Participants: Deyvy Rodriguez & Jon Paulien
Series Code: JBOTB
Program Code: JBOTB00023A
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00:20 Hello, friends, and welcome back
00:21 to this program "Books of the Book." 00:23 It's been a very exciting Bible study for me 00:25 and I am sure has been for you. 00:26 We have been studying the Gospel of John 00:29 and we are with Dr. Jon Paulien. 00:31 And today, we are picking up in Chapter 17. 00:36 And so if you have a Bible around 00:38 and you would like to join us in this Bible study, 00:40 open your Bibles 00:41 and go to the Gospel of John in Chapter 17. 00:45 And Dr. Paulien, 00:47 he is the Dean of the School of Religion 00:49 at Loma Linda University. 00:52 And he is a Bible scholar. 00:53 He has written several books, three on the Gospel of John 00:57 and he is just so knowledgeable. 00:59 And I've been blessed to just know 01:03 and study that indeed this is a spiritual gospel 01:06 and we'll learn more about that. 01:08 So, Dr. Paulien, welcome back. 01:10 Good to be with you always, Deyvy. 01:11 You know, we are almost finish with the Gospel of John 01:14 and now we are at Johns 17. 01:16 And I look at my Bible here and it seems 01:19 that is the shortest chapter of the gospel 01:24 and also it seems that all the words in here are-- 01:27 just about all of them are in red 01:29 which means they are the words of Jesus 01:31 and so we know that it is now the prayer of Jesus 01:37 and so I though why isn't this prayer 01:39 just considered the Lord's prayer. 01:41 You know, we've heard of the Lord's prayer 01:43 back in other gospels but this one, 01:45 it seems like this should be the Lord's prayer. 01:48 Don't you think? 01:49 Oh, for John, I think it does function 01:51 in that way because John doesn't have the Lord's prayer 01:55 that Matthew, Mark and Luke have. 01:56 So John is-- in fact I think 01:59 it's just Mathew and Luke 02:00 but John has this other prayer of Jesus. 02:05 It's a much longer prayer and in many ways would be 02:09 worthy of the title, "The Lord's Prayer." 02:12 But I think the difference is that the shorter prayer 02:15 in Matthew and Luke those-- 02:17 that's a generic prayer. 02:19 It was given to the disciples. 02:22 It was telling them the big issues 02:24 that you want to cover when you are praying to God. 02:27 And so it's a model for us and I think 02:29 throughout the centuries people have grab that. 02:32 This prayer in Chapter 17 is much more located 02:35 in a specific situation 02:37 and its Jesus prayer first of all for Himself. 02:40 It's not a model for us to pray 02:43 but it's specifically related to Jesus' 02:45 experience with His disciples 02:48 and with what would happen after He leaves. 02:51 So it's located in a specific situation for that reason, 02:55 probably hasn't drawn as much attention. 02:58 Now give us the background on this chapter. 03:00 Where are we? Where is Jesus? 03:02 Where are the disciples? 03:03 And again we are almost close to the end here 03:07 but what is Jesus saying? 03:09 We will study the prayer in a minute here. 03:12 But give us a brief background or the setting of this chapter. 03:16 Okay, this is part of the upper room experience, 03:19 although it's not called that in John. 03:21 It starts in Chapter 13 with the foot washing service 03:25 and then Jesus talks to His disciples Chapters 13 and 14. 03:31 In 15 He talks without interruption 03:34 and then in 16 they interrupt again. 03:36 So He's been conversing with the disciples. 03:39 At one point they even got up to leave the room 03:41 but it appears that when 17 is over 03:44 they are still in the upper room 03:46 and then they leave, go down across 03:49 the Kidron Valley to the garden 03:51 where Jesus will be arrested shortly afterward. 03:55 So this prayer here is the climax of what Jesus 04:00 has been sharing with His disciples. 04:02 And the burden here is preparing them 04:06 for what life would be like when He is no longer with them. 04:10 So He is saying, you know, 04:11 "When I am not here, 04:13 here's the thing you are going to need to do." 04:14 And then in this prayer he focuses on-- 04:17 there's three parts to this prayer. 04:19 First of all He prays for Himself 04:22 in the first five verses then the next 15 or so 04:25 He is praying for the disciples specifically 04:29 and then in the last part, He prays for those 04:32 who will come to faith thought the disciple's efforts, 04:35 namely the written gospels 04:38 that the disciples leave behind. 04:40 So the last part of this prayer is actually for us, 04:43 the second generation who never met Jesus physically, 04:48 nor that we ever know any of the disciples in the flesh. 04:51 So our experience with Jesus is completely 04:54 mediated by the words of the Bible 04:57 and by the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts. 05:00 And as we've said one of the main points 05:02 of the Gospel of John is that it is the one gospel 05:07 that's specifically teaches us 05:09 how to know Jesus in the context 05:11 where we can't see, hear or touch Him. 05:13 So it's very special for us that the whole gospel 05:17 and this prayer fits right in 05:18 to that larger perspective. 05:21 All right. So again-- 05:22 so the prayer of Jesus is for His disciples, 05:27 for Himself and for the fruits of the disciples 05:30 through their testimony. 05:32 Yeah, through those the disciples 05:33 will bring to Jesus. 05:34 And that is through the Word of God. 05:36 So shall we begin to read His prayer and study it? 05:39 Sure. Okay. 05:41 Before we do that, let me just mention 05:43 about the first five verses that one of the big questions 05:48 that's never been fully settled 05:50 throughout Christian history 05:52 is the question why was the cross necessary? 05:56 It's very, very clear in all the gospels 06:00 that the cross was somehow necessary. 06:02 There is a Greek phrase, "it is necessary" 06:05 that Jesus uses over and over again 06:07 regarding His death and His sacrifice. 06:11 Why then was that so necessary? 06:15 And there are a dozen perhaps, 06:20 a different ways that people have tried to come to that. 06:24 In the New Testament itself there are probably close to ten. 06:29 I have identified at least eight 06:32 that attempt to explain the cross 06:34 and none of them is accepted by all Christians. 06:39 So the interesting thing is this prayer, 06:44 these first five verses 06:46 offer a particular explanation of the cross 06:50 that John in particular emphasizes 06:53 throughout his gospel. 06:54 And that is that the cross was necessary 06:58 because that was the only way 07:00 that the true character of God could be revealed. 07:04 And as you read behind 07:05 the lines of the gospel and other places, 07:07 it's also where the true character of Satan is revealed. 07:12 They're on the cross and in the faces of those 07:15 who are tormenting Jesus. 07:17 You see the two options for the universe. 07:20 You can follow the ways of God 07:22 which are the ways of self sacrifice, 07:26 the ways of mercy and kindness 07:28 and a willingness to put up with the things that people do. 07:34 On the other side is Satan, pride, power, control, 07:40 tyranny etcetera which would go so far 07:44 as to destroy the Son of God. 07:46 Which would be unimaginable 07:48 if we were to stop and think about it 07:50 and yet it happened. 07:51 So John 17:1-5 clearly indicates 07:56 that a purpose of the cross, 07:59 at least if not the purpose was ultimately to show us 08:03 and to show the universe what God is like. 08:06 Okay. So we are in Chapter 17:1-- 08:11 so we'll read through 5. 08:12 Yeah. Why don't we read 1-5? 08:14 "Jesus spoke these words, 08:15 he lifted up his eyes to heaven, 08:17 and said, Father, the hour has come, 08:21 glorify your Son that Your Son also may glorify you, 08:25 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, 08:28 that He should give eternal life 08:29 to as many as you have given Him. 08:32 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, 08:35 the only true God, 08:37 and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 08:40 I've glorified you on the earth, 08:42 I have finished the work which you have given me to do. 08:45 And now, oh, Father, glorify me 08:48 together with Yourself with the glory 08:51 which I had with you before the world was." 08:55 Now, it starts-- the key word here is glory 09:00 and the root meaning of that word is praise, honor, 09:07 raising somebody else up high. 09:09 If someone else has a really high reputation, 09:12 we glorify them. 09:14 People might think of politicians, 09:17 some of them, anyway, 09:20 movie stars, sport stars etcetera. 09:23 We glorify them when we praise the amazing things 09:27 that they do or the positions that they have. 09:29 So the root meaning of the word 09:32 is kind of a person in an exalted position 09:35 that others describe to them. 09:38 But in the Gospel of John, 09:40 this word has a special meaning. 09:42 It is always associated with the cross. 09:46 The glory of Jesus is being lifted up on the cross 09:51 and he combines the words glory with lifting up. 09:55 And when Jesus is on the cross, 09:58 He is lifted up from the earth, 10:01 He is raised up above the ground, 10:04 He stands between heaven and earth. 10:06 Now when most people would look-- 10:09 remember the surface in John is always the surface. 10:11 Most people look at the cross, 10:13 the surface view of the cross is humiliation, execution, 10:18 it's down grading who Jesus is. 10:20 In earthly terms, Jesus is un-glorified by the cross. 10:26 Yet John says no, the cross is the glory. 10:29 Right. Of Jesus. 10:31 Now speaking of glorify, 10:32 we read earlier in another chapter 10:34 where Jesus said, you know, 10:36 Father glorify your name and the voice of God said, 10:40 "I have glorified it and I will glorify it again." 10:45 So what is He speaking of when He said, 10:47 "I have glorified it and when He will glorify it again?" 10:51 If we understand name when Hebrew to be character 10:56 that a person's name reflects their character. 10:59 To glorify the name of God 11:01 is to rightly indicate His character. 11:06 That's what glorifying God is all about 11:09 and the glory of the cross 11:11 is that it the truest representation 11:14 of the character of God. 11:17 We would think of God as thunders on Mount Sinai, 11:20 as power, as judge, 11:23 as vindicator at the end of the world, 11:25 as a warrior and so on. 11:27 And all of these are metaphors 11:29 speaking to the human experience. 11:31 But according to John, the ultimate description 11:36 of what God is like is what happens at the cross. 11:40 And that is a picture that comes to us as a surprise. 11:43 It isn't quite what we expected 11:45 and Jesus makes something very clear here 11:48 'cause we might divide God and say, okay, 11:51 Jesus is like this but the Father, 11:54 He is the one who thunders from Sinai. 11:56 He is the One who is judgmental, 11:58 He is the One who is powerful and, 12:00 you know, the warrior and all rest of that. 12:02 That's not what you get out of John. 12:05 After Jesus said this, He looked toward heaven and says, 12:07 "Father, time has come. 12:09 glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. 12:14 You granted Him authority over all people 12:16 that He might give eternal life 12:17 to all those you have given Him. 12:21 This is eternal life that they might know you, 12:25 the only true God, and Jesus Christ, 12:28 whom you have sent. 12:30 I have brought you glory on earth 12:32 by completing the work you gave me to do. 12:35 In other words, the glory that we see on the cross, 12:40 the glory of Jesus Christ is really 12:42 the glory of the Father as well. 12:45 The Father and I are one, 12:47 Jesus has said over and over in this gospel. 12:49 If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. 12:52 What we see on the cross is not just the character of Jesus, 12:55 it's the character of the Father. 12:58 Ands the pain of the Father, 13:00 the anguish of the Father 13:01 is as important as the death of the Son. 13:05 So John, and John does this more clearly 13:08 then any other writer in the gospel. 13:10 Remember, John is the one 13:12 who is at the bosom of the Jesus. 13:14 So he is saying this is the clearest revelation. 13:19 Jesus is in the bosom of the Father, 13:21 I am in the bosom of the Jesus. 13:22 If you want to really know 13:23 what the Father is like, you come to Me. 13:26 This is the place where you come to understand. 13:29 And here in this prayer, these five verse 13:33 that is stated as clearly and as directly as anywhere. 13:37 So one metaphor of the atonement, 13:41 why did the cross happened, 13:43 it's because the cross was necessary 13:45 to clearly embed upon our minds 13:48 and I think perhaps also the on looking universe 13:51 exactly what God is like. 13:54 Now, Dr. Paulien, 13:55 perhaps someone is watching or listening 13:57 and they are thinking what character 14:00 is this that is revealed in God, 14:03 a Father to allow or to permit His son to die because, 14:06 you know, as a parents 14:08 someone who has children does everything possible 14:10 to protect his or her child. 14:13 Now you keep talking about at the cross, 14:17 God's character is revealed 14:19 but what is that character in God 14:22 that allows and permits 14:24 His son to suffer and to die? 14:27 Oh, well, that's beautiful to put 14:31 that in because I am sure there are people 14:32 that were thinking that at that moment. 14:35 I think one of the challenges 14:37 is we get caught up in metaphors 14:40 and Father, Son is a metaphor. 14:43 Jesus was not born to the Father in that sense. 14:47 He is from eternity with the Father. 14:51 He is part of what God is like. 14:54 And the Greeks in the fourth century 14:57 brought his personhood concept into the Godhead 14:59 that there is one God in three persons. 15:02 And I think that can sometimes causes to separate 15:06 that God had a little more then we should. 15:09 What is clear in the New Testament 15:11 is that Jesus in Himself 15:13 is everything that God is, you see. 15:18 When Jesus hung on the cross, 15:20 it wasn't the Father executing Jesus. 15:24 It was the Father Himself 15:26 in Jesus Christ taking the abuse, 15:30 taking the pain, taking the suffering. 15:32 So the father-son language, 15:34 you know, metaphors don't stand on four legs 15:37 and if you take them to their extreme 15:38 you can create misunderstanding 15:40 even though the metaphor is intending to explain. 15:43 What the cross is telling us 15:46 is this is what the Father is like. 15:50 The Father Himself did not rescue Jesus 15:53 because the Father Himself was suffering in Jesus Christ. 15:57 That Jesus Himself is everything that is God. 16:03 And John is clearer in that than anyone else. 16:06 He was with the Father from the beginning, 16:09 what the God was, the word was, 16:12 they were always together. 16:13 And so when Jesus came down 16:16 that was something they did or God did, 16:21 however you want to express that. 16:22 And there on the cross we can see what God, 16:26 Father, Son and Holy Spirit are like. 16:30 Well, we are going to pick up 16:31 on the message of the cross after this short break, 16:33 so stay with us. |
Revised 2014-12-17