17:13
Jesus knew that He was going to the Father. He also knew that first He would have to go to the cross, then there would be the resurrection. We may know the end destination, but there can be many steps in between. Jesus prayed this prayer while on earth so that we could know about it. Jesus wants us to have the same joy that He had while on earth. While on earth Jesus was full of joy, even knowing the route He would have to take. So it is with us. Our natural desire is to avoid suffering, but our godly desire should be to see God’s purposes fulfilled. If we take the second course of action, then even though we may suffer for a time, we will still know fulness of joy.
17:14
“I have given them your word and the world has hated them”. For a long time in the west we have lived in a society with at least some Christian foundations and where the Bible was given some respect. That situation has been changing for several decades and the change is now accelerating. I was reading an article recently that dealt with this matter in some detail. One remark was that once we were regarded as “do-gooders” now we are increasingly considered “do-badders”. For instance, anyone daring to question the societal orthodoxy on homosexuality is often labelled a bigot. Jesus then explains why this is the case. God’s ways and the world’s ways are fundamentally at odds with each other. When Christ comes in to our life He takes us out of the world (in the sense of not being of the world), so we become the enemy.
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