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Prayer
was a very important part of the life of the King
of Israel. We often read of Him going off and
praying by Himself in a secluded place. This is
Yeshua's last prayer, and the longest prayer recorded
for us in the Word of God. It gives us insight
into the relationship between God the Father and
God the Son. What a privilege to be able to listen
in to the inner workings of the Three-In-One God!
Before we listen in, I’d like to make two observations:
Yeshua
spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to
Heaven - notice first that Messiah prayed
with His eyes open - not closed, and He focused
His eyes toward God in Heaven. I mention this
because somehow it has become the norm among Christians
to pray with their eyes closed, and heads bowed
down.
Second,
notice that Yeshua spoke these things to
His disciples, that are recorded in chapters 13
through 16, and now He speaks to God. Yeshua spoke
to His disciples about God. Now He speaks to God
about His disciples. Like our High Priest and
Mediator, we must speak to people about God, and
then we must speak to God about those people.
Both are necessary.
He
said, "Father, the hour has come: Yeshua's
long awaited hour (and this may very well be the
most important hour in human history), the hour
of His death, has finally arrived. What is Yeshua
doing before He faces this most difficult hour?
Praying. Drawing near to His Father, praising
the God of Israel. May I suggest that when we
are facing our difficult hours, we need to pray
and draw near to God as well?
“Glorify
Your Son” He requests of God, His Father.
Restore My honor to Me, My rightful place at Your
right hand, that the Son may glorify You.
When My honor is restored to Me, I intend to use
that restored honor to honor You. It is my fixed
and eternal purpose to add to Your honor and glory,
My Father, by being Your loving, loyal and obedient
Son. My desire is to honor You, with all that
I am, with all that I have.
And I
must be restored to My rightful place of dignity
and honor, even as You gave Him authority over
all flesh. Father, You have given Me authority
over all mankind. The nations will be My inheritance,
and the very ends of the Earth My possession.
I will break them with a rod of iron, and shatter
them like clay pottery (Psalm 2). And so,
I know that I must be returned to My position
of honor to exercise that control over humanity.
And, part
of My authority over humanity includes the accomplishment
of a very important purpose: that to all whom
You have given Him, He may give eternal life.
Father, You have given certain Jews and Gentiles,
specially chosen men and women, to Me. These human
beings, who are so precious to us, these valuable
treasures, who are made in our image, are given
by You to Me. It is My responsibility to give
each one of them eternal life, and I have the
authority to do so, So, I need to have My honor
and glory restored, so I can be that coming King,
who is, just and endowed with salvation (Zechariah
9).
What Yeshua
is revealing to us is that it is both God the
Father and God the Son who are involved in the
salvation of human beings. God the Father purposely
gives certain human beings, chosen by Him, to
God the Son. The Father gives them to the Son,
and the Son is the One who gives those elect human
beings eternal life.
And, it’s
not only God the Father and God the Son who are
involved in our salvation. We too must do something
- only one thing actually, to receive that greatest
gift of all - eternal life. Messiah tells us so
simply, what that one thing is that we must do:
This is eternal life, that they may know You,
the only true God, and Messiah Yeshua whom You
have sent.
Experiencing
eternal life (and believe me, you want to experience
eternal life!) will not come to us by anything
we can do: no good works that we can accomplish,
or any kindnesses extended; eternal life can’t
be purchased by any amount of money given, or
good causes supported, or religious ceremonies
observed, or participation in any religious system.
The Son
of God tells us (and He knows what He is talking
about), that the only way eternal life will ever
come to us is by having the correct knowledge
about God. That’s why having good theology - the
proper knowledge of God, is so important! We must
know the only true God - not the many gods that
mankind has believed in, but the one and only
God, the true God who really exists - the God
of Israel, the Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
But even
having the knowledge of that one and true God
is not enough. With the same kind of belief, with
the same kind of knowledge, we must know and believe
in Messiah Yeshua, the Anointed Ruler of mankind,
the One that God has most assuredly sent into
this world to be the only Savior of mankind. He
is equally worthy of our knowledge, our faith,
our belief, our trust, our confidence.
Yeshua
continues praying: I glorified You on the Earth,
having accomplished the work which You have given
Me to do. Father, I honored You while I was
in this body, on this planet, by putting all My
will, all My strength, into accomplishing the
great task You assigned to Me - the work of redeeming
humanity. And, I’ve done it! Mission accomplished!
And, accomplishing this great task that You assigned
to Me brings You honor and glory. Now, and for
eternity, men and women, angels and archangels,
cherubim and seraphim will know what a great and
loving and merciful and redeeming and saving God
You are!
Now,
Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with
the glory which I had with You before the world
was. I’ve honored You here on Earth. I’ve
accomplished the mission You gave me. Now it’s
time for Me to be restored to the same kind of
honor that You have, O God, restored to the same
kind of honor that We shared before the creation
of the universe, when I was seated at Your right
hand, in the position of greatest honor, full
of power and riches and wisdom and might and honor
and glory and blessings and dominion, surrounded
by the Living Beings, worshiped by the Cherubim
and Seraphim, and the millions of good angels.
I have
manifested Your Name to the men whom You gave
Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave
them to Me. You are the God and Father of
all, and the owner and possessor of all, but You
gave certain precious human beings, men and women,
Jews and Gentiles, to Me. Now these special treasures,
the highest order of creation, who will rule the
angels, are Mine as well. I’ve taught them, by
word, by parables, by miracles, by example, who
You really are. I’ve manifested Your name to them.
I’ve revealed who You are - that You are real,
alive, wise, full of mercy, grace compassion,
love and concern for lost humanity.
And
they have kept Your word. Now they have come to
know that everything You have given Me is from
You; for the words which You gave Me I have given
to them; and they received them and truly understood
that I came forth from You, and they believed
that You sent Me.
Like Me,
these most valuable ones of mankind, have accomplished
their mission. They have kept Your word. They
have done what You asked them to do, which was
to know and believe that I came from You, from
Heaven; that I was truly sent by You to do Your
bidding. They believe that. They believe that
I am Yours, and that everything I have, even the
words I have spoken to them, the truths I have
taught them, come from You.
Then,
after praying for Himself, Yeshua prays for His
followers. I ask on their behalf; I do not
ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom
You have given Me; for they are Yours; and I
have been glorified in them. Here Yeshua prays,
not for every human being, but only for the children
of God; those who have believed in Him, and given
Him honor, and have served Him. They have been
given to Him by God the Father. So, Messianic
Believers belong to both God the Father and to
God the Son.
In fact,
not just Messianic Believers God belong to God
the Father and God the Son, but Yeshua tells us
in this great prayer that we are privileged to
overhear between Him and God, that all things
that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; God
the Father and God the Son co-own everything that
exists. There is not one galaxy, one star, one
planet, one creature, one molecule, that is not
equally owned by the Father and the Son. Messiah
Yeshua, along with God the Father, is the Owner
and Master and Lord of all!
Let’s
continue: Yeshua prays for us, He says, because
I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves
are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father
(There is one "Holy Father" and it isn't the
pope!),keep them in Your name, the name which
You have given Me, that they may be one even as
We are. While I was with them, I was keeping
them in Your name which You have given Me; and
I guarded them and not one of them perished but
the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would
be fulfilled.
While
He was with them in the Land of Israel, Yeshua
was their good shepherd, their protector and guardian.
He watched over them, and kept them all out of
trouble. He Himself took the brunt of the opposition.
Not one of them perished, except for Judas, the
one meant for destruction.
But now
He is leaving them, and going back to Heaven,
and His physical presence won’t be there among
them, so He prays for their protection, that God
would keep them in His Name. In other words, that
they would be protected by God’s almighty power,
and His infinite wisdom, His unsearchable goodness,
His unfathomable mercy, and His unchangeableness.
And what Yeshua prays for happens, which means
that we are kept, we are protected by the Name
of God - all His power, all His goodness, all
the infinity of His wisdom, His loving care and
goodness, is concentrated upon us! Wow!
And, Yeshua
tells us, God’s name, which stands for His nature
and character, His essence as God, has been given
by God the Father to God the Son. Keep them
in Your name, the name which You have given Me,
that they may be one even as We are. God the
Father, who is supreme, has given His name, to
the Son. Question: When did God the Father give
His name to His Son? Answer: from eternity. There
was never a moment when God the Father did not
give His name to God the Son. The giving of God’s
name to Messiah is eternal and everlasting. So,
if we understand what “name” means in Biblical
Jewish thinking, Messiah is telling us in very
strong way, that He is fully God.
Don’t
you feel safe, knowing that you are protected
by the almighty power of such a great God, who
always answers the prayers of Yeshua, our High
Priest, who is interceding for us in such a way?
And what
is the purpose of us being kept safe by God and
Messiah, participants in eternal life? That we
may be one, even as God the Father and God the
Son are one. You see, God and Messiah are united
in a proper relationship, with God the Father
the Supreme One in position, and God the Son willingly
submitted to Him. God the Father is on the throne,
but the Son of God is seated on His throne at
the Father’s His right hand, but they are both
working harmoniously together, unified in purpose,
unified in love, caring for each Other, sharing
all things with each Other, honoring each Other.
And, this
is very important! This tells us what we must
be about. We need to be one, even as God the Father
and God the Son are one. We need to be united
as a loving community, properly submitted to each
other, with all the members of the community adding
their gifts and talents and skills, knowing one
another, honoring each other, loving one another,
helping each other, supporting one another, sharing
with each other, working harmoniously together,
and then bringing the message of salvation to
the world - bring this love and harmony and support
and care and unity to the broken world around
us. That’s what I want Congregation Shema Yisrael
to be about, and that’s what I think God is doing
more and more among us. I sense that God is bringing
His love, and His unity to us. We are more unified,
but we still have a way to go in this regard,
but I sense that it is happening.
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. 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.
Yeshua
forewarns us that we will experience hatred and
opposition and persecution from the world, because
we’ve embraced the Messiah’s value system, which
is so different from the world’s value system.
Instead of trying to be rich and successful in
this world, we long for the riches and successes
in Heaven. Instead of serving ourselves, we seek
to serve others. Instead of hating, we want to
love. Instead of returning curse for curse, we
leave a blessing. Instead of taking, we want to
give.
Even though
Messiah has returned to His Father in Heaven,
and is no longer with us in the same way that
He was with His disciples in the First Century,
and even though we experience hatred from the
world, we can still be happy, because we have
Messiah’s joy, the happiness that comes from knowing
that there really is only one God, who is good,
wise and glorious beyond description!
This Supreme
Being so loved this world made up of sinful human
beings that he sent his Son, who came to earth,
became a man, and lived a blameless life. Our
supreme rabbi taught the most exalted truths,
accomplished fantastic miracles, and then did
the greatest wonder of them all - he willingly
died, sacrificing Himself on a roman cross.
Then the
Almighty raised Yeshua from the dead, conquering
sin and overcoming death, and making possible
the complete forgiveness of all of our sins. Those
who are joined by faith to the Messiah have peace
with God. They are reconciled to the good Creator
from whom the whole world is estranged. They are
protected by the power of God, who is able to
keep them from stumbling and bring them safely
to the goal of eternal life. There is no force
in the universe that can separate them from the
love of God! They are more than conquerors! They
will eat from the Tree of Life which is in Paradise.
They will live forever in glorious light, seeing
and knowing as they are known, possessing new
minds and glorified bodies.
Those
who overcome will be allowed to sit on the throne
of the Son of God, just as he overcame and sat
down on God's throne. They will reign forever
and ever as kings and queens over the new Heavens
and the new Earth. God will overcome Satan. Good
will overcome evil. Heaven will overcome hell.
Life will swallow up death. Everlasting joy will
engulf all sorrow; every tear will be wiped away
from their eyes, and all sadness and sighing will
flee away.
No one
can take away our happiness, even if they persecute
us, and call us names, and make fun of us, because
our happiness doesn’t come from our circumstances.
Our happiness comes from knowing God, and knowing
these great truths!
In spite
of troubles that we will encounter, and the opposition
and persecution we will face, Yeshua does not
pray that we will be taken out of these difficult
situations, but that we will be able to persevere
through our troubles in this world. I do not
ask You to take them out of the world, but to
keep them from the evil one. They are not of
the world, even as I am not of the world.
The worst thing that could happen is that because
of the troubles we encounter, we lose faith, deny
God, turn our back on Messiah, and come under
the control of the evil one - Satan.
But our
great Intercessor prays that we will be protected
from the worst that the god of this world will
be able to throw at us. Yes, we might suffer,
and he may even kill us, but ultimately we will
be more than conquerors! Nothing will be able
to separate us from the love of God! We will overcome
by our faith and the word of our testimony, and
by not loving our life in this world, even to
the point of death.
Next Messiah
prays that we would be holy: Sanctify them
in the truth; Your word is truth. The word
“sanctify” means to be made holy, to be set apart
for God’s special purposes. So Yeshua is praying,
“Father, make them holy - set apart these extraordinary
men and women so that they will accomplish the
special purposes that You have for them. Keep
them separate from sin, from anything that is
unholy, from every moral and spiritual pollution.
Keep them far from all the things that will cause
them to miss the good goal which You are aiming
them for.”
How are
we made holy, set apart to fulfill God’s purposes
for us? What keeps us from the corruption in the
world? It’s the truth contained in Holy Scriptures,
this Book of Books. Sanctify them in the truth;
Your word is truth. This special Book is the
inspired Word of the only true God. It is His
Word. It comes from Him. He claims the ownership
and authorship of it.
This book
is not Moses’ book. It’s not Isaiah’s book. They
were just God’s messengers. It is God’s word -
Your Word is truth!
God is
true, and this supreme Book of books communicates
the truth - the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth. There is no lie, no error, in it. God’s
word is truth - pure truth, without any errors
mixed in. It is reliable. It is trustworthy. It
accurately describes reality. It tells us the
way things truly are. Your understanding of reality
conflicts with this Book? Guess which one is right,
and which one is wrong?
God’s
Word, which is truth, can set you free. This Word
can give you the knowledge of God, Heaven, the
way to eternal life. Reading it with understanding
is like eating from the Tree of Life. This Word,
when it is planted in you, can save your soul.
This Word will make you wise so that you can obtain
salvation. This word will bless you. This word
will encourage you. This word will comfort you.
This word will challenge you. This word, if read
and meditated on, and put into practice, it will
keep you on target, separated from evil. It will
make you holy. This Book will keep you from sin,
or sin will keep you from this book! And if you
don’t read it, don’t study it, don’t believe it,
don’t practice it, you will not be not sanctified
by God’s word. You will not be cleansed by the
washing that comes from God’s Word.
Let’s
pray: Thank you, Holy Father, for this great prayer
of Yeshua, that You will answer, and which is
recorded for our benefit! Blessed are You who
have restored the honor that Your Son shared with
You before the world began, and that you have
given Him authority over mankind, with the authority
to give those who believe in Him, and in You,
eternal life!
We bless
You, O Lord our God, that Messiah accomplished
the work You gave Him to do - the work of redemption,
the work of salvation. We praise You, Holy God
of Israel, that we are protected by Your name
- Your great power and goodness and authority,
so that we will reach the goal of eternal life!
I pray
for each person here at Congregation Shema Yisrael,
that the joy that comes from knowing You, knowing
Messiah, knowing the great salvation we have,
would be ours. Help us, our Father and our King,
to be sanctified by Your word, which is truth.
Cause us to hunger for Your word, thirst for Your
truth. And finally, Almighty One, enable us to
fulfill the mission that you have assigned to
each one of us.
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