Series: Jesus’ Final Remarks
John 17:1-26, ESV
John 17:1-26, Jesus “lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. “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. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 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. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 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. 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. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 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. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified[d] in truth. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 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.”
The prayer found in John 17 is known as the longest prayer Jesus spoke. Jesus knew what was ahead and he knew it would be very difficult for his followers.
Jesus knew His hour had come.
He knew He had nearly finished everything he was sent to do.
He knew eleven of His disciples would go into the world.
He knew they would scatter.
Jesus knew one of the disciples would betray Him.
Jesus asked that the 11 disciples would see His glory.
At some point in my life (probably back in the 70’s) the saying, “when God brings you to it, God will bring you through it” was popular. Some say it’s misquoting I Corinthians 10:13. Others liken it to Philippians 1:6 and Isaiah 41:10.
Even though it isn’t directly from scripture, it has helped me from time to time. However I did not think it meant that God would rescue me from any trial.
It’s been my experience that God doesn’t rescue me. Instead, God uses the time to teach me. While I can’t say I like it, I do understand it’s for my benefit.
That’s because God takes time to prepare me for the next step.
We also have to remember that God did not rescue Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
God did not rescue Jesus from the cross. The cross was not for Jesus’ benefit…it was for us. Jesus died so we might have eternal life.
I took the saying from the past about God bringing it to us to mean that when God allows a trial, God will stay with us in the trial. God will help us through it.
God will sustain us and will ultimately use what we learned for our own good.
So…even though trials can be difficult and uncomfortable (because as humans we are often ‘wired’ to form habits), they do serve a good purpose. The trial prepares us for what’s ahead.
I haven’t actually counted how many difficult trials I’ve experienced in my life, but since I’ve gone around the sun many many times I can tell you it’s been quite a few and God has never failed me. I just went through the longest trial I’ve experienced. It lasted three years. God assured me it was for a specific purpose and in time I would know why.
For now, I sit with God and I say I know there is a plan and I know He will bring me through it. I know.
I know that because God has never failed me and God certainly won’t fail me now.
Spiritual Practice: Trial
Think of a time when God was preparing you for a new season. Remember how God brought you to it and through it.
In God, Deborah
Comments