Hello, friends, and welcome back
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to this program
"Books of the Book."
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It's been a very
exciting Bible study for me
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and I am sure has been for you.
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We have been
studying the Gospel of John
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and we are with Dr. Jon Paulien.
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And today, we are
picking up in Chapter 17.
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And so if you
have a Bible around
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and you would like to
join us in this Bible study,
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open your Bibles
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and go to the Gospel
of John in Chapter 17.
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And Dr. Paulien,
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he is the Dean of
the School of Religion
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at Loma Linda University.
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And he is a Bible scholar.
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He has written several books,
three on the Gospel of John
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and he is just so knowledgeable.
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And I've been
blessed to just know
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and study that indeed
this is a spiritual gospel
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and we'll learn more about that.
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So, Dr. Paulien, welcome back.
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Good to be with
you always, Deyvy.
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You know, we are almost
finish with the Gospel of John
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and now we are at Johns 17.
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And I look at my
Bible here and it seems
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that is the shortest
chapter of the gospel
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and also it seems that
all the words in here are--
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just about all
of them are in red
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which means they
are the words of Jesus
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and so we know that it
is now the prayer of Jesus
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and so I though
why isn't this prayer
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just considered
the Lord's prayer.
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You know, we've
heard of the Lord's prayer
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back in other
gospels but this one,
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it seems like this
should be the Lord's prayer.
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Don't you think?
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Oh, for John, I
think it does function
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in that way because John
doesn't have the Lord's prayer
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that Matthew,
Mark and Luke have.
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So John is-- in fact I think
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it's just Mathew and Luke
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but John has this
other prayer of Jesus.
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It's a much longer
prayer and in many ways would be
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worthy of the
title, "The Lord's Prayer."
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But I think the difference
is that the shorter prayer
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in Matthew and Luke those--
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that's a generic prayer.
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It was given to the disciples.
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It was telling
them the big issues
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that you want to cover
when you are praying to God.
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And so it's a
model for us and I think
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throughout the
centuries people have grab that.
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This prayer in Chapter
17 is much more located
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in a specific situation
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and its Jesus prayer
first of all for Himself.
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It's not a model for us to pray
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but it's
specifically related to Jesus'
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experience with His disciples
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and with what would
happen after He leaves.
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So it's located in a specific
situation for that reason,
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probably hasn't
drawn as much attention.
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Now give us the
background on this chapter.
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Where are we? Where is Jesus?
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Where are the disciples?
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And again we are
almost close to the end here
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but what is Jesus saying?
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We will study the
prayer in a minute here.
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But give us a brief background
or the setting of this chapter.
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Okay, this is part of
the upper room experience,
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although it's not
called that in John.
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It starts in Chapter 13
with the foot washing service
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and then Jesus talks to His
disciples Chapters 13 and 14.
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In 15 He talks
without interruption
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and then in 16
they interrupt again.
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So He's been
conversing with the disciples.
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At one point they even
got up to leave the room
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but it appears
that when 17 is over
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they are still in the upper room
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and then they
leave, go down across
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the Kidron Valley to the garden
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where Jesus will be
arrested shortly afterward.
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So this prayer here is
the climax of what Jesus
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has been sharing
with His disciples.
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And the burden
here is preparing them
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for what life would be like
when He is no longer with them.
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So He is saying, you know,
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"When I am not here,
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here's the thing you
are going to need to do."
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And then in this
prayer he focuses on--
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there's three
parts to this prayer.
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First of all He
prays for Himself
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in the first five
verses then the next 15 or so
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He is praying for the
disciples specifically
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and then in the last
part, He prays for those
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who will come to faith
thought the disciple's efforts,
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namely the written gospels
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that the disciples leave behind.
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So the last part of this
prayer is actually for us,
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the second generation who
never met Jesus physically,
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nor that we ever know any
of the disciples in the flesh.
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So our experience
with Jesus is completely
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mediated by the
words of the Bible
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and by the Holy Spirit
speaking to our hearts.
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And as we've said
one of the main points
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of the Gospel of John is
that it is the one gospel
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that's specifically teaches us
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how to know Jesus in the context
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where we can't
see, hear or touch Him.
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So it's very special
for us that the whole gospel
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and this prayer fits right in
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to that larger perspective.
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All right. So again--
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so the prayer of
Jesus is for His disciples,
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for Himself and for
the fruits of the disciples
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through their testimony.
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Yeah, through
those the disciples
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will bring to Jesus.
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And that is
through the Word of God.
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So shall we begin to
read His prayer and study it?
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Sure. Okay.
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Before we do that,
let me just mention
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about the first five verses
that one of the big questions
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that's never been fully settled
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throughout Christian history
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is the question why
was the cross necessary?
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It's very, very
clear in all the gospels
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that the cross
was somehow necessary.
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There is a Greek
phrase, "it is necessary"
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that Jesus uses
over and over again
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regarding His
death and His sacrifice.
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Why then was that so necessary?
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And there are a dozen perhaps,
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a different ways that people
have tried to come to that.
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In the New Testament itself
there are probably close to ten.
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I have identified at least eight
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that attempt to
explain the cross
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and none of them is
accepted by all Christians.
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So the interesting
thing is this prayer,
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these first five verses
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offer a particular
explanation of the cross
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that John in
particular emphasizes
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throughout his gospel.
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And that is that
the cross was necessary
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because that was the only way
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that the true character
of God could be revealed.
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And as you read behind
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the lines of the
gospel and other places,
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it's also where the true
character of Satan is revealed.
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They're on the cross
and in the faces of those
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who are tormenting Jesus.
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You see the two
options for the universe.
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You can follow the ways of God
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which are the
ways of self sacrifice,
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the ways of mercy and kindness
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and a willingness to put up
with the things that people do.
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On the other side is
Satan, pride, power, control,
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tyranny etcetera
which would go so far
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as to destroy the Son of God.
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Which would be unimaginable
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if we were to
stop and think about it
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and yet it happened.
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So John 17:1-5 clearly indicates
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that a purpose of the cross,
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at least if not the purpose
was ultimately to show us
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and to show the
universe what God is like.
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Okay. So we are
in Chapter 17:1--
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so we'll read through 5.
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Yeah. Why don't we read 1-5?
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"Jesus spoke these words,
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he lifted up his eyes to heaven,
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and said, Father,
the hour has come,
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glorify your Son that
Your Son also may glorify you,
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as You have given Him
authority over all flesh,
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that He should give eternal life
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to as many as
you have given Him.
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And this is eternal
life, that they may know you,
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the only true God,
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and Jesus Christ
whom you have sent.
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I've glorified you on the earth,
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I have finished the work
which you have given me to do.
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And now, oh, Father, glorify me
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together with
Yourself with the glory
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which I had with you
before the world was."
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Now, it starts-- the
key word here is glory
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and the root meaning of
that word is praise, honor,
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raising somebody else up high.
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If someone else has a
really high reputation,
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we glorify them.
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People might
think of politicians,
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some of them, anyway,
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movie stars,
sport stars etcetera.
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We glorify them when we
praise the amazing things
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that they do or the
positions that they have.
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So the root meaning of the word
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is kind of a person
in an exalted position
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that others describe to them.
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But in the Gospel of John,
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this word has a special meaning.
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It is always
associated with the cross.
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The glory of Jesus is
being lifted up on the cross
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and he combines the
words glory with lifting up.
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And when Jesus is on the cross,
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He is lifted up from the earth,
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He is raised up
above the ground,
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He stands
between heaven and earth.
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Now when most
people would look--
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remember the surface in
John is always the surface.
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Most people look at the cross,
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the surface view of the
cross is humiliation, execution,
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it's down grading who Jesus is.
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In earthly terms, Jesus
is un-glorified by the cross.
00:10:20.63\00:10:26.46
Yet John says no,
the cross is the glory.
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Right. Of Jesus.
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Now speaking of glorify,
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we read earlier
in another chapter
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where Jesus said, you know,
00:10:34.66\00:10:36.67
Father glorify your name
and the voice of God said,
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"I have glorified it and
I will glorify it again."
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So what is He
speaking of when He said,
00:10:45.28\00:10:47.73
"I have glorified it and
when He will glorify it again?"
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If we understand name
when Hebrew to be character
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that a person's name
reflects their character.
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To glorify the name of God
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is to rightly
indicate His character.
00:11:01.86\00:11:06.01
That's what
glorifying God is all about
00:11:06.04\00:11:09.22
and the glory of the cross
00:11:09.25\00:11:11.89
is that it the
truest representation
00:11:11.92\00:11:14.87
of the character of God.
00:11:14.90\00:11:17.27
We would think of God
as thunders on Mount Sinai,
00:11:17.30\00:11:20.59
as power, as judge,
00:11:20.62\00:11:23.92
as vindicator at
the end of the world,
00:11:23.95\00:11:25.96
as a warrior and so on.
00:11:25.99\00:11:27.67
And all of these are metaphors
00:11:27.70\00:11:29.62
speaking to the
human experience.
00:11:29.65\00:11:31.82
But according to John,
the ultimate description
00:11:31.85\00:11:36.51
of what God is like is
what happens at the cross.
00:11:36.54\00:11:40.31
And that is a picture
that comes to us as a surprise.
00:11:40.34\00:11:43.14
It isn't quite what we expected
00:11:43.17\00:11:45.56
and Jesus makes
something very clear here
00:11:45.59\00:11:48.85
'cause we might
divide God and say, okay,
00:11:48.88\00:11:51.35
Jesus is like
this but the Father,
00:11:51.38\00:11:54.74
He is the one who
thunders from Sinai.
00:11:54.77\00:11:56.68
He is the One who is judgmental,
00:11:56.71\00:11:58.75
He is the One
who is powerful and,
00:11:58.78\00:12:00.51
you know, the
warrior and all rest of that.
00:12:00.54\00:12:02.74
That's not what
you get out of John.
00:12:02.77\00:12:05.26
After Jesus said this, He
looked toward heaven and says,
00:12:05.29\00:12:07.60
"Father, time has come.
00:12:07.63\00:12:09.14
glorify your Son that
the Son may glorify you.
00:12:09.17\00:12:14.51
You granted Him
authority over all people
00:12:14.54\00:12:16.63
that He might give eternal life
00:12:16.66\00:12:17.86
to all those you have given Him.
00:12:17.89\00:12:21.02
This is eternal life
that they might know you,
00:12:21.05\00:12:25.19
the only true
God, and Jesus Christ,
00:12:25.22\00:12:28.34
whom you have sent.
00:12:28.37\00:12:30.80
I have brought
you glory on earth
00:12:30.83\00:12:32.52
by completing the
work you gave me to do.
00:12:32.55\00:12:35.52
In other words, the
glory that we see on the cross,
00:12:35.55\00:12:40.14
the glory of
Jesus Christ is really
00:12:40.17\00:12:42.01
the glory of the Father as well.
00:12:42.04\00:12:45.34
The Father and I are one,
00:12:45.37\00:12:47.15
Jesus has said over
and over in this gospel.
00:12:47.18\00:12:49.61
If you've seen Me,
you've seen the Father.
00:12:49.64\00:12:52.17
What we see on the cross is
not just the character of Jesus,
00:12:52.20\00:12:55.53
it's the
character of the Father.
00:12:55.56\00:12:58.57
Ands the pain of the Father,
00:12:58.60\00:13:00.62
the anguish of the Father
00:13:00.65\00:13:01.85
is as important as
the death of the Son.
00:13:01.88\00:13:05.46
So John, and John
does this more clearly
00:13:05.49\00:13:08.25
then any other
writer in the gospel.
00:13:08.28\00:13:10.19
Remember, John is the one
00:13:10.22\00:13:12.28
who is at the
bosom of the Jesus.
00:13:12.31\00:13:14.42
So he is saying this is
the clearest revelation.
00:13:14.45\00:13:19.50
Jesus is in the
bosom of the Father,
00:13:19.53\00:13:21.36
I am in the bosom of the Jesus.
00:13:21.39\00:13:22.42
If you want to really know
00:13:22.45\00:13:23.48
what the Father is
like, you come to Me.
00:13:23.51\00:13:26.93
This is the place
where you come to understand.
00:13:26.96\00:13:29.80
And here in this
prayer, these five verse
00:13:29.83\00:13:33.55
that is stated as clearly
and as directly as anywhere.
00:13:33.58\00:13:37.70
So one metaphor
of the atonement,
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why did the cross happened,
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it's because the
cross was necessary
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to clearly embed upon our minds
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and I think perhaps
also the on looking universe
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exactly what God is like.
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Now, Dr. Paulien,
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perhaps someone is
watching or listening
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and they are
thinking what character
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is this that is revealed in God,
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a Father to allow or to
permit His son to die because,
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you know, as a parents
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someone who has children
does everything possible
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to protect his or her child.
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Now you keep
talking about at the cross,
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God's character is revealed
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but what is
that character in God
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that allows and permits
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His son to suffer and to die?
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Oh, well,
that's beautiful to put
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that in because I am
sure there are people
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that were thinking
that at that moment.
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I think one of the challenges
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is we get caught up in metaphors
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and Father, Son is a metaphor.
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Jesus was not born to
the Father in that sense.
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He is from
eternity with the Father.
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He is part of what God is like.
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And the Greeks in
the fourth century
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brought his personhood
concept into the Godhead
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that there is one
God in three persons.
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And I think that can
sometimes causes to separate
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that God had a
little more then we should.
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What is clear in
the New Testament
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is that Jesus in Himself
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is everything
that God is, you see.
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When Jesus hung on the cross,
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it wasn't the
Father executing Jesus.
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It was the Father Himself
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in Jesus Christ
taking the abuse,
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taking the pain,
taking the suffering.
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So the father-son language,
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you know, metaphors
don't stand on four legs
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and if you take
them to their extreme
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you can create misunderstanding
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even though the metaphor
is intending to explain.
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What the cross is telling us
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is this is what
the Father is like.
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The Father Himself
did not rescue Jesus
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because the Father Himself
was suffering in Jesus Christ.
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That Jesus Himself is
everything that is God.
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And John is clearer
in that than anyone else.
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He was with the
Father from the beginning,
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what the God was, the word was,
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they were always together.
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And so when Jesus came down
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that was something
they did or God did,
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however you
want to express that.
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And there on the
cross we can see what God,
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Father, Son and
Holy Spirit are like.
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Well, we are going to pick up
00:16:30.19\00:16:31.22
on the message of the
cross after this short break,
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so stay with us.
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