New Thoughts (06/11/12-06/18/12)
A Few Comments on Context (06/11/12)
There is point I should like to make regarding the larger setting of this prayer before delving into the particular portion in front of me. There are two major themes, it seems to me, that run through the prayer. There is that matter of glorification which was so strongly present in the opening, and there is the thread of unity, oneness, which runs onward to the end. Here, we see the two threads intertwining in the person of Jesus, and in that of His disciples. They have glorified Him, as He glorified the Father and as the Father glorified Him. They need to be of one essence as Jesus and Father are of one essence. Indeed, they need to be of one essence together with Jesus and Father.
Now, this is not a point to be stretched too far. That unity of essence clearly does not extend to the point of us becoming part of the Godhead. Yet, we are made family. We are adopted into kinship with the Godhead. We share of His essential character. We are granted, much to our amazement, a portion of His authority. We have a seat in His administration, if you will. We hopefully concur in all that He purposes to accomplish, and seek with what capacity we possess to further those purposes.
That we are able to contribute at all is, in reality, evidence of that essential unity for which Jesus has been praying here. And, it is in the effect of that essential unity that we are empowered to make the true nature of the True God evident, whether by preaching and evangelistic messages, or simply by evidence of character and a life lived according to His principles. Finally, it is by making His True essence manifest that we glorify Him.
I am in mind of Paul’s words describing how the invisible attributes of God are made evident through that which He has created. We are part of that which He has created. We are the pinnacle of that which He has created, for thus He created us to be. As such, surely those invisible attributes of God ought to be that much more evident in us than in trees and clouds and mountaintops! These things, majestic though they may be, cannot display His mercy, cannot really declare His righteousness.
As I am typing this, there is a photograph of some deep space phenomenon on my screen. A seeming hole in the heavens reveals a blue nursery of stars in the midst of the angry red gasses of some nebula. It is truly an awe inspiring vista. To imagine the being Who has created all this, and sense one’s own comparative insignificance is to be humbled. To look upon all this and fail to see the hands of one’s Creator is a sorrow that ought be beyond bearing. Yet, many do. But, to my point: This vista, amazing as it is, cannot reveal God’s essential character. It surely makes His power and creativity clear. It certainly demonstrates a certain aesthetic on His part. But, what can it possibly speak of purity, of holiness, of love or wrath or any other such equally necessary aspect of His being? What does a nebula, or a mountainside, or an ocean of water, tell us of Justice? Of Mercy? Of Forgiveness? Nothing. It takes the revelation of God’s children, those whom He has redeemed, and in Whom He has worked such regeneration as makes them clearly a breed distinct from the world. In such as these, He can show His character to a world that sorely needs to know.
It is for this cause that we are left in the world. We often ask why it is He couldn’t just save us and translate us directly. But, such is not His plan and His purpose, for to do so would leave insufficient witness for those who remain. Truly, had this been His plan and purpose, there would be a church of approximately twelve. We, ourselves, would be condemned to an eternal damnation had He not determined to leave a remnant ever present on the earth to keep His name before those whom He is calling.
Could He have found another way? Presumably. He is God, after all. Yet, He has determined that this is the perfect way: One man reaching out to another, one rescued sinner showing hope to the next. Here, we endure hardships, it is true, but only so as to make us spiritually stronger. And, here we also enjoy fellowship such as we never knew beforehand. Oh, I don’t deny that there is fellowship amongst unbelievers as well, and that they can know friendships as solid, and in many ways as profound as that of the believer. But, there is something more when we know this connection in the Spirit. There is a fellowship we share that goes beyond our immediate circle, beyond those with whom we’ve even had the first correspondence. We share in a fellowship that transcends national boundaries, and even the boundaries of time. We are in the company of a great cloud of witnesses. We share fellowship with all those who have been counted amongst the called in previous generations, and we share fellowship with all who ever shall. And, along the way, we have this particular blessing of being a part of keeping that fellowship strong, keeping it available to those who will follow us.
What was given? (06/12/12)
There is one technicality of translation that deserves to be looked at in this passage. A look across certain of the available translations shows that there is a difference of some sort in how verses 11 and 12 are understood. In particular, where Jesus says, “which Thou hast given Me,” there is a question as to whether He is referring to God’s name or to the disciples. The NLT notes that the discrepancy in translation here is actually a discrepancy in the manuscripts. Which manuscript you follow will apparently determine which way Jesus is understood. I’m actually a bit surprised that the NET doesn’t make note of this. They’re usually pretty thorough about noting points of translational difficulty.
Following the NASB, I notice that in verse 11, they actually indicate that their inclusion of ‘the name’ as the object for that clause is an inclusion of something that the original text does not truly include, even if it supports the words conceptually. In verse 12, they allow it to remain enigmatic, just what it is Jesus is given by the Father. The NIV also takes the course of making an explicit decision in favor of the name being given. Yet, the NKJV follows several of the older translations (including Webster) in preferring to find reference to the disciples.
As I say, the decision seems to rest largely upon which manuscripts are followed. I’m looking at what I have for interlinear, here, and though the KJV apparently provides a ‘whom’ for ‘Thou hast given Me,’ it’s translating hoo, which is in the singular. This is the relative pronoun. It could be whom. It could as easily by which, what, that. In fact, in verse 12, the KJV switches to using ‘that’. Fine. There’s nothing there, however, to suggest a debatable wording, as though maybe some transcripts used a plural form or some such matter that might point the hoo at them rather than at Him.
So, let me approach this from a slightly different angle, and ask which reading makes more sense in the context. If I look a bit forward from here, I see Jesus referring to the glory which the Father has given Him (Jn 17:22), and if I look backward, there is reference to the authority given to Him (Jn 17:2). More immediately, in verse 9, He makes a point of noting that these men with Him are also given to Him by the Father. Or, if we feel more magnanimous, we might extend that to cover the elect more generally. It is interesting that in each of these other cases, Jesus is explicit about what is given. “You gave Him authority.” “All whom You have given Him.” It is only as I look at verse 6, where Jesus is speaking of the men which the Father gave Him, that I run into a limiting feature. We again have a form of hoo, except this time it’s hous. What’s the change? It’s plural. The ‘which’ matches the ‘men’, as opposed to the singular ‘name’ that He has manifested.
This provides me with the only real key I can see to lay hold of. The pronoun ought match that to which it refers, which is a fairly obvious observation. So, a singular hoo ought to be expected to refer to a singular term. That being the case, it makes more sense to follow the NASB and accept that what Jesus speaks of as being given to Him in these verses is the name, not the men. The men after all, have already been identified as given, and that explicitly. Twice now He has made this point. He manifested the Name to the men given to Him. He is now asking on behalf of those who were given to Him. What does He ask? That the Father keep them in the name that was also given to Him.
This moves me neatly to my next topic. That name, which is the Father’s and which the Father gave to Jesus cannot be understood as the proper name which Jesus bore in life. Jeshua is not a name we find directly attributed to the Father in any setting of Scripture, so far as I know. Indeed, we should certainly understand that throughout this section, the name of which Jesus is speaking is no proper name of any sort. We ought not to even hear a reference to the covenant name of Yahweh in His words. He is speaking of something different.
God’s Name (06/12/12-06/13/12)
What’s in a name? Why are we instructed to pray ‘in the name of Jesus’? Well, one thing is certain: It is not with the intention that we append this phrase to the end of every prayer as though it were a guarantee that God will now answer us. It’s certainly not that we would just get in the habit of saying the words without even thinking about it. No. There is something more to it, something that might be particularly familiar to one raised to think in Hebraic fashion.
Let’s go back and consider some of those Old Testament narratives. Consider the patriarchs. Abraam is called by God to go off on this journey away from family and friends. Along the way, as part of the covenant relationship established between God and himself, God changes his name to Abraham. Again, we see it happen with Jacob. At an appropriate time, God takes it upon Himself to give Jacob a new name: Israel. That occasion is actually rather telling, for Jacob, having wrestled with the angel of God, asked after that one’s name, and the angel of God refused to give answer. Why? What harm in letting one’s name be known?
Well, there is the sense that in having the power to name, one has the power to command. This is something that we see developed from the outset. Adam, set in the garden of Eden, is given the task of naming everything, every living creature he comes into contact with. Note, however, that he is not given to name himself. God has that honor. What ought we to understand in that? First, man is intended to have dominion over all the creatures of the earth, a point which is stated outright. Secondly, man is not autonomous. Man is not to have dominion over himself, ultimately. That belongs to God. Man belongs to God. It is for God to decide our bounds and our course, and we, being named by Him, are to obey.
Notice, then, that particular aspect of the nativity of Jesus. “You shall call Him…” Neither Mary nor Joseph are given this authority over their son. It is reserved to Father God. He has named Him. The authority to command rests with Him.
This, however, is but one aspect of understanding what is involved in the name, and we certainly ought not to understand Jesus as saying that He has somehow passed on to these eleven men the power to command God. “I manifested Thy name to these men.” No. It is utterly unthinkable that God would be so foolish as to entrust Himself into the hands of men in such a fashion! There is something more, something different going on here.
The name has this other aspect to it, that it sums up for us the full picture and memory of that one who is named. The name stands in for character, for reputation, for authority. We understand this well enough from our own experience, do we not? If somebody brings up a mutual friend, though we may not have seen them or heard from them in many a year, yet all that was shared with that friend comes back to mind. Why we counted him a friend, what events marked the friendship, what we admired and perhaps even what may have bothered us about that friend; it’s all right there in our mind’s eye at the mention.
“Jesus, just the mention of Your name,” goes the song. Yes! Just the mention of His name, and all that He is, all that we have come to know of this One Who is our bridegroom, our Savior, our kinsman Redeemer, and our King, comes to the forefront of our thoughts once more. Or, it should at any rate. There is just and sufficient cause for us to take offense when we hear His name uttered as a curse or an epithet. How dare they speak thus of so wonderful a Friend? We wouldn’t tolerate it if they spoke that way about our spouses, our mothers. How, then, ought we to accept that they speak that way about our God?
Yet, this still falls rather short of what Jesus is getting at in these verses. “I manifested Thy name.” Yes, there is that aspect that He has been revealing to these men just Who God really Is. He has, more to the point, been living Who God really Is. I have, by My example and practice, demonstrated Your own practice. I have, by My character, shown Yours. “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). I have manifested You, Your name, Your character, Your magnificence, and yes, Your power.
But, as we proceed down to verses 11 and 12, it’s something more still. He hasn’t kept them by demonstrating Who God Is. He has kept them by the authority that belongs to God. Here, we arrive at a very specific application of this concept of name. To act ‘in the name of’ is to act upon the command of, to act by authorization of. It is to serve as the representative of the one named in pursuit of his cause. This is also a practice familiar to us. “Stop in the name of the law!” What does that mean? Does the word ‘law’ have some power over us that will cause us to freeze in place? Is it some magic force that impels us to comply? Only as conscience dictates, or good sense. No. The point of that shout is to indicate authorization. I am acting under the auspices of our legal system, and by the authority granted me by that system I require you to stop.
Likewise, we understand our nation’s ambassadors to be acting in the name of our president. They cannot promise whatever suits their fancy. They bear authority, but only within the bounds set out in their mandate. We properly recognize our representatives in a similar light. We have authorized them to legislate on our behalf. If they fail to do so, if they legislate in ways that disregard our best interests, we can, at the very least, vote them out of office to be replaced with those who will better serve our name.
The name of God, the name which is above every other name, is so because it represents the final authority, the utmost authority. His is the absolute sovereignty. In Him alone is there authority that answers to no other. And, encompassed within the scope of His authority is every other creature in all of creation, whether in heaven or on the earth or under the earth. Even the devil, for all his active rebellion and all his conniving, cannot act except within the bounds set by this sovereign God. When Scripture says that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus our Christ is Lord, it means it! That is not to say that every tongue will be pleased to admit such a thing. But, every tongue will be compelled to admit it at the last. Every king, every president or prime minister, every tyrant and dictator, will finally have to admit that their authority is at best a delegated thing. There is One to Whom all must answer.
That is the Name which is the Father’s which He has given to the Son. What we are hearing, then, in verse 11 is an echo of what began in John 17:2 – “You gave Him authority over all mankind.” The gift of life is solely for those who were likewise given to Him. But, the authority is over all. Even those Jews who would be decrying Him before Pilate, even the Romans assigned by Pilate to carry out His execution, even Pilate himself: All of these are encompassed under His authority.
Now, understand this as well: It’s not just the authority. It’s the power to back up that authority. This is not so immediately in evidence in the verses here, but neither is it to be neglected. Father, keep them in Your name… You have the power, the authority, the unimpeachable will to do so. And, it is this aspect of the name in particular that we ought to recognize as having been given to Jesus. If it is God’s name that satisfies the ‘which You have given Me’, then that powerful authority, that sovereign reign against which no rebellion can prevail, is the very same power in which He kept His own while He was in the world.
Think about that for just a moment. Though He had, as Paul writes, let go all His heavenly prerogatives, even so the Father saw fit to invest the full extent of His own power and authority in the Incarnate Son of God. The power of God walked among men, and yet was so fully devoted to the purposes of heaven that men were not destroyed by His merest presence. This is the same Godly power of which it is written that the blast from His nostrils as He sneezes suffices to overturn empires. And we have read the proofs that it was indeed this self-same, earth-forming, earth-sustaining sovereign power that was vested in Jesus. How else does a man stand up in his boat and command wind and wave to cease? How else does one provide a bountiful meal to thousands from provisions that couldn’t properly hope to satisfy tens? God is in control, and Jesus, fully vested with the name of God, acting in the name of God, exercised that control as God’s perfect earthly representative.
“I have kept them in Thy name, in Your power and on Your authority, while I was with them.” “None is able to snatch them from My hands. My father gave them to Me and He is greater than any and all. No one can snatch them from His hands, and He and I are One” (Jn 10:28-30)! What a marvelous declaration! What a foundation for our own security! Whether we can rightly sing that He has the whole world in His hands as concerns salvation, we know He has all those whom the Father has given Him thus in His hands, and never has He lost a one, nor ever shall.
There is another bit of a progression here that I would not want us to lose sight of. In verse 6, Jesus say, “I manifested Thy name.” I rather like how Weymouth presents this clause. “I have revealed Thy perfections.” All that You are, the untouchable, inimitable majesty of Your perfect holiness has been demonstrably in view for these men, and not only in view, but presented with cogent and patient teaching. I have made certain that they got it, and now, these men ‘have known in very deed’. I turn to the Douay-Reims translation in this case, because I rather like the way that they manage to present a certainty that is even stronger than knowing, stronger than knowing indeed.
There is not a direct literal foundation for this, but it rather suits. I explained to them everything that You told Me to teach them, and they know! They know everything You gave Me is truly from You. I haven’t been passing off my own inventions as some divinely inspired message. No! I speak from the throne room! They received what I gave them, those words You gave Me, and they truly understood. That’s the bit the D-R is presenting. They know in full, they know indeed. But, that wasn’t enough to express it. They really get it. The know in very deed. This deserves to be brought back as a bit of enlightened street slang. You have to admit it sounds a sight more impressive than saying that they really, really get it this time. What a marvelous phrasing to arrive at the desired emphasis. Lord, I love You. But that’s not enough. Truly, I love You and I seek to love You truly. But, again: it’s not enough. I love You indeed. No. I love You in very deed. Even that threatens to fall short of the desired superlative degree.
It is probably a side-effect of the world we live in, but the superlatives of our language have become so degraded by overuse and careless application that words that ought to strike us with the singular majesty of God barely even register. Awesome? That used to be a word that had meaning. Now, it’s little more than an interjection, carries not so much more weight of meaning than ooh, or wow. Super? When it describes the scale of our meal selections, what value is left to the word as we might yet be inclined to apply it to God? Amazing? I’m not sure we even know how to be amazed any longer. We are so used to spectacle, practically demand spectacle of anything that would request our attention. Not that God couldn’t top the grandest of spectacles without really expending any much effort, but that we are so dulled of senses as to suppose we ought demand such spectacle even from Him; what does it say about us? And again, what value remains to the word if it has been exhausted describing these lesser events?
Maybe, then, this ‘in very deed’ sort of phraseology ought properly to be reserved to things that are directly and solely attributable to the God of heaven and earth. Were I to take such a stand, even this usage would border on profanity. They have known in very deed? They are hardly worthy of such a superlative declaration! But, then we stop and consider just why it is they have known as they do, and we arrive back at God, at what He alone could achieve in them – what He alone can achieve in us. For we are not in any wise their betters.
If I might return to that connecting thought, though: Jesus manifested the Father’s essence to these men. Now, we come to verse 10, and read ‘I have been glorified in them.’ Well, there we are back at that glory concept I stopped to look at in the previous study. What are You saying Jesus? They made You all shiny? Obviously, that’s not it. The NET suggests something along the lines of “I have been honored among them.” Well, that’s OK, so far as it goes. But, it’s insufficient. That they formed a positive opinion of the Man is nice, but is essentially valueless. Here, let me take from the Message, the presentation, “My life is on display in them.” Now we have something. Jesus manifested the Father by teaching and by action. These men are now taking up the same task as regards Jesus. They are making Me manifest by their teaching and actions. As they proceed, backed by the authorizing name of the Father and of the Son, and – as will shortly be made clear – of the Holy Spirit, they have taken up the self-same mission that was found in the work of Jesus.
We are also to recognize ourselves as being in this same tradition. We, too, having been numbered amongst the elect, are assigned to the mission of manifesting the Son, glorifying the Son. This isn’t about singing with abandon and waving our hands in the air. It’s not about being seen in perfect attendance at church, present for every event. It’s not even about establishing a reputation for being on one’s knees in prayer at all hours, or for being deep in God’s word on a daily basis. It’s about imparting by purposeful exposition and by incidental practice, in short to give evidence in every aspect of how we live our lives while we, too, are here in the world.
As I look to the workday ahead of me, I could easily slide into a mindset of simply viewing the technical challenges – which are indeed impressive. I could concentrate on presenting myself as the expert I am expected to be, giving top consideration to burnishing my credentials. I could wrap myself in concerns for my company’s reputation which would be at least marginally more selfless of me. Or, I could walk into this day mindful that I am first and foremost an ambassador of heaven, on a mission from God and answerable primarily, fundamentally to Him. If perchance I can maintain that perspective today, I dare say the rest of it will set itself in place. The expertise I need will not come from me, Lord knows. If it is to be in evidence today, it will be because He has brought to mind what I need to know and say even in this more mundane business of business. It’s either all about Him or it’s not! It’s either all from Him or it’s not.
It’s either the true basis by which I understand myself, or it’s become nothing but empty words and self-aggrandizing vanity that I even spend this time morning by morning, looking at what is written and pouring out whatever it is I feel is being poured in. Father, may word be processed into action in me today. May I, today, be seen a true representative of Your kingdom, whether it’s in dealing with hotel and restaurant staff, or dealing with my clients. Whether I am, in each moment, master, slave or equal, let me be found in character like Yourself, like Your Son, My Savior and My Lord. May You, Lord Jesus, truly be Lord of me this day. Amen.
God’s Choice (06/14/12-06/15/12)
Having established Whose name it is by which we are kept, it is really a fairly straightforward step to arrive at recognizing that He Who keeps also chooses. Why should God keep that which He does not want? And, if He wants, who is it that will withhold? There are several places in John’s Gospel that this point is made in unmistakable terms. Nor is John alone in this understanding. It is there from start to finish in Scripture. Adam, to be sure, had nothing much to recommend himself to God, particularly after the Fall. Yet, God continued to keep him and his descendants. Between Jacob and Esau we are forced to recognize that there had been no opportunity for either to present God with cause for His determination, yet at birth it was determined that Jacob would be chosen and Esau rejected.
In John’s Gospel we have the very word of the Son on this matter. I paraphrase, as ever, but the gist of the passage is well known to us. “All whom the Father gives Me will assuredly come to Me, and I will just as certainly not cast out any one of them. I have come from heaven, after all, to do the will of Him who sent Me, not to do My own thing. This is His will: That I not lose even one of those He has given Me, but raise them all up on the last day” (Jn 6:37-39). The Father gives, and the Son accepts. And there is this: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn 6:44). This we must hear in conjunction with John 14:6 – “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The choice lies with God. He calls, we answer.
I understand how this offends the sensibilities of many people. We so want to have a hand in the matter, want to be able to point out an accomplishment or two of our own by which we have earned God’s recognition. What’s more, we are devoted to the idea of being in charge of ourselves. We are self-determining creatures, masters of our own destiny! It all depends on me. Except we aren’t and it doesn’t. It all depends in Him. At the end of the day, we are kept men, every one. A bit of sober introspection must surely lead us to be very thankful that this is so! Were our standing with God dependent on our own capacity for obedience and steadfastness we would have to give up now for complete lack of hope. But, it’s about God. It’s about Jesus! Rest assured that the Father would not have given His Son over to such abuse and torture were there even the least possibility that even so many as one of us might manage righteousness on our own. But the verdict was in from the start. There are none righteous, no not even one. We are all of us in need of salvation because we are all of us wholly incapable of complying to God’s Law.
There are those that suppose that an infant, should it die too soon (as we measure things), has not sinned and therefore escapes this declaration. But, it is not so! David knew it, and he wrote it down lest we miss the point. I was a sinner from the womb! I was born in sin, my very conception was already wrapped up in sin (Ps 51:5). There’s no escaping it. We are conceived with the guilt of sin already upon us, and no amount of obedience thereafter can really change the matter. It needs God. What, then, becomes of those infants lost before the age of reason? Who is fit to say? Who has truly been there and returned that they might bring us report? For all that, though we deem them as having died short of the age of reason, in what way does that prevent the Spirit from working? In what way is that necessarily an impediment to God imparting the grace of faith unto salvation? It cannot. God is supreme!
So, then, we are kept men, and what of it? What of it?! We are hedged about by the very hand of God from which there is no power in heaven or on the earth could ever extract us! Even Job, for all his trials at the hands of Satan was never truly outside that keeping hand of God. Oh! This is no guarantee that we shall avoid the trials and snares of life. Quite the opposite. We are assured by our very Savior that in this life we will have trials. It’s not even a possibility. It’s a certainty. You will. But! This comes with a promise: He Who warns us thus also tells us that by His decree those trials shall never exceed our capacity to bear. Those trials will never be so terrible as to wrench us from His hand. No, He has never lost a one, nor shall He ever. “My Father, who holds them in His own hands, is greater than all!” Could we ask a more wonderful existence than to live henceforth in the knowledge that He Who has begun this work in us is absolutely certain to complete it? Can there be a greater assurance than knowing God’s got our back? It is He who is at work in us both to will and to work (Php 2:13). What do we suppose shall separate us from Him? There is nothing. It’s not even in the realm of possibility.
The sad note that we do hear sounded in this present passage is that there are those whom God has not chosen. Jesus, as He prays for His own in the world makes this plain. “I don’t pray for everybody, but solely for those You have given Me” (verse 9). He chose. He keeps. It’s all about Jesus.
Yet, even Jesus, by His own confession, answers to the Father. How exactly this plays out within the essential unity of the Trinity is unclear to me. It would be tempting to suppose that subordinated position applied to Jesus only in His humanity, leaving His equality within the Godhead untouched. We know that equality is His. That is stated for us. Yet, Jesus, on a previous occasion, has declared that His subordinate position applies at least in some regard even to His status as God. Back in John 8:42, Jesus comments on how those who have God as their Father must surely love Him for having proceeded forth from the Father. He reiterates this business of proceeding forth from the Father, saying, “I have come from God, and even that was not of My own volition.”
Let’s be clear on this: What Jesus does not say is that He came against His will. That is not the point, it is that He was not the primary instigator of that determined plan, but rather, as He says, “The Father sent Me.” He sent, I came. There is nothing in this that requires us to suppose Jesus an unwilling or uninterested participant. There is nothing in this that should cause us to suppose some sort of resentment on the part of Jesus for having to come to earth. Paul makes that sufficiently clear, I think. He did not consider His true status and prerogative as God a matter to cling to, but willingly set all that aside to see this mission done. Willingly! Be clear on that. It was willing obedience to the Father, not grudging acceptance of the inevitable.
This same thing applies for us. The choice of our salvation lies with God, but that does not, in the end, make us unwilling recipients of that salvation. We find what He has done to truly be a gift to us, and we discover ourselves pleased to accept that gift. Was that acceptance in some way our last grasp at merit? Is that a work we can point to that keeps us involved, if not really in control? No, for even this has come as part of that gracious gift. The Spirit worked within so as to make us receptive to what Jesus proffers. Are we just pawns in His game? You know, in some ways, maybe the answer to that is yes, yet we are not mindless pawns. We are friends. We know what He is doing and we know why He does so. More, we are in wholehearted agreement with His plans so far as we are aware of them. It pleases us to be part of what He is doing, even though we know that even our part is really His doing.
In all that ever we do for God, we ought to hold to this same understanding that Jesus expresses. It was not of my own volition. He sent Me. If there is any good in me, it is because He is working there. He is providing the will to be willing. He is providing the skill to do as He wills. I am not some awesome example of humanity, that He should be thrilled to have me on His team. I am but a creature, a child at that, and unwise in the ways of heaven. Yet, my Father – my Father – is pleased to have me participating in what He is doing. He lets me do my bit, however trivial in comparison to His might and wisdom. Even if it’s just to fetch Him a tool He could as easily have reached over and grabbed Himself, it’s not just God on an ego trip making me jump to His will. It’s God enjoying His child, training His child up in His own ways, allowing His child a part in things that are still beyond his years. It is my Father being a father to me. Shall I not rejoice in that? He sends me.
I find in myself all too great a willingness to pursue what is of my own volition, unlike my Jesus. I am all too pleased to espouse my own ideas, or even to promote myself in speaking His thoughts, if I have ever truly spoken His thoughts. What, for all that, of these studies? Am I pursuing what He wants me to understand, or just chasing my own imaginations? Is He whispering to me or am I talking to myself? If I should come across some new depth of understanding, am I going to take credit for it, or am I going to thank Him for it? What about when I have opportunity to share that new understanding? Shall I puff up with pride, or simply rejoice in humble appreciation. I don’t ask how I should respond in all these cases. I know those answers. I am concerned with how I will respond, how I do respond. And here, I must admit I find myself wanting more often than not.
And in the midst of this assessment, I return to a thought from earlier, when preparing to pursue thoughts on this passage where they might lead. It truly is an awesome thing – awesome in the proper sense of the term – to discover you are the recipient of such personal attention from God. It’s awesome in that fear of the Lord sort of way. It’s not entirely cause to celebrate and rejoice, there’s a deeply concerning side to it. God Most High, that same God of Hosts who is powerful beyond any possibility of contravention, is taking an interest in the likes of me. He is watching. He is weighing. He is aware of all those hidden things that are part of me, things I may not even allow myself to be aware of at any conscious level. He knows all the hurts, all the pride, all the egotism, all the cowardice – everything! And, there is no escaping His attentions. There is no place I can go where He is not, where He cannot continue to observe me at my best and at my worst (which are not all that far apart, I suspect).
Yet, it is also awesome in that way which truly is cause for rejoicing. After all, for all that He may – no will – bring disciplinary action against us in our foibles, in our little rebellions against His ways, His interest truly is four our good. His plans are for our hope and our future. And, with that in mind, how marvelous to know that His plans are not capable of failure. He Who knows the end from the beginning proclaims over you that you are His, that you will be with Him for eternity, that you will be made whole in spirit, whole in body. And, He is uniquely able to proclaim these things with absolute certainty, for He is absolutely in control, Who has decided that you shall be His.
Rejoice! For all that we find just cause to question our own estate, yet there is that promise upon which to depend. “By My own right arm, I have done it.” Even this is not of my own volition. He called me. He called me not into judgment, but into redemption. He called me not in order to cast me into my final cell, but rather to release me from the chains of that servitude to sin into which I was born. My kinsman Redeemer! He lives, and because He lives, I begin to know life myself. And, I begin to know real hope, for none is able to snatch me back from His hands, Who purchased me at so great a price.
God’s Purpose (06/16/12-06/18/12)
As concerns the purpose of God, there are two points upon which I would comment. The first concerns that particular sort of oneness that Jesus prays about in verse 11. He prays that we might be one even as Father and Son and Spirit are one. This does not focus on their number. It is not a numerical singularity, but rather a singularity of essence. As we considered with the name of God which was given to Jesus, so it is with this oneness, only more so. The name, recall, was stand-in for the character, the wisdom, the power, all that God is. The oneness that is introduced into Jesus’ prayer now points to that same list, but points further: To the source. The essence of the Godhead: That apart from which God would cease to be God; do you know that there is likewise an essence of you – or of me?
There is that aspect of character which, were it removed, would require that I cease to be me. Now, in so much as I have been regenerated, remade by God’s work, this has actually occurred once already. I ceased to be the me I was in order to become the new man. That new man is fashioned in such a way that he can and does love the God Who achieved the change in him. That new man is capable of faith, capable (at least in degree) of fidelity. That new man is not yet perfect, for he is still immature, still growing into the essential character of himself. That may seem odd, that character needs to grow into essence. But, a bit of reflection might give us recognition of the same development in our former selves.
As I child, I was already essentially who I would be as an adult. There is room for argument as to what roles nature and nurture played, what impacts environment had on the final result. But the essence was already there. I was born with certain inclinations and interests already present, nascent potentials if you will. What came by way of nature and nurture allowed me to develop along the lines laid out by those essential definitions of self. Yes, there were particular events that more or less propelled me towards the field of engineering. Yet, the essentials of character which made that path suitable were already there.
The fact of my introverted nature were there from the outset, one suspects. I can recall a season of childhood where I was more outgoing, but I am not convinced there was some catastrophic event or series of events which caused a fundamental shift in how I decided to relate to others. It was a part of me from the outset, from birth. There is an essence of me that has always been, although my inward thoughts and outward actions have not always been such as fully aligned with the essence.
It took time for thought and action to develop. It took the training of parents and others to shape the final outcome, but it also took the maturing process more generally. Self-awareness develops and grows over time, and as it does, it prepares one to be a bit more selective as to what is accepted from those outside influences. There are ways in which those outside forces wish to shape the man that the self-aware man recognizes as being at odds with his essential self. To accept those ways is to reject self, and therefore cannot be tolerated.
There is, of course, that singular exception of rebirth. God comes and makes wholesale change, and there is none who can gainsay Him the right and ability to do so. Suddenly, the definitions of the essential me have changed. Again, there is a need for the maturation process to work upon habits of character, ways of thinking, such that they align more fully with what has become the essence of the man. There is a love of God within that must impact how I see my world and my self. It takes time, though, for that new way to take hold. It develops over time. Greater understanding comes, and this in turn produces greater change.
Further, as every convert must surely experience, there are those ingrained habits of a lifetime which, while they were well-suited to the old essential being, are wholly at odds with the new essence. They are not longer of a piece with the man who thinks and does them. Even in the thinking and the doing, the renewed essence of the man recognizes something is awry. If you don’t see yourself in the agonized thoughts of Paul in Romans 7, then I would have to suppose you were redeemed before birth, or you have yet to be redeemed. I suppose it’s just possible that one might bypass this wrenching sensation of internal conflict as old habits and practices refuse to relinquish their grip. But, it seems most unlikely that any man traverses the course of life without experiencing that sense of, “what is wrong with me?”
But, come to the prayer of Jesus again. “I pray that they may be one, even as We are.” I pray that they might have the same essential characteristics in their being as We do. I pray that they might be so alike to one another as concerns the core of their being as to be conceived of as a single organism. Isn’t that precisely the image Paul gives us of the mature body of Christ in the Church (Ro 12:5 – Though many, we are one body in Christ, individually members of one another)? We are all members of one body. We have distinct functions, distinct idiosyncrasies. But, we are of one essence. We are essentially one being, transcending the borders of geopolitical units, racial divides, and even time itself. We are, by the effective prayer of our Head, one with John who records these words! We are one with St. Augustine, John Calvin, Martin Luther, and all who ever were or ever shall be called among the elect.
Yet, even this but scratches the surface of what Jesus has prayed into effect for the elect. We are one with Him, with the Father, as they are One. No. We have not become gods who walk the earth. Far be it from us to pretend we have, for to be little gods would be to lose sight of our continued need for the true God. To be little gods would be to fall right back into the ways of Babylon, supposing ourselves in control. But, that’s not what Jesus requests and offers. He offers a unity of essence, a character within that is so integral to our conception of self that were any least part of that character to be removed we would cease to be ourselves. And, what defines that most integral definition of who we are? The very same things that define the integral character of God Himself! We, too, are defined by love, by justice, by righteousness, by holiness, and by all those other aspects of the God Who Is.
I stress once again that it takes a process of maturation for our practice to come into full and proper alignment with that essence of being. This is true for us as men because it has become unnatural for us to act as true men. In God, that process was ever and always complete. He is the one (only) true (real) God, the God in Whom essence and aspect are in perfect congruence. He cannot act in ways contrary to His essence, for this, too, is part of His essential being. He cannot but be True, and that includes being true to Who He Is. We are getting there. He has always been there. And, more marvelous than all else that He has granted to us as part of this package of Life, there is the promise that we will, at the end, arrive at that same trueness. There will come a time when we can say of ourselves that it is no longer possible that we shall act in ways contrary to our essence, contrary to His essence. We, too, will become one and true.
I have to say that if, as I did, you find the thought of being declared a friend of God something amazing, then this should put you right over the edge. One with God! Sharing in His most essential characteristics! This speaks to me of that comment from Proverbs. There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Pr 18:24). There is, as it turns out, a depth of relationship that exceeds that of friendship, even that of matrimony. There is the fellowship that God has invited us into, this unity of being. I must note that it is not only that we share in the same character – which is already sufficiently astounding. But, He moves on from this point to declare our mutual being, expanding on a point He made earlier. I in You, You in Me, We in they and they in Us (Jn 17:23). That is the extent of unity that Jesus is praying for His own: That we might be with Him where He is, and He might be where we are. It is the fulfillment. I will dwell among them and be their God, and they shall be My people. Indeed, the full extent of that is now declared. I will dwell in their very midst, within each breast, I shall beat as their heartbeat.
Who could posit such a God? Where is the imagination that could arrive at such a concept unaided? I am sure there are those who would argue that the idea is not so unthinkable as I suppose. I am also sure that those who argue so are already tainted by prior knowledge of the idea. But, the nature of the God Who Is defies us to consider Him the construct of human thought and imagination. True, there have been gods aplenty with the power to cow their followers, gods aplenty who would demand a constant flow of offerings to appease their disdain for mankind. There are plenty of gods today fashioned to please their followers, designed to be a joy, and devoid of any sort of retributive justice, any least urge towards vengeance. They are pet gods, here to amuse and provide some warm, fuzzy comfort.
But, the God of Scripture is something else. He is vengeful in His holiness. He loves without measure, but He also knows anger in the same endless degree. He requires appeasement, but not for the granting of favors, rather as the proper demand of Justice. And, here is God Who, seeing the impossibility of His followers ever arriving at holiness by their own gifts, provides the Gift of His own Son, paying Himself the penalty He requires. I cannot write that He demands it, for that puts the wrong sense on the thing. He requires it, for He is Just, and Justice demands that every breach of the Law be paid for by the due penalty. But, God has put paid to every penalty for sin on behalf of those He has chosen to call His own.
Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up. You wouldn’t. This is not the sort of God a people would fashion for themselves. He is at once too dangerous and too caring. Too a militant people seeking a warrior god, His lovingkindness smacks of weakness that will not serve. To the cowering survivalist, the threat of His power is too great, for what may serve against my enemies may also turn against me. That is the stuff of demon worship and incantation. He who would wield such power knows that he must safeguard himself against that same power. But, God is entirely a different matter. There can be no safeguard against Him. What power would counter the all-Powerful? What cleverness would outwit the all-Wise? What secretive preparations would escape the notice of the everywhere-Present? And, what man would choose a god that is so impossible of controlling?
Compare with historical religions. Those gods were powerful, but they were manageable. One knew the routine, and kept the gods in check, aligned with one’s own interests. Or, one enlisted other gods more inclined to those interests. It’s all appeasement and control. These are things that simply don’t apply with God. There is no appeasement of Him. There is only justice. There is no controlling Him. He is in control. And it is this God who has looked upon us, upon His elect, and said, “I will be one with you and you will be one with Me.” Amazing!
I mentioned a second statement of purpose, and this one flows from the unity into which we are called. This is not a purpose you will find stated outright in this final prayer. It requires putting together what is prayed on this occasion with what is taught previously. As concerns this prayer, the verse I have in mind actually comes in the next section. “As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (Jn 17:18). Jesus was sent on a mission, and that mission has not stopped with His return to heaven. Neither has it changed significantly. The details of process may have been modified, but the goal has not changed. That mission was declared well back towards the beginning of John’s gospel. “God didn’t send the Son to judge the world but in order to save the world through Him” (Jn 3:17).
We are forever quoting the verse before that, expressing God’s love, but we neglect this part. We do so to our detriment, for this is the bit that should shape our own interactions with that world out of which we are called but in which we remain. Why does Jesus leave us here? Why not, as so many ask, instant translation into the heavenlies? Quite simply because we have yet to complete His mission, His mission to save the world. We are left to help Him, to save the world through Him. What we are expressly not left here to do is to judge the world. That is not our job, nor is it our mission. If we walk about in judgment, we fail the One who sent us.
Jesus was sent, and He required of Himself that His every word and deed be directed by the One Who sent Him. Jesus has sent us. Now, we are the sent. We are sent by this One Who obeyed. Surely, we ought likewise to shape our every word and deed according to the purpose of Him sending us. This must require us to refrain from acting in judgmental ways as we confront a dark world. This is not to say that we ought to be dishonest with the world. It is of no value to the lost for us to ignore their true situation and leave them in ignorance. But, it is of no value to dissuade them from appealing to Jesus, too. If our presentation of the Gospel isn’t good news, then why do we expect our listeners to pay heed to us? If the hope of the Gospel is not clear in what we are telling others, if we have left them hopeless, then we have surely failed to take up the mission of our Lord and Savior.
Neither is it only our words that need to take this into consideration. There is a tendency amongst believers to cling together, to act as a colony in hostile territory. In many ways, this is a very accurate sense of our situation. Yet, it is not one we are authorized to accept as our model. The monastic, cloistered life is not permitted those who are left in the world to serve a risen King. Jesus did not hide away from the lost, but went amongst them, a beacon drawing their attention to where their rescue lay. We are left as a city on a hill, a lamp intended to be clearly seen. We are left to draw others to the light of Christ. We do this not only by intentional and explicit efforts at evangelism, but also by living a life consistent with what we say we believe.
As Pastor Dana was teaching yesterday, the redeemed life cannot but bear fruit, and the chief fruit of the righteous is that love which God has poured out to overflow. We love because He has loved. And, as John so clearly teaches, if we can’t love one another, we surely can’t love God. True, this has its first application within the body of believers. But, it also holds outside that body. It holds as concerns our view of the lost. If we perceive them as the damned, we have no interest in seeking their rescue. It is finished for them. But, if they are to be counted among the elect and have simply not come to realization of who God is yet, then they are beloved family members who have gone astray, and our hearts must surely go out to them. More than our hearts must go out! Surely, we would do everything in our power to save our own family members from danger or destruction. And that is exactly what this mission entails. Seeking and saving the lost: informing the uninformed that there really is a way out of slavery to sin, showing those who sit in deep darkness the marvels of light, calling the walking dead into the opportunity for life; these are the things to which we are assigned. Let us be about it!
