Living with Jesus: John 17:1-26
Focus Passage: John 17:1-26 (CEV)
At the close of Jesus’ prayer on the night of His arrest, He makes a powerful but odd request. This request might not seem possible when looking at His words on the surface, but when we look a little deeper, we see an incredibly powerful truth that we can take and apply into our own lives and perspectives.
John recorded Jesus’ prayer, and he tells us that Jesus finished by praying, “Father, I want everyone you have given me to be with me, wherever I am. Then they will see the glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the world was created. Good Father, the people of this world don’t know you. But I know you, and my followers know that you sent me. I told them what you are like, and I will tell them even more. Then the love that you have for me will become part of them, and I will be one with them.” (v. 24-26)
In the closing words of this prayer, Jesus touches on the single characteristic that makes us one with Him. Jesus prayed that “the love that you have for me will become part of them, and I will be one with them.” (v. 26)
Love becomes the key characteristic that unites us with Jesus, and when we are united with Jesus in love, we are also united with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Through this love, we are able to show Jesus to others and only with His love can we be an effective witness while sharing Him with others.
But Jesus starts this concluding section off in a challenging way. He asks the Father, “I want everyone you have given me to be with me, wherever I am.” (v. 24a)
Since Jesus was nearing the time when He would return to heaven, this request doesn’t make sense when placed alongside His earlier statement about not removing His followers from the world. Unless we are capable of being in more than one place at a time, we cannot be here in the world but also in heaven with Jesus – at least in the most literal way of understanding this concept.
Part of me wonders if Jesus is talking about something differently from being physically present with Him in heaven while also being physically present here on earth. I wonder if prayer and perspective hold the key to staying connected with Jesus while He is in heaven while we are living here on earth. Through prayer, the Holy Spirit, and a focus on growing within God’s love, we are able to be one with Jesus while also being present on this earth. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is able to be with us wherever we are, and through prayer, we are able to connect with Him wherever He is.
While here on earth, we are called to be Jesus’ representatives, and we do this by being connected through God’s love that He has given to us through Jesus and through the Holy Spirit. While we live lives that represent God, we help those in the world know God better – and while not everyone who we interact with will respond favorably to God’s love through us, we are not called to change, convert, or convince people into choosing God for themselves. Jesus has called us to love as He loved and the greatest example of this is that He came into a world that was hostile towards Him and He loved it even though it ultimately cost Him His life.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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