John 17:1 After Yeshua had said these things, he looked up toward heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you — 2 just as you gave him authority over all mankind, so that he might give eternal life to all those whom you have given him. 3 And eternal life is this: to know you, the one true God, and him whom you sent, Yeshua the Messiah.
4 “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify me alongside yourself. Give me the same glory I had with you before the world existed.
6 “I made your name known to the people you gave me out of the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, 8 because the words you gave me I have given to them, and they have received them. They have really come to know that I came from you, and they have come to trust that you sent me.
9 “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given to me, because they are yours. 10 Indeed, all I have is yours, and all you have is mine, and in them I have been glorified. 11 Now I am no longer in the world. They are in the world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, guard them by the power of your name, which you have given to me, so that they may be one, just as we are. 12 When I was with them, I guarded them by the power of your name, which you have given to me; yes, I kept watch over them; and not one of them was destroyed (except the one meant for destruction, so that the Tanakh might be fulfilled). 13 But now, I am coming to you; and I say these things while I am still in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.
14 “I have given them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world — just as I myself do not belong to the world. 15 I don’t ask you to take them out of the world, but to protect them from the Evil One. 16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Set them apart for holiness by means of the truth — your word is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 On their behalf I am setting myself apart for holiness, so that they too may be set apart for holiness by means of the truth.
20 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will trust in me because of their word, 21 that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are united with me and I with you, I pray that they may be united with us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. 22 The glory which you have given to me, I have given to them; so that they may be one, just as we are one — 23 I united with them and you with me, so that they may be completely one, and the world thus realize that you sent me, and that you have loved them just as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am; so that they may see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these people have known that you sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will continue to make it known; so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I myself may be united with them.”
Coming off of an intense one-sided conversation with His disciples, Yeshua enters into an even deeper interaction with His Father.
An entire chapter in the Book of John records Yeshua’s words as He’s pouring out His heart to God. The selflessness is painfully evident:
“I have run my race, Abba, and I’m coming home. I have made Your Name known to the ones you chose for Me and now I ask you to watch over them as they set out to change the world. The world is going to fight them with everything they have, but please keep them set apart. Even those that come to Us from the testimony of the ones you gave me, I ask that they remain as one so the world knows that You sent Me to them. Through this, the world will know that You love them. And I want nothing more than to have them here with Us.”
If you knew the date and time of your own demise, and that time was upon you, where would your focus be? Would you be concerned about the well-being of those that hate you? Would your heart be grieving for those that are about to kill you?
I know I wouldn’t. I’m not prepared to play that kind of game. My arrow does not shoot that far. I have enough trouble getting over the most important person in the world -- me. Once I wiggle my way beyond my own self, I wade through the pools of my wife and family. Only then can I reluctantly seek the best for those closest to me.
But my enemies? The mockers? The overtly rebellious? No chance.
Christianity is full of those that, despite their sinfulness, were allowed into the Kingdom of God only to work diligently to keep others out.
“A prostitute, really? No chance you can sit in the pew beside my kids.”
“You’re gay? Sorry, that could be contagious.”
“Oops, wrong denomination…maybe you should repent of that.”
Ok self-righteous scholars, go and read Yeshua’s testimony. He came for the lost. He dwelt among them. Not showering them with blind acceptance, but with truth. Truth presented through a love we cannot begin to comprehend.
And yet…
Here we are. We run through the countryside filling the hills with our slander and judgments. Condemnation is a national pastime for a lot of believers.
“I’m worthy of forgiveness, you aren’t.”
We then lie with a hypocrisy from the deepest and darkest pit of hell that we are humble followers of the Messiah. Maybe. But which messiah?
The real One…or one you’ve created through your own pride, arrogance, and judgments?
A false Jesus is a very real thing. Artificial grace floods so many corners of believers’ lives and we use it to justify the fact that we are “only human”. A mistake-filled walk that seeks justification over repentance.
But the tough teaching here is this: those horrible people outside likely don’t know their ways are in error. But you do.
Which is worse, not knowing and being rejected, or knowing and rebelling?
Now who needs a Savior?
Will the real Messiah please stand up!
The gate to the Tabernacle is open to anyone. Anyone. That includes you. We ALL must lay down the defilement we’ve picked up in order to dwell in His midst.
For the believer, it’s knowing how to lean into God when we fall. Not making excuses and justifying our actions through our intentions.
For the unbeliever, their entire life must be forfeited. And this is the truth they need to hear. Not babying them or avoiding the hard conversations. Again, look at how Yeshua handled this. Right between the eyes. No justification, no wiggling, no excuses. It all needs to be burned up.
Of course, the go-to response that comes from any sinner that wants to hold onto their life is something like this:
“I was born this way.”
You sure were. We all were born with the gravitational pull of a black hole towards a sinful life. The type of sin makes no difference whatsoever.
“Wait, I have read Revelation and the list of those on the outside is short:
Revelation 22:14 How blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they have the right to eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the city! 15 Outside are the homosexuals, those involved with the occult and with drugs, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16 “I, Yeshua, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the Messianic communities. I am the Root and Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.
I’m not a homosexual, I don’t worship the devil or do drugs, I’m sexually pure, I’ve never killed anyone, I have no idols, and my words are always right and true. Yep, my robe is completely clean.”
Are you sure about that?
Instead of justifying your own sin, imagine you could grieve over it. How much compassion would then seep from those cracked places towards those that are truly perishing?
No, we don’t want to keep people out, we desperately want them to come in. But come in to hear the truth. The truth presented in love. The truth as the Messiah told it.
Luke 15:7 I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who turns to God from his sins than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.
Just one. Joy fills the halls of Heaven because you were so bold and kind as to welcome the lost, not just the tithers.
And what about those other denominations?
What other denominations? Those don’t exist. Just because man has decided to split the Body does not make it so. That’s a plain ol’ falsehood.
Uh-oh. Remember that?
Revelation 22:15 Outside are the homosexuals, those involved with the occult and with drugs, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Playing into a rivalry within the Body is a dangerous game. This isn’t college football we’re talking about. This is the oneness of the Body. What if we keep reading in Revelation:
Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come!’ Let anyone who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let anyone who is thirsty come — let anyone who wishes, take the water of life free of charge.”
THE Bride. Not YOUR church.
“I pray not only for these, but also for those who will trust in me because of their word, 21 that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are united with me and I with you, I pray that they may be united with us,”
For what purpose?
“so that the world may believe that you sent me.”
Want to know why those people outside won’t listen to you? Well, the world isn’t going to unite with you because you refuse to unite with God’s people. This is a sad, sad reality.
Through the rejection of our spiritual brothers, we have cultivated a situation where those outside will perish. BECAUSE of us. Hatred within has shut down the path to salvation for so many that are lost. We are murderers in the truest sense of the word. Our arrogance fuels division and that trickles deep into the world.
Why would anyone want to be unified with people that teach division?
Yeshua operated 100% outside of the walls of division. This is what got Him in trouble continuously.
Abba, we crave a heart like Yours. During worship yesterday there was a powerful, powerful verse that was sung from the writings of Ezekiel 36:
“I want a new heart, I want a new Spirit”
What more could you possibly want in this world?
John 17:5 “Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these people have known that you sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will continue to make it known; so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I myself may be united with them.”
Amen. Now go and make disciples of all nations.