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Weekly Devotional

May 17, 2010

God’s Peace,

John 17:20 - 18:1  ²⁰ "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word,  ²¹ that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  ²² The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one,  ²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  ²⁴ Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  ²⁵ "Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me.  ²⁶ I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." 

            For the past few weeks, I have chosen to preach on a text other than the Gospel.  Yesterday, I preached on our lesson from Acts.  The previous two weeks  I preached on the text from Revelation.  However, yesterday’s Gospel was one that could be seen as very complicated.  Below I have copied a few notes from one of the sermon resources I use.  The notes come from Rev. Brian Stoffragen, who does weekly exegetical work at crossmarks.com.  (http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/john17x20.htm).  The text from yesterday (also above) is from the what is known as the “Farewell Discourse” in John’s Gospel.  The text above is in the form of a prayer.  I hope the notes below can give you some interesting points to ponder on this week.

“The Gospel readings for 7 Easter all come from John 17: Year A -- vv. 1-11; Year B -- vv. 6-19; Year C -- vv. 20-26.  While the prayer is a unified whole, it is usually outlined in 3 or 4 subsections, based on whom Jesus is praying for.

Vv. 1-8 Jesus is praying for himself -- "glorify your son" (v. 2) // "glorify me" (v. 5).

In v. 9, Jesus prays "for them" = those God has given to Jesus. This may refer to (a) the original disciples or (b) to all disciples, including us.

Verse 20 -- "those believing through their word in me" -- could refer to (a) believers converted by the original disciples, which would include us (Brown's interpretation); or (b) those not yet converted who will believe because of our witness to them (O'Day's interpretation -- further comments from her below).

Some distinct subsections seen by some commentators are vv. 6-8 and/or vv. 24-26.

An often overlooked theme in this prayer is the word "given" (didomi). This word occurs 17 times in this prayer (4 times in our text).

13 times God gives something to Jesus

• people (vv. 2, 6, 6, 9, 12, 24)
• glory (vv. 22, 24)
• authority (v. 2)
• the work (v. 4)
• everything (v. 7)
• the word (v. 8)
• God's name (v. 11)

4 times Jesus gives something to people

• eternal life (v. 2)
• the word (vv. 8, 14)
• the glory (v. 22)

God gives Jesus "the word" and "the glory," which Jesus then gives to us. Two implications: (1) God is the source of everything for Jesus and for the faith community; and (2) The relationship between the Father and the Son as illustrated by the "giving" Father, is the same relationship between the "giving" Jesus and the faith community -- or of the "sent" son and the "sent" community. The "where" of Jesus' prayer in v. 24: "Where I am they also might be with me," refers more to the relationship with the Father than being at a particular place. Among other descriptions, he is the recipient of the Father's gifts; he is the one whom the Father has sent.

Throughout the farewell discourse, Jesus has been teaching the disciples about the future, yet in this chapter, he does not entrust the church's future to the church, but to God.” 

In our prayers this week:  Robert, Ann, Katherine, and Wendi