Sunday – May 5, 2024
Word On Worship – Sunday – May 5, 2024
John 17:6-7
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You;”
In the days of our Lord, there were no printing presses, no Bible concordance programs on CD ROM, and no Internet web sites from which to download good Bible study materials. Most learning took place by means of discipleship. A disciple followed his chosen “master” around, serving him, listening to him, and learning from him. This is the way our Lord taught, or “discipled,” His disciples. They accompanied Him virtually everywhere He went, listening and asking many questions, and they learned. Jesus sometimes sent them out two-by-two, which gave them an opportunity to put their teaching and training into practice.
By the time we come to John 17, the discipleship program which our Lord had designed for His disciples was virtually complete. The emphasis of verses 6-12 is that Jesus has accomplished all that the Father sent Him to do, in terms of equipping the disciples for their “mission.” Jesus has revealed the Father to them and given the Word of the Father to them. He has told them all that they need to know, and thus His earthly mission of making disciples of them has been completed. Of course, His atoning work on the cross of Calvary still lay ahead, but that too is as good as done. Jesus is now free to leave and to return to the Father because He has accomplished all that the Father gave Him to do.
One can hardly estimate the benefits we have gained because our Lord was able to speak these words. On the one hand, the completion of His mission means that He has defeated Satan, and that He has accomplished the salvation of all those the Father has given Him. It means that He can return to the Father in heaven, so that the Spirit can be sent into the world in a new and better way. It is the basis for our mission and ministry. It is the basis of our security and our ultimate perfection (which takes place in heaven, not here on earth—1 John 3:2).
There are many who have big plans and lofty goals, but few achieve them, and none achieve them perfectly. None but Jesus, that is. Jesus came to this earth to reveal the Father to men, to proclaim the Father’s word to men, and to procure the salvation of those whom the Father had given to Him. This He accomplished, every part of it. And even the apparent failure of Judas was a part of the plan of God, determined in eternity past. Jesus does all things well. What He came to earth to do, He did. His mission is accomplished.