With Dale Ratzlaff
John 17:13-16
But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world (Jn. 17:13-16).
I come to you.
The time has come for the final farewells. Christ’s work of nurturing the faith of His disciples has reached the end. Soon, they will be “in the world” without his human presence. Jesus, in the hearing of the disciples, continues His prayer to the Father.
Jesus knows how forgetful His disciples are. He also knows how scatterbrained and slow to learn we are; therefore, He repeats the important things over, and over again, so that they will be remembered.
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God…(Jn. 13:3).
I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father (Jn. 16:28).
Jesus speaks of His work as finished. He sees things from eternal perspectives and in so doing, gives us an example of where our faith is to be anchored.
The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn. 3:8).
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives (Heb. 2:14-15).
[Jesus came] to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness (Dan. 9:24).
Jesus’ work is now accomplished in the world. He will soon move to the Father’s right hand for His continued work as our Substitute and Representative. He trust’s His disciples to carry on in victory from where He left off. Jesus prays, “I come to you.” At the ascension, Jesus will soon be sitting at the Father’s right hand. He will be there in the place of authority and intercession.
…and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12).
By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Heb. 10:10).
For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Heb. 10:14).
When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me (Jn. 15:26).
But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you (Jn. 16:7).
Paul makes many references to Christ sitting at the right hand of the Father and the blessings that accrue to us from His position there. It was important for the early believers to know this truth and it is just as important for us to know and apply this truth.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:4-6).
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly placesin Christ (Eph. 1:3).
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory (Col. 3:1-4).
The presence of the Risen Christ seated at the Father’s right hand, is now applying the benefits of the completed atonement. Focusing on this completed work is the secret to the victorious Christian life. For these and other reasons Jesus, in the last few hours of His earthly presence declares the value of His going back to the Father. In the hearing of His disciples, Jesus states, “But now I come to you.”
I speak these things that they may have My joy made full in themselves.
The disciples listen as Jesus prays to the Father. At one minute they hear Him pray that the disciples may be filled with joy. At the next moment, Jesus speaks of them being hated in the world. The disciples have witnessed the hatred of the Jews toward Jesus during His ministry. Very soon they will witness His cruel death on the cross. Surely, they must have questioned, “How will our joy be made full in the presence of hatred and persecution?” Jesus does not pray that His disciples have a little joy; no, but “that their joy may be made full.”
On an earlier occasion Jesus said this:
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (Jn. 10:10).
This statement finds an antecedent on God’s will for Israel.
“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11).
David, in a prophecy of Christ, tells us where we can find this kind of joy.
You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever (Ps. 16:11).
When John the Baptist realized who Jesus was when He was standing in His presence, he said,
He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full (Jn. 3:29).
Later the Apostles experienced how suffering and persecution could indeed bring real joy.
They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name (Acts 5:40-41).
Paul and Barnabas experienced this same phenomenon of persecution resulting in joy.
But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:50-52).
Not long after this experience, we observe persecution resulting in joy.
…and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them (Acts 16:24-25).
Peter states that even though we cannot see Jesus now, by believing in Him we not only have joy, but we have eternal salvation as well.
…and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls (1 Pet. 1:9).
I have never been physically persecuted. However, I can testify that when seemingly hurtful events happened to me, they resulted in great joy. I well remember the day when I was terminated from the ministry in the Adventist church, I went home and mowed the lawn, and as I pushed the lawn mower around the yard, I would jump up and say, “I’m free! I’m free!” Through the years I have thanked God for His presence, provision and the joy of the Holy Spirit. Seeing God work in the lives of others brings great joy.
(This scripture passage will be continued in the next lesson).
Application
- That Jesus went to the Father is a major truth for all Christians. We would do well to use a computer Bible program or a Bible concordance and read all the passages that deal with us being “in Christ,” or “with Christ.”
- To know that as believers, our destiny is already determined because we are now declared to be “seated with Christ,” brings a wonderful assurance.
- The conflagration of hatred and persecution with fullness of joy is something hard to comprehend. However, we have the Bible record that this is true. Therefore, if, and when, we face hatred and persecution we should expect to have this promise fulfilled to us.
- Anyone who watches the news knows that there is a growing world-wide hatred expressed toward Christians. Contemplating possible persecution for our faith should cause us to examine the depths of our commitment. Is our union with Christ close enough for us to face persecution or even death for the sake of the gospel of Christ?
Prayer
Father, I thank you that Christ is seated at your right hand. I thank you that I am declared to be seated there with Christ. May I live the life that you have declared for me. Strengthen my resolve to follow That That you, come what may.
In Jesus name.
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