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In November
I attended the Jews for Jesus conference in Wisconsin,
and I was privileged to hear Dr. Erwin Lutzer,
a former professor of mine at Moody, and the current
pastor of Moody Church. Dr. Lutzer taught on this
same passage in John that we are studying today,
and he had some great insights. I want you to
know that I have borrowed quite a few of those
insights.
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. Chapter 17 records one of
Yeshua's last prayers, and His longest prayer
that is recorded for us in the Word of God. Through
this prayer Yeshua is lifting the veil that hides
the inner workings of the Three-In-One God. What
a privilege to be able to listen in to the intimate
communication that takes place between God the
Father and God the Son!
Let’s
pay close attention as Yeshua continues with this
great prayer in verse 18. He tells us that we
have a shared mission: As You sent Me into
the world, I also have sent them into the world.
God the Father is the One who sent God the Son
into the world. Yeshua told us that the Father
sent the Son into the world to reveal the true
God to the world, and to redeem humanity - to
save those human beings who were chosen before
the world was created.
The Three-In-One
God is our role model, the example we are to follow.
Just as the Father sent the Son into the world,
so Messiah in turn sends us out into the world,
and with the same mission: to tell them about
the only true God, and about the Messiah, the
Savior; like Yeshua, to tell them the good news
about salvation; like Yeshua, to warn people about
Heaven and Hell, sin and death; like Yeshua, to
call men and women everywhere to turn to God,
to turn away from their sins, to change their
minds about the Lord; like Yeshua, to seek and
save those who are lost, doing works of mercy
and kindness, which reveals God’s good name to
them.
As
You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them
into the world. We have the same task that
God gave to Yeshua. Is that your mission in life?
Is this what is really important to you? If you
get that better job, is it so that you can reach
those people in that new place that you will be
working with? If you are paid more, do you see
it as God’s provision so that you can give more
to help reach the world?
Next in
this great prayer, Messiah talks to His Father
about a shared sanctification - the need for sanctification,
first, in His own life, and second, in the life
of His followers: For their sakes I sanctify
Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified
in truth. Of course, the sinless and righteous
Messiah kept Himself holy, pure, separate from
all sin. Why? Not only was it not within His good
and sinless nature to sin, but there is another
reason. For their sakes I sanctify Myself,
that they themselves also may be sanctified in
truth.
It was
for our sakes. Yeshua kept Himself holy, He strove
with all His might to keep Himself free from any
contamination by sin, not just for Himself, but
for our benefit. Sin is like sand getting thrown
in the gears of a machine. Sin is like bad mutations
getting added to our DNA.
Sin is
like impurities getting added to pure salt, so
that the salt loses its saltiness, and becomes
useless. Sin is like someone added water to the
gas in your tank. Sin ruins one’s ability to function
the way one should. It lessens a human being’s
usefulness.
By resisting
sin, Yeshua knew He would remain completely useful
for His mission, the work of saving humanity.
By keeping Himself holy and pure, Yeshua knew
that one day we would be like Him - sanctified,
set apart from evil, holy and blameless before
Him, dedicated to God, able to enjoyed God, and
be enjoyed by Him, and fit to accomplish all the
good and eternal purposes that God has for us.
As your
rabbi, I really understand this. I feel the same
way when I am tempted. One of the things that
restrains me from giving into temptation is the
thought, “What will this do for the people at
the synagogue? If I sin, I know it will affect
them. How can I sin and hurt the people that the
Lord has entrusted to me? I’d better not. For
their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves
also may be sanctified in truth. ”
How are
we sanctified, made holy, set apart to fulfill
God’s purposes for us? What preserves us from
all the corruption and defilement and unholiness
that there is in the world? It’s the truth. And,
where do be find the truth? It’s 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. God is true, and this
supreme Book of books communicates the truth -
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. God’s
word is truth - pure truth, without any errors
mixed in. There is no lie, no error, in it. It
is reliable. It is trustworthy. It accurately
describes reality. It tells us the way things
truly are.
The truth
can set you free. The truth will give you the
knowledge of God, Heaven, and the way to eternal
life. Embracing the truth is like eating from
the Tree of Life. The truth, when it is planted
in you, can save your soul. The truth will make
you wise so that you can obtain salvation. The
truth will bless you. The truth will encourage
you. The truth will comfort you. The truth will
challenge you. It will restore your soul. It will
bring you happiness. It will sustain you with
peace. It will wash you. It will cleanse you.
It will sanctify you. The truth, if practiced,
it will make you holy. It will keep you on target,
separated from evil.
Yeshua
continues praying, not just for His eleven faithful
disciples eating dinner with Him, but for all
the Believers throughout the centuries who will
believe in Him as well. I do not ask on behalf
of these alone, but for those also who believe
in Me through their word. I love this. My
King, my Messiah, my Rabbi, is praying for you.
He is praying for me.
And He
tells us how those, who may be far from Him in
time, living in a distant century, far from Him
in practice, living in another culture, far from
Him in distance, living in another continent,
may come to know Him and believe in Him.
It’s through
the word of the apostles - these specially chosen
Jewish men, who were with Yeshua during His life,
who heard with their own ears His teachings, who
saw with their own eyes His miracles, and witnessed
His death, and who were privileged to see Him
alive after His resurrection, they were then enabled
by God to communicate to all the rest of us what
it is that we need to know about Him.
When you
read their word - which is contained in
the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and
the other inspired books and letters that make
up the Brit Chadasha, written by these special
men, you are learning about the Messiah, and you
will grow in your knowledge about the Messiah,
and if you simply trust their word, you should
grow in faith and belief and confidence in the
Messiah.
Next the
Messiah prays for unity - a shared unity: That
they may all be one; even as You, Father, are
in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us,
so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
The unity that we should have as Believers, is
the unity between the Father and the Son. What
kind of unity is shared between the Father and
the Son?
There
is a unity of nature despite diversity of personality.
God the Father is a distinct Person, as is God
the Son. There is no question about that. But
they are united in nature. God the Son is fully
divine, all-knowing, eternal, infinite, all-powerful,
with life in Himself, as is the Father.
God is
a God of unity, and yet an astounding diversity.
There is an amazing number of birds, with different
sizes, colors, shapes. There is a tremendous diversity
of different kinds of trees, and species of flowers.
I remember as a boy going to the Field Museum
and seeing their amazing butterfly collection,
with the thousands of kinds of beautiful butterflies.
He made the first dog, but from that dog came
all the breeds from Jack Russell Terriers to Great
Danes. Starting from one man and one woman, He
made men and women into nations, language groups,
with different colors, personalities, temperaments,
interests, abilities, aspirations.
And among
us, there is likewise to be unity of nature despite
diversity of personality. There is one Body and
one Spirit - just as we were called to one Hope
when we were called - one Lord, one Faith, one
Baptism, one God and Father of all who is over
all and through all and in all. By one Spirit
we were all immersed into one body, which is composed
of many different parts and members, yet it is
one body, whether they are Jews or Gentiles, men
or women, rich or poor, slaves or free people.
We were all made to drink of that one same Spirit.
We are all children of God, we are all destined
to live in the New Jerusalem. Our unity can overcome
racial diversity, economic diversity, and cultural
diversity.
God the
Father and God the Son share a unity of mind and
will and purpose despite a diversity of positions.
God the Father is the Supreme One in position,
and God the Son is willingly submitted to Him.
God the Father is on the throne, and the Son of
God is seated on His throne at the Father’s His
right hand. The Son is subordinated and submitted
to the Father, but they are both working harmoniously
together, unified in purpose, sharing the same
mind, will and Spirit.
Likewise,
we may have different positions; we have different
roles, but we share a unity of essence. Wives
are to be submitted to their husbands, the sheep
are to be submitted to the shepherds among us.
But all of us need to be united, with all the
members of the community adding their gifts and
talents and skills, working harmoniously together,
loving each other and bringing the message of
salvation to a disunified, broken, fragmented
world.
The world
can come together on the basis of having a common
agenda, like being against international trade,
or against big business, or for the ecology. The
world can unite politically or economically, or
even religiously, but we have a unity of nature
that is unique. Our unity is stronger than race,
than culture, than our Jewishness or our Gentileness.
Our unity is stronger than the unity of the world!
So, Messiah
prays that we all may be united to one another.
This is not a unity of external Christian agendas,
or an ecumenical unity around the least common
denominator (we all believe in Jesus, so let’s
unite - the demons believe in Yeshua too!) These
is a unity for true Believers, and not unbelievers.
This is not everyone united under the banner of
a watered down or heretical Christianity. No!
This is for those who know the only true God,
know that He has sent the Messiah, who have followed,
who have obeyed, who have believed His word, who
are being sanctified by the truth, who have suffered
for the sake of the Messiah. A line has to be
drawn. We must separate over the heresy, false
teaching, or corrupt practices. Better to be separated
by the truth than united by error!
This is
not the unity of Eastern religion, where all is
god, and you are god and I am god, and the rocks
and trees and flowers are god, and the birds and
the bees are god. No, it’s a different kind of
unity where there is still a distinction of personalities.
The Father is still God, but He is still the Father.
The Son is still God, but He remains the Son.
The Spirit is God, but He remains the Person of
the Holy Spirit. We are united to God, but we
are still humans beings.
This is
not the unity of the Dali Lama, who while he was
in New York, went to a hot dog stand on the corner
and asked the vendor, “make me one with everything.”
Unity
among believers must be based on truth and holiness,
and our unity with God the Father and God the
Son. Yeshua also prays that they also may be
in Us. God the Father was in Yeshua. Yeshua
is one with His Father. We are joined to Messiah;
and the Spirit of God, who is also the Spirit
of the Messiah, lives in us, and dwells in us;
and, in God we live and move and have our being!
It’s true
that we have a great unity by nature, but it is
also true that we must work at maintaining the
unity of the Spirit and being at peace with one
another. We must work at it, or we won’t be good
representatives of the Three-In-One God this world.
Our unity with one another, which is based on
our unity with God and Messiah and the Spirit,
demonstrates the reality of the one true God in
the midst of a disorganized, fragmented world.
A shared
mission, a shared sanctification, a shared unity,
and now Messiah prays for a shared glory: The
glory which You have given Me I have given to
them, that they may be one, just as We are one.
The word
“glory” - kavod in Hebrew, is used in different
senses. It can mean something that is heavy or
weighty; it can mean something that is honored
or esteemed, impressive and worthy of our respect;
it can mean something that is beautiful.
The Scriptures
speak a lot about the glory of God. God’s glory
can refer to the beauty, the magnificence, the
splendor of God, that He is supremely beautiful,
supremely splendid and magnificent.
The glory
of God can refer to the greatness of God. He is
supremely weighty as far as His position. He is
supremely great, supremely rich, supremely powerful,
and therefor He is deserving of our honor, respect,
attention, and obedience.
He is
not only to be honored because of His position
as sovereign head of the universe, but because
of His great Name - His surpassing character:
His righteousness, His faithfulness, His love,
His justice, His mercy, His goodness.
Yeshua
tells us that His glorious God and Father has
given Him glory. God the Father has honored Him
as His Son. He has allowed Him to be seated at
His 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, the Lord of the universe, ruling
over all things, the Executor of the will of God,
the Sustainer of the universe, the Redeemer of
mankind, the only Savior of the world, the head
the of Church, the Firstborn over all creation,
the One who is to be preeminent in all things!
The
glory which You have given Me I have given to
them. A measure of that which belongs to the
Son of God He will willingly share with us! But
only a measure. We will never share the full glory
of God, that is reserved for the Infinite Creator.
Before
we come to a saving knowledge of God and Messiah,
we don’t have much glory. We are dead in our sins,
walking corpses, fallen and corrupt creatures,
deserving the wrath of God. “All flesh is grass,
and all its loveliness is like the flower of the
field. The grass withers, the flower fades.”
But the
Merciful One takes sinners, corrupt creatures,
and will elevate them so high, making them a little
lower than God! The one who overcomes will be
allowed to sit down on Yeshua’s throne, as He
overcame and sat down with His Father on His throne.
The one who overcomes will be given the Morning
Star (probably a reference to Messiah Himself.)
Wow! To the one who overcomes Messiah will give
authority over the nations, to rule them with
a rod of iron, as He has received authority from
His Father.
The one
who overcomes will have his name confessed by
the Son of God before His Father and before His
angels. The one who overcomes will be have written
on him the name of God, and the name of the Son
of God, and the name of the New Jerusalem. The
one who overcomes will be a son of God, an heir
of God and a joint heir of Messiah Yeshua.
How else
can you be an overcomer unless God gives you things
to overcome? So let’s not complain when the Lord
gives us things to overcome. Let’s have a good
attitude regarding the things that God has given
us to overcome, understanding that the light and
momentary afflictions we experience are producing
for us a weight of glory far beyond all comparison.
But we
don’t have to wait until we are fully glorified
in Heaven to be given glory by Messiah. This part
of Messiah’s prayer is being answered even now!
All of us, with unveiled face beholding as in
a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed
into the same image from glory to glory! As we
peer into God’s word, keep ourselves separate
from sin, and gaze at Messiah, we are being transformed.
We are becoming more like Him. This prayer
is already being answered and will be answered
fully and completely one day.
The Father
honors the Son. The Son honors God in every way
possible. Does the Son of God ever upstage His
Father? Is there ever a conflict as to who gets
the credit for doing something? We must honor
one another. Not lift ourselves up, not take credit
away from others. Praise others for their accomplishments,
be happy when they do well, succeed.
Sharing
Messiah’s glory also comes from sharing Yeshua’s
mission with Him, the task of redeeming men and
women for God. By sharing Yeshua’s mission, we
share in His glory, and are united with Him and
with one another. God and Messiah, Messiah and
us, are united together in bring the new creation
into being. That they may be one, just as We
are one. I in them and You in Me, that they may
be perfected in unity, so that the world may know
that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You
have loved Me. The more true Christians and
Messianic Jews are perfected in unity, of the
same mind, agreed on good doctrine, loving one
another, supporting each other, fulfilling the
mission of world evangelism, the more the world
will know that Yeshua is the Anointed Messiah,
the Savior, and the coming King.
Father,
I desire that they also, whom You have given Me,
be with Me where I am, so that they may see My
glory which You have given Me. Yeshua prays
for our safe arrival in Heaven (and all of Yeshua's
prayers will be answered). He wants us to see
His glory, especially those who knew Him in His
humility. Yeshua was loved , honored and gloried
by God from eternity past, and He wants all of
mankind to know that and that He will be loved,
honored and glorified by God the Father for all
eternity in the future.
Now, for
most people, there will only be one way for this
prayer to be answered, to see Yeshua’s glory,
and that way goes through the valley of the shadow
of death. Death is the door through which we must
go to see our King in all His glory. And what
a sight that will be!
Therefore
we must not fear death. On a certain level, a
saint should be able to look forward to his death,
as did Rabbi Paul, who could say, “I prefer to
be absent from the body and to be at home with
the Lord.” So when we die, in one sense God is
answering Yeshua’s prayer that we might see His
glory. We can try to put off death, but let’s
not exert too many extraordinary efforts to put
off death. It’s part of God’s plan. For the saint,
death should not be seen as failure, but as victory!
A shared
mission, a shared sanctification, a shared unity,
a shared glory - and now Messiah prays for a shared
love: For You loved Me before the foundation
of the world. O righteous Father (Everything
that God does is right. He is totally incapable
of doing anything wrong), although the world
has not known You, yet I have known You; Yeshua
alone knows the righteous God intimately and perfectly.
He does not speculate about God like the other
religious leaders and philosophers from the other
world religions. And these have known that
You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to
them, and will make it known -Yeshua was sent
to bring the knowledge of God to the world of
men. And, He will continue to teach us about God.
He will forever be our teacher and rabbi, revealing
the endless name of God to us.
So
that the love with which You loved Me may be in
them, and I in them. A shared love. How has
God loved the Messiah? What is the extent of the
Father’s love? God deeply, fervently, intensely
loved His Son.“This is My beloved Son with whom
I am well pleased.” Yes, God loves the whole world,
but He has a special, intense, approving love
for His chosen ones. He must love us deeply to
have His Son, who is so loved by Him, die for
us. If He didn’t love us with a fervent, deep
intense love, why have His Son suffer, be tormented
and die for us?
How did
the Father love the Son? Eternally. Before the
foundation of the world. Before God made the sun,
moon, stars, the Father deeply loved the Son.
In the same way, we have been loved by God before
the universe was made. God knew who you were,
who your parents were, what your genetic structure
and your DNA would be; He knew your personality,
and your idiosyncracies, and all the little things
that make you you; He loved not only the parts
of you that are easy to love, but also he loved
you, knowing that there are parts of you that
are hard to love, parts that He will ultimately
fix so that you are holy and blameless before
Him.
Our responsibility
is to show this great love and unity which is
in us, to this fragmented, broken loveless world.
The world can out-finance us, out-entertain us,
out-organize us, but may it never be said that
they can out love us! Our love for each other,
and our love for the world, should attract the
world to us, but we must also show holiness which
should convict the world. Let’s dedicate ourselves
to loving one another?
Let’s
pray:
God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and righteous Father,
thank You for the privilege of sharing in the
same mission that you entrusted to Your Son -
the redemption of the world. Thank you that this
makes our lives, and our work in this world, so
meaningful. Help us to grasp hold of our mission,
and be faithful to our task, and subordinate all
else to get it accomplished, as did Messiah.
Help us
to keep ourselves holy, so we are best able to
accomplish our mission.
Thank
you for this amazing unity that we have - our
unity with You and Your Son and Your Holy Spirit,
and our oneness with one another. Help us here
at Shema to model that unity, the unity that the
Holy Three-In-One God has. As a result, may the
world come to know that You truly sent Yeshua
to be the only Savior of the world!
And Lord,
we bless Your for the glory that you are bestowing
upon us now, and the even greater glory that is
yet to come. We praise You that though Adam sinned
our glory away, through Yeshua that glory is restored!
We know that throughout eternity, as the sons
and daughters of God are revealed in their glory,
the question won’t be, who are the redeemed?,
but who is the Redeemer?
Finally
glorious God, may we truly learn to love one another.
Thank You for Your Holy Spirit, which is shed
abroad in our hearts, that enables us to love.
Give us greater love for one another, is my prayer,
b’shem Yeshua!
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