LIFE-STUDY OF JOHN

MESSAGE THIRTY-EIGHT

LIFE’S PRAYER

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In this message we come to the profound prayer uttered by the Lord in John 17. This prayer is the completing prayer of the Lord’s message given in chapters fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen. If we read John 14 through 17 carefully, we shall realize that these four chapters have a very specific flavor in utterance and composition. This flavor is altogether different from the other chapters in the Bible. Although the whole Bible undoubtedly is God-breathed, these four chapters have a special taste, a special flavor, that no one can imitate. This flavor is not only holy but divine. No human being can utter something that is so divine. The flavor of these chapters is special, impressive, and unique because it is absolutely divine. The person who composed these chapters must have been divine. No human could have written something like this. No human being could say, “Father, glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You.” Only the Son of God could utter such words. Although you may not understand these chapters, if you are in the spirit as you read them, you will sense the divine flavor. This is the divine speaking, the divine utterance, and the divine flow with the divine flavor. I am confirmed in my belief that the Bible is the Word of God. Who besides God could have composed these four chapters? Could John, a fisherman from Galilee, utter such things? It is impossible. If we gather together two hundred men with Ph.D.’s, they would not have the substance to compose a writing with such a flavor. How we must worship the Lord for these four chapters! We must worship Him for the message He gave before His death, and we must worship Him for His concluding prayer.

In order to understand the meaning of His prayer, we must remember the central thought of the message given by the Lord in the previous three chapters. The central thought of that message is rich, deep, and profound. The first aspect of this central thought is that the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, was sent by the Father to be among us. Then He was transfigured from the flesh into the Spirit that He might be able to come into us. In other words, He was transfigured into the Holy Spirit, and He comes into us as the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes into us, He comes as the Spirit of reality to make the Lord Jesus real to us in every respect. By doing this, the Lord brings us into the Father and brings the Father into us. This is the mingling of divinity with humanity. Included in this mingling is the mutual abode. We become the abode to the Triune God, and the Triune God becomes the abode to us. We can abide in the Triune God, and the Triune God can abide in us. This is the central thought of the profound and glorious message given by the Lord in these three chapters. After giving that message, the Lord offered a closing prayer.

What is the subject, the central thought, of this prayer? Although the subject of this prayer depends very much upon the central thought of the preceding message, it is still difficult to discover what this subject is. I spent much time on John 17 without having any idea about the meaning of this prayer. When I was young, I heard that the Lord’s prayer in this chapter was for oneness. But oneness, or the unity among the Lord’s disciples, is not the subject. Oneness is on the surface. Something deeper and more profound lies beneath the surface, and it is not easy for us to dig it out. John 17 is a deep chapter, and it is difficult to fathom it. How we thank the Lord that gradually, little by little, He has shown us the real meaning, the true significance, the central thought, of His prayer in this chapter.