Tag Archives: Father’s business

Jesus Prayed For His Disciples

Christian Life, , ,

JESUS PRAYED FOR HIS DISCIPLES

Jesus’ final act of love for His disciples was to pray for them before He left them. How blessed we are to have a record of His prayer and to glean from His words the depth of His love for them and His confidence in the Father that they would not fail Him or waste all the effort He put into them to become His true talmidim!

In this prayer Jesus summed up His entire life’s work and His attitude towards the most important people in His life, His Father and His followers.

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. For you granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those you have given Him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (John 17: 1b -5)

Why did Jesus pray for Himself first? He took nothing for granted. Is this a sample of His daily prayers as He fellowshipped with the Father late at night and in the early hours of the morning? He was on earth on the Father’s business. He could not afford to miss a cue or to mess up on any assignment. His Father’s glory took precedence over everything else. It was always uppermost in His mind and, because they were one, when the Father glorified Him, He reflected that glory straight back to the Father.

In our journey with Jesus, we have discovered that God’s glory is supremely revealed in the mercy He showed to undeserving people. Jesus was the Father’s representative, always extending the Father’s mercy to those who needed Him most. As He showed mercy, so the Father’s heart was revealed to His people who had badly misunderstood Him through those who falsely represented Him. Whenever He extended mercy to a suffering soul, Jesus was not only revealing His own nature but also the nature of the Father, glorifying Him by revealing His own glory wherever He went.

Jesus was facing an ordeal no person in all of history before Him had ever faced. Yes, people had suffered. People have always suffered, from the moment sin had entered into the world, but no one has ever suffered in the way that Jesus was about to suffer. He needed the Holy Spirit’s strength to endure the agony of a death He did not deserve so that the glory He reflected would be the pure light of God’s glory. His glory and the glory of the Father were inseparably linked together.

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. (John 17: 1b)

And so Jesus prayed, not at this point to return to the glory He had with the Father but that He would endure His suffering and death in such a way that the glory of God would be reflected in Him every step of the way. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the battle raged and was won – so fierce that bloody sweat oozed from His pores. He made His surrender then, remaining in perfect unity with the Father and perfectly fulfilling the Father’s will.

What was the kernel of His prayer for His disciples? One had already fallen away – on his way to sell his rabbi out for a few pieces of silver? Have you noticed that Jesus excluded Judas from His prayer? Judas’s mind was already made up. Jesus made no urgent request for the Father to stop him or for the Holy Spirit to convict him. It had to be and in the sovereignty of God He would blend every circumstance into His plan of redemption, even the free will of Judas who chose to betray his Master.

I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave then to me and they have obeyed your word. (John 17: 6)

What an insight into the heart of Jesus! The Father had given Him twelve men as a sacred trust. It was His task to impart the Father’s Word to them until they had grasped, embraced and obeyed that Word. Jesus could not leave them alone in this world until He was sure that His task of training them to be His disciples was complete. From the moment He finally left them, their role would change. No longer would they simply be His disciples. They would be, like Him, true sons of the Father.

Verse 6 can also be translated:

I have revealed your name to those you gave me out of the world.

What was the significance of this declaration? The Lord revealed Himself to His covenant people by many names; Elohim – the Mighty One; El Elyon – the Most High God; El Shaddai – the one who nourishes; Adonai – the Master; El Olam – the everlasting God; Yahweh – the one who is; and the many facets of Yahweh – provider, shepherd, healer, righteousness, peace, banner, sanctifier, Lord of hosts and the Lord who is there.

But there was one name by which He was not known until Jesus came – the name, Father. Jesus came to reveal that name by being the perfect Son. It was that name He made known to His disciples and it was to that name that He entrusted them because He knew that God, as the perfect Father, would always be with them, vigilant and caring like no earthly father could ever be.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Do you like this post? Then buy your own copy of my book, Learning to be a Disciple, which is also available from www.amazon.com or www.takealot.com in South Africa. You can also order a copy directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com

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Timing is the Father’s Business

Bible Study, , ,

TIMING IS THE FATHER’S BUSINESS

“When they were together for the last time, they asked, ‘Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?’

“He told them, ‘You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria and even to the ends of the world.'” Acts 1:6-8 (The Message).

The disciples were like bulldogs with a bone. They never let go of their belief that Messiah was going to free them from the Romans. Just think of how much of the impact of Jesus’ teaching they missed because they had a fixation for getting rid of Rome. It was probably one of the motivations behind Judas’ betrayal. Perhaps he wanted to shock Jesus into action — but it didn’t work.

Their constant squabbling was always about who would be ‘Prime Minister’ in Jesus’ cabinet. His teaching about greatness in the kingdom of God fell on deaf ears. They could not understand it because it always collided with their preconceived idea about the kingdom of God.

Even the cataclysmic events of the past few weeks had not dislodged their expectation. Now Jesus was about to leave them and He had still not said or done anything about the Romans! All the instruction He had given them about the kingdom of God over the past forty days had been filtered through the notion that He would take action now so that they could administer the new kingdom for Him after He had gone.

They finally brought their expectation out into the open. ‘Is this the time?’ they asked, hoping against hope that He would say yes. The answer they got cut them short, once and for all. ‘Timing is the Father’s business.’ It was not their business, and neither is it ours, to question God’s timing or intentions. Like the disciples, this is often something that consumes us so much that we miss the bigger picture and the valuable lesson.

These men were about to learn a new way of life. Up to now they had Jesus with them. He set the pace and they tagged along, not knowing what was going on but content to be with Him and let Him do the stuff while they watched and listened. They did what He told them and went where He sent them. He had given them authority and power and they had tasted some of the impact of the kingdom He was presenting.

From now on He would no longer be with them in person. They had witnessed the Holy Spirit’s power in His life. Now it was their turn. His physical presence would give way to the Spirit’s internal residence and they would have to learn to recognise His voice and follow His leading from within. This would put a new responsibility on them; to learn to discern His voice, understand His leading and follow His instructions.

Jesus did not leave a “Google map” for them, with all the details of the journey and the destination. That would have been so much easier to follow. Instead He promised them another person just like Himself; same disposition, same power, same wisdom, same purpose, same destination, but one who would be in their spirits, always there, always the same, always in charge.

This time they would do the stuff and the world would watch and listen and be convinced that Jesus is, after all, who He said He is. The issue is, like the disciples, like us, do we listen and follow, or do we ignore the Holy Spirit and do life our way? There is no better way to squelch the work of God on earth than to do it our way.