Day 38 - John 17-19

John 17 contains the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus Christ. It is the longest recorded prayer that we have in the Scriptures. It truly is a treasure for us. Books could be and have been written on this chapter alone! Here are some wonderful truths that jumped out at me:

• We are a gift from the Father to the Son (vs2,6,9). What a privilege that is for us not only to receive the gift of eternal life, but also to be a gift to the Son. I think this is what the hymn writer was getting at when he penned these words, "Why should I gain from His reward?"
• Jesus' incarnation was all about the glory of God. Notice how many times the word "glory" or a form of that word appears in this chapter. The heavens declare the glory of God (Ps. 19:1). We are called to do all to the glory of God (1Cor. 10:31). But the clearest manifestation of the glory of God is seen in the person and work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
• Jesus prays for us in this prayer. I've said this before on this blog, and I'll continue to say it--I love seeing myself in the Bible! 17:20 is probably my favorite verse where I see myself. This is the case probably because in this verse Jesus is praying for me! I am one who did (and still does) believe in Him through the word of the apostles. This is not the last time that Jesus prayed for me. Hebrews tells us that He ever lives to make intercession for us (Heb. 7:25). We truly have a great High Priest!

On a side note, to those who would say that Jesus didn't come into existence until His birth, how do you explain verses like 17:5? - "And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed." Doesn't seem to work there does it?!

Chapters 18-19 launch us back into the narrative of the last days of Jesus. John doesn't record as much as the synoptic Gospels regarding Jesus' time in the Garden of Gethsemane. But one thing that he does mention that others don't is the initial reaction to the voice of Jesus in 18:6. What power! But that is what you expect from the Word who made all things (cf. John 1:3). What strikes me is the persistent stupidity of the soldiers! They've just been knocked over simply by the voice of Jesus, and yet they get up and try to get Him again! If Jesus had wanted to, He could have done that all night long! But then He would never had made it to the cross--the point of His incarnation.

The hypocrisy of the religious leaders is so glaring in 18:28. They are sinning by falsely accusing Jesus and inciting the people to riot against Pilate's attempts to release Jesus, yet they won't dare defile themselves by entering Pilate's headquarters! Another example of their straining at a gnat while at the same time swallowing a camel (Matt. 23:24).

When Jesus was before Pilate, He consistently surprised Pilate by His responses. My favorite is in 19:11. Jesus frankly and rightfully told Pilate that the only reason that he had authority over Him was because the Father had delegated it to him. The implications of this are huge! The Father sovereignly delegated the authority to Pilate to put Jesus to death, therefore, the Father was in control of this whole process and was ordaining the outcome so that we might be saved! What a glorious truth! What love!

Another pointer to the sovereign oversight of this whole process is seen in how many times John points out the fulfillment of prophecy in these chapters. 18:9 - Jesus asks for the release of His disciples to fulfill prophecy. 18:32 - The Romans put Jesus to death by crucifixion instead of the Jews (by stoning) to fulfill prophecy. 19:24 - Jesus' tunic was of one piece so that the soldiers would cast lots for it to fulfill prophecy. 19:28 - Jesus cries out, "I thirst," to fulfill prophecy. 19:36 - Jesus' death on the cross occurred much sooner than usual, therefore the soldiers did not break His legs in order to hasten death. This too guaranteed another prophecy would be fulfilled. Most of these are seemingly trivial things, but they demonstrate the careful supervision of this entire event by God Himself.