Why Jesus?…

In his own words (part 21)

Just as the Father sent Jesus into the world, Jesus sends his disciples into the world, John 17:18. And just as Jesus brought glory to his Father by fulfilling what the Father sent him to do, verse 4, Jesus’ disciples bring glory to him by fulfilling what he sends them to do – or as Jesus put it in verse 10, “glory has come to me through them.”

But how do Jesus’ disciples bring glory to him? The first clue Jesus gives is in the first part of verse 8, when he prays to his Father: “I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.” It’s our acceptance of what Jesus taught that brings glory to him, because what he taught was what the Father wanted him to teach, verse 6. When we obey what Jesus taught, then, we’re fulfilling what his Father sent him to have us do. And that gets Jesus a glorious “Well done, my Son” from the Father.

The second clue Jesus gives us is in the second part of verse 8: “They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.” And believing Jesus came from the Father was important, because it was through Jesus that the Father was revealing himself, verse 6. 

The Father was revealing one very important thing about himself through Jesus too. Because by Jesus “speaking the words of God,” John 3:34, and “testifying to what he’d personally seen and heard (of God),” verse 32, that would “certify that God is truthful” in the minds of his disciples. verse 33.  

And that would bring another glorious “Well done, my Son” from the Father, because if the disciples believed that God is truthful, they would then believe what the Father said about his Son in verse 35 – that he “loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.”  

And why was it important for the disciples to believe that? Because “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,” verse 36. This is the great truth the Father wants Jesus’ disciples to know and believe, that his Son is the source of eternal life. The Father wants that glory given to his Son, and it’s in Jesus’ disciples believing it that it happens. 

So that, then, is how “glory comes to Jesus through us” (John 17:10)…(continues Monday)