• Jesus has done everything He could in teaching His disciples.
• Now, all He can do is pray for them.
  
  

JESUS PRAYS FOR HIMSELF
John 17
1 Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,
 - So Jesus could glorify the Father.
2 since you gave him authority over all flesh (people),

• God gave Jesus the ability to do miracles and continually escape the Pharisees in order for people to see that He truly is the Messiah.

so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.

• Jesus gave us eternal life but it originated through the Father.

3 This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent—Jesus Christ.

•  The essence of eternal life is the ability to know intimately the heart of God the Father and God the Son.

4 I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

• He glorified the Father by allowing the Father to work through Him.
• Every word that Jesus spoke was the Father’s word.
• Jesus knows even the hours to come are going to happen that He refers to them in past tense.
• The crucifixion, resurrection and ascension are included in these works.

5 Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.

• Colossians 1:15 - He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.[1]
• Philippians 2:6-7 - who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
• Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, [2]
• Jesus Christ possessed the Glory of God from eternity past.
• This Glory that Jesus has always had was witnessed at the Mount of Transfiguration and will be witnessed again at the resurrection.
• Otherwise, the rest of Jesus’ earthly presence, the Glory that is His has been veiled.

JESUS PRAYS FOR HIS DISCIPLES
6 “I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

• Jesus has revealed Himself to the disciples.
• Jesus defends the disciples even though the chapter before he tells them they are going to scatter when Jesus is arrested.
• Jesus sees what they are going to do through the Spirit before it happens.

7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, 8 because I have given them the words you gave me. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.

• It’s like when a pastor just preaches a message and then closes the message by repeating the message and pleading with the audience to do as he taught them.
• Even though the disciples didn’t know (at that time), Jesus knew that they were going to know once the Spirit came.
• So pray as if you know what is to come.

9 “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they are yours.

• This verse destroys any universalist theology.
• When were they given to Jesus?
• The moment they believed they became “in Christ”.
• Once you are “in Christ” you are there from eternity past to eternity future.

10 Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them.

• Everything that belongs to the Father belong to the Son.
• Psalm 24:1-2 - The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord;
• 2 for he laid its foundation on the seas and established it on the rivers.[3]
• “Them” – the disciples
• “glorified” – past tense… it already happened… even though they were going to scatter and didn’t understand what He was truly saying.
• Jesus saw their future and spoke about them because of their future.
• This totally opposite of our society, you make one mistake or even say the wrong word then you are cast aside.

11 I am no longer in the world (The crucifixion, resurrection & ascension is so for sure that Jesus speaks about it in past tense), but they are in the world (unredeemed world that is controlled by Satan), and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me (they are equal in character – same name), so that they may be one as we are one.

• How did Jesus keep the disciples in the Father’s name?
• Because He taught them about the Father.
• He didn’t give them 3 points and illustrations.
• He didn’t give them “responsibility”
• He didn’t give them Law.
• He taught them about His Father.
• If they know the Father’s Name… they would take on the Father’s character.
• If they take on the Father’s character then they become united.
• We try to create unity for the sake of unity rather than just knowing the Father.
• My friend Dale from Camp Zion drove 8 hours to hang out with our group for 3 hours because he saw something different in our group of people.

12 While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.

• Jesus was not surprised by Judas leaving the 12.
• He called it back in John 13

13 Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them.

• Jesus taught them things they could not understand.
• But He knew that one day it would be revealed to them.
• This gives me, as a teacher, much hope.

14 I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

• If the Holy Spirit reveals these things to you, you will not respond as the world responds.
• You will not set people aside.
• You will be considered “weird”, “a harborer of sinners”, “a sloppy thinker”, “a teacher/follower of a twisted Gospel.” (irony in that).

15 I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

• All these disciples were martyred.
• He is asking that they never falter in what they believe or teach.
• Suffering will occur… but keep them faithful.

16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

• Separated from the world – sanctified – holy – set apart.

17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

• Who sanctifies you? The Father.
• What does the Father use to sanctify you? Truth
• My person (soul/spirit) is sanctified.

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Col 1:15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Php 2:6–7). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ps 24:1–2). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Luke 12
READY FOR THE MASTER’S RETURN
35 “Be ready for service and have your lamps lit. 36 You are to be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. 37 Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn, and finds them alert, blessed are those servants. 39 But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

• On a daily basis… what’s the one time you don’t want Jesus to come back… it’s gonna happen to someone.
• If you are focused on the outward appearance you’ve had to think about the fact of what you want to be doing when the Lord returns.
• People don’t really live their lives thinking about what they will be doing because they don’t believe the Lord will return in their lifetime.
• Is he talking about “the Rapture” or the Second Coming?
• We can pinpoint the Second Coming because of the 7-year tribulation and the halfway point of when the anti-Christ sits on the throne in the temple on the temple mount.
• Jesus has to be referring to what we believe to be “the Rapture.”
• If you are living from your heart… no need to worry about when Jesus returns.

 
REWARDS AND PUNISHMENT
41 “Lord,” Peter asked, “are you telling this parable to us or to everyone?”
42 The Lord said: “Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes.

• I wonder what I will be doing.

44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unfaithful.

• Talking about the unredeemed.
• Those who rejected Jesus as the Messiah.

47 And that servant who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. 48 But the one who did not know and did what deserved punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected.

• Has much been entrusted to me?
• Has much been entrusted to us?
• How are we to be on alert?
• John 6:29 - 29 Jesus replied, “This is the work of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.”[1]
• John 17:3 - 3 This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent—Jesus Christ.[2]
• Our job is to intimately know the Creator.
• Where did I get the idea that I had to be “doing” something when Christ returns?
• Get off the treadmill and enjoy Jesus.
• Trust Christ’s life in you to love others.

 
NOT PEACE BUT DIVISION
49 “I came to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already set ablaze! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how it consumes me until it is finished!

• Baptism in the Scripture does not always refer to water.
• It means to identify with your leader.
• Paul says those who followed Moses into the Red Sea were baptized as followers of Moses.
• Jesus here is referring to His crucifixion.

51 Do you think that I came here to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 From now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two against three.
53 They will be divided, father against son,
son against father,
mother against daughter,
daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law,
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

• Micah 7:6
• The images Jesus used—fire, baptism, division—speak of opposition and conflict.[3]

 
INTERPRETING THE TIME
54 He also said to the crowds: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and so it does. 55 And when the south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is.

• Meteorologists. They can predict the weather.

56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don’t you know how to interpret this present time?

• The present time – Jesus is the Messiah.
• The Prophets forecasted the coming of the Messiah.
• How tragic that men today can predict the movements of the heavenly bodies, split atoms, and even put men on the moon; but they are blind to what God is doing in the world.
• They know how to get to the stars, but they do not know how to get to heaven![4]

 
SETTLING ACCOUNTS
57 “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the ruler, make an effort to settle with him on the way. Then he won’t drag you before the judge, the judge hand you over to the bailiff, and the bailiff throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid the last cent.”[5]

• Most people will do whatever they can to stay out of jail.
• They will bargain with lawyers up to the last minute.
• Forgiveness of sin will have to occur for the “last cent” to be paid.
• “The last cent” – They will lose their lives by the hands of the Romans in 70 AD.

 
Luke 13
1 At that time, some people came and reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

• No other report of this act in history.
• This was just another ploy (question) to trap Jesus into saying something that would take Him down.
• If he defended Pilate, then He would prove Himself to be Pro-Roman.
• If he spoke against Pilate, surely Pilate would find Him and have Him killed.

2 And he responded to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all the other Galileans because they suffered these things?

• Pharisees taught that you suffered based upon the amount and degree of sin you brought on yourself.

3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well.

• Jesus is saying that if you don’t repent… in the end, you will suffer the same consequences.

4 Or those eighteen that the tower in Siloam fell on and killed—do you think they were more sinful than all the other people who live in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well.”

• Jesus avoided the question concerning Pilate and focused the subject of eternity on the ones trying to trap Him.

 
THE PARABLE OF THE BARREN FIG TREE
6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 He told the vineyard worker, ‘Listen, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it even waste the soil?’
8 “But he replied to him, ‘Sir, leave it this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 Perhaps it will produce fruit next year, but if not, you can cut it down.’

• Leviticus 19:23-25 - 23 “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you are to consider the fruit forbidden. It will be forbidden to you for three years; it is not to be eaten. 24 In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering to the Lord. 25 But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way its yield will increase for you; I am Yahweh your God. [6]
• So this man had actually been waiting for 7 years for fruit from this tree.
• Fig tree was the symbol for the nation of Israel
• 3 years represented Jesus’ earthly ministry
• 1 more year represented the 40 years before the destruction of Israel by the hands of the Romans in 70 AD.

 
HEALING A DAUGHTER OF ABRAHAM
10 As he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, 11 a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for over eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.

• Just because you are sick doesn’t mean that you are demonized.
• But what about the fact that this woman was still coming to the synagogue for 18 years even though she was oppressed by a demon?

12 When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free of your disability.” 13 Then he laid his hands on her, and instantly she was restored and began to glorify God.

• Jesus defeated Satan right in the house of God.
• Jesus is the only one who can set people free.

14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded by telling the crowd, “There are six days when work should be done; therefore, come on those days and be healed and not on the Sabbath day.”

• Who was under more bondage? The lady who was oppressed for 18 years or the Pharisee who was teaching legalism?
• This is what religious people still believe and teach today.
• What does the Bible say? Don’t work at all!
• Sabbath rest… watch God do the work in you.

15 But the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you untie his ox or donkey from the feeding trough on the Sabbath and lead it to water? 16 Satan has bound this woman, a daughter of Abraham, for eighteen years—shouldn’t she be untied from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”

• Daughter of Abraham (Jewish) – One of your own!
• Not only was Jesus saying they did work on the Sabbath but you cared for your animals because they needed it.
• You treat your animals better than you do people!

17 When he had said these things, all his adversaries were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things he was doing.

• God will always humiliate religion.

 
THE PARABLES OF THE MUSTARD SEED AND OF THE LEAVEN
18 He said, therefore, “What is the kingdom of God (mystery form of the kingdom – the Church) like, and what can I compare it to? 19 It’s like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”

• Matthew 13 – Annoyance birds (grackles)
• The Gospel will be the foundation but it will still be infiltrated with error and lies.

20 Again he said, “What can I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It’s like leaven that a woman took and mixed into fifty pounds of flour until all of it was leavened.” [7]

• Leaven here is either negative or positive.
• If it is negative it is referring to Jewish nation which was destroyed in 70 AD.
• If it is positive, it is the Gospel that spreads until things in heaven and on earth have been restored.

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 6:29). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 17:3). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 223). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 223). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Lk 12:1–59). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Le 19:23–25). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Lk 13:1–21). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

This week:
         John 1:19-51
Messianic Miracles:
- Stages of Investigation:
     1) Observation
     2) Questioning - Interrogation
John tells the Jews from Jerusalem who he is
John 1:19-28 - 19 This is John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites (Sanhedrin) to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He did not refuse to answer, but he declared: “I am not the Messiah.”
21 “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?”
“I am not,” he said.
“Are you the Prophet?”
“No,” he answered.
22 “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?”
23 He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord —just as Isaiah the prophet said.”
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know Him. 27 He is the One coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.”
28 All this happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

John identifies Jesus as the Messiah
John 1:29-34 - 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the One I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who has surpassed me, because He existed before me.’ 31 I didn’t know Him, but I came baptizing with water so He might be revealed to Israel.”
32 And John testified, “I watched the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He rested on Him. 33 I didn’t know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One you see the Spirit descending and resting on—He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God!”[1]
Jesus calls his first disciples
         - John 1:35-51 – Andrew & John

35 Again the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples (Andrew & John who doesn’t mention his own name) heard him say this and followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and noticed them following Him, He asked them, “What are you looking for?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are You staying?” (Will you be our Rabbi?)

• Jewish education was made up of three primary sections:

1. Bet Safar
2. Bet Talmud
3. Bet Midrash

Bet Safar - Usually from the ages 5 to 10
- It is a time taught in the synagogue by the Rabbi.
- During this time, good Jewish boys memorized Torah - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy - memorized by the age of ten!

Bet Talmud - Progressing on from Bet Safar, it continues from the age of 10 on to 14.
- During this time, the student would continue his memorization of the Psalms, prophets, and the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament).
- It wasn't uncommon in that day for a good Jewish boy to have the Old Testament memorized by the age of fourteen.
- The student would also during this time begin to learn the art of questions and answers.
- In our western civilization today, we are into information transfer, but in those days, answering a question wasn't quite as direct.
- A rabbi might ask a student what is two plus two?
- Today, we would spout off the answer of four.
- But back then when a Rabbi would ask what two plus two was, a student might answer with, "What is the square root of sixteen?"
- This not only told the Rabbi that the student heard and understood the question, but was able to process it and respond with a question of his own.

Bet Midrash – Past age 14
Each Rabbi would have their own interpretation of how to live out the Torah.

• Rabbis would take on the best of the best as students.
• The purpose:
  • Ate, drink, lived with their teacher.
  • Disciples memorized the words of their Rabbi
  • It wasn’t just about learning what they ‘knew’ but learning how to be like them… to think, act, and do like them.
  • There are stories of disciples following their Rabbi into the bathroom!
• The disciples Jesus was pursuing had already returned to their father’s trade.

39 “Come and you’ll see,” He replied. So they went and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day. It was about 10 in the morning. (or 10 hours after 6 AM being 4 PM)
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Him. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which means “Anointed One”), 42 and he brought Simon to Jesus.
When Jesus saw him, He said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which means “Rock”).
43 The next day He decided to leave for Galilee. Jesus found Philip and told him, “Follow Me!”
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law (and so did the prophets ): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!”
46 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him.
“Come and see,” Philip answered.
47 Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him and said about him, “Here is a true Israelite; no deceit is in him.”
 - In reference to Jacob, he was an Israelite who deceived his father, Isaac to steal the birthright of Esau.
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered.
 - Jewish tradition was that students sat under specific trees to study… that being fig trees.
 - Jesus even referred to the person Philip was thinking about.
 - He not only told him where he had been but what he was thinking.

Genesis 28:10-12 - 10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it.[2]

49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus responded to him, “Do you believe only because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then He said, “I assure you: You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”[3]
 - Nathanael was going to see greater things than Jesus just reading his mind.

[1] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Jn 1:19–34). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ge 28:10–12). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Jn 1:35–51). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.