Our Lord’s three purposes:
John 17:20-23 — Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Jesus mentioned praying for the believers given him by the Father in verse 20: “neither pray I for these alone.” These are those who were looking for the Messiah and who received the message that Jesus was the Christ (“Christ” meaning Messiah in Greek).
They are those given him of the Father.. They did not know the name Jesus, until Christ was manifested in the flesh. But faith in Christ is eternal life (1 John 5:20 — …his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.) It always has been.
Adam and Eve knew him as the Seed of the woman, and they were granted eternal life because God ordain Christ to be life. Abraham knew him as the promised Son and the Lamb of God. Job knew him as his Redeemer. Moses knew him as that Prophet and as the Passover Lamb. God ordained every believer in the Messiah to eternal life.
The Lord then promised that his sheep knew his voice, that all that the Father giveth him shall come to him. And we see that fulfilled in John 17, where Jesus gave them the words that the Father had given him and Jesus testifies: “they have received them and have known surely that I came out from thee, and have believed that thou hast sent me” (John 17:8).
The Lord also prays “for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:20b). If the message has been lost or clouded or changed, that would not be possible. Some men may doubt what God’s Word is; but, the Lord has kept it intact for this reason. Where is this complete copy? It is our Received Text and the translations that flow from it. In English, it is your King James Bible.
Why does our Lord want us all to be one, as the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father? Why does he want us who have believed in Christ to be in agreement with those who walked with him in faith? Christ’s first purpose is this: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me (John 17:21).
Jesus wants the world to believe that the Father has sent him! The world, that same world the Father so loved that he gave his only begotten Son. Our Lord testified to the work of God the Father: “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he has sent” (john 6:29). God the Father is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). And the Son is not willing that any should perish. He wants all believers, in any age, to be in agreement that the world may believe that the Father has sent him!
Jesus told Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.” I love the “ye”. It is always plural. It is so simple to understand. Did Nicodemus need to be born again? Yes. But the Lord was not talking about Nicodemus alone. We all came into this world lost, sinners, wicked and undone. Alien by birth. We all need salvation.
What does it mean: being born again? Well, if we keep reading the New Testament, we would come to John’s epistles. The Apostle explains Christ’s statement for us: “Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loves him that begat loves him also that is begotten of him (1 John 5:1).
Two other purposes are given regarding the world in our Lord’s prayer, directly related to this. The Lord wants the world to believe that the Father has sent him: that is salvation. However, if the world refuses to believe, he wants them to know.
Through the word of God (the gospel) and through the Spirit of God, the glory which the Father gave the Son, the Son has given the believer that we may be one and be made perfect in one, that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me (John 17:23).
to be continued