Jeff Englund

August 28, 2019August 27, 2019

Protection – John 17: 15

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

If I had been there with Jesus when he prayed this prayer before his disciples, I think I would have had mixed feelings at this point. The idea of being taken “out of the world” sounds rather intriguing. There are days when the idea sounds downright inviting! If you are old enough you might remember the tag line, “Take me away, Calgon!” from the 1970s. The bath powder was so delightful that it would take you away from all your problems. Out of this world, in a manner of speaking.

Staying in the world has its upside, too. Yet it can be tough. Being cast out of your social network, mentally bullied, intimidated, and physically beaten is no fun. All these things happened to the disciples after Jesus left. Yet even though he was gone, he did not leave them unprotected. Jesus prayed that God would “protect them from the evil one.”

What does that mean? What can the “evil one” do that is so bad? Why do we need protection?

August 27, 2019August 26, 2019

Life Itself – John 17: 14

I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

Have you ever noticed how someone’s emotions can go from hot to cold in the blink of an eye? Sometimes all it takes is saying one wrong thing and people go from friend to enemy. Couples once happily married find that their feelings have changed. Where laughter once filled their lives now hate rules the day and rules their actions.

From Jesus’ point of view, the world is like a jilted lover. His disciples, once part of the world were embraced by that world. If not embraced, at least tolerated. The disciples have turned their back on the world and given their lives and their hearts to Jesus. The world is not pleased. In fact, the world is downright angry about this. Angry, bitter, and spitting mad. So mad that the world that the prince of this world* will cause those who are under his sway to hunt down Jesus’ followers and kill and imprison them. The world hates those who follow Jesus because Jesus has made it possible for those who believe to escape the grasp of Satan and death.

August 26, 2019August 25, 2019

Affirmation – John 17: 13

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.

Perhaps you have been wondering why Jesus would be praying like he is at this time? We have been told that it was not uncommon for Jesus to go off by himself to pray. Why this prayer here and now? Why pray where his disciples can hear him?

Todays’ verse gives us the answers to these questions. Jesus wants his disciples to hear him tell his Father about them. Is this a reasonable thing to do? It is if you are Jesus and you are more concerned about how your disciples feel that you are your own feelings.

Where you ever in a situation where someone was bragging on you to someone else that you cared about? When you were a child, did a teacher ever say something nice about your work in school to your parents when you were listening? Have you ever worked for someone who stood up for you or praised you in front of his boss or manager? How does that feel?

August 25, 2019August 25, 2019

God’s Eye View – John 17: 12b

None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

Judas is not generally a topic for discussion in polite Christian circles. The idea of having a traitor among Jesus’ disciples is repulsive to the mind. Yet, like everything else Jesus says, there is purpose and meaning in this sentence.

Jesus is talking with his Father with his disciples present. There is a lot of important information being relayed to God the Father, and the disciples are privileged to hear it. They are all listening intently. All except Judas that is.

Judas is off plotting with the Pharisees and Chief Priests to capture Jesus. He knows where Jesus hangs out, and he knows when he will be vulnerable and without the protection of the crowds. Apparently, the Pharisees and chief priests would not have been able to do this on their own. (I suspect that the reason for this is that even they had a sense of propriety about this. At some level, they could not be seen as actually hunting down Jesus. Having a disciple offer Jesus up, however, would be an entirely different matter.)

The person chosen to be a disciple and still betray Jesus to death had to meet a very special criterion. They had to be doomed to destruction.

Jesus does not elaborate on this point, but let’s apply what we know about Jesus and what he taught and see if we can make sense of this.

August 24, 2019August 23, 2019

The Wall – John 17: 12a

While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.

Yesterday we looked at the question, “What is in a name?” The right name, it seems, carries with it the power to protect.

Jesus says that he kept the disciples safe. Safe from what? On one occasion we find Jesus protecting the disciples from a storm at sea. At times he protects them by keeping them away from Jerusalem. Once, he protected one from death by calling him back from the grave.

All these threats are common to mortals. I have been in a sinking boat in a large lake. I know what being rescued feels like. I have been in threatening situations. I know what escaping those feels like, too. I have even been near death on one or two occasions, so I understand these threats that Jesus protected his disciples from.

Even so, I wonder if that is the kind of threat that Jesus was talking about. Maybe there is a threat he considers more dangerous than any of these.

August 23, 2019August 22, 2019

What is in a Name? – John 17: 11

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

In today’s passage, Jesus once again shows us that he is not from around here. He says he is coming to the Father and that he will not “remain” in the world any longer. Jesus is a man who knows where he is going. He knows because he is also God, eternal and timeless.

He then asks that the Father protect those he leaves in the world. How? By the power of…?

Jesus asks that God keep his people protected by the power of His name. Then he adds, “… the name you gave me…” Now, which name is that? Whose name is that?

August 22, 2019August 22, 2019

Humble Glory – John 17: 10

All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.

As Jesus began his prayer, he looked to heaven and prayed to the Father, “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”

This idea of being glorified might seem simple to some, but to me, it seems like a very deep well. How does glory coexist with humility? The glory Jesus speaks of is not the glory of a star athlete or that of a rock star or a military hero. The glory Jesus speaks of is no more than the honor due to the one who is the source of all life, the Creator of everything. In a sense, it is simply recognizing God for who he is.

Jesus has just affirmed that the disciples know “with certainty” that he has come from the Father. (Verse 8b) They believe this absolutely. All doubt is gone. Because of this, they obey the Father’s word. (Verse 6b) This belief honors God. Obedience honors God. Honor is the kind of glory that God is looking for. This honor is not the flattery that comes from man’s lips. Rather, it is the respect that is made visible through man’s actions.

I have a very simple and somewhat embarrassing example of this principle.

August 21, 2019August 20, 2019

Distinctions – John 17: 9

I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

I once heard an attorney use the phrase, “drawing a distinction.” The way he used it meant that he was recognizing a difference between two things. Things that had been lumped together. For example, a marketing analyst might draw a distinction between “all people who shop for groceries” and “all people who shop for groceries at Brand X store.”

In today’s passage, Jesus draws his own distinction. In this very special prayer on his last night before being crucified he notes that he is “not praying for the world…” The world is under his authority, but the people of the world are not all destined to be called out of the world. Those who are given to Jesus obey God’s word. (Verse 6) They know that everything Jesus has comes from the Father. (Verse 7) They have accepted the words of Jesus. They are certain Jesus comes from God. They believe God sent him. (Verse 8)

These people that Jesus is praying for are different from those in the world. The world is not a nice place. The world does not accept God, or his Word, or Jesus. The world does not hesitate to ridicule and hate those who believe in Jesus. Sometimes the world kills those who believe.

August 20, 2019August 19, 2019

Certainty – John 17: 8b

They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

As Jesus continues his prayer to the Father on the night before he is taken prisoner, he says something remarkable. The disciples, who never seem to quite figure out what is going on, actually understood that Jesus came from the Father. More than that, they knew this with certainty.

There is a distinction here that is important. People believe in a lot of things that they cannot know for a certainty. Knowledge and belief are two different things. Knowledge suggests that something has been experienced personally. More than experience, knowledge is based on more than a “one-off” experience. It must be repeatable. One other requirement is multiplicity. Knowledge can be personal, but for something to be considered true the knowledge must be experienced by others.

Belief is different. With knowledge, we accept something is true because we can see that it is true. With belief, we accept something is true without having seen that it is true.

August 19, 2019August 18, 2019

The Word – John 17: 8a

For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.

Words play an important role in John’s gospel. In chapter one John begins with,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

Jesus is the Word that John is writing about. God gives the Word to save us from the world. Jesus gives us the words from God.

Some of the words Jesus gives are difficult to accept.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.’” (John 6: 53)

Yet his disciples accepted these words. Their response?

“Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’” (John 6: 68-69)

John calls Jesus “The Word.” The Word comes from God and is one with God. The Word created the world and created us. The Word is what saves us from this fallen world.

Food for Thought: How does accepting God’s word affect a person?

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