6 “I have made your name known to those whom
you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they
have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given
me is from you; 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to
them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and
they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf;
I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave
me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are
mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer
in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father,
protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we
are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them in your name
that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the
one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But
now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may
have my joy made complete in themselves. 14 I have given them your
word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world,
just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you to take
them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16
They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you have
sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And
for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in
truth.
John 17 is the
intercessory prayer of Jesus. This prayer gives me an opportunity to discuss
the difference between church and world and even the meaning of life. Tension between
church and world exists, in part, because the church defines the meaning of
life in a different way than does the world.
As the Passover
nears, chapter 13 begins with a description of the last meal of Jesus with his
disciples before the Passover. Beginning at 13:31 through the end of chapter 16
is the "Farewell Discourse" of Jesus to the disciples - it is not
unlike the many farewell discourses of Moses in Deuteronomy or that of Jacob,
which begins in Genesis 47:29. After the farewell discourse, Jesus prays
(chapter 17), and then Jesus and his disciples go to a garden across the Kidron
Valley, east of Jerusalem, where Judas takes the soldiers and temple police,
and Jesus is arrested. This high priestly prayer of Jesus takes the place of
the Synoptic report of Gethsemane, in which Jesus anticipates the event of the
passion, especially in verses 11, 15, 24, and 26. We should have this glorified
picture in front of us if we are to appreciate the hard account of the
Synoptics.[1]
In this prayer, an indefinite number of people given the Son, who in verse 6,
belong to the Father, who has then given them to Jesus, they hear the word of Jesus
in verse 8, Christ will glorify himself in them in verse 10, and in verse 24,
the ones given to Christ will be with him where he is.[2]
In Act 5 scene 5
of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the character Macbeth has heard that the queen is
dead and he knows his own death is imminent. At this time, he delivers his
famous soliloquy:
Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow
creeps in this petty pace from day
to day,
To the last syllable of recorded
time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted
fools
The way to dusty death. Out, Out,
brief candle
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor
player
That struts and frets his hour upon
the stage
and then is heard no more. It is a
tale
Told by an idiot. Full of sound and
fury
Signifying nothing.
Many people have pondered whether
Macbeth might be right. Is life nothing but a shadow having no substance, no
meaning? Writers and philosophers since recorded time have tried to answer the
question. Obviously, no one has been successful in answering the question to
the satisfaction of everyone. Someone once said that trying to speak about the
ultimate reality is like sending a kiss through a messenger. I understand their
point: Something of its truth is lost in the translation. The question of the
meaning of human life is a philosophical one to be sure. I think it is also a
genuinely human question. At some point, most of us ask it. We may ask it out
of a sense of despair, hope, cynicism, curiosity, or a deep desire to have
goals and guidance in one’s life. The question may be the most basic and
fundamental of questions.
The
question of the meaning of life also reveals a quite real problem we have. If
the answer were staring us in the face, would we receive it? What would we do
if we did not like the answer? I am not so sure we would embrace the answer,
especially since embracing it might require us to change the course of our
lives. In this part of the prayer of Jesus, John is making it clear that the
Jesus as the Son reveals the Father and glorifies the Father. The meaning of a
human life is to embrace this truth, to believe it, and live our lives in
accord with its reality. We will not easily embrace such a truth. After all, we
would rather go on searching instead of committing. We would rather do and believe
what we want instead of find the meaning of our lives outside us and within the
life of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Thus, I think John is inviting us to
reflect upon some basic issues of a human life.
Verses 6-8
conclude the section on a prayer for glory.
It deals with Jesus' work of revelation among the disciples. Already
implicit is the theme unity that underlies this whole section. 6 "I have made your name, person,
nature, or essence known. The giving
of Jesus reveals the love of the Father, so people must believe in Jesus as the
Son to appreciate that love and thus "know" the Father. Thus, the
primary task of revelation is to make the “name” of the Father known. The
separation from Judaism is alarmingly obvious here. In the Hebrew Scriptures
God revealed the divine name (YHWH) to the chosen people through the servant of
the Lord, Moses.[3] In light
of such statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John as "For you will die in
your sins unless you believe that I am he" (8:24), the divine name
referred to by Jesus is most likely that presented to Moses at the burning
bush: "I am who I am" (Exodus 3:14). The object of revelation is to those whom you gave me from the world.
The emphasis is on the separation that needs to happen between those who
receive this revelation and those who do not. John composed the gospel in the
teeth of bitter controversy between Jewish Christians and non-Christian Jews.
Throughout John's gospel, a sharp and unapologetic distinction is made between
those to whom and for whom Jesus delivered the message of eternal life and the
several others (e.g., non-Christian Jewish synagogue leaders, Gnostic
Christians, and pagans) for whom his message was not intended and by whom it
was not recognized and received (see, e.g., 8:37; 17:9). This group of
believers in Jesus as the Messiah was probably the intended audience of the
Gospel (20:31), and John writes to encourage them to be steadfast in their
faith. Jesus here is the mediator of revelation, something like an angel that
shows and interprets revelation to the prophet. The prayer now turns to the
work of revelation by Jesus among the disciples, as ones who know, and merit
attention in a prayer like this. They
were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7
Now, they know that everything you have given me is from you. This
tautology emphasizes the intimacy of the relationship between the Father and
the Son, as well as the dependence Jesus has on the Father for all that he has
received. In the context of the present verses, the most important thing the
Father has given Jesus has been the disciples themselves. 8 For the words that you gave to me, I have given to them,
in the time of his earthly ministry, and
they have received them. The idea of giving, especially in the form of
transmitting is the dominant theme of this chapter. Jesus personifies and
glorifies the Father. Jesus as the true revelation of God has authority to
grant eternal life. Eternal life does not refer to the quantity of time or even
an eternal resting place after death. Rather, eternal life is a quality of
relationship that the believer has with God. To have eternal life is to know
God. To know God truly is to know Jesus and recognize him for who he is. We
know God, not through Torah or even any other revelation, but rather, we know
God through Jesus. Further, they know in
truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. For
John, eventually, the disciples have understood the full meaning and impact of
Jesus, his divine source, his sacrificial life, and life-giving teaching. By
extension, the community of John viewed itself as like the disciples. However,
John has also recorded the difficulty the disciples in understanding these
words. In general, we see in the New Testament the cryptic nature of the
identity of Jesus combined with the eventual exclusive insights of a select
group of apostles.
John 17:9-19 has
the theme of intercession for the disciples and the world, a prayer for those
whom the Father has given to Jesus. The assumption in the opening words is the
hostility of the world, the opposition of the world to Jesus. “He’s got the
whole world in his hand” is a comforting thought, and true from one
perspective, but not the perspective of this prayer. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of
the world, although we need to remember that Jesus is sending the disciples
into the world. Rather, he is asking on behalf
of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. The focus shifts to
relationship. 10 All mine are
yours and yours are mine; and the Father has glorified me in them. We find here a reminder that creation
does not make a human being a child of God in the unique sense in which John
wants to use that term. One belongs to the Father as one belongs to or accepts
Jesus. Jesus continues his prayer by emphasizing that believers are those in
whom the Father glorifies Jesus as the Son.[4]
11 Further, now I am no longer in the world, a
statement not literally true, but soon will be so. His departure is already
under way. However, they are in the
world. Affliction occurs because Jesus has entrusted the word of God to
them, because as those whom Jesus sent and commissioned they are no more of the
world than is Jesus, because they can have no part in the self-understanding of
the cosmos. They can only contradict it.[5]
Further, I am coming to you. Holy Father[6], unique
to this passage, protect (tereson)[7]
or shelter them in your name that you have given me. Given the tense circumstances
surrounding the work's composition and the beleaguered state of the community
that preserved it, it is hardly surprising that the idea of protection from
indifferent or even hostile forces would be a prominent concern. That God's
"name" would afford the disciples protection reflects a complex
understanding of the power and significance of names that was widespread
throughout the ancient world, and the gift of this name to Jesus is the logical
result of the intimate relationship between the Father and the Son articulated
in the verse's final clause, "As we are one." That the “name” has the
power to protect reflects the intimacy of relationship between Father and Son.
The concern here is to keep them from contamination by the world. Such
protection will have a result: so that
they may be one, as we are one. The greatest threat from this world is its
ability to breed divisiveness. Jesus sends his disciples into a hostile world,
not to so much to change it as to challenge it.
12 While I
was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded
them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that
the scripture receive fulfillment. Thus, Jesus praying for the
Father to protect them in verse 11 occurs under the awareness that Jesus will
soon no longer be with them to offer protection for them. 13 However, now I am coming to you, and I speak these
things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. Hearts filed with joy will,
it appears, be one of the best defenses the disciples have against the
hardships ahead of them. Thus, as Jesus
prepares to depart from his disciples, he leaves them with two weapons against
the world: a joyful heart and the protective power of God's name. 14 I
have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not
belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am
not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them
from the evil one. Like a worried parent, Jesus
now asks God’s special protective arm to shelter these disciples from the
worlds' attacks. 16 They do not belong to the world,
just as I do not belong to the world.
Defenseless before so powerful a despot, the disciples will receive protection,
Jesus prays, by the ruler of another, greater world.
Verses 17-19 may suggest Jesus' death, and if so, the
sending of the disciples does not occur until after his death. 17 Sanctify[8]
them in the truth; your word is truth. The consecration in truth is not simply a purification
from sin but is a consecration to mission. 18 As you
have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 Further, for their
sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may receive sanctification in truth. This sanctifying of Jesus may be a reference to his
impending crucifixion, the penalty of supreme separation from this world for
the sake of God's word. Jesus proclaims in his prayer his dedication to God (he
is sanctified) so that his disciples will fully share in that identity. A follower of Jesus participates fully in the
Son's dedication to the Father. The
holiness of God is the basis of the request that the Father will keep believers
in fellowship with the Son[9].[10]
We can see here the importance of the divine preserving, in which the main
concern is the continuity of Christian existence. We can also see some validity
in the notion of the community for the world as Jesus sends the community into the
world, a sending connected with the notion of the Father sending the Son into
the world.[11]
Yes, these persons receive sanctification, but given what the rest of the New
Testament says about how they behave, they are “curious saints.”[12]
This relationship identified
them as unique, separating them from the other cultures. Now John has Jesus
claim a different new "community" that has been given to him. They
have the truth, revealed only through Jesus Christ and his name. The community
of true disciples, holders of the new revelation, possessors of true knowledge,
will soon not have Jesus present with them to guide and teach. Hence, Jesus
prays for their unity during his absence. Jesus' prayer is very specific. Jesus
is not offering a prayer that raises the comforting notion that God has the
"whole world in his hands." Rather, Jesus is praying only for those
who know the truth about himself. The "truth," that the disciples
hold, no doubt will cause division. Therefore, Jesus petitions the Father to
protect the disciples. Only by remaining firmly in the truth as John has Jesus
reveal it, can the community withstand the pressure from "the
world." In the multiple works of
the Johannine community, the "world" always represents the hostile
environment in which the true believer finds him or herself. As the community remains firm in its faith
and witness, Jesus asks the Father to give them the same kind of experience of
unity that Father and Son share. The Holy Spirit, while playing a significant
part in John's theology, does not receive mention in this prayer. To the Jesus
of the Fourth Gospel, the Spirit is a post-resurrection gift of God. Secure,
protected, firm in the truth, the disciples and those who come to the truth
throughout history (v. 20ff) will be able to withstand pressures from without
as they glorify the name of the Father within, and reveal the identity of Jesus
to the world.
John has emphasized the
division between believer and non-believer, between church and world. We can
think of the church has having four ways it might interact with its surrounding
culture. In the proper setting, each may have validity. One can be
anti-cultural, like the Amish. One can be en-cultural, where the church becomes
so anxious to fit into its culture that it loses its distinguishing
particularity. It becomes the world. The world throws a stick, and the church,
like a friendly and faithful dog, fetches the stick. The church can be
counter-cultural, isolating itself from what it thinks is the dominant culture,
only to discover that it now identifies itself with a sub-culture. It becomes
friendly with isolationist language. The church is the beachhead, outpost,
colony, or resident alien, all the while oblivious that it has switched one
culture for another culture. It creates an artificial wall between the church
and world, in which the church assumes its chosen sub-culture is superior to
its understanding of the dominant culture. God loves this world so much to the
send the Son to die for it. Yes, that capitalist and western culture that so
many hip theologians reject is the one God loves. The church can be
in-cultural, using knowledge of the current culture to incarnate Christ in this
culture, recognizing that the culture will change. Such a viewing of viewing
church and culture requires much prayerful discernment to know where to stand
with culture on common ground and where to move lovingly against it. Faithful
Christians and churches will differ widely as to where and how this tension
finds resolution.[13] Such issues are practical.
If you find your cultural home sweet, you are a beginner. If every native soil
is sweet, you are strong. It may well be, however, that when every culture
feels like a foreign place, we have reached a level of spiritual maturity
rarely reached.[14] Yes, I am including the
highly valued sub-culture of the self-described resident alien as finding
itself far too much at home in a sub-culture. It may well be that the only
ultimate disaster for the church is to be at home on earth. As long as every
place on earth feels like a foreign place and we long for the true homeland
proclaimed by Jesus in the rule of God, then we have not forgotten what
concerned Jesus and what ought to concern followers of Jesus of every age and
culture.[15]
The writings of John
challenge us to reflect upon the relationship between church and world. The
church is in the world, obviously, but must never be at rest or at peace with
the world. The church needs to recognize that, regardless of the specific
culture, the world can be a rough place for those who love God more than the
world.
A student at Duke called the
pastor, William Willimon, and needed to talk.
He began by saying: I have had the worst night of my life. Last night, after the fraternity meeting, as
usual, we had a time when we just sit around and talk about what we did over
the weekend. This weekend, during a
party we had on Saturday, I went upstairs to get something from a brother’s
room and walked in on a couple who were, well, in the act. I immediately closed the door and went back
downstairs, saying nothing. Well, when
we came to the time for sharing at the end of the meeting, after a couple of
brothers shared what they did over the weekend, one of the group said, “I
understand that Mr. Christian got a real eye full last night.” With that, they all began to laugh. Not a good, friendly laugh; it was cold,
cruel, mean laughter. They were all
laughing, all saying things like, “You won’t see nothing like that in
church! Better go confess it to the
priest.” Stuff like that. I tried to recover, tried to say something
light, but I could not. They hate
me! They were serious. I walked out of the meeting, stood outside,
and wept. I have never received
treatment like that in my life. The
pastor responded: that is amazing. Moreover,
you are not the greatest Christian in the world, are you? And yet, just one person running around loose
who can say “No” is a threat to everyone else, has to be put down, ridiculed,
savaged into silence.”
The difficulty is that the
church may well give a loud voice and clear exposition to every portion of the
Bible. Yet, the challenge is that at some specific moment and place, the truth
in the Bible finds itself under attack. If the church is too fearful to engage
the place where the battle rages, where the loyalty of the soldier has its
test, and instead flees or flinches, it shows its weakness in standing with
Christ and against culture.[16]
I need this reminder today.
I need this reminder today.
[1] Barth, Church Dogmatics IV.1 [59.2] 268.
[2] Barth, Church Dogmatics III.2 [45.1] 211.
[3]
(See, e.g., Deuteronomy 5:11, 10:8, 12:5, 12:21, 14:23, 16:6, etc.; see also
John 17:26).
[4]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
3, 11.
[5]
Barth, Church Dogmatics IV.3 [71.5]
625.
[6]
Although kinship terminology for the
divine-human relationship is rooted in the most ancient strata of West Semitic
religion, "Father" is not an epithet of God in the Hebrew Bible.
Although it was not unknown in the Judaism of Jesus' time to address God as
"Father," such an address is found only in apocryphal and rabbinic
writings. "Holy Father" is a unique address to God, found only here.
[7]
Protection is the point of Jesus'
prayer and a frequent idea in the gospel of John; the word occurs far more
frequently in John's gospel, in fact, than in any other NT book.
[8]
The same word as the word for "hallow" in the Lord's Prayer (Matthew
6:9, Luke 11:2). In both instances, the basic meaning is something set apart
from common or profane use. Jesus' request that his disciples be set apart
continues, in this context, the overarching theme of the disciples' fundamental
separateness from the world into which both Jesus and they have been sent (v.
18).
[9]
Barth, Church Dogmatics III.3 [49.1]
83.
[10]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
1, 399.
[11]
Barth, Church Dogmaitcs IV.3 [72.2]
768.
[12]
Barth, Church Dogmatics IV.2 [66.2]
517.
[13]
H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture,
[14]
Hugo of St. Victor wrote long ago:
Those who find their homeland sweet are still tender
beginners; those whom every soil is as their native one is already strong; but
those who are perfect regard the entire world as a foreign place.
[15]
Malcolm Muggeridge once put it this way:
The only ultimate disaster that can befall us is to
feel ourselves to be at home here on earth.
As long as we are aliens we cannot forget our true homeland which is
that other kingdom You proclaimed.
[16] Luther, vol 3, p. 81ff. If I profess with the loudest voice and
clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that
little point at which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking. I am not confessing Christ, however, boldly I
may be professing him. Where the battle
rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to the steady on all the
battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.
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