LEARNING DAILY

John 17:3, And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Jesus has given the disciples encouragement and warning. Now He begins to pray. In this prayer, Jesus will pray for His disciples and all who would believe in Him because of their ministry and because of the words many of them will write to form the Bible. That includes everyone who believes in Him today!

Eternal life! Throughout the gospel written by John, he points out that salvation comes from putting one’s faith in Jesus Christ; in Him alone. The Bible is clear that this salvation brings eternal life in God’s kingdom, in heaven, instead of eternal separation from God. For the Believer this means living each day, forever, in God’s presence. “Eternal life is not just length of life but a quality of life – knowing God as Lord, Father, and Friend.” (David Jeremiah Study Bible).

Jesus speaks that Believers may know the Father through their faith in Him. Knowing Him is far more than an intellectual knowledge; the implication is a deeper level of intimacy that can be known. James writes in Ephesians 2:19, “even the demons believe in God and shudder”. The thought being conveyed is that the Believer’s faith is not to be passive or just going through motions and speaking “Christianese” (Pastor Ed Newton). No! The Believer is to be continually growing to be like Christ as they walk each day on a narrow way, placing their faith and trust in Jesus as he/she faces each situation during the day.

In John 10:30 Jesus made this statement, “I and My father are one.” That declaration was enough for the Jews to take up stones to stone Him to death. In the verses that follow, Jesus challenged them to look at the miracles He had performed. Were they not enough to convince them that He and the Father are one? The work He did could only be done because of God Himself.

This prayer was spoken to His Father – between them. The Lord Jesus is thanking the father for those who believed in Him, and as tomorrow’s page of the blog will show, for those who would believe in Him. He prays for His disciples. They will need encouragement in the days ahead. They need to know that they belong to Him, the Father because “You gave them to Me” (verse 6). Jesus made a point of telling the disciples that He chose them; that is the Father gave them to Jesus. In the last part of verse 6 Jesus prays, “these men kept Your word”. This is an essential part of discipleship – obedience. David Jeremiah writes, the way a person regards the Bible is the way he or she regards Christ, the living Word.”

I do not imagine that Jesus was shy about telling the disciples about their “shortcomings”. Just like Believers today, these men were not perfect; they made mistakes. Yet, they kept God’s Word. Believers, today, are certainly not perfect as they walk the narrow way. God knows that! Hebrews 4:16 clearly states as Believers, “let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need”. That means when Believers sin, they do not need to be afraid of being turned away from the throne of God; they do not need to try to hide their mistakes and failures or fail to mention them in their prayers. God, in His mercy has forgiven our past mistakes and gives His grace to the needs right now. That is what Jesus did for the disciples and all Believers today!

Trust in your commitment to Jesus Christ and walk the narrow way in that commitment!