Welcome to Day 2176 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Gospel of John – 36 – Jesus Prayed for You – Daily Wisdom

The Gospel of John – Part 4 Confirmation of the Word – Jesus Prayed for You

Today we continue our series on the Good News according to John the Apostle. Last, Jesus prayed that His final act as the Word Made Human would bring glory to God as He completed His mission. He then prayed for His disciples that they would be set apart, or sanctified as they continued the mission that He began, which was to build God’s kingdom until He returned to restore the Global Eden. In John 17:17-19, Jesus said,  “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” Our scripture for today is John 17:20-26. Today we continue the Lord’s Prayer as Jesus prays for all believers in a message titled Jesus Prayed for You. Follow along as I read.  Jesus Prays for All Believers “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” Let me start today with a story. Josephus, the 1^st- and 2^nd-century Jewish historian, records a marvelous story that may or may not be accurate. In his great campaign for world domination in the 330s BC, Alexander the Great moved from the Hellespont to Egypt, laying siege to walled cities and conquering land in between. His path to Egypt took him down the narrow land bridge between the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Desert, a land ruled by Jerusalem. Israel was a choice piece of land for anyone wanting to control trade with Egypt. No one knew that better than the citizens of Jerusalem, who trembled at the sound of hoof beats and chariots racing south to plunder their beloved Zion. The people of Jerusalem rallied around the high priest, Jaddua, who knelt before God for answers. How would he defend the defenseless people of Israel? The city walls were crumbling with age, and no one dared stand against the seasoned warriors of Greece. The Lord led him to decorate the city and open the gates. He was to have each person greeting Alexander’s army dress in white, while the priests wore the vestments of their order. As Alexander’s army moved closer to Jerusalem, Jaddua led the procession of priests and greeters north to meet him. The high priest wore purple and scarlet garments and his decorative headpiece, which bore a golden plate engraved with the name of God. He stood his ground as the dust from the hoof and chariot billowed up and darkened the sky. When the Greeks came within sight of the Jewish procession, Alexander stopped his march, dismounted, stood before the high priest, and then worshiped the name of God—something he had never done before. According to Josephus, the conqueror had previously seen a vision of white-clad people, priests, and the name of God engraved in gold. Josephus continues that upon his arrival in Jerusalem, Alexander offered sacrifice to God per Jaddua’s instructions, treating the Jews with great kindness. Then Jaddua opened an ancient scroll to the prophecy of Daniel, probably chapters 7 and 8. He showed Alexander a two-hundred-year-old prophecy, predicting Greek dominion over the Western world (Dan. 8:21). The shaggy male goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king of the Greek Empire. Suddenly, Alexander was overjoyed. Although a man of dark moods, he suddenly rejoiced, promising to put a perimeter of protection around Zion and to allow the Jews to retain their law. This tradition continued into the first century under Roman law until the 2^nd temple was destroyed. Alexander had seen himself in Scripture and was deeply affected by the experience. We have that opportunity today. John faithfully recorded the Lord’s prayer on the eve of His arrest, in which He interceded for you and me. He went to His Father on our behalf, knowing our needs ahead of time and asking that each of them be filled in abundance. Think of it! He prayed for us! He prayed specifically for three crucial needs:

• Our spiritual unity (17:21–23)
• Our eternal destiny (17:24)
• Our mutual love (17:25–26)

  17:20 See the words “also for those”? That’s where your name belongs. If you have believed in Jesus Christ, He prayed for you. Having prayed for Himself and the success of His mission, and having interceded for the disciples’ protection and success in ministry, the Lord petitioned His Father for the generations of believers who would come to faith either directly or indirectly through the disciples’ ministry. This included believing Jews in Jerusalem as well as believing Gentiles (John 10:16). To be sure, this act of divine intercession included every believer who has ever lived or will live before the old creation is superseded by the new Global Eden (Rev. 21:1). Note the expression “through their message.” No longer just the “Word of God” or even “My word,”—the disciples now possessed the truth and could rightfully claim it as their own. By identification with Christ, believers are one with Him and are, therefore, light bearers. (Turn on Flashlight) This truth is ours, in that He has filled us with divine truth in the person of the Holy Spirit. 17:21–23 The Lord first asked for unity among the body of believers. He repeated the term three times in three verses, expressing His desire for our unity in faith (17:20b–21), our unity in glory (17:22), and our unity in obedience (17:23). We cannot ignore the significance of the Lord’s thinking of all the needs of all believers throughout all time, and then asking for unity among all of them. There will be all circumstances and all sorts of “isms,” but there can be only one body of Christ, bound together in one faith. When all have their identity in Christ, then all share the same spiritual DNA. Furthermore, believers will share the glory the Father gave to the Son. The destiny of all believers is to follow Christ into eternity. Just as Jesus was vindicated upon His resurrection, received a resurrection body, and went to be with the Father, so shall all believers! To be in “complete unity” means to be made mature or perfected. He desired all Christians to be unified entirely in obedience, so that the truth of Christ would be impossible for the world to ignore. However, this unity of faith, glory, and obedience needs clarification, lest anyone misunderstand. Unity is not uniformity. Training for the military /strips each recruit of his or her individuality / to create a uniform kind of unity. All recruits are given the same haircut and must wear the same uniform. At graduation from boot camp, all emerge looking the same, sounding the same, behaving the same, and prepared for the same kind of duty. But the body of Christ is not uniform 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 says, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”   Here’s a brief sampling of Christ’s body: Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul, a Jew who became an apostle of Christ to the Gentiles. Luke, the author of the Good News of Luke and Acts, was a physician, a Gentile believer, and a careful historian. Tertullian, a church father, is passionate, fiery, and zealous, yet logical. Bernard of Clairvaux, the French monk who wrote fine hymns from a cloister. John Wycliffe, the morning star of the Reformation, devoted his life to translating the text into English. William Tyndale defied laws against translating the Scriptures into English and then paid the ultimate price for his service to the church. George Whitefield, the Calvinistic, Church of England evangelist. John Wesley, founder of the Methodists and tireless itinerant preacher. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Baptist Calvinist, was known as the “prince of preachers.” Dwight L. Moody, the uneducated evangelist who founded a college and a publishing house. Modern-day examples are Bill and Franklin Graham, who are impacting the world for Christ in two unique types of ministry. Unity is not unanimity. Unanimity requires absolute agreement on every matter, including matters of conscience and opinion. While we must agree on certain crucial matters of absolute truth, we can disagree on many matters without forfeiting love or acceptance for each other. And thank goodness we don’t have to agree on everything, or many of the significant advances in Christian ministry would never have occurred—not the least of which is the rebirth of foreign missions through a passionate, young idealist named William Carey. Unity is not unification. I don’t think Jesus Christ is half as disturbed as many people are by the existence of various denominations. How some believers broke away from others might not have been admirable, and the doctrines of some are not as pure as others; however, the concept of churches differing on nonessential matters and maintaining distinct identities is not necessarily dangerous to unity. Phillipians 1:18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. It is quite possible to differ amicably while fulfilling a common purpose: building God’s kingdom. On the other hand, some extremists seek reasons to separate. Some believers cannot distinguish between essential and nonessential matters of doctrine and behave arrogantly toward those who disagree, perceiving more divisions than there are. 17:24 The Lord’s second request was for believers to enjoy eternity in heaven with their Savior. Our eternal destiny is an answer to Jesus’ prayer on our behalf, and we can be confident the Son’s requests from the Father will be faithfully answered. The reason He gave was that we might see His glory. The older rendering of the Greek verb translated “see” is “behold,” which better captures the nuance of the original term. “Behold” carries the nuance of observing with wonder and deep appreciation. In translating Jesus’ Aramaic into Greek, John could have chosen any one of five different Greek terms, but he chose theōreō. This term typically describes religious festival spectators who view it with wonder, curiosity, or contemplation. The object of this beholding will be His “glory” in heaven, where the shekinah will not be shrouded in mortal flesh. In the book of Revelation, John described the glory of the Son as the source of all light in the new creation (Rev. 21:22–24). In His presence, there will be no night or darkness (John 1:5; 1 John 1:5). 17:25–26 Jesus’ final request of the Father was for our mutual love—the same kind of love shared within the Trinity and demonstrated by the Father for the world in sending His Son. At the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, Judaism had pushed God to the periphery of worship. They had come to see their Creator as so transcendent and ineffably unapproachable that they feared speaking His name out loud. And they had so worshiped the Law above the Lawgiver that they failed to recognize His great love for them. Jesus reintroduced God's true character and attributes to the disciples so that all people might know the overwhelming love the Creator has for His creatures. At least one reason for leaving believers in the world is so the world will know the love of the Father by observing His people. It occurs to me as I reflect on this last request of Jesus that we can join the Father in answering the prayer of our Savior. He desired unity in faith, unity in destiny, and unity in love. He has guaranteed unity in destiny—He will preserve His believers until the end. Unity in faith and unity in love, however, are within our reach because of the indwelling Holy Spirit. If only we would yield to His control. After Jesus concluded His prayer, the men departed, walking silently toward the garden of Gethsemane. He wanted to tell them much more, but His words would be wasted if the disciples continued to worry about living without their Master. No matter. He had given them all the information they would need to carry on. He trusted the Holy Spirit to help them recall His words, glean wisdom, and grow confident in ministry. However, the eleven men must walk through a terrible darkness before receiving this gift of indwelling light. For a time, it would seem to them that the darkness of the world had overpowered the Light. But we know what John 1:5 tells us, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” Application: John 17:20–26 Answering the Prayer of Jesus As the prayer of Jesus closes, I find in His words a challenge each of us must answer. I find three specific applications. They’re simple, but they speak to the heart. First, to grow in unity requires giving in. If you plan to be a unity person, you must give in. And I use that expression in its best sense. By “give in,” I mean we should be flexible regarding style. Be open. Be accommodating. Be gracious. Don’t give an inch in absolute biblical truth, but relax, for heaven’s sake! As the years of serving in the church and intense Bible study have rounded off my rough edges, I’ve come to see that so many of the issues that used to concern me actually made the church better and stronger. I think God uses people with a wide tolerance level to keep His church flexible in style yet firm on truth. Second, to know our destiny requires giving up. You cannot keep your way and get to heaven. If you’re going to heaven, you must go God’s way. You must give up your plan and get on the Lord’s agenda. I’m not talking about cleaning up your act or reforming your behavior. You undoubtedly know from experience how that will work out. I’m talking about believing in Jesus Christ, receiving the gift of eternal life, and trusting that He will do a marvelous work of transformation within you. Give up your belief in your ability to reform or humanity’s gradual improvement. Take on Christ’s divine plan, the gift of eternal life. Third, to show His love means giving out. Please/ don’t think for a moment/ that you have Christian love if it’s not expressed. There’s no such thing as repressed Christian love. Christian love is, by definition, active love. That doesn’t mean you’re always bubbly or perpetually in motion. It does mean that tangible or observable expressions of love characterize your love relationship with other believers. It also means you take the time to demonstrate kindness and compassion to people outside the church—including your enemies and those who hate you. We are to be “light bearers” who are unified in Faith, Glory, and Obedience. The application of today’s passage is that we are to have Unity in Faith, Destiny, and Love. Let us make that our mission today. Next, we begin the final significant segment of the Good News according to John the Apostle, which is “Vindication of the Truth.” We see Jesus, the truth, enduring injustice with grace in a message titled “Truth on Trial.” Please read John 18:1-27 in preparation for that message. Thank you for joining me on this Wisdom-Trek today. If you found this podcast insightful, subscribe, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. Remember, as we seek wisdom, we are better equipped to navigate life’s challenges and make choices that lead to a fulfilling and righteous life. Until next time, may your trek be filled with the wisdom and guidance of the Almighty. as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal. As we take this trek together, let us always:  

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you next time for more wisdom from God’s Word!