Image: "Reaching For Heaven", 2020, Severna Park, Md.
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
John 17:11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.
John 17:20–21 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
John 17:23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
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There are deep mysteries in Christianity that call for our deepest meditation, wonder, and worship. At the pinnacle of these is that of the Trinity, followed by the Dual Natures of Christ. We can formulate definitions and doctrinal statements about these... we can say somethings about what they are and, perhaps most importantly, say something about what they are not! But our finite minds cannot comprehend infinity and so, like a rapt admirer contemplating a magnificent work of art, we can only spiritually gaze on these truths for they lay outside of us.
But then, not too far behind these topics, we come upon the Biblical Doctrine of unity with Christ. We see Jesus praying for His disciples (vs. 6-19) and then for us, the ones who come to faith through the teachings of the apostles. (vs. 20-26) Now, we must believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that whatever the Son asked of the Father, God the Father would be delighted to give Him, and here, on the eve of His terrible trial on the cross, our Christ asked His Father that the disciples, and we, be united to Him and He to us.
What an amazing idea. Jesus prayed that we would be united to Him and the Father in the same manner as, or at least in a manner analogous to, His union with the Father Himself. Let that wash over your heart for a moment. In effect, Jesus is praying that we be admitted into the intimate fellowship of the Holy Trinity. That does not mean, God forbid, that we become part of the Trinity in essence, power, wisdom or anything like those things. He is asking that we be intimately connected to His Person, so intimately that we are "In Christ" as Paul often says.
We need to get a grip on this. Yes, it is mysterious, but it is also at the heart of the Gospel. As Calvin and others have noted: "... the blessings of salvation, justification, sanctification, adoption and glorification are all received through our being united to Christ." (Robert Letham, The Work of Christ, p. 80) Think about that! Those listed blessings ARE the Gospel. We can reduce it to this: The Eternal Christ, the 2nd Person of the Trinity, was born into this world as Jesus of Nazareth, and His purpose for doing so was to do that which the Father commanded Him to do, unto the end that all whom the Father gave Him (all believers) would be united to Him! This statement is entirely supported by the verses in this chapter.
So, this union with Christ business is important indeed.
It is generally admitted by most Christians that there is a "positional" aspect to this union. In other words, it is to be understood in a somewhat figurative sense. Jesus was our representative... He did the works we could not do... He paid the penalty we could not pay... and He rose from the dead establishing the truth that we will rise also.
These things are true but if taken only superficially, they can be pretty dry. What we must understand is that our union with Christ is not only positionally though that is not denied. We really are united to Him in a mysterious manner that has something in common with His union with His Father. In other words, there is an existential reality to our union with Christ. We really are bound up in Him. We can, with appropriate caveats, say that in Him we fulfilled the law perfectly, did good deeds meritorious of reward, died on the cross in Christ, and rose again with Him from the dead.
Not only that but through the uniting ministry of the Holy Spirit we can grow in our intimacy with our Lord, we can grow to have the "mind of Christ." (1 Cor. 2:16) We can become more aware of the indwelling Spirit and take very real comfort from His Presence. This is not an automatic thing, it is inherent in our progress in faith and sanctification, but it is not only possible but commanded. Jesus wants us to know the "love with which You (His Father) loved Me" by having that love be present "in them, and I in them." (vs. 26)
How can we ever really know the Love of God in us apart from knowing the Presence of Christ in us? This is Jesus' purpose... this is how He is most glorified (v. 22). It is when we behold His glory intimately, through recognizing His indwelling Spirit uniting us to Himself.
It is a mystery indeed... but what a glorious thing to ponder.
John 20 & 21: Eternal Beauty
Image: "Full Flower", 2010, "Indian Paintbrush", Vicinity of Bertram, Tx.
John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”
John 20:21–23 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 21:19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
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John's Gospel retains its "different vista" approach right down to the closing sentences. The urgent call to "believe" carries through. First, we see "the other disciple", John himself, not believing until he also had gone into the tomb and saw only the carefully folded death linens.
Then there's Mary who remains sorrowful even after seeing the angels until she turns and beholds her Lord and hears Him speak to her with such heartfelt tenderness.
Then there is dear old Thomas who stubbornly says that he "will not believe" until he saw and touched the Lord's crucifixion wounds. We can only imagine the depth of passion that gripped his heart when Jesus said: "Ok, here they are, touch them!" He can only cry out: "My Lord and my God!" But notice what Jesus said to him: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Is it any wonder that John closes chapter 20 with these words: John 20:30–31 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
And indeed, this is the challenge - to believe. Not just to give some kind of mental assent, in modern parlance, "to be open to", the idea of Jesus' resurrection... but to embrace it, to have it sink into our hearts as it did to Thomas such that we cannot hold back the exclamation of covenant acknowledgment: "MY Lord and MY God!" This is the character of true belief in Jesus as the resurrected, eternal, Son of God and Son of Man.
It is not a mind game. John gives us the best grounds for believing what he has written that one can require: John 21:24–25 This is the disciple who testifies of these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. He was that "other disciple" who paused at the door of the open tomb. He was the one in the boat who saw the risen Christ calling to them from the shore. He heard the words Jesus spoke to Peter as He restored Peter to his calling to "feed" the Lord's sheep. He it was who stood at the foot of the Lord's cross and heard Him commend His mother to John's care.
John saw these things! He ate breakfast with the risen Lord. It was he who testified and stated that "we know that his testimony is true", in other words, that what he wrote was approved by the other disciples. We have all that we should need for grounds to believe and therefore we must.
Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God, arose from the dead and was seen by many men and women over a period of forty days. He rose from the dead never to undergo death again. Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus. Jesus raised Himself (or God raised Him, it was a work of the Trinity). Lazarus was raised to additional years of earthly life and presumably died... again. Jesus rose from the dead to live eternally at the right hand of God the Father from which He oversees, governs, calls, and sanctifies His Church.
His risen beauty is such that Mary could not recognize Him. He stands as the Flower of Humanity, the perfect expression of mankind's ultimate destiny. He was born a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, a man who had no significant physical beauty such that we should take note of Him. He is not that anymore! His risen brilliance was presaged by the Transfiguration when the disciples could not look on Him because of His brightness.
When we say: "My Lord and My God" - this is He Whom we proclaim as such.
Jesus left Peter and us with the command: "Follow Me." (21:19) As the Pillar of Smoke led the Israelites by day and the Pillar of Fire led them at night, so the brilliant, burning beauty of our Lord should be before us at all times. Let us look to Him with believing eyes and love Him with believing hearts. He is worthy to be worshiped and adored.
Posted by Gadfly on December 17, 2020 at 11:34 AM in Christian Apologetics, Church, Commentary, Devotional Meditation, Discipleship, Evangelism, Religion, Theology, Worship | Permalink | Comments (0)
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