, which is a promise that comes in verse 31. Jesus promises us that “The sky and the earth will not last forever, but my words will.” The NASB includes a little bit of wordplay in this promise, saying that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”

Jesus promises in this warning about the time of the end that even though heaven and earth pass away, which we know happens when God recreates the new heaven and new earth, Jesus’ words won’t pass away, and Jesus tells the disciples that His words have purified them.

When we listen and apply Jesus’ words into our lives, we will not pass away with the world. Like many of Jesus’ disciples and followers living during the first century, we can look forward to Jesus’ return and a future life with Him that lasts longer than sin, longer than our sin stained earth, and longer than we could possibly imagine. With Jesus’ words in our heart, we will outlive and outlast sin, and we will ultimately be united with Jesus forever!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first and place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and His sacrifice for you on the cross.

Continue intentionally praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow closer to God and Jesus each and every day and let His word challenge your life, your heart, and your mind. Accept and apply God’s word into your mind and your heart to let His love change your life and prepare you for the eternal life He has promised to give all His people.

And while we look forward to the time He returns, and as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!