Completing the Father's work

During His ‘High Priestly Prayer’, Jesus said to the Father:

John 17:4 I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.

A few verses later, specifically states what part of that work entailed:

John 17:6-8 I have revealed Your name to the men You gave Me from the world.
They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
Now they know that all things You have given to Me are from You,
Because the words that You gave Me, I have given them.
They have received them and have known for certain that I came from You.
They have believed that You sent Me.

Part of His mission was to purposely develop disciples to carry on the Father’s work after Jesus’ departure.  He didn’t just pick a few of His favorites from those who were following Him around.  They weren’t just hang-out buddies or there to be “Yes-Men” while Jesus conducted His ministry.

The Father specifically chose the disciples out of all the Israelites who were looking forward to the coming Messiah.  The Father gave these men to Jesus, for Him to invest in and develop.

Over the course of three years, Jesus revealed the truths of God to the disciples.  He taught them truths and He lived out those truths.  And now it was time for them to live out the truths they believed.

John 17:9-10 I pray for them.
I am not praying for the world but for those You have given Me,
because they are Yours.
All My things are Yours, and Yours are Mine,
and I have been glorified in them.

Just as the Father was glorified by Jesus as He completed the work the Father sent Him to do…Jesus will be glorified by the disciples as they complete the work that Jesus is sending them out to do.

Two main applications come from our observations here:

·        Are we glorifying Jesus by completing the work He has given us to do?
·        Are we purposely developing others to carry on God’s work after our own departure?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Praying for glory

After completing His last teachings on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus informed His disciples:

John 16:33-17:1 I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace.  You will have suffering in this world.  Be courageous!  I have conquered the world.

Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said:

Father, the hour has come.

What Jesus prayed next is commonly referred to as His ‘High Priestly Prayer’.  Since Jesus prayed this in front of His disciples, they would have heard Jesus’ exact desires and petitions to the Father.

Jesus knew what was going to happen that night in the garden.  He knew that His entire life, and especially the last three years, had led up to this night.  The hour of sacrifice had finally come.

In this prayer, Jesus prayed for Himself, the disciples, and all future believers.  He also made some significant statements and requests during this prayer.  The first part of His prayer is for Himself, but His words are not selfish…rather, they are focused on His relationship with the Father:

John 17: 1-3 Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You,
for You gave Him authority over all flesh;
so He may give eternal life to all You have given Him.
This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God,
And the One You have sent – Jesus Christ.

Eternal life – which is both forever-lasting and of excellent quality – is only found in knowing God the Father, through Jesus Christ.  We were created to be in eternal relationship with God.  Jesus affirmed this to the disciples earlier in the night, when He said:

John 13:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.

While Jesus prayed that the Father would glorify Him, Jesus’ aim was to use any honor the Father gave Him as an opportunity to reflect it back.  Glorifying the Father – enriching His reputation and advancing His agenda – was Jesus’ purpose in His life and ministry, and it continued to be his focus as He would head to the cross.

John 17:4-5 I have glorified You on the earth
by completing the work You gave Me to do.
Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence
With the glory I had with You before the world existed.

Jesus begins His ‘High Priestly Prayer’ in the same manner He had previously instructed the disciples to pray:

Matthew 6:9 Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy.

Above all else, Jesus was concerned with the Father’s reputation and agenda.  This aim dominated His life and His prayers.  As such, Jesus’ prayer practice matched His prayer teachings, and His example instructs us to focus on God’s glory in the same ways.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

In Jesus' name (part 1)

Praying “in Jesus’ name” is probably the most common, and yet least understood, phrase in modern Christian prayers.  We close nearly every prayer – both public and private – with the phrase.  We’ve heard others emphatically add “in Jesus’ name” to their individual prayer requests, almost as if they expected to channel an extra portion of God’s power just by saying those three words. 

Jesus instructed His disciples several times to “ask the Father in my name”.  But what, exactly, did Jesus mean by that?  And are we asking in the manner that Jesus prescribes, or are we just adding a tag-line of Christian-ese at the end of our prayers?

To come in the “name” of someone is to represent them, their decisions, desires, and nature.  We do this in many areas of our lives.  Sending an employee to represent you at a meeting, voting for a Congressional representative, or authorizing another person to have power-of-attorney are all examples of sending someone else to do a task “in your name”.  The significance of choosing the right person cannot be understated, since, as your representative, you have pledged to fulfill whatever obligation they agree to “in your name”.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus stated that He acted as instructed by the Father, as His Father’s representative, and in place of the Father.  In all these ways, Jesus was claiming to represent God “in His name” to anyone and everyone.

During His last night before going to the cross, Jesus gave His disciples many instructions, including:

John 14:6,11-12 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me…Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?  The words I speak to you I do not speak on My own.  The Father who lives in Me does His works. 

Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.  Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.  I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do.  And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Jesus tells the disciples that as they have witnessed Him imitate the Father…they will also have the opportunity to imitate Him.  It would be mind-blowing to think that they were going to the works of Father, AND do them with a greater impact than what they witnessed Jesus doing.  Their future ministries would reach far more people with the gospel than Jesus encountered during His three year ministry.  Although incredible, Jesus follows up this promise with an additional greater promise – but with a clarifying condition.

John 14:13-14 Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

“Anything” means anything, right?

Although we would like to have an automatic “yes” to all our requests, we know from experience that prayers aren’t answered like that.  Jesus states that whatever we ask – as if we were representing Him in our requests – will be done so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 

Glorifying the Father – enriching His reputation and advancing His agenda – was Jesus’ purpose in His life and ministry.  Therefore, anything we pray “in Jesus’ name” should line up with the goal of increasing the Father’s glory…and not our own.

Keep Pressing,
Ken