Let’s look at the intimacy of union that Jesus spoke of as recorded in John 17. JOHN 17:6 6I have MADE YOUR NAME KNOWN to those whom you gave me from the world. To make someone’s name known in Hebrew terms was to make that person’s character, their essence, their very nature, and therefore their attributes and ways known. To know someone’s name was to know them first, and therefore to know their ways. The only way to achieve a true knowing was to be exactly like the person that you were making known. Jesus made his Father known in that way to his own disciples, since he was the exact representation of the Father. The Father wants Jesus to be known in this world, and there is only one way that it can happen. That is why we are to be like Christ – for there is no other way to make Christ known in this world. JOHN 17:6 6They were yours, and you gave them to me, and THEY HAVE KEPT YOUR WORD. There is a mystery here that we will think about for a few minutes. For the whole of Jesus’ earthly life, his disciples simply did not comprehend Jesus and his ways. They knew him, but they did not comprehend him – and that is not really all that surprising since Jesus’ disciples were teenage boys. Jesus’ boys did not really know what Jesus was about until after his death and resurrection. Before his death, Jesus’ youthful disciples were forever arguing and getting caught up in unhelpful issues as their young hearts sought to forge their own futures.
In what sense, therefore, did Jesus’ disciples keep the Father’s word? But Jesus said that they did keep the Father’s word. JOHN 17:8 8The words that you gave to me I have given to them, and THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEM and KNOW IN TRUTH that I came from you. The mystery deepens here. Since Jesus’ disciples simply did not get it while Jesus was with them on earth, in what meaningful sense can those same young boys be said to have truly received the Father’s words? At times, Jesus’ disciples seemed totally incapable of listening to Jesus, never mind actually hearing what he said and acting on it. Furthermore, in what meaningful sense could Jesus’ disciples have known in truth that Jesus came from the Father? They were themselves often asking who Jesus was because of the things that he said and did – they simply did not get it. But Jesus said that they knew in truth that he came from the Father. JOHN 17:10 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I HAVE BEEN GLORIFIED IN THEM. The mystery gets ever deeper here. Since Jesus’ disciples manifestly did not get it while Jesus was with them on earth, in what meaningful sense could Jesus say that he had been glorified in them? When you read in the gospels about how Jesus’ disciples spoke and behaved and the messes that they got themselves into, do you see Jesus’ glory in them? But Jesus said that he had been glorified in his disciples.
John presents us with a mystery here in terms of what Jesus said on the one hand, in contrast to what we could see in the way that his disciples conducted themselves on the other hand. THE BEGINNING OF THE ANSWER TO THIS MYSTERY LIES NOT IN THE RESULTS THAT JESUS PRODUCED IN HIS DISCIPLES, BUT IN THE QUALITY OF THE FERTILE GROUND THAT HE MADE THEM TO BE. JOHN 17:17 17Sanctify them in the truth; YOUR WORD IS TRUTH… Because the ground in the lives of his disciples was fertile, Jesus could ask his Father to sanctify them in the Father’s word of truth. For all their youthful disturbances and distractions, Jesus’ disciples were fertile ground – their hearts were clean and ready to receive so much more than they had already received. What those teenage boys lacked was experience – and there was no short cut to gaining experience, and there still isn’t. JOHN 17:20,21 20I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that THEY MAY ALL BE ONE. Jesus doesn’t mention miracles, signs, and wonders here – desirable though these things are. No, Jesus prayed that all his future disciples would be one in the intimacy of union. That means that all of Jesus’ disciples throughout time and space need to be made into fertile ground through the power of the Holy Spirit. That certainly includes you and me. JOHN 17:21 21As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, MAY THEY ALSO BE IN US, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.