The Hour Has Come!

This morning I felt called to read from John 17.  The following verses are excerpts of the chapter and are the ones that seemed highlighted to me today.

John 17:1-4,14-17,20-24 NIV:

[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."

[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. [17] Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."

[20] “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, [21] that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [22] I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one--- [23] I in them and you in me---so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

[24] “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world."

My first reaction is, "What an Awesome prayer!"  This is being prayed at the end of His ministry, prior to His death and resurrection, and as such I believe it represents the summary of His ministry.

He was here to reveal the Father, to make Him know to us, to bring Glory to His name!

He was here to introduce us to the reality that eternal life is found  in relationship with Him and the Father.

He was here to plant the Father's word, the Truth, into the hearts and minds of His disciples, that they might go to all the world that billions might believe in Him.
He was here to call us out of the world, to sanctify us, to separate us from the world, to purify us by His blood.  He came that this might be our experience.  He came to draw His sheep out of the world, not to make friends with the world.

He was here to birth into us a desire for unity, for clearly that is what burns in the heart of The Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit!

He came that we might be one, even as He and the Father and Spirit are one. This was to be a sign to the world of the Father's love for Jesus,and love for us.

As I reflect on this all, it is clear that we still have a ways to go before His full ministry goals are met.  He did everything the Father told Him to and completed His earthly mission.  He entrusted the remaining parts of His mission to His apostles and disciples, to the whole church and that is the mission we have today.  We have yet to see the unity that He prayed for, other than in the earliest expression of the church.  He is now seated in Glory with the Father, but also living in us, as promised here in John.  He is empowering us to fulfill the final parts of His ministry.

His hour came, He finished well.  It is now the hour for His church to step in and finish His work.

Lord, help us!

Lord, empower us!  

Lord, lead us!