JOHN 17:13-19 (NASU), JOY, NOT OF THIS WORLD, SANCTIFICATION

Just to catch up, remember that Jesus is speaking directly to his Father. He is praying for the eleven disciples after the Last Supper. He is letting them hear this prayer and he gives the reason he lets them hear in verse thirteen.

13 "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.”

Even though Jesus is praying to his Father, he is quite aware that the disciples are eavesdropping on this conversation. In one sense, he is talking to them as well and has to remind them the prayer is directed to the Father. Yet, he reveals the reason he is talking to the Father about them. He wants them to have his joy in them.

This isn’t the first time that Jesus has talked about his joy and that it should and can be in them and us. In John 15:1-11 Jesus told us that when we abide in him and keep his commandments, his joy will be in us. This is a great reminder that when we try to do things on our own, even serving him, we won’t accomplish anything unless we abide in him. If we are not walking closely with the Lord, even our service to him will not bring us joy.

In John 16:22-24 Jesus again spoke of us having joy. The disciples were going to have sorrow at Jesus’ death but as soon as they saw him again, they would have a joy that no one can take away. In addition, just being able to ask the Father in Jesus’ name will be a joy. They hadn’t achieved that joy yet, but they did later, and we can have that joy now. We have not had to suffer the same kind of sorrow that they did, but right now, we can have joy in whatever we are suffering because we can talk to the Father in Jesus’ name.

Joy in the Lord should be an earmark of every Christian. In the book of Psalms, the word joy appears forty-one times. These verses bubble over with the joy we find when we know the Lord. We have more joy knowing the Lord than the world does when they are filled with good things (Ps 4:7). We even find joy after discipline (Ps 30:5). We find joy when we turn from depression or self-pity and remember the Lord (Ps 43:4). I could continue and relate the joy in each of the passages in the Psalms but I think the point is clear. With Jesus there is joy but without him, ultimately, there can be no joy.

14 "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

Jesus pumps them up letting them know about the joy they will have and then unloads on them the realities that they will face because he has taken them out of the world. Having God’s word in us transforms us. We don’t transform ourselves, but the Holy Spirit does it for us when we are born again. It comes when the Holy Spirit uses the word to make this change in our lives. Suddenly, we are no longer citizen of the earth, the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of the air, but we are citizens of heaven. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 ESV).  “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:13-14 NIV).

But there is a cost to becoming citizens of God’s kingdom. The people we left behind in the old kingdom hate us. It isn’t even a rational hatred. They simply hate us because we aren’t in their world anymore. We suddenly don’t do the things they do. We are appalled by sinful retched behavior. We start talking about Jesus and the Lord and telling how we’ve been called out of that darkness. What is their response? “They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you” (1 Peter 4:4 NIV).

There are many people who call themselves Christians, but no one complains about them because they live and act just like the world. Their lives don’t convict others of their ungodly lives. They may talk about Jesus but their lifestyle is the same as or worse than most people. They can be members of the LGBTQ communities or support them. They can affirm the rights of women to choose to abort their babies and call themselves Christians. They can find churches that will support them and encourage them. But they are still in this world. They haven’t been taken out if their lives look just like this world. The world doesn’t hate them, it loves them. They fuel the hatred of the world towards true Christians because we don’t join them.

15 "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”

Even though we belong to a new kingdom and we are transformed, we still have to live in this present world. Peter knew this very well. Jesus warned him that Satan wanted to sift him like wheat (Luke 22:31). He was too assured of his own ability to resist Satan’s temptations that ended up disowning Jesus three times. But Jesus knew better and prayed that he would repent, and his experience would be used to strengthen the other disciples and indeed it is an example for us as well.

I’ve listened to some people who feel it is their duty to hunt down and expose Satan worshipers. They tell of discovering clandestine meetings with human sacrifices and other pagan rituals. They elaborate on how to cast out demons and unmasking these evils. I even went to a counseling seminar that was billed simply as learning discernment, but it turned tried to show that even Christians can be demon possessed. It taught how to determine if a person was demon possessed and what to do. I think we should be prepared if we encounter a demon possessed person and not be afraid, but verse fifteen tells me we shouldn’t seek these encounters but let the Lord control the circumstances. Jesus prayed that we would be kept from the evil one. He didn’t pray that we would hunt him down.

Looking at Paul’s ministry, there were only two times he encountered the evil one. In Acts 13:8-11 Paul opposed Elymas whom he called a son of the devil. Then in Acts 16:16-18 Paul cast a demon out of slave girl. Neither of these could be considered the direct acts of the evil one. So, it appears that Jesus’s prayer to keep us from the evil one is still effective as evidence by the rarity of these encounters.

16 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.  18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  19 For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”

 

Jesus goes back to this theme that we are not of this world and he is not of this world. Repetition of a theme like this should make us take notice. We are in the world but don’t belong to the world. How does that look? As mentioned before, it looks like living lives that don’t bow to the evil demands of the world.

Jesus identifies that the only way we can do that is through the sanctify truth of God’s word. When we know the truth as God has clearly explained, we don’t have to argue with the ways of the world. We are sent back into the world to proclaim the truth as God has given us. The only way we can make an impact is if we declare the truth just as Jesus did.

Jesus said he sanctified himself. What did Jesus mean by this? The New Living Translation often take some of the mystery out of a verse by giving the most direct meaning of verse instead of letting us ponder it and dig deeper. So the NLT gives us the thoughts behind the words, “And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth” (John 17:19).

The truth of Jesus’ sacrifice is that he lived a completely holy life. He fulfilled all the requirements for righteousness in his life on earth. He did what Adam didn’t do and what we can’t do without his sacrifice. Once we know the truth that we can’t do anything to save ourselves, we can be sanctified in the truth that through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we can live in his righteousness instead of our own. That is only way we can have eternal life and be truly sanctified.

John 17:1-12 (NIV), Glory to Jesus, Election, Security

 

1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.”

This is a dramatic shift in Jesus’ dialog with his disciples. He is no longer talking to them and explaining things to them. He is praying aloud to his Father in heaven. Most of the time, Jesus has prayed in private to his Father, but this prayer is so important that he wants his disciple to hear his prayer for them and for all people who come to him in the future.

Previously, Jesus had prayed and asked the Father to glorify the Father’s name. Now, Jesus is asking that he will be glorified. If anyone would think that Jesus never claimed to be God or even hinted at it, then they have never read this prayer or have never understood what Jesus was asking. The first thing to understand is that giving glory is a form of worship.

All the nations you have made shall come

and worship before you, O Lord,

and shall glorify your name.

(Ps 86:9 ESV)

By asking the Father to glorify himself, Jesus is asking for worship. The second thing to remember is that God will not give his glory to another.

I am the Lord; that is my name;

my glory I give to no other.

(Isa 42:8 ESV)

Anyone who has the audacity to ask to be glorified the way Jesus did is either God in the flesh or he is demented. Since God did glorify Jesus and he is worthy of worship, this proves that Jesus is indeed who he claimed to be, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity.

3 “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

If we haven’t heard it enough, Jesus clarifies again that eternal life only comes by knowing God. A lot of our current world believes that all roads lead to God and the God is whatever we want him to be. But Jesus tells us this is nonsense. We must know the only true God. One of the big problems for the nation of Israel is that they kept departing from the one true God to follow other gods. The Lord repeats many times in Scripture that there are no other gods.

Before me no god was formed,

nor shall there be any after me.

I, I am the Lord,

and besides me there is no savior.

(Isa 43:10-11 ESV)

Yet, Jesus also adds that they need to know him as well. It isn’t enough to believe in God for salvation. If that were so, then all faithful Jews would be saved. We must also know Jesus. God the Father sent Jesus and if you want to believe in God, then you must also believe in the one he sent. The reverse is also true. Jesus made a big point about the only way to know the Father was to go through Jesus and once you know Jesus, you will know the Father as well (John 14:6-7).

Jesus claims to bring glory to the Father by doing everything the Father sent him to do. But, Jesus had not yet died on the cross. That was one more thing that he had to do. Yet, as Jesus continues and asks to be glorified in the Father’s presence, it is evident that Jesus is contemplating the cross as a completed work. In the perspective of God, it is a completed work. Peter explained it when he said Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” and was crucified (Acts 2:23 ESV). God’s plans cannot be thwarted (Job 42:2). What God has decreed cannot be changed and that is a good thing because it assures our salvation.

But there is more. Jesus, himself, declares that he had been with God the Father before the existence of the world. John didn’t make up the first chapter when he said Jesus was with God in the beginning. This all points to Jesus’ deity and anyone who denies this certainly doesn’t know Jesus.

6 "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.”

Jesus is clearly talking about the eleven apostles. Judas has already left and Jesus will make it clear that he isn’t included in this part of his prayer. Jesus doesn’t claim any credit for rescuing the disciples from the world. This is all the Father’s sovereign choice. He chose the disciples long before Jesus even came into the world. Before Jesus selected the twelve, he prayed.

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles. (Luke 6:12-13 ESV)

Jesus spent a complete night praying to make sure he called the correct individuals to be the apostles, his ambassadors to the rest of the world. His concern for prayer was to make sure he selected only those whom the Father had given him. This is an interesting glimpse into the way Jesus, the God-man, functioned. Sometimes, he got insight quickly and sometimes he had to pray to make sure he was doing the Father’s will.

How often do we run ahead of the Father and his plans? Sure, there are times when the Holy Spirit may nudge us to do something on the spur of the moment like witnessing to someone. But the big important decision should always be emersed in prayer.

These eleven that have stuck to Jesus are the ones who have obeyed Jesus’ words. As the followed Jesus, they slowly came to the realization that Jesus was passing on to them what the Father had revealed to Jesus. Though they still didn’t have a complete understanding of what Jesus and the Father had planned, they knew Jesus came from the Father. They didn’t even completely understand that Jesus was indeed God in the flesh. They couldn’t understand that until the Holy Spirit came to them. Shoot, we know it to be true, but we still don’t completely understand how it works.

What is most important is that they believed the Father sent him. That is the beginning of faith for many.

9 “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.”

Jesus is still praying for the eleven disciples. He hasn’t extended this pray to anyone else, yet. He is setting a firm, specific boundary on this part of this prayer. He is repeating the security that they have in belonging to himself and to the Father. While there is a hint in this that there are many more who belong to Jesus, he is making it abundantly clear that he isn’t praying for everyone in the world.

Too many people today think that everyone will be saved. They glamorize Jesus by talking about how kind and gentle he is. They say things like in eternity, he will just wrap his arms around people who have hated he all their lives and love them. Then they will stop squirming and hating him. But that would not bring glory to Jesus through them. To be truly glorified and not glamorized, Jesus must execute justice for evil, unrepentant, sinners who have rejected him. There is no way he would pray for those whom he knows will never ever accept him as Lord and Savior.

11 “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name — the name you gave me — so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.”

The disciples have not yet been born again. They don’t have the Holy Spirit. Jesus has been keeping them from falling away by the power of the Father’s name that the Father gave to him. If Jesus hadn’t been protecting them, they would have all left or betrayed him just like Judas did. When Jesus goes to the cross, he knows that he will be taking the Father’s wrath and will die. During this time and for some time afterward, Jesus will not be protecting the disciples from Satan’s schemes. This is one of the reasons Jesus is only praying for his disciples who are with him at that time.

This becomes evident that the hasn’t prayed even for all the other disciples who had been following him. If he had, they would not have cried out for his crucifixion just a few days later.

This is just a foretaste of the assurance we can have when we’ve placed our faith in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. Jesus has sent his Holy Spirit to be with us as a guarantee of our salvation (Eph 1:13-14). Jesus will never lose any single person whom the Father has given him. Judas is not an exception from the standpoint that Jesus always knew he would be lost (Ps 41:9). It was foretold in Scripture that he would be lost (Ps 109:6-19). If you hear the gospel and believe, you can be assured you are called, even if you have heard it many times without responding. Turn to Jesus today for salvation.

JOHN 16:16-33 (NKJV), A LITTLE WHILE, ASK IN JESUS’ NAME

 

16 "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father." 17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "What is this that He says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, 'because I go to the Father'?" 18 They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is saying."

I haven’t counted how many times in the last few chapters Jesus has said he is going to the Father. It must have been a bunch. The point being that the disciples still don’t understand the gravity of what is going to happen to Jesus. But we must be honest. We would not have understood either.

Jesus is going to die. They won’t see Jesus while he is in the tomb. Then they will see him after his resurrection. Somewhere between his death on the cross and his resurrection, Jesus will go to be with the Father. I know, most of us associate this with his ascension. But the truth of the matter is that once Jesus has a glorified body, he can be in heaven or on the earth at will. There is no longer a reason for him to be physical separated from the Father as he was before his death. However we must not forget that his divine nature was always with the Father and the Holy Spirit because the divine Trinity cannot be separated.

The disciples zero in on this “little while.” They don’t understand any of it but the this seems to be the most confusing point to them. Every time Jesus had told them of his impending death, they didn’t get it. They had come to believe Jesus is the Messiah, but they never embraced the concept of a suffering Messiah. Somewhere in their thinking, they may still believe that Jesus was going to somehow establish his kingdom on earth, and it would be soon. Now, Jesus’ “little while” doesn’t compute.

We are the same when it comes to doctrines that we’ve been taught. In the last eighty years or so, the majority of the church has been taught the doctrine of pretribulation rapture where all Christians will be rescued from the coming seven years of tribulation before Jesus’ return. This has been taught so much that when we find passages that suggest this might not be the way it will happen, it doesn’t compute. We ask what that means but we don’t accept the answer because it doesn’t fit on the current theological bandwagon. We reject it even if it is answered by previous theologies of the eschatology. Whenever we come to difficult passages in the Bible, we should always examine our preconceived bias that would resolve the difficulty simply because that’s what we’ve always been taught.

For example, consider the parable of the tares.

But he said, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.  30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn’” (Matt 13:29-30 NKJV).

The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matt 13:39-43 NKJV).

Jesus clearly explains that those who are evil will be taken out of the world first. Yet our pretribulation theology says that Christians will be taken out in the rapture first. I realize there are more passages that apparently support both views. I have not inserted this to make any definitive proof that pretribulation rapture theology is flawed, but to point out that we are like the disciples who didn’t understand what Jesus was saying because they had their conquering Messiah in view. What if we are wrong? How would we live differently if we had to prepare to go through the tribulation?

19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'?” 

How did Jesus know that they wanted to ask him about this “A little while”? Before we jump on the conclusion that Jesus in his humanity was also omniscient, we must understand that this could have been as simple as him overhearing their muttering to each other. While Jesus had been given information that was beyond his knowledge in other situations, there is no need to see this as one. We need to understand that the human characteristics of Jesus preclude him being omniscient. While his divine nature must be omniscient because he is God, this is not an attribute that can be given to a human being. Whenever Jesus exhibits omniscience, the specific knowledge must have been given to him at that time. Regardless of how Jesus came to this knowledge, he caught the disciples and wanted to clarify his statement.

If we see others confused by what we’ve said, we should follow Jesus’ example. We don’t have the ability to read others’ minds. Good communication is always better than letting people guess what you mean. It would solve a lot of problems in interpersonal relationships.

20 “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  21 A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  22 Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.”

In the same way that prophets of the Old Testament were given knowledge of the future, Jesus is given the knowledge of what his disciples are going to do when he is crucified. Because the disciples will still not understand why Jesus must be crucified, they will go into deep mourning.

But the world will rejoice. The world will be the Pharisees and Sadducees who will have orchestrated Jesus’ death. They will believe that they have finally gotten rid of the one person that has threatened their status quo. It reminds me of the world’s reaction to the death of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:10, “And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth” (ESV). People who have been stopped or hindered in their sinful behavior or desires always rejoice when anyone who has opposed them is removed whether by death or legal action. It is no wonder that abortion advocates react so vehemently when abortions are outlawed.

Our misery and sorrow last only a short time just as the disciples’ mourning lasted only three days. The pain that we encounter is temporary when we face trials or setbacks in our life. Jesus promise to the disciples is where we can take heart. Just as they saw Jesus again after three days, so we will see him when we go to be with him, or he returns. This joy is something no one can take from us.

23 "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.  24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

In that day must be after Jesus’ resurrection and his ascension to the Father. After the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us, we will all be adopted sons of the Father. This means we don’t have to go to Jesus to talk with the Father. Jesus has already explained that the Father is in him, and he is in the Father. Since this is true, then what is the difference between asking the Father directly or asking Jesus? Sometimes prayer and how we are to pray just gets too confusing. For instance, we can look back at John 15:7 and find Jesus tell us to ask him for everything.

It is easy to miss what Jesus is saying when we apply these words to prayer. When we do, we are taking the verses out of context and end up twisting ourselves up in theological knots trying to explain how we can or cannot get anything from the Father when we pray in Jesus’ name.

Context is always the first element we should look at when trying to decipher a difficult passage. These statements by Jesus are in the context of asking questions of Jesus. They are not in the context of asking for physical provisions or other things, even miracles of moving mountains. The disciples were afraid to ask Jesus what he meant. They didn’t understand him. Now, Jesus is speaking of the future when the Holy Spirit will remind them of what Jesus has said. He is adding to this that when they are stumped, they should ask the Father. Jesus will not be physically present to answer their questions and that is when they need to ask the Father. James was not present for this conversation, but he must have learned about it from the disciples as he writes, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5 ESV).

The lesson is quite simple. Ask the Father for wisdom when studying God’s Word. Don’t develop your theology on a passage without examining the context.

25 "These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.  26 In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you;  27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.  28 I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."

All that Jesus has been telling them is figurative. Does that mean what he has been saying about “a little while” is figurative and that praying in his name is also figurative? Which parts are figurative, and which are not? Also, when does Jesus speak plainly about the Father? He is obviously talking about some time in the future. Previously we identified that day in the future as after his resurrection. Jesus spent many days talking to the disciples after his death and resurrection. I can only conclude that this is when he told them more about the Father and didn’t use figurative language.

29 His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! 30 Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God."

They didn’t get it. We often read the Bible and try to understand what is being said by using a “literal” approach. This is when a word means only what it means. A feather is a feather and can mean nothing else. In this case, “In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge” (Ps 57:1 ESV) would necessitate God having physical wings without understanding that the passage is poetry and not meant to be literal. Just as Jesus used the word sleep for death when talking about Lazarus, we must look at the context to understand the meaning of words. The disciples heard Jesus say that he would speak to them without figurative language in the future. Whatever Jesus had told them figuratively, they now believe is not figurative.

Then they leap to the conclusion that Jesus knows all things. I just talked about Jesus not being omniscient. But the disciples think it is because he just answered their questions even though they didn’t ask. Following this logic, it would be right of them to believe he came from God. But they don’t know anything about how the divine nature and human nature of Jesus interact with each other.

31 Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?  32 Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.  33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Jesus does know a lot whether it is revealed to his human nature by the divine nature or it is just his sinless human nature that has no flawed logic and acute perception of what is going on. I believe it is the latter in this case. Jesus doesn’t for a minute believe that their faith is solid enough to get them through the upcoming trial of his arrest, trial, and crucifixion. He even warns them again that they will scatter and abandon him.

The Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father. He knows that though they all desert him, the Father will not. At least not until that dreadful moment when all our sins are placed on Jesus and the Father cannot look upon sin.

Again, Jesus reminds the disciples that all he has been telling them is to prepare them for the trials that they will encounter in the world. They will remember this and then they will have peace. We can all have peace because Jesus has overcome the world. He has lived a righteous life in the face of every kind of trial and tribulation that can be thrown at him. In doing this, his ability to overcome will be given to the disciples and to us because we will gain his righteousness when he takes our sins.