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The Gospel of John, The Period of Conference, Conference With the Father, Part LXIX, John 17:24-26 - Lesson 177
Read Verses John 17:24, for review: Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
This is the climax of this wonderful prayer of Jesus Christ to the Father.
Will the Father refuse the petition of one who only asks according to the Father's will?
He will not give his son a stone if he asks for a fish.
Jesus Christ says, I will.
He expresses a word of authority!
Jesus Christ expresses his will in no vague or uncertain terms.
Jesus Christ is about to die and he here includes his own in his will.
If you are his you are named in his Will.
Father my will is for those that you have given me to come to where I will be that they may partake of the glory that you have given me.
I desire that they behold my glory.
I desire that they be joint heirs with me.
I desire that they may be where I am.
He includes all that the Father had given and includes no other.
None of his own lost, all saved to behold his glory, to be the recipient of his benefits, his blessings.
He said John 14:3. I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also?
Where Jesus Christ is, is where his own ought to be.
And his will is just that. I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.
As that is the will of Jesus Christ you can be sure that that will, will be fulfilled.
for (He says) thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Can't we expect that great love to guarantee that the will of Jesus Christ will be honored by the Father?
Jesus Christ continues in John 17:25, O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Jesus Christ had revealed his will to the Father that those whom the Father had given him would be with him so that they could see his glory.
Now in this verse he calls upon the righteousness of the Father to reveal that sinful humanity cannot see God.
Those that the Father had given Jesus Christ would see his glory but those of the world would not see his glory.
Jesus Christ called the Father "Holy Father" when he prayed for his people's sanctification but here he calls the Father "Righteous Father" when he prays for their glorification.
God is righteous when he chooses to glorify his people who are righteous in his Son and when he chooses to excercise his justice upon those of the world.
Those of the world are without excuse and choose by their rejection of Jesus Christ the justice of God.
As Rom 1:19,20, Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Jesus Christ declares that the world does not know the Father but he was faithful in that the little band in whose midst he prayed knew that Jesus Christ was sent from the Father.
By this knowledge they had passed from being children of the world to children of God and thereby were in the beginning stages of knowing the righteousness of God.
Their journey was beginning and when their journey was complete they were to be brought into the presence of Jesus Christ and they were to see his glory.
John 17:26, And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Jesus Christ concludes his prayer to the Father by summing up what he had done and would continue to do for his disciples and for all who would believe on Him.
He had made known the Father and would continue to make known the Father through the Holy Spirit.
Then he states why he is a declarer of the Father's name.
He desires that the love that he enjoys from the Father may also be enjoyed by those whom the Father had given him.
This is what being one with the Father and the Son means.
That each has a consciousness of God's love.
He ends the prayer with the words "and I in them."
The love of the Father only dwells in us through the mediation of the Son.
Summary: So He has prayed that the Father preserve them through his name.
He has prayed that they might have his joy fulfilled in them.
He has prayed that the Father keep them from evil.
He has prayed that He sanctify them, set them apart.
And He prays here that they be one, that they be unified in the same pattern that Jesus Christ and the Father are unified.
This is a prayer for the spiritual growth of the believer.
He prays that his own my behold his glory and know the love of the Father as he knows the love of the Father. |