"In Me you may have Peace."

"...These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

 In the light of circumstances around us as Christians, this is a verse in John 16 that we should hold onto tightly. Jesus knew this too because in the next chapter He starts to pray to the Father. At this particular time, Jesus is about to die and He has not revealed what that completely means to His disciples yet. But Jesus knows that one day they will understand. The disciples and also us as believers were going to glorify the Father because of what Jesus was going to do on the cross. Through the message of the cross, we can have hope in this world in order to share it with others and ultimately glorify the Father.     

Starting in verse one of Chapter 17, Jesus prays to the Father for Him to be glorified. How was Jesus going to glorify the Father? 

"... as You have given Him authority over all flesh,

that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him." v2

Jesus glorified the Father because the Father gave Him all authority over all flesh. That is why Jesus healed people, brought out demons, and brought people back from the dead. All that He did was because of the Father and for the Father. But Jesus was also going to glorify the Father by dying on the cross and giving people the ability to receive eternal life.

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God,
 and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." v3

Because Jesus came to do the Father's will, we as humans can receive eternal life by believing in the only true God and Jesus Christ whom the Father had sent.

Jesus also knew that He was no longer going to be on the earth after He died. But because of what Jesus did on the cross and because we and the world have been given the choice to choose eternal life, God is still glorified in heaven through Jesus being our mediator. This is the message that we can hold onto in this world that Jesus glorified the Father by dying on the cross and that we can receive eternal life.

How was this message of hope to get out to the world after Jesus went up to heaven? Jesus continues on in verse six praying for the disciples as they would pass on this message. Because of Jesus doing the Father's will, the disciples knew the will of God. They knew that Jesus came from the Father in heaven. This was the beginning of them spreading this message from God.

  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are." v11

Jesus also prayed that the disciples would be one with the Father as He is one with the Father. Jesus made this possible for the disciples when He showed them the Father and finalized it when He died and went up to heaven after He rose again. But it is only through God that they can be one.

 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. v13-17

Jesus came into this world to do the Father's will and to teach His followers the same. But He never promised that it was going to be easy. The message would make the world hate them but it also changed the disciples lives. This was Jesus' prayer for them.

1) It was suppose to bring joy in their lives despite what the world made them feel.



2) It keeps them from the evil one. It could be so easy for the disciples to give in to the evil one when the world makes your life miserable. But the message transformed their lives to be fully committed to what Christ had done.   


3) It was to sanctified them. They were still human and had things to learn and grow but God's message preserved them and keep pressing on to do His will.



As we all know, Jesus was all knowing and knew because of the disciples, the Father's message was going to spread to the entire world. There was and is many who has believed because of the disciples spreading His message of hope.

"...that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." v21-23

Because of the disciples being one with God, new believers too can be one with God. The message is suppose to bring us together as one as Jesus is one with God. When we allow ourselves to become this way, the world sees hope and love from the Father. Ultimately God is glorified.

 ^"And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it,

 that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” v26

The message got to the disciples and to us as believers because of the ultimate love of the Father to Jesus to do His plan. Jesus accomplishes this plan, to glorify God, and us believers now can do the same because of Him. Moreover the world will see the love the Father had for Jesus and His disciples and for us and they will also can become believers themselves. Jesus made this possible for all of us, to see the love of the Father.

So how can we have hope and bring hope into this crazy and chaotic world? Through the message that Christ gave to us. If we humble ourselves and become one with God as Jesus was one, we will no longer fear what this world might bring. And the world also will see the love of God through us and then they can have hope also in this troubled world.

How about you? What brings you anxiety or fear? What makes you feel like you have no control? What part of Jesus' prayer did you like most. Please comment below and tell me your thoughts.

linking up Jennifer Dukes Lee and Coffee for your heart