SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/11/2017
1:41 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The Setting of This Prayer”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 17:1a
Message of the
verses: “Jesus spoke these things;
and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come;”
I suppose that we will have to go back and look at some
of the promises that Jesus made to His disciples in chapters 13-16 in order to
help us make sense to what this prayer is about. Jesus had been telling His disciples things
that they were to expect, and even though they may not like what He said or
understood what He was saying when they happened, like the persecutions, they
would remember that Jesus had spoken about this, thus even though what they
were going through was difficult it would increase their faith because Jesus
had told them to expect it. Another
thing that would encourage them was that Jesus had comforted them with the
promise of heaven as seen in 14:2. He
also promised them the coming of the Holy Spirit in 14:16-17, and this came
true for them in the second chapter of Acts.
In 15:1-11 Jesus had instructed them with regard to their love for one
another, and once the Holy Spirit came this would be easier for them to
experience and do. Jesus even modeled this
for them by washing their feet, and He even washed the feet of Judas who would
soon betray Him. Next Jesus would model
this kind of sacrificial love once again—this time by publicly praying for them
as He would entrust their safekeeping to the Father. Remember that Jesus had told them to use His
name in order to pray to the Father.
One of the enemies that the disciples had, and we also
have is the world. Warren Wiersbe wrote
in his introduction to this chapter: “Be
of good cheer,’ He had encouraged His disciples; ‘I have overcome the world’
(John 16:33). The word ‘world’ is used nineteen times in this
prayer, so it is easy to see the connection between the prayer and John
16:33. If you and I will understand and apply
the truths revealed in this profound prayer, it will enable us to be overcomers
too.” Now let us go back a bit and
remember that the Lord had promised the disciples “peace, joy, strength,
provision, and answered prayer, spiritual power through the Holy Spirit, and
intimate fellowship both with Himself and the Father. All of those promises culminated in Christ’s
concluding promise that the disciples would triumph over the world: ‘These things I have spoken to you, so that
in Me you may have peace. In the world
you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world’
(16:33). It is no coincidence that this
prayer immediately follows that exultant declaration. Having stated His victory over the world,
Jesus immediately turned in submissive dependence to the One who would ensure
His triumph. ‘To transform the victory
which was announced into a present reality, nothing less was needed than the
action of the omnipotence of God. It is
to Him that Jesus turns’ (Frederic Godet.)”
The quote before Godet’s was from John MacArthur.
It is hard for us to put ourselves in the shoes of the
disciples, and impossible for us to put ourselves in the shoes of our Lord as
things looked very dismal from a human perspective, but as we study this prayer
we find that the prayer of Jesus is anything but pessimistic. It is instead a confident declaration that underlies
faith and certain glory. John MacArthur
quotes one of his favorite authors “Leon Morris” who writes
We so often understand this prayer as though it were
rather gloomy. It is not. It is uttered by One who has just affirmed
that he was overcome the world (John 16:33), and it starts from this conviction. Jesus is looking forward to the cross, but in
a mood of hope and joy, not one of despondency.” As I read these words I completely agree with
Morris as I quoted Hebrews 12:1-3 which tells us the very thing same, but I
still have a difficult time in seeing how our Lord was so completely joyous in
going to the cross even though I understand why He was. We all need to demonstrate that kind of joy
in difficult circumstances.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I desire to trust
the Lord to give me joy in circumstances that are difficult for me.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that He will do this.
Answer to yesterday’s very
difficult Bible question: “Terror of the
Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:11).
Today’s very difficult
Bible question: “At Gennesaret,
fishermen from how many boats were washing their nets?” (The answer is found in
the book of Luke.)
Answer in our next SD.
2/11/2017 2:17 PM
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