33. Remaining in Jesus: The Promise of Joy and Eternal Life - John 15-17

G'day.

I'm Dave Whittingham, and welcome to Stories of a Faithful God.

Has anyone ever told you that if you become a follower of Jesus, you'll have trouble in the world?

I mean, obviously you'll have troubles regardless of whether you become a Christian or not.

And if you become a Christian, there are some troubles that'll just melt away.

At the same time, though, there are some troubles that you'd never have if you didn't follow Jesus.

Which is hard, right?

Because who wants trouble?

We do all sorts of things to escape trouble.

Some evil people peddle a distortion of Christianity, a type of Christianity that has nothing to do with Christ, that says if you become a Christian, all your troubles will disappear.

It's so appealing as a message.

It's so evil as a message, because when troubles come, people either blame themselves for not having enough faith or they blame God for not doing something that he actually never promised to do.

In the last couple of episodes, we've seen Jesus preparations to leave the world and go to His Father in heaven.

His preparations are all about loving others, even as he knows he is about to be rejected, suffer and die.

His focus has been on loving his Father, loving the world and warning them not to reject him and loving his disciples.

He wants to prepare his disciples for when he's not with them in the flesh anymore.

Prepare them for the troubles they're going to face.

Prepare them not by giving them false promises, but by giving them wisdom to live, strength to endure, and guaranteed hope for the future.

While he doesn't immediately get rid of their troubles, he prepares them to stand firm in their troubles.

His words are for them and us.

In fact, in today's passage, remarkably, Jesus even prays for us.

His words and love reach across the centuries, helping us find joy and strength to face whatever troubles the world throws at us.

And so, without further ado, I present to you our next episode of stories of a faithful God.

At the end of our last episode, Jesus and his disciples were getting ready to leave their dinner and head out into the night.

Judas had already left, preparing the way by betraying Jesus.

Jesus knew what was happening.

He knew that he was going back to his Father in heaven and his road to the Father led via the cross.

He's been preparing the disciples for his departure, even though they wouldn't understand most of what he said until after the resurrection.

Jesus gave them some amazing promises.

Promises of eternal life in the home of His Father, promises of God living in them by his Holy Spirit, promises to answer prayers made in his Name.

Now Jesus wants to reinforce that all this goodness, all these promises, all this life and love and hope rests in him.

The disciples have it because of their connection to Jesus.

There's nowhere else to get them apart from in Jesus, and so they should remain in Jesus.

He starts by using language straight from the Old Testament.

He talks about a vine from a vineyard.

In the Old Testament, Israel is spoken about as a vine, a failed vine, a vine that refuses to produce good grapes.

You see it in Isaiah chapter 5, where God describes how he's lovingly and affectionately given this vine, Israel, everything they could possibly want, but with no result.

He poured his heart and soul into it, longing for the fruit of goodness and righteousness, but instead it produced evil.

Let me read it to you.

This is Isaiah 5:1:7.

God says, I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one's vineyard.

The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.

He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones and planted it with the finest vines.

He built a tower in the middle of it and even dug out a winepress there.

He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes.

So now, residents of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.

What more could I have done for my vineyard than I did?

Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes, did it yield worthless grapes?

Now I will tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard.

I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed.

I will tear down its wall and it will be trampled.

I will make it a wasteland.

It will not be pruned or weeded.

Thorns and briers will grow up.

I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it.

For the vineyard of the Lord of armies is the house of Israel and the men of Judah.

The plant he delighted in.

He expected justice, but saw injustice.

He expected righteousness, but heard cries of despair.

It's heartbreaking.

But God had plans for a better vine, a perfect vine, a vine that'll never disappoint.

Now Jesus says in John 15:1, I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

This is good news.

The old vine brought injustice.

The true vine, Jesus, brings justice.

The old vine created cries of despair.

The true vine brings righteousness.

To maintain this goodness, the gardener, God the Father, makes sure nothing evil is able to flourish or infect the vine.

Rather, he carefully tends it to produce more and more fruit.

In verse two, he says, every branch in me that does not produce fruit, he removes and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.

And so if Jesus disciples want to produce fruit, if they want life and blessing and godliness, there's one thing they have to do.

They have to remain.

Any British listeners may still be having Brexit nightmares about the words remain and leave.

It was so complex trying to work out if Britain would be better off or worse off if they remained in the eu.

But with Jesus, there's no question when a branch gets cut off from the trunk, from the thing that has its roots buried deep in the ground, drawing up nutrients, drawing up water, drawing up life, it's going to die.

The only way to live and flourish and produce fruit is to remain connected to that source of life.

Jesus is our only source of life.

He says to his disciples in verse three, I am the vine, you are the branches.

The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit because you can do nothing without me.

If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers.

They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

If you remain in me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.

My Father is glorified in this, that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.

It isn't a question of life with Jesus or life without Jesus.

It's a question of life or death, flourishing or fire, fruit or failure.

And it isn't like it's a burden.

It's not like we have to somehow earn our way into Jesus good books to remain in him or count our acts of Godliness to see if we're producing enough fruit.

No, if you remain in Jesus, you will produce fruit.

If you remain in Jesus, the Father will prune you to make you better at producing fruit.

Our responsibility here is simply to remain.

Keep trusting Jesus, keep listening to him, keep believing and acting on his words.

Don't discard him or try and branch out on our own.

So Jesus says in verse nine, as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you.

Remain in my love.

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love.

And why is he saying that?

Is it because he really loves bossing people around?

He's like some narcissist demanding absolute loyalty and obedience to feed his faulty ego.

No, he's telling his disciples this because he loves them.

Because actually, he wants them to be really, really happy.

We were made for Jesus.

So remaining in Jesus is the way to true happiness.

He says in verse 11, I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

So if his disciples want complete joy, if they want to obey Jesus commands, what do they need to do?

Well, he mentioned it back in chapter 13.

They need to love one another.

They need to love one another like Jesus has loved them self, sacrificially putting each other's needs first, laying down their life daily for the good of other people.

When an outsider looks at Christians and how they care for each other, it should be obvious what sort of king they have, because the Christians are acting like their king.

This is my command.

Jesus says, love one another as I have loved you.

No one has greater love than this to lay down his life for his friends.

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

How great is it that Jesus isn't asking his disciples for religious ritual.

He doesn't command them to pray five times a day, eat only fish on Friday, spin prayer wheels, or become a monk locked away in a monastery or go on a pilgrimage.

In fact, if you do go on a pilgrimage, far away from people, or if you lock yourself away in a monastery, it'll be harder to do the things that Jesus does want his disciples to do.

It'll be harder to love each other, care for each other, like Jesus, our king, who laid down his life for his people, has done for us.

If you do want to be like the king, if you do want to remain in his love and love others, you have an extraordinary relationship with the King.

He's willing to call you not subject or servant, but friend.

A friend has unfettered access.

A friend can talk freely in a way that a servant can't.

A friend gets to learn the inner workings of the King's mind.

To be a friend of the King is a remarkably privileged position, one that hasn't been earned or given as a reward for good service, but a free gift given to whoever the King chooses.

In verse 15, Jesus tells his disciples, I do not call you servants anymore because a servant doesn't know what his master is doing.

I have called you friends because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.

You did not choose me, but I chose you.

I appointed you to go and produce fruit, and that your fruit should remain so that whatever you ask the Father in My name he will give you.

If you do want to pray in Jesus name, if you want to pray according to his will, what would you ask For?

Well, the most obvious thing from this passage is that you'd ask him to make you more loving.

Loving like Jesus is seeing and caring about and laying down your life for your Christian brothers and sisters.

And just in case you haven't heard that that's the top priority.

Jesus says it one more time.

Verse 17.

This is what I command you, love one.

Having told his disciples how he wants them to live after he's gone back to his father, Jesus now tells his disciples what they're going to face, what troubles are coming their way, what struggles they'll have to endure.

And he's pretty blunt.

He says they're going to have to face hate.

Sometimes people speak as though we can eliminate hate from the world, and it's a noble ambition.

But as long as the world continues to be opposed to Jesus, they'll hate Jesus.

And if you want to side with Jesus, they'll hate you too.

Jesus says in verse 18, if the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own.

However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.

Now I want to think, nah, they won't actually hate me.

I mean, hate's such a strong word.

As long as I'm calm and reasonable, we'll be able to talk calm and reasonably about Jesus.

And even if they don't end up liking Jesus, they'll still like me.

But Jesus says in verse 20, remember the word I spoke to you.

A servant is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me, they'll persecute you.

If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

So some people will put their trust in Jesus.

Some will come out of the world of hatred into the family of love when they're told about Jesus.

But lots won't.

And they won't, because they don't really know God.

There are so many examples in the last 2,000 years of people who have claimed to know God, the Christian God.

Some of them have even been authority figures in the church.

But they've persecuted Christians, imprisoning them, banning their churches, putting them to death.

All because they don't really know God.

They don't really trust Jesus.

That's certainly what's been happening in Jesus day.

His chief persecutors are the Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the priests, all claiming to be true representatives of God on earth.

And yet when God appears in the flesh, they want to kill him.

Which shows that they've never really known God in the first place.

So Jesus tells his disciples in verse 21 but they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they don't know the one who sent me.

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin.

Now they have no excuse for their sin.

The one who hates me also hates my father.

If I had not done the works among them that no one else had done, they would not be guilty of sin.

Now they have seen and hated both me and my father.

But this happened so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled.

They hated me for no reason.

How ironic.

These people who are desperately trying to fulfil the Old Testament have succeeded, but not in the way they'd hoped.

Rather than waiting for the true Christ, they're now persecuting the Christ.

Just like King David was persecuted.

Jesus is quoting Psalm 69:4 where David says, those who hate me without cause are more numerous than the hairs of my head.

My deceitful enemies who would destroy me are powerful.

The disciples don't yet know the lengths people will go to to destroy Jesus.

They're aware of plots to kill him, but in a few hours they'll see the true depths that people will sink to.

And so if this is how they treat the Christ, it's certainly how they'll treat the followers of Christ.

The disciples will have to face this same hatred, but they won't have to face it alone.

Someone's coming to tell people to testify about Jesus.

Someone more powerful than the disciples.

God, the Holy Spirit and the disciples.

These 11 disciples specifically will join the Spirit in the task of testifying about Jesus.

In verse 26, Jesus says to them, when the counsellor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father.

He will testify about me.

You also will testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

I saw a TikTok the other day rehearsing an old conspiracy theory saying that the church had suppressed a fifth gospel, the Gospel of Thomas.

A gospel that gave a very different picture of Jesus that challenged what church leaders wanted people to believe.

And so they did a massive cover up.

The only problem is the so called Gospel of Thomas is a fundamentally different book to the four Gospels in our Bibles.

Thomas was one of the 12 disciples or apostles.

But the Gospel of Thomas wasn't written by Thomas.

It was written later when all those apostles were dead.

Christians chose not to use it because Christianity is based on the real historical person of Jesus Christ.

And so we need testimony from people who actually saw him, heard him, talked with him.

And that's why Jesus chose these 11 disciples specifically to become what we would know as the apostles.

These are guys who have been eyewitnesses to Jesus.

The Holy Spirit will come to testify about the truth.

And these disciples, apostles, they'll give their eyewitness testimony as well.

And lots of people will hate them for it.

Jesus is preparing them for that.

He says in chapter 16, verse one, I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling.

They will ban you in the synagogues.

In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God.

They will do these things because they haven't known the Father or Me.

Now, if you're one of the disciples sitting there, this'd be kind of troubling, wouldn't it?

Jesus isn't exactly making a chirpy Instagram post here, but he's being straight with them.

He's preparing them with the truth so that when it happens, they're not like, whoa, I thought I was serving the king of the universe.

Why is all this bad stuff happening to me?

Their trust in Christ won't be rocked by all this.

Rather, it'll be confirmed, just one more prediction from Jesus that came true.

But at the moment as they're hearing it all, you can almost feel the weight in their hearts.

Jesus is leaving us.

He wants us to tell people about him, but they're going to want to kill us when we do.

What they don't realise yet, though, is, is that it's really good for them that Jesus is going, because after Jesus leaves, he'll send the Holy Spirit.

Their job of testifying about Jesus would be impossible without the Spirit.

They have no ability to change hearts, to convict hearts, to make people want to follow Jesus.

Their mission would be a failure without the Spirit.

They actually need Jesus to leave.

Jesus says in verse four, but I have told you these things so that when their time comes, you will remember I told them to you.

I didn't tell you these things from the beginning because I was with you.

But now I am going away to him who sent me.

And not one of you asks me, where are you going?

Yet because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth.

It is for your benefit that I go away.

Because if I don't go away, the counselor will not come to you.

If I go, I will send him to you.

When he comes.

He will convict the world about sin, righteousness and judgment.

About sin because they do not believe in me, about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me.

And about judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged.

When Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convict, well, convict can be used in a couple of different ways.

You can convict someone in a court of law, but I think this is the other meaning.

When you become convicted in your heart of the truth, if you're a Christian person, it's because you've become convicted in things that are unnatural for the sinful heart to believe.

You've become convicted that you sin, that you're guilty, that you're evil, that you deserve to be judged and that there's nothing you can do to save yourself from the judgment you deserve.

You've become convicted that Jesus is the only way to righteousness.

These are things that no one believes who doesn't want to follow Jesus.

And you only believe them because the spirit of truths opened your eyes to the truth, guided you into truth, convicted your heart to want to believe it.

During Jesus ministry, most people haven't become convicted of these sorts of things.

And even those few who have, it's like they don't get the full picture yet.

They see, but with blurry vision.

They hear, but it's like a distant noise that they can't quite make out.

The time for clarity and fully understanding Jesus and his mission is still to come.

It'll begin when Jesus leaves and sends the Spirit.

So Jesus tells his disciples in verse 12, I still have many things to say to you, but you can't bear them now.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears.

He will also declare to you what is to come.

He will glorify me because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.

Everything the Father has is mine.

That's why I told you that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you.

How good is it that he did declare it to the disciples?

These apostles, these witnesses, as they're listening to Jesus, as He lays out remarkable mysteries of the universe, they really have no idea what he's talking about.

If they were to speak to the world now about Jesus, they'd get it wrong.

Once the Spirit comes, though, he'll put all the puzzle pieces together in their head.

All of a sudden, these 11 men will understand and they'll be driven to tell the world about everything they've seen and heard from Jesus.

Some of them, like John, will even write it down.

And so, through the joint testimony of the Holy Spirit and the Bible which he caused the apostles to produce, people from all over the world can be saved.

Having laid out the hardships that they'll have to face, Jesus now gives his disciples hope again.

It's a hope that they won't understand until after the resurrection.

But still, it's a pretty awesome hope.

In verse 16, Jesus says, In a little while, you will no longer see me again.

In a little while, you will see me.

Then some of his disciples said to one another, what is this he's telling us?

In a little while, you will not see me again.

In a little while, you will see me.

And because I'm going to the Father, they said, what is he saying?

In a little while?

We don't know what he's talking about.

After 2000 years, it's hardly a big surprise to us that Christ's death and resurrection is only hours away.

And I kind of want to reach back in time and grab the disciples and say, listen to Jesus.

Don't panic.

It's all going to be okay.

But that's just my arrogance.

As if my words would be more compelling than the words of Jesus.

The fact is, it's just not time for them to understand it yet.

What Jesus is promising, though, the joy and happiness that's coming their way, is awesome.

In verse 19, we're told Jesus knew they wanted to ask him.

And so he said to them, are you asking one another what I said?

In a little while, you will not see me again.

In a little while, you will see me.

Truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice.

You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.

When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come.

But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world.

So you also have sorrow now.

But I will see you again.

Your hearts will rejoice and no one will take away your joy from you.

My wife was in labour for 29 hours with our first child.

It wasn't a particularly pleasant experience.

But the joy that came when he was finally out in the open, when she could hold him and touch him and kiss him and talk to him and sing with him, that's a joy that's hard to beat.

The disciples are going to have joy like that.

And it'd be easy to hear Jesus words and think of his second Coming when he'll gather up all his people and take us to his Father's home.

Home.

When our joy will be eternal and all suffering and sadness will be gone forever.

But I don't think that's what Jesus is talking about here.

I think he's talking about the moment.

Just a few short days from this moment.

After their utter grief and despair at the cross, the emptiness of shattered hopes and dreams, after just three days of that, Jesus will rise again.

They'll see him.

They'll talk to Him.

They'll eat with him.

And Even though after 40 days of that he will return to heaven, by then they'll know that's not the end.

They'll already have the joy that can't be taken from them.

They'll have the happiness that can't be stolen from them.

The Pharisees and Jewish leaders and the Romans are going to try and rob them of their joy by putting Jesus to death.

That end that robs all hopes, all plans, all happiness.

And Jesus will die.

But then he'll rise again.

He'll conquer death, defeat the grave, shatter the tomb, never to die again.

And so who can rob them of their joy?

What's someone going to do?

Kill him again?

Impossible.

Are they going to kill them?

Well, Jesus will raise them to life.

Their joy can no longer be stolen from them.

And this joy will give them huge confidence to do the work Jesus gives them to do.

In the Book of Acts, we read about how they face violence and threats.

James is even killed.

But they keep testifying about what they've seen and heard.

They seem so different there to the confused, sad, worried people talking to Jesus back in John, chapter 16.

In John, they're about to know the most profound grief they've ever been struck by.

But their grief will turn to joy.

Their boldness in the future also comes from the work of the Holy Spirit in them.

Jesus has said that the Spirit is coming to testify about Jesus.

All throughout Acts, you get the phrase saying that the apostles are filled with the Holy Spirit.

And the immediate result is that they tell people about Jesus because that's what the Spirit is sent to do.

Also in Acts, you hear them praying boldly.

Why isn't that a little arrogant?

What right do they have to speak to the God who created the heavens and the earth?

Well, it turns out they have the right of children speaking to their Father.

Right back at the beginning of John's Gospel, he said these wonderful words about anyone who believes in Jesus, he said, but to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God.

Well, now Jesus tells his disciples that they should enjoy that right, take up that privilege, have the full package of joy by taking full part in the family.

All through the Gospel, he's been speaking about the amazing special relationship that he has with his Father.

Now through Jesus, they have that family relationship too.

Jesus says in verse 23, in that day, you will not ask me for anything.

Truly, I tell you anything.

You ask the Father in My name, he will give you.

Until now, you have asked for nothing in My name.

Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech.

A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures.

But I will tell you plainly about the Father.

On that day, you will ask in My name.

And I'm not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf.

For the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and believed that I came from God.

I came from the Father and have come into the world again.

I am leaving the world and going to the Father.

Now.

As far as I can tell, there's nothing in Jesus words there that's particularly clearer for the disciples than what he's already said.

And yet, for some reason, after Jesus has spoken these words, they seem to think that they've got it.

Finally, it's all become clear to them.

They say in verse 29, look, now you're speaking plainly and not using any figurative language.

Now we know that you know everything and don't need anyone to question you by this.

We believe that you came from God.

On the face of it, that's a beautiful moment of recognition.

And yet, strangely, they don't understand the fact that they actually don't understand yet.

They think they know what Jesus is saying.

They think they've figured it out, but it isn't that time yet.

They haven't had to watch the cross and resurrection yet.

And you can hear the pity in Jesus words as he replies to their bold statement.

On the one hand, he knows that they don't fully get it yet.

He knows that their faith isn't enough to give them courage.

Yet in a couple of hours, they're all about to put their weakness on show.

On the other hand, knowing that they're about to fail, he still wants to give them words of comfort and encouragement.

So he replies in verse 31, do you believe now?

Indeed, an hour is coming and has come when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone.

Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.

You will have suffering in this world.

Be courageous.

I have conquered the world.

After this call to courage, Jesus prays.

He prays a prayer filled with love and compassion and wisdom.

A prayer that's warmed the hearts of believers for 2000 years.

Jesus knows that the moment, the hour of his suffering has come.

And what's the chief thing that he wants from that suffering?

What's his goal?

What does he want to achieve?

Glory.

A greatness that's on display for everyone to see.

Lots of kings have sought out glory throughout history.

The glory of conquest or of building great monuments.

They seek glory by making laws, making money, ruling more people.

The glory is utterly self focused.

It doesn't care for the good of others, just that others care about them.

And at first it seems like that's what Jesus wants.

Jesus asks His Father to glorify him, show the world his greatness.

And yet, the more you delve into it, the more you see that this request from Jesus is not selfish.

It's not about ego building.

Instead, it's incredibly loving.

Straight away, you see that Jesus request for glory is a means to an end.

He says in chapter 17, verse 1, Father, the hour has come.

Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.

Yes, Jesus wants to be glorified.

Why?

So that everyone can see how great His Father is.

He wants people to know the greatness of His Father, like He knows the greatness of His Father.

He wants people to see the love of His Father.

He wants them to be saved from thinking that God's evil, to knowing how kind he is, that he loved the world so much that he'd give his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him won't perish but have eternal life.

Because Jesus loves His Father so much.

That's why he was so excited before to tell his disciples, hey guys, guess what?

This is so good.

In the time that's coming, you won't have to ask me for anything.

You get to ask my Father.

He's like, what could be better than that?

So even as Jesus is praying and asking for his own glory, it's still a selfless, loving request.

And this has been the goal all along.

Jesus says, glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you.

Since you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you've given him.

If we think of eternal life as simply living forever, that statement really makes no sense.

What's glorifying God got to do with eternal life?

It's easy for us to think of eternal life as something separate from God.

Like, we'll go to heaven forever and oh yeah, God will be there too.

But what are we going to do forever?

Won't it get boring?

But Jesus doesn't think like that.

Eternal life and being with or knowing God aren't two separate, different things.

He says in verse three, this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you've sent Jesus Christ.

Way back at the beginning of the world, when Satan tempted Adam and Eve to eat the fruit, what was their problem?

They didn't trust God.

They didn't believe he's good.

They thought, he isn't being kind to us, he's being mean.

By not letting us eat from this one tree.

They forgot all the goodness he'd given them, how they could eat from any other tree in the garden, including the Tree of Life, how he'd made them in his own image to rule and care for the world.

They forgot all his love and care and power and goodness, and that the best thing about being in the garden is that they were with God.

And so they rejected God and they ate the fruit and they died.

If only they'd known God better.

On the flip side, when the apostle Paul prays for the Christians in Ephesus, his great desire is that they would know God.

In Ephesians 3:19, he prays that they may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width and height and depth of God's love, and to know Christ's love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

When your chief delight is exploring the love of Christ, the love that surpasses knowledge, you're never going to get bored.

Eternity isn't long enough to discover the full width and height and depth of God's love.

That's what's so glorious about him.

And so Jesus wants people to know how great God is.

He wants people to know his astounding love.

In verse four, he prays, I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.

Jesus wants people to have the pleasure of knowing him and his Father in all their loving self.

Sacrificial splendid glory.

In fact, that's what he's been achieving with his disciples.

What's about to happen across the world after the resurrection, people gaining eternal life by knowing God has been happening in a small way with this tiny group.

Jesus says in verse six, I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from the world.

They were yours.

You gave them to me and they have kept your word.

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

Because I have given them the words you gave me.

They have received them and have known for certain that I came from you.

They have believed that you sent me.

As we've seen, Jesus is very aware that as he's about to leave the world and return to His Father.

That's not what's happening for the disciples yet.

They're staying behind.

They're continuing in a world that hates them.

And so Jesus prays for them.

And what does he pray?

He prays that they as a group would have the same unity and love for one another that Jesus has with his father.

In verse 11, he prays, I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world and I am coming to you.

Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me so that they may be one as we are one.

Notice how the protection he wants for them isn't protection from suffering or protection from persecution or protection from poverty or sickness or pain.

Those are all short term things.

Sure they're bad, but it's a badness that belongs to this world.

They have no place in eternity.

What does have a place in eternity is relationship.

Christ is saving people for relationship with God and relationship with other Christians.

He's forming a unity in His Church that reflects the unity in God.

That's why he gave them the new commandment to love one another.

The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father.

They're unified in purpose and love.

And that's what Jesus wants for his disciples.

That's the thing that'll give them eternal joy.

That's the relationship that'll last into eternity.

What'll tear it apart is sin, selfishness, individualism, a desire to put my needs above the needs of Jesus and my fellow Christians.

A selfishness that'll drive me to be excluded from Christ and His people.

That's why Jesus told his disciples to remain in him.

And it's what he's asking God to protect them from.

Now in verse 12, he says, while I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you've given me.

I guarded them and not one of them is lost except the Son of destruction so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.

Now I am coming to you and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them.

What will keep them in this joy, keep them in Jesus, keep them in the unity and love of God is the truth.

The truth that only comes from God's word.

The one who wants to tear them away from that truth is the devil or the Father of lies, the evil one.

The one who led Adam and Eve and the whole human race to destruction by his lies.

So Jesus prays in verse 14.

I have given them your word.

The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

I am not praying that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one.

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them by the truth.

Your word is truth.

And you sent me into the world.

I have also sent them into the world.

I sanctify myself for them so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Jesus.

Prayer isn't just for them, though they do have a very specific job to take that word of truth that Jesus has given them and to pass it on to others.

But every other Christian will believe based on that word that they pass on people like you and me.

And Jesus prays for and wants for us the exact same unity that he wants for those first disciples.

In verse 20, he prays, I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word.

May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you.

May they also be in us so that the world may believe you sent me.

I have given them the glory you've given me so that they may be one, as we are one.

I am in them and you are in me.

So that they may be made completely one that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

Father, I want those who you have given me to be with me where I am so that they will see my glory which you have given me because you have loved me before the world's foundation.

Righteous Father, the world has not known you.

However, I have known you and they have known that you sent me.

I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known so that the love you have loved me with will may be in them and I may be in them.

And with that prayer.

Jesus steps out with his disciples, leaving Jerusalem, crossing the Kidron Valley and up the Mount of Olives.

He walks very deliberately to the same place where the betrayer is heading, the place where he'll be arrested because his hour has come.

But that's a story for next time.

Hi everyone.

I'd like to ask a favour.

If you're finding the show helpful, will you share it with someone on social media or telling someone, or sharing it in church?

Think of someone who may benefit from listening and say, hey, you should be listening to stories of a faithful God.

And if they have kids, then make sure they know about stories of a faithful God for kids.

Keep trusting Jesus.

Bye for now.