Three Minute Bible

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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August 18, 2019August 17, 2019

Knowing – John 17: 7

Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.

As Jesus continues his prayer, it is almost like he is giving a report to his Father on what has been accomplished. Perhaps in a sense that is what he is doing. His words are heard, not only by the Father but also by his disciples. His disciple John wrote them down for us. Jesus, knowing that would happen, is speaking to us as well.

What he reports is that his disciples (and presumably others) now know something important. They know Jesus is special because they have lived with him for three years. They know he has abilities to heal that no one else has ever had. They have seen him walk on water and feed thousands with a few fish and loaves.

Jesus’ disciples know about the unusual power that he has. They have heard his amazing wisdom. They have watched him debate the smartest people in Israel and always come out on top. They have seen him purge the temple courts of retailers and bankers.

The disciples now know that all these things, the power, the wisdom and the zeal for God’s temple, all come from God Himself.

Food for Thought: What do you see in your life that has come from God?

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August 17, 2019August 16, 2019

Obey – John 17: 6b

They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.

Yesterday we looked at the first sentence in this verse. Jesus says, “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.” Those whom God gave to Jesus were not pulled from thin air. They already belonged to God.

Think about that for a moment.

God had already taken possession of his people. In giving them to Jesus he glorifies the Son so that Jesus may, in turn, glorify the Father. God has another reason to give his people to Jesus; it is the only way that they can be restored to a full relationship with God.