“Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
John 17:24-26 NLT
A poignant end to Jesus’ High Priestly prayer. In human terms it could have been prayed by a parent concerned for their children and forced to leave them behind before they embarked on a long journey. Of course people want their loved ones to be with them wherever they go. But Jesus wasn’t praying about some future event – He wanted His disciples to be with Him in the present. But they were right there in the Garden with Him, weren’t they? In the language used it is sometimes easy to confuse the natural and spiritual lives and I’m sure the disciples were a bit confused. As well as being a Man standing before them on the Mount of Olives, Jesus was also the second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God, and He had been with His Father “since before the foundation of the world”. John 1:1-2, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God”. But Jesus continued in His prayer, desirous that His friends would also see His glory
Jesus had previously told His disciples, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:1-3). In another Bible translation, the “rooms” or “places” become “mansions”, but whatever was being planned, the disciples knew it would be a wonderful place. If we read on in John 14, we find the profound response of Jesus to Thomas’s question – “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me“” (John 14:6).
The disciples had been chosen by Jesus after he spent a night in prayer, and in our John 17 verses He confirmed that it was His Father who had given them to Him. They were a motley crew, if ever there was one. Fishermen and a tax collector just to name two professions amongst them. But even though they had been chosen and given by Father to Son, they still had a choice to make. They had the benefit of knowing Jesus, and that implied a relationship based on faith and trust, in that they believed He was who He said He was, the Son of God. And we know that these men had spent a turbulent three years with Jesus, being trained for what was still to come. But they still had to choose to follow Jesus, regardless of what that meant. Some disciples on the periphery of Jesus’ followers found that His teaching was too hard for them, and we read in John 6:66, “At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him“. After this we read, “Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God”” (John 6:67-69). They were faithful followers, even though one of them would later turn away from Him and betray Him.
We pilgrims have been chosen by God. Ephesians 1:4, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. ... ”. So God has kept His promise to us. But there is a choice also to be made from our side. We cannot just hear God’s call and then turn our backs, as many do. Instead we turn our faces towards Him, embracing whole-heartedly His love for us. As Jesus said, it is only Him that has the words of eternal life.
Father God. We respond to Your love and grace with grateful hearts, full of gratitude and worship. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 