The Last Lesson
John 17:1-16
Jesus Prays to Be Glorified
1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
Jesus' prayer for Himself and His disciples is so touching that I have been reading this chapter several times on this beautiful spring day. I have just come back from walking on the hill nearby my apartment and I could hear the birds' chirping and see little field flowers and spring grass, incluing cherry blossoms. How beautirul they are! In such a peaceful day, I couldn't stop singing the song of "Love" in 1 Corintheans 13. Talking with my husband about our lives and death, we have shared what life is and how we have lived in the faith and the grace of God.
I told him about the book I have read during last week, and that was 'Lee Yeou-ryong's last lesson' and a book called 'Tuesdays with Morrie'. They are both lessons of two professors who had to face death very closely, which was not far away, and it was also not others' death, rather their own death. It could be totally different to talk about others' death as I am doing now. They could suffer the physical pain, as well as the fear for death itself. Leaving the world is not an easy thing we can do in life. Rather, it could be the toughest thing we should go through.
Jesus is praying for Himself, who was with God and had come to this earth to fulfill the will of God, which is LOVE itself. By obeying Him, He was to accomplish the mission, and He also prays for His disciples who were obedient to His word, which is also the Word of God, as He knew that they would be disowned and persecuted by men, the world, for a while. Therefore, He was praying for them eagerly, which is very touching my heart. That is the heart of Father.
The two former professors were having interviews because they wanted to share something about death and, at the same time, teach something about lives. What an ironical lesson it is! I guess that they had never taught about death before they heard from their disease and death, though they were getting older and weaker. In my case, I have been thinking about death very often, and I'd like to talk about death because, in my experience of seeing death around me, it has given me the first and foremost lesson about how to live today. Living today with loving myself and others, including God.
Jesus was giving the last lesson, praying for His disciples, so that they may have the full measure of His joy within them. He had known what would happen to them, so His prayer that God may protect them from the evil one, is so touching my heart. However, His last lesson is totally different, as His death is to give us eternal life, not just the physical death. Knowing that Father, the only true God, and Jesus Himself as the one who God sent to save us from the evil one, and that we could live in peace and joy is the eternal life, which is the Gospel itself.
This is the reason I am thinking about DEATH on this beautiful spring day.
