Wednesday of Week 7 of Eastertide - John 17: 11b-19 - Daily Gospel Exegesis

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
Hi everyone. Welcome back to world record.
Bible study. We're continuing in this really
deep and beautiful prayer of Jesus.
The high Priestly prayer. So if you go to mass today, you
would hear from John chapter 17 verses 11 be to verse 19.
So we'll look at the reading first and then we'll have a look
at what the text is saying. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven

(00:35):
and said Holy Father keep those you have given me true to your
name so that they may be one like us while I was with them.
I kept those, you had given me true to your name.
I have watched over them and notone is lost except the one who

(00:56):
chose to be lost and this was tofulfill the scriptures but now I
am coming to you on while still in the world.
I say these things to share my joy with them to the fall.
I passed your word on to them and the world hated them because
they belong to the world. No more than I belong to the

(01:18):
world. I'm not asking you to remove
them from the world but to protect them from the evil one.
They do not belong to the world anymore than I belong to the
world. Consecrate them in the truth.
Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I
have sent them into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate

(01:42):
myself so that they too may be consecrated in truth.
So there's a whole lot of reallyinteresting theological themes
here about consecration about the role of the Holy Spirit
about the role of the Apostles, and The Trinity.
And so just like in the last fewdays, the comments that we make

(02:03):
in this podcast. Certainly not exhaustive.
There's so much you could take from this high prayer of Jesus.
So, let's start by asking what'sthe context?
What has happened? Just before this?
So, totally Thursday. The Last Supper has finished,
and they're now walking has the Garden of Gethsemane and then
might have it's hard to tell, but it looks like Jesus.

(02:23):
And the apostles might have stopped somewhere to pray
somewhere. Outside, maybe or in someone's
house. So, Jesus, started, this High
Priestly prayer at the start of chapter 17 and you can look at
yesterday's podcast if you want to have a look at that.
And you remember that the focus of the first part of the prayer
was asking the father to watch over the apostles and to bring

(02:45):
them to eternal life and it's a similar thing.
That's You today, keep in mind. The focus is the apostles at
this point. It's on his present Apostles,
but later in the prayer, he'll extend his prayer out to all
believers verse 11 B. So the second half of verse 11
is where we start today. Jesus calls God, Holy Father.

(03:08):
So holy actually means set apartor Sanctified and that's
actually the same word that he uses later.
So Jesus is giving the father this title of honour as being as
part of his petitions is saying,Holy Father, as sort of a title
of respect. Remember, holy means set apart
and that certainly is a great word to describe the father.

(03:31):
He says, keep those you have given me true to your name or
more literally, it says here, keep them in your name.
So Jesus here. Is asking the father to keep the
apostles in line. With the father's will despite
the strong persecutions. They're going to experience,
Jesus knows what the apostles will be up against and so that's

(03:52):
the point of this prayer. He wants the father to protect
them and ensure that they remainin his will and don't fall away
so that they may be one like us.So, this is the first of four
passages in John chapter 17 where Jesus prays for the unity
of the disciples. You probably know that this
prayer is famous for being whereJesus desires that his church is

(04:17):
one, and this is the first of four petitions in this prayer
about Oneness. While Jesus knows that the
apostles are going to lead the church and his desire is that
they would be United in Mission and we'll just like the father
and the son are united in Mission and will.
So everything that he's asking the apostles to have will derive

(04:38):
from the communion that already exists between the father and
the son. So, he's asking the apostles to
have a share of that Divine Life, which already exists
between him, and the father. The placement of this verse here
so that they may be one like us,given everything.
Jesus said, it's suggested, the reason Jesus needs to pray for
their Oneness is because the Oneness could be threatened by

(05:01):
apostasy. There's a chance that some of
the Apostles could fall away, that was something Jesus prayed
about just prior to this. He knows that the devil and the
world are going to tempt the apostles to possibly pull them
away from the faith and Jesus prays to the father, that that
won't happen that they would stay as one.
So, to the extent that the world's ways influence over

(05:24):
Jesus disciples in the form of division and Discord and sin and
Scandal, the church's Unity is weakened.
And if the church is Unity is weakened, then its power to
witness to the world about the Father's.
Love is compromised. So that's why Jesus is focusing
on ensuring the Oneness because of their mission to the world.

(05:46):
Verse 12 while I was with them, I kept those, you had given me
true to your name. So Jesus, he says, that during
his own Ministry, he kept the apostles faithful.
And in line, with God's will remember, that's what name
means. It means to do something in
accordance with someone's Authority, and will, and Jesus
has ensure that his Apostles have stayed in line with God's

(06:08):
will as much as possible by his instructed them.
He's corrected them when they'vebeen wrong and he's modeled
God's love to them. So he's looked after them.
Well, Well, notice, this language here, that keeps coming
up in these last few chapters, those who had given me.
So the father chose the apostlesto begin his kingdom, and he
gave them to the sun's care. So, the sun here tells the

(06:30):
father, that he's fulfilled, themission of keeping the apostles
in the father's will. It's pretty cool.
When you think about it, we often don't consider the
apostles in that way. But these are twelve hand-picked
men that God picked out of the world for the purposes of
Getting the kingdom of God. And he gave them to Jesus to
look after. Jesus continues.

(06:51):
I have watched over them and notone is lost more.
Literally here. It says guarded them.
So Jesus has watched and guardedthe apostles and ensure that
they remain in the Sheepfold. And within eternal life.
Remember in John chapter 10 about the parable of the Good
Shepherd, where it's all about the Sheep, those who do God's
will staying within the Sheepfold and not being

(07:13):
deceived. So this is continuing the themes
of the parable of the Good Shepherd.
Remember in chapter 10, Jesus? Is said no one can take them out
of my hand and no one can take them out of the father's hand,
so it's the same sort of themes coming up here.
Jesus has ensured that he's protected them and kept them
safe in the Sheepfold. But then he adds this in except

(07:36):
the one who chose to be lost. So one of the Apostles chose to
be lost and that's Judas. He turned his back on.
Jesus by hit the. By this time he's actually left
to go betray Jesus. So by betraying Jesus, he turned
his back. God's Will and he's outside the
Sheepfold. He no longer has access to
eternal life. It would seem notice the

(07:58):
language here. The one who chose to be lost,
although he was influenced by Satan, he still chose
voluntarily to turn against Jesus.
Now, a more literal translation of this phrase rather than the
one who chose to be lost. It actually says, Son of
Perdition, or son of Destruction.
And basically, that phrase meansthe One who is destined for

(08:21):
destruction. So quite strong language.
They're in fact that same title is used later in the New
Testament to refer to the final Antichrist in second
Thessalonians. 2:3 the same title is used, that's not to
imply that Judas is the Antichrist but they're both
destined for destruction in a similar way.

(08:43):
Jesus says this was to fulfill the scriptures.
So Jesus teaches that Judas is apostasy and betrayal was
actually predicted by the scriptures and part of God's
plan was that those predictions had to be fulfilled.
In fact, in Chapter 13, Verse 18, we saw Jesus quoted.
One specific passage from the Old Testament to show, how

(09:04):
judas's betrayal fulfills it. So, some 4110 says, someone who
shares my table Rebels against And Jesus quotes that in
connection with the our Judas betray him.
At the Last Supper. We looked at that when we cover
chapter 13, verse 13, Jesus says, but now I am coming to
you. And this is a reference to Jesus

(09:27):
Ascension when he returns to thefather.
And while still in the world, I say these things to share my joy
with them to the fool or it's another translation is to have
my joy fulfilled in themselves. So Jesus here says that
everything his Has been saying in the last few hours on, Holy
Thursday is so that the apostlesJoy might be full.

(09:49):
Jesus wants to ensure that the apostles have access to the best
possible gifts after he's gone, which includes a share of Jesus
or enjoy and Jesus, or enjoy comes from a result of his deep
communion with the father. See how all these things come
together, verse 14. I passed on your word to them.
So Jesus says, he communicated to the apostles, everything he

(10:12):
heard from the father, and the world hated them because they
belong to the world. No.
More than I belong to the world.This is something Jesus talked
about, in 15:18 The World, At Large hated Jesus.
This Jesus is already sent this specifically, because he
convicted them of their sin. because the apostles were Jesus

(10:32):
followers, the world hated the apostles to Now, remember, this
is about the apostles. It's not about all Christian
Believers. Although you possibly could
extend it out on the literal sense.
Jesus, at the moment is thinkingof the Apostles verse 15, I am
not asking you to remove them from the world.
This is interesting. And this is you probably heard

(10:53):
that common phrase Christians are called to be in the world
but not of the world. And it's based on themes from
this verse here, I'm not asking you to remove them from the
world. So Jesus knows that the world is
hostile to the the apostles, buthe does not want the father to
take them out of the world. He knows that the apostles need
to stay in the world to keep preaching the kingdom.

(11:14):
That's not why he's making the pray.
He doesn't want them taken out of the world, but to protect
them from the evil one. So that's the point of his
prayer. He's asking that the father
would protect the apostles as much as possible from the worst
kind of evil, and that's Satan himself.
Now, the last phrase of the Our Father lead us not into

(11:35):
temptation, but Livers from Evilmore.
Literally it can be rendered, but Deliver Us from the evil
one. And so this is a similar thought
to the last line of the Our Father.
We pray that the father would keep us protected from Satan.
Satan is the one who's ultimately behind all of the
persecution of Christians, he's the primary adversary against

(11:58):
the kingdom of God. So ultimately Jesus is asking
the father to prevent the apostles from being persecuted
by Satan, Directly not asking them to be spared of all
troubles. But to have some sort of special
Divine protection from Satan andin the apostolic age, the holy
spirit is the one that grants inthis protection.

(12:21):
Later, the author here, John would reflect on this in 1.
John 5 Verse 18. He says the one begotten by God,
he protects and the evil one. Cannot touch him.
So John certainly found this to be true through experience verse
17. Now we get this language of
consecration consecrate them in the truth, your word is truth.

(12:43):
So consecrate another word for that is sanctify and this is
language of liturgy and priesthood, its liturgical
language Things which are consecrated or Sanctified a
things which are set apart for the service of God.
So we're starting to see this kind of Priestly language come
through in the high Priestly prayer.
So when Jesus says your word is truth, that means the father's

(13:05):
will and teachings are the truthand Jesus tells the father,
please consecrate them in the truth.
So Jesus is asking that the father would continue to teach
the apostles, his word and to set them apart for the purposes
of teaching at he wants the apostles, to be consecrated to
be set apart for the preaching of God's kingdom verse 18, as

(13:26):
you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
So Jesus was the father's Apostle, we don't often think
about it that way, but it's true.
Jesus was the Apostle sent from the father to Earth.
To bring the kingdom of God intothe world.
And the, our Jesus sends out theapostles to continue that same
Apostolic Mission. Notice the intimate connection

(13:48):
between Jesus mission and the apostles Mission.
That's a consistent theme in thegospels sometimes.
You'll hear some Christians say that Jesus had a particular
Mission, but the apostles and particularly Peter, and Paul had
quite a different Mission. I don't think that can hold up.
When we look at the language that the gospels use.
Clearly the apostles are continuing the very same mission

(14:09):
that Jesus had, which is to expand the kingdom of God, verse
19. And for their sake, I consecrate
myself or more literally, and this is a better translation.
I think, I consecrate myself forthem.
This is probably a reference to Jesus death on the cross.
When Jesus dies on the cross, it's a sacrifice of love where

(14:31):
Jesus is both the priest and theoffering how incredible is that,
and Jesus knows that that's coming.
Jesus is set apart, he Sanctified or consecrated for
the work of redemption and salvation.
So he truly is the Good Shepherdwho lays down his life for his
sheep. His life is set apart for the

(14:51):
purposes of the church. And in fact as Catholics, we
believe that Jesus life-giving sacrifice where he set himself
apart for the world continues tobe made present and effective
through the Eucharist. And we certainly see that that
was happening for the apostles in the book of Acts.
And Jesus goes on so that they too may be consecrated in truth.

(15:15):
So the idea here is when the apostles hear Jesus teachings
about God and His truth, they will understand God's Will and
they will be set apart to preach.
God's will to others Romans light actually says this about
the apostles, they are set apartfor the Priestly service of the
Gospel. That's in Romans 15 verse 16.

(15:36):
And that's essentially what the apostles did.
If you follow their career, in the book of Acts, they went
around preaching, the kingdom ofGod, both orally and in writing,
they communicated God's will, wesaid that in second
Thessalonians 2:15 where it, clearly says the apostles, both
spoke, and wrote down gods Words.

(15:57):
So that's all we'll do today forthe great High Priestly prayer
although we'll continue looking at the text in the coming days.
So this appears a few times in the catechism, I'll just look at
a few paragraphs, but I'll include as many of these as we
can in the show notes so that you can reflect on them yourself
paragraph to 750 and this is a commentary on the great High

(16:19):
Priestly prayer. It says by entering into the
Holy Name Of The Lord Jesus we can accept from within the
prayer he teaches us. Our father, his Priestly prayer
fulfills from within the great petitions of the Lord's Prayer
concern for Father's name passionate Zeal for his kingdom.
The accomplishment of the will of the father of his Plan of

(16:42):
Salvation, and deliverance from Evil.
So here the catechism teaches that the great High Priestly
prayer. In John 17 is very similar in
theme to the Our Father prayer that Jesus gave the apostles.
It covers very similar ground although it's elaborated more in
John 17. Paragraph 2849 is a commentary

(17:04):
on lead us, not into temptation.Asian in this petition to our
Heavenly Father Christ, unites us to his battle and his Agony.
He urges us to vigilance of the heart.
In communion with his own, vigilance is custody of the
heart and Jesus prayed for us through the father.
Keep them in your name paragraph, 2012.

(17:26):
This is about the line of the, Our Father Hallowed be thy name.
Finally, in Jesus, the name of the holy God is revealed and
given to us in the flesh. As Savior revealed by what he is
his word, and by his sacrifice, this is the heart of his
Priestly prayer. Holy Father, for their sake, I
consecrate myself that they alsomay be consecrated in truth.

(17:50):
Because he sanctifies his own name.
Jesus reveals to us the name of the father at the end of
Christ's Passover. The father gives him the name
that is above all names. Jesus Christ is Lord to the
glory of God, the Father So thatparagraph is a really nice
commentary on the name of God, and what it means for that, to

(18:12):
be hello door, Sanctified paragraph, 8 58.
This is about the apostles. It says, Jesus is the Father's
Emissary from the beginning of his ministry, he called to him,
Those whom he desired and he appointed twelve.
Whom he also named Apostles to be with him and to be sent out
to preach from then on, they would also be his emissaries,

(18:34):
Greek. Apostille oi In them, Christ
continues his own mission. As the father has sent me even.
So, I send you the apostles Ministry is the continuation of
his mission. Jesus said to the twelve, he who
receives you receives me. And then, lastly, this is in

(18:54):
connection with the Eucharist and in particular, the Last
Supper paragraph. 6 11 says, theEucharist that Christ
institutes. At that moment will be the
memorial of his sacrifice. Jesus includes the apostles in
his own offering and bids them to perpetuate it by doing.
So, the Lord institute's his Apostles, as Priests of the New

(19:15):
Covenant for their sake, I sanctify myself so that they may
also be Sanctified in truth Th--.
So, the Catholic Church teaches that at the Last Supper, when
Jesus does the Eucharist, he makes the apostles priests.
And here, the catechism links, this idea of them becoming
priests to them becoming Sanctified as Priests of the New

(19:37):
Covenant. So, another fascinating part of
the end of the Gospel of John here will continue in the coming
days, but if you've learned something new, then I'd
appreciate it. If you could tell others about
the podcast, please consider partnering with this ministry
help us produce more good reason.
Horses to get the word out theremore.
We're already producing a podcast every single day.

(19:59):
So if you believe this ministry is worth investing in please,
consider partnering with us and you can see more information
about that at the patreon page. There's a link to that in the
show notes and there you can seeall of the bonus content which
will be available to you. If you do decide to become a
partner of the ministry. Thank you.
We'll see you again tomorrow.

All Episodes

Wednesday of Week 7 of Eastertide - John 17: 11b-19

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Crime Junkie

Ridiculous History

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Wednesday of Week 7 of Eastertide - John 17: 11b-19