6“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.
14I 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... 17Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:6,17)
Thoughts: Jesus reveals God the Father to those who are chosen and given by God- picked out of the world. Why are some eyes opened and others' eyes seem to be blind no matter how many miracles or clear evidences are before them? To think our choices are simply made in a vacuum underestimates the effects of nurture, nature, and God. Jesus reveals the Father to His own. In another place Jesus says, "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn. 14:9). When we look at Jesus we see what God is like.
Jesus also talked in the same chapter of the word- referring to both scripture and his own words- as truth. Jesus was not merely claiming that He alone was the word of God. He gave the word to his disciples- both in terms of his message of love and the words he used of his own and from scripture. It is the word of God that sanctifies us- makes us holy and better people. It is the word of God that makes us different from animals and from giving into our base instincts. While there is a part of us that pulls us into acting like animals- the word of God pulls us away into both toward self control and calls us to care beyond our selfishness. The truth- the reality of life- pulls us away from fakeness and the illusions of life into living how we are designed and meant to live.
Prayer: Lord, may your word- abiding in it and you make me a better person- more holy for you.
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