313th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't.- Jesus Prayer Con't. - John 17: 10-11.

John 17: 10 -11.
All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
Jesus is still in the upper room the night He was to be betrayed, continuing with this prayer. Jesus is explaining again that He and the Father, are completely unified in their actions and belief. If you look at this prayer, Jesus shows His omniprescence, the ability to be everywhere in time at the same time. The believer's in the Old Testament, like Abraham, David, Isaac and Jacob; all believed the Promise of the Messiah, without ever seeing His coming. They did not know Jesus, but they knew the Father, and they were saved because of this belief that God would keep His promise. When Jesus came to Minister to the people, the people believed the Words of the Father first, then as they came to know Jesus, they started to believe in Him also, because His message is the same as the Father's. Jesus is telling them that He is no longer in the world, because His time on earth is short, and He is passing the mantle of preaching, teaching, and healing onto His Disciples. They will have great power, but they will not be God! Jesus is the only True God, that walked among us, He had to walk and keep all of God commands perfectly to be our True and Perfect Sacrifice, and to be able to Atone for our sins. No other god has done that!! That puts Jesus in a place by Himself, and gives Him the right to say "That no one comes to the Father except through Me!" Do you believe yet?? There is still time to make that commitment.

312th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't Prayer Con't. - John 17: 8-9

John 17: 8-9.
For I have given them the words you have given me, and they have received them and have come to know the truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
This is the continuing prayer Jesus prayed for His disciples, and us in the upper room just before He was to be betrayed. Jesus again says that His follower's have been given to Him by God the Father, they believed the words you have given Me, and have come to know the truth that you sent Me. To be a follower of Jesus, you have to know Jesus on this level. You have to believe that Jesus was sent by the Father and acted according with God the Father's wishes. This sets you apart from the rest of the world. The rest of the world still condemns Jesus, and does not accept Him. Only Jesus can save you from your sins! This is the Truth!! If you want eternal life, you have to believe in Jesus as your one and only true Savior. Only Jesus paid the price, and has the power to atone for sin. This is why He sits at the Right Hand of the Father today. Do you believe?? There is still time to make that commitment!

311th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - John 17: 6 - 7.

John 17: 6 - 7.
I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.
This is the continuing prayer that Jesus prayed for His disciples and us, on the night He was to be betrayed; still in the upper room. Notice how clear His words are now, Jesus has stopped speaking in parables. In verse 6, Jesus says I have clearly explained You and Your words to the people You gave Me out of the world. Here Jesus makes a distinction between the believers and the rest of the world. The world hears the word, but does not believe it, or act upon it. The believer hears the word, recognizes it as truth, and remembers it and conforms it to his life, thus transforming his life. You, the Father have given them to Me, and they have shown themselves worthy by keeping your word. At the completion of My earthly Ministry, they know that everything you have given Me is from You. They understand I have represented You correctly to them. The Old Testament teachings have become clear, and I have marked the path plainly. The way is prepared, all who seek will find the true path. My task on earth is now complete.

310th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - His Own Prayers Con't. - John 17: 4-5.

Jesus continued in His prayer that He had glorified God the Father, while He was on Earth. He did this by telling the people about God the Father, and performing miracles to show the people, that His words were true because God the Father was working in and through Him. The religious leaders of that time, instead of embracing Jesus as the Messiah, tried to turn the people away from Him, by saying that Jesus got His power from Satan! They rejected Jesus and His message. This is happening still today, we see, but don't understand, we hear but don't comprehend. Jesus, despite the opposition of His message, kept proclaiming the Gospel (good news) to everyone. Some people believed, these are the ones God has saved, and is still saving today. Jesus is now at the end of His earthly Ministry, and is asking the Father to keep his promise by glorifying Jesus, by raising Him from the dead, and seating Him at His Right Hand. When Jesus died on the cross, and He said "IT IS FINISHED"! Jesus had completed His task! He descended into hell as the conquering hero, not the beaten enemy to be punished some more. Jesus showed Himself to Satan, to show him, that Jesus had prevailed, Jesus took his power, and his future. Satan is still a being, not to be taken lightly. He will still cause you much pain and suffering. Think about that, when reading the sayings and miracles of Jesus. Jesus relieved suffering, and pain; not compounded it. Do you know this Jesus?? There is still time to come to Him!!

309th Post Jesus On Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - John 17: 3 Con't.

Verse 3 of John 17 talks about eternal life. Remember that this was spoken on Maundy Thursday Night, before Jesus was to die and rise again. Jesus had not yet risen, and so He and the Father had only spoken about resurrection. Jesus through His talks with the disciples, the Father through His prophets, and His Word that had been written, at this time was limited to the Law and Prophets. The prophets had spoken about His rising from the dead, they had written, "He would not decay", Jesus Himself said He would be like Jonah. He raised Lazarus 4 days after being dead, and Martha said "Lazarus was beginning to smell". The Torah says to Moses at the burning bush "I AM the God of Abraham, Isacc and Jacob". The key word in that passage is the word of, if they were dead, God would have said "I Was"! The Bible clearly teaches life after death. The disciples were going to experience this first hand in a few short hours from now, less than a week later. They would see the risen Savior, and He will talk to them and eat before them. What all this means I will get into more detail as we follow Jesus to the cross and beyond, in this study.
Verse 4 & 5 in John 17: goes like this: I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

308th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - Jesus Prayers Con't. - John 17: 1-26 Continued.

The last part of verse 2 says that He should give eternal life to as many as God the Father had given Him. This seems to contradict what John 3:16 says, according to this passage all you have to do to earn eternal life is believe. This is not the end but the beginning, when you start to keep God's Word, you start to show fruits of your faith. This is important, faith starts with belief, but you must continue to walk with God, and adapting His words to your life. This is how you walk with God. Most people when they read John 3:16, do not pay attention to the word belief. They read this passage to mean "all people", because we are all part of the world. This is not what this passage says. Everyone is given the chance to believe because it was given to the whole world. You decide yourself if you are going to believe or not. According to this passage, God the Father puts you as a believer into Jesus' hand, and there you remain as long as you continue to believe. This is exactly what John 3:16 teaches. Only believers are saved! This is the truth. There is no contradiction between John 3:16, and John 17: 1-2. I hope this has made things clear, and not confused you. Verse 3 is as follows: And this eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. Will comment on these to verses next post.

307th Post Jesus Promises Made to His Followers Con't. - His Own Prayers Con't. John 17: 1 - 26.

John 17: 1-26. This was spoken by Jesus in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday, before He was to be betrayed. Since the whole chapter of John is the passage it is too long to print here and discuss it, like I usually do. What I will do is print this passage in sections, and then comment on the section printed. The passage will be "italics" as usual.
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
In verse one Jesus says the time is come for the Father to glorify His Son. When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, Adam brought sin into the world. Adam was deceived by Satan, and disobeyed God. Satan has been enjoying ruling the earth ever since. God has sent His Son as Messiah, to take sin out of the world. How well you understand this, is based on how well you understood what the "Cup" symbolizes in the previous posts. When Jesus dies on the cross, and rises from the dead Jesus will be glorified. This is what verse 2 of this passage where it says that the Son will glorify you. The word "may" is used before this was spoken before it became fact. The last part of this verse is where we will pick up on next post.