Tools - Walking Stick 4

John17:22-23

I can imagine those who are upset by the claim that women are not beneath men.  They may see the passages from Ephesians and 1 Corinthians as clear statements of the delineation of rank – God, Jesus, men, women.

But let’s look at the whole picture through the eyes of Jesus.  In today’s passage we have the words of Jesus as he offers a prayer to God.  Why has Jesus given the believers God’s glory?  What further clarification is given at the beginning of verse 23?  What does Jesus desire?

This portion of Christ’s prayer seems to sum up the whole concept of unity in love.  Jesus has shared the glory of God with his disciples and they will soon be sharing that glory – the incredible and overwhelming knowledge of God’s presence – with other believers (John 17:20-21).  Through this knowledge and understanding of who God is and how much God loves us the disciples will become as one, unified in the power of the Spirit.

Jesus then continues with the prayer and expresses the hope that those who believe and follow Jesus will “be brought to complete unity.”  Linking this with the words that start verse 23 – “I in them and you in me” – we see a glimpse of this complete unity.

God is in Jesus.  Jesus is in God.  Jesus is in the disciples.  God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are in all who accept and believe.  We now have an intricate web of unity with all of us becoming as one with the Lord.

If this is true and if this is part of our faith, then all who believe – men and women – are united as one.  We become as one body united in God, united in Christ, united in one another.  With that, how is it possible for one person or one group of people to be in a superior position or position of authority while others remain subservient and second class?

It seems clear that men and women, parents and children, master and slave (or employer and employee) are to submit to one another in reverence and love.  We submit to the love and will of God, and through that we are able to care for, love, serve and encourage one another as equals.  We are to love one another as we love ourselves.  We are to seek the one-ness, the wholeness that comes from loving God completely.

DAILY CHALLENGE:  How can you enter into the one-ness of God?

God Gives Life 5

John 17:22-23

Many years ago in our previous church one of the members gave me a small cutting from one of her plants. It was a “Purple Passion,” a vining houseplant of reddish purple that I find quite nice to look at. It is an easy plant to share. If you clip a small bit of a stem and set it in a cup of water for two weeks it will start a new root system and begin a new plant.

I have given clippings from this plant to other people, sharing the beauty of this deep purple houseplant. I give it to those for whom I care so they can enjoy it too.

As Jesus prayed the night he was arrested he spoke of the love he was sharing. What did Jesus give to his disciples? Why did he do this?

In his time on earth Jesus gathered a group of followers. He selected twelve men to be his disciples, those people he would teach and train to be able to preach and minister as he did. He also had a larger following of faithful people that probably numbered over one-hundred (see Luke 10:1 and Acts 1:15).

He didn’t gather these followers just to occupy their time or to ensure that he had company in what he did. He gathered these people so that he might give to them the gift of life that comes from God. He shared the glory and love of God with them.

In sharing this gift he was working to make them all one, united in love and grace under God. He wanted them to experience the new life that comes from the love of God. And through these followers we are invited to be one with God and one with all believers.

The gift of everlasting life, the gift of a new and dynamic life filled with the mercy and love of God awaits any of us who will accept the love from Christ. We must prepare ourselves for this tremendous gift, anxiously readying ourselves to receive the Lord’s bounty.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What can you do to prepare for God’s gift of life?