Graduation

Jesus is leaving. The separation anxiety the disciples are having is palpable. But one thing is clear. They got it. They understand who Jesus is and why he has come. Now, as Jesus prays specifically for them, he is empowering them to get through the next several days of horrific events.

“They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.” John 17:6-8 Jesus has completed his task here on earth. There are eleven disciples who understand the truth of who he is and who God is. They have obeyed and accepted the teachings they were given and are ready to carry the torch. But they have one more thing to go through – the actual crucifixion of their Lord.

Now Jesus is praying for their protection. “Protect them by the power of your name – the name you gave me – so that they may be one as we are one.” John 17:11 Was this protection from the people that would arrest and crucify Jesus? Maybe, but the last phrase here, “so they may be one as we are one,” says something more. What does it mean to be one? How are God and Jesus one and how do the disciples become part of that one?

For many of us, being one means we act and dress alike. We are identified as part of a particular group by what we wear, where we go, what we say, who our favorite actors or political figures are, etc. But there seems to be something much deeper here because it is obvious from the New Testament writings that the disciples all had very different personalities, they ministered to different people groups, some were very verbal, some were more action oriented, some led the charge, while others followed and brought along the ‘stragglers’.

It seems to me that Jesus wanted the disciples to be singular in purpose and focus – just as he and his Father were and are. He gave them a very clear teaching of the fulfillment of prophecy in the Old Testament – Jesus is the Christ. He is the Messiah. And he taught them that God loves everyone – not only the Jews, but the Gentiles as well. He taught them a better way to live. He taught them that we are not bound in our selfishness, but that we can be free to love others and take care of others. That is really what the Scriptures were all about – loving God and loving each other. Jesus prayed for them to not lose what they had learned and go back to the selfish ways of the world, but rather to stay strong in the beliefs they had gained and to stick with God and encourage each other. That kind of ‘one’ becomes very strong. How can it not with God’s power and authority at work as part of the ‘one’!

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. “ John 17:13 This is one prayer that Jesus intended for his disciples to overhear. They are despondent because he keeps talking about leaving them. But here he is praying for them to have the full measure of his joy in them. How can he have any joy knowing that he is going to be crucified? Where does that kind of joy come from? What is that kind of joy? It surely is not what I normally think of joy as being – light hearted and care-free. What is this joy that can continue through the most horrible of times?

Could it be that this joy is wrapped up in ‘being one’ with the Father? He is going back to the Father to where he was from the beginning of time. He has come and is making a way to bring all those who choose to follow him to come along to the most wonderful place ever for all eternity – a place where there is love and unity and total and complete joy.

This protection he is praying for the disciples seems to be that they would not lose their focus, but that they would keep their eyes on him, their hearts and spirits tied up with him so that they could navigate the troubles of this world and spend eternity with him. Oh, how much he loved them!

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” John 17:15 Don’t let them get pulled back into all the lies that are propagated in this world, but protect them from the ‘father of lies’. “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17 Encarta Dictionary gives a definition of ‘sanctify’ as “make something route to holiness, to make something a means of achieving holiness or a source of grace.” I like that. Truth is a route to holiness. If you begin and end with the truth, you can become holy. “Your word is truth.” What has Jesus been teaching them? That he is the Christ, come from God, to take away the sins of the world, to make a way to God so that we can turn away from our being lost and find our way home where we belong in the first place.

That is the joy that can exist in the midst of troubled times. We are going home! And this trouble will not follow us when we go.

“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” John 17:18 This is the graduation from student to teacher. The disciples have finished the course. They have learned the truth. Now Jesus is sending them into the world to teach others that truth. It is not enough to learn the truth and keep it to ourselves. Once we have discovered the truth, we cannot keep it to ourselves, because that truth is love and joy and if we are truly one with the Father and with Christ, our hearts will long for others to learn the truth as well. We cannot keep joy hidden. It shines in our eyes. It smiles on our lips. It hugs others and invites them to come along. It heals the sick, it opens the eyes of the blind. It picks up those who are down. It is God with us – Immanuel. The Messiah has come!