THE TRANSFORMATION PATH

Sanctification is a progressive process of spiritual transformation. We are "being transformed" (μεταμορφούμεθα), Paul writes, "into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:18). The verb is a present tense, passive voice indicating that the action is being done by God the Holy Spirit in a continuous manner. The transformation process is God's work done with our cooperation and is progressive through stages of development culminating in a glorious finish.

Our transformation begins at conversion. Paul writes that "we all" (ἡμεῖς πάντες) now see God's glory with an "unveiled face" (ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ). He is referring to verse 16. "Whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil (κάλυμμα) is removed." We turn (ἐπιστρέφω) to the Lord, and He removes (περιαιρέω) the veil. We now see with an unveiled face. The verb is a perfect passive participle indicating that the lifting of the veil took place in the past with continuing results in the present (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, p.117, fn17).

Our transformation progresses by beholding. The act of beholding (κατοπτριζόμενοι) is something we do on a continuous basis (present tense). We are beholding the glory of the Lord for our benefit (middle voice). The discipline of contemplation is an ongoing action with personal benefits. Contemplation of His glory explains our cooperation with His transformation.

The participle translated "beholding" can mean either 'beholding as in a mirror" or "reflecting as in a mirror." Either translation is semantically correct. Do we behold the glory that Christ reflects to us or do we reflect the glory from Him to others? The better translation is beholding not reflecting (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, pp.118-119, fn18). Christ mirrors God's glory to us, and we are being transformed as we contemplate His glory.

The transformation in us is an internal not external transformation. Our very essence is being transformed. This is the sense of μεταμορφόομαι (2 Cor. 3:18) as opposed to μετασχηματίζω (2 Cor. 11:14). The latter word is like transforming a vegetable garden into a flower garden while the former is like transforming a garden into a parking lot (Trench, Synonyms of the NT, pp. 263-267). Our very nature (μορφή) not merely our schematic (σχῆμα) is being transformed.

We are being transformed into the same (αὐτὴν) image (εἰκόνα) of the Lord that we are beholding. Our transformation is "from glory to glory" (ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς δόξαν). There are stages of our transformation process. We are being transformed from the glory of the mirror image we see into the glory of a real likeness we become from the inside out (Hanna, Grammatical Aid, p.319). Our progress will finally be complete when we no longer see His glory in a mirror but face to face at His coming. "We will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is"  (1 Jn. 3:2).

BIG "S" OR LITTLE "s"?

Paul writes "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Cor. 3:17). Most translations capitalize "Spirit" taking it as a reference to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. However, the word translated "spirit" (πνεῦμα) could refer to the force that animates or gives life to someone (BDAG, p.674). Is Paul saying "the Lord is a life-giving force" or "the Lord is the third person of the Trinity"?

There are four arguments for understanding "spirit" as a life-giving dynamic or power. 1) The context focuses on a contrast between the two covenants, not an explanation of the Trinity. 2) The emphasis is on the spirit as a dynamic that produces life in contrast to the letter of the Law that produces death (cf. 2 Cor. 3:6,8,17,18). 3) If Christ as Lord is equivalent to the Holy Spirit, this confuses the distinct persons of the Trinity. 4) Christ is called a "life-giving spirit" in 1 Corinthians 15:45 (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, pp.115-121).

I think it best, without being dogmatic, to understand the Spirit throughout this section as the Holy Spirit (Big "S"). However, the emphasis of the passage is not on the Holy Spirit as a person but the Holy Spirit as the dynamic power from God who produces life in us who were once in bondage (Martin, 2 Corinthians, p.71). The Big "S" is a life transforming force unleashed by God when we turn to the Son.

"The Lord is the Spirit" (ὁ κύριος το πνεῦμά ἐστιν). The definite article before "Lord" is an anaphoric article pointing back to "Lord" in the previous verse. The language reflects back to Yahweh in Exodus 34:34.  Paul's argument in these verses is that the Spirit equals Yahweh - God in three persons (Moulton, Howard, Turner, Grammar, 3:174). Paul is not confusing the second and third persons of the Trinity by making the second the same as the third. Paul is stating that the Yahweh of the Old Testament is the Spirit who transforms our lives today.

"Where the Spirit of the Lord (Yahweh) is there is liberty." The veil over our hearts is removed in Christ (2 Cor. 3:14) by the power of the Spirit of Yahweh whose glory was veiled from their hearts in the Old Covenant. Paul expresses it clearly in Galatians when he writes that "God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying Abba! Father!" (Gal. 4:6). "It was for freedom that Christ set us free" (Gal. 5:1). We have a direct and open relationship with Yahweh as our Father through the Son who has set us free from the Law.

Paul goes on to write that we are being transformed (2 Cor. 3:15) by "the Lord, the Spirit" (ἀπὸ κυρίου πνεύματος) There are at least five different possible translations of this last clause (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, p.120 fn23). However, it is best to translate it as "by the Spirit of the Lord" since an attributive genitive generally comes first in the word order making "Spirit" (πνεύματος) the object of the preposition not "Lord" (κυρίου) so "Lord" modifies "Spirit." (Blass/Debrunner, Grammar, p.250).

All three persons of the Godhead are involved in our transformation. The veil over our hearts is removed in Christ. God the Father is transforming us into the image of His Son by the agency of His Spirit who produces life and liberty in, through, and for us! Praise be to Yahweh from whom all blessings flow.

I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW!

Conversion is a dramatic event of spiritual transformation as God burns away the fog that shrouds our thinking. Minds once petrified can now think lucidly. Eyes once veiled can now see clearly. Paul describes conversion in Jewish terms that can be applied to all (2 Cor. 3:14-16).

He writes that "minds were hardened" (2 Cor. 3:14). Mental faculties (τὰ νοήματα) were dulled (ἐπωρώθη). The verb means to be petrified (BDAG, p.732). The passive voice indicates that something outside of the mind hardened it. Sin! Petrified minds are dead because of sin. Petrified minds are incapable of understanding spiritual truth.

Whenever people read Scripture, the veil remains "not being lifted" (μὴ ἀνακαλυπτόμενον) from their hearts (vs.14-15). Some take this as a nominative absolute translating the phrase "it not being revealed that (the veil) is being removed in Christ" (Vincent, Word Pictures, 3:308). The phrasing is awkward requiring words to be supplied, and nominative absolutes are not commonly used this way in the New Testament (Hanna, Grammatical Aid, p.318). It is better to translate it as a reference to the veil "not being lifted" from their hearts since the noun (κάλυμμα), and participle (ἀνακαλυπτόμενον) are in agreement with each other. The verb (ἀνακάλυπτω) can mean to uncover or unveil (BDAG, p.55) and will be used this way in verse 18.

The veil is removed in Christ (καταργεῖται). The verb was used earlier of the glory fading away (vs.7 11). It means to make powerless, to abolish or wipe out (BDAG, p.417). The verb is passive. Tthe veil preventing people from seeing God's glory is wiped away by God. He nullifies the veil's power, not us. He renders powerless the sin that shrouds our hearts from seeing His glory.

When does this dramatic transformation take place? It takes place "whenever (ἡνίκα δὲ ἐὰν) a person might turn (ἐπιστρέψῃ) to the Lord' (v.15). In classical Greek ἡνίκα refers to a specific hour or season but becomes a general time reference when coupled with ἐὰν (Blass/Debrunner, Grammar, p.237). The verb is an Aorist active subjunctive, so the person turns himself. The word graphically pictures Moses turning to the Lord in Exodus 34 as the veil is removed whenever he faces God's glory.

When a person turns to the Lord the veil blocking spiritual sight is taken away (v.16). The verb (περιαιρεῖται) comes from two words - περί meaning something enveloping or around the head combined with αἴρω meaning to lift up. Some take it literally as lifting up a veil that encircles the head. However, the combination of root words is best understood as intensive meaning to take away or remove. (Moulton/Howard/Turner, Grammar, 2:321).

Conversion means that God regenerates minds petrified by sin and rips away the veil that blinds our hearts when we turn to the Lord. We can understand His Word when we could not understand it before. We can see His glory when all we saw before was darkness.

Lord, open our eyes to see your glory. Open the eyes of those around us to grasp your grace.

HOPE IN GLORY

Dashed hopes result from false expectations leading to a sense of hopelessness. Hopelessness breeds despair. Paul understood these realities in his own life (2 Cor. 7:5-7). He has been there and done that! Ministry is hard. People let you down. Hope is the breath of life, but it must be hope that stands on the bedrock of truth if we want to stand strong when all our expectations crumble.

The choice between two glories determines whether our hope is grounded in false expectations on earth or the bedrock of eternal truth. The glory of the ministry of death (ἠ διακονία τοῦ θανάτου) and condemnation (τῆς κατακρίσεως) leads to hopelessness (2 Cor. 3:7,9). The glory of the ministry of the Spirit (ἠ διακονία τοῦ πνεύματος) and righteousness (τῆς δικαιοσύνης) leads to forever hope (2 Cor. 3:8-9). The glory we choose to pursue either leads to hope (2 Cor. 3:12) or kills our spirits (2 Cor. 3:6). The pursuit of eternal versus temporal glory will become a theme Paul develops to avoid losing heart even as our outer man decays and our earthly hopes fade (2 Cor. 4:16-18).

There is a glory in the law of God governing life on earth. Paul writes, "If the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory." The condition (εἰ) is a simple, first class, condition indicating that it is assumed to be true or presented as true. The ministry of death came with glory (ἐν δόξῃ). Again Paul writes in verse 11 using a first class condition, "If that which fades away was with glory" (διὰ δόξης). The distinction between the two prepositions (ἐν and διὰ) should not be stressed (Martin, Word, 40:64-65). The force is accompaniment, not instrumentality. The law came with glory, not by means of glory. The sense can even be adverbial or adjectival. The law was "glorious" (Moule, Idiom Book, pp57-58).

The irony is that "what had glory (δεδοξασμένον), in this case has no glory (δεδόξασται) because of the glory that surpasses it" (2 Cor. 3:10). The same verbs were used in the Septuagint translation of Exodus 34 to describe the face of Moses after coming down from Mt. Sinai where he had received the stone tablets from the hand of God. "Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone (δεδόξασται) because of his speaking with Him" (Ex. 34:29, cf. 30, 35). A strong Jewish tradition taught that beams of light emanated from his face or passed through his hair as the Shekinah glory of God shone through Moses (Martin, Word, 40:63-64).

The glory of the old covenant was in part or partial. The phrase could be translated "in this case" (ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει) but the better sense is that of partiality. The noun (μερίς) refers to something that is part of a whole that had been divided (BDAG, p.505). It is a share or a portion of a greater glory. God's glory partially accompanied the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai. This partial glory was no glory at all compared to the glory that surpasses it. The preposition (εἵνεκεν) means "on account of" and can even mean "until" (Blass, Debrunner, Grammar, p.116). The surpassing glory of the new covenant made the glory of the old covenant fade away. The present participle, stressing a continuous surpassing (ὑπερβαλλούσης), can refer to light so bright that it obliterates other lights (BDAG, p.840). The greater glory replaced the lesser glory so that the lesser glory became no glory.

The old covenant glory was fading away (καταργούμενον, see vs. 7, 11, 13).  The verb meant to make powerless or even abolish (BDAG, p. 407).  It is passive - made ineffective by something else. The old glory was being replaced. The old glory was nullified by the new glory. The new glory is a remaining (μένον) glory. The participle indicates an active and continuous glory - a glory that stays or persists. New covenant glory has staying power because it is eternal and not temporal (2 Cor. 4:17). We focus on the glory that stays. This glory will get us through the hard times we face on earth.

Paul is stressing ministry (διακονία) throughout this section (2 Cor. 3:7, 8, 9; cf. 4:1) leading to his conclusion in 2 Corinthians 3:12. "Therefore (οὖν) having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech." Ministry will drain us. Ministry will consume us. Hope and boldness come from keeping our eyes on the forever glory of our lives with Jesus. Our boldness in ministry develops from our theology of glory!

IN NEED OF CONFIDENCE

Paul has raised the matter of our sufficiency to carry out Christ's ministry. "Who is sufficient (ἱκανός) for these things?" (2 Cor. 2:16). Where do we find our worthiness in ministry? When the task looms large, and our need is great where do we turn for confidence that we can accomplish the mission? What qualifies us for ministry?

Three times in 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 Paul uses variants of the word translated "adequate, sufficient or worthy" (ἱκανός) to answer his question. The adjective was primarily used in reference to a numerical quantity being large enough to meet a need which, by extension, came to mean competent or qualified when used of people (BAGD, p.374). For example, the word was used of a large quantity of wheat sufficient to meet the tax requirements. The neuter form of the adjective was commonly used for posting bail as security in a legal case (MM, Vocabulary, p.302). Sufficient to meet a need easily shifts into sufficient to undertake a task as Paul uses it here.

The adjective was used in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament (LXX) to translate a Hebrew word meaning need. ἱκανός was used to describe what someone needed to alleviate hunger, perform a sacrifice or help a friend. The word focused on the idea of need. This explains why the LXX uses ἱκανός to translate "Shaddai" the name of God. God is "El-Shaddai," the Almighty one who is sufficient for our needs! Paul follows the LXX usage when he connects our competency - adequacy - with our need. (TDNT, 3:728-729). God is sufficient to meet our insufficiency because He is "El-Shaddai."

Paul says "we are not adequate in ourselves" (ἀφ᾿ ἑαυτῶν ἱκανοί), but our adequacy (ἱκανότης) comes from God (ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ). Paul shifts from the adjective ἱκανοί to the noun ἱκανότης which refers to qualification or fitness to perform a task (BAGD, p.374). The relative pronoun beginning verse 6 (ὅς) points back to God in verse 5. God made us adequate (ἱκάνωσεν) to be servants! He qualifies us to became slaves. The verb means "to make sufficient," often carrying the connotation of empowering or authorizing someone to carry out a task (BAGD, p.374).

Now we can understand Paul's words opening verse 4. "Such confidence we have through Christ toward God." We have (ἔχομεν) confidence. The present tense verb indicates that we have confidence continuously in ministry - an assertion Paul himself needed to remember given his previous despair! We, too, need the reminder regularly in life. The word translated "confidence" (πεποίθησιν) is in the emphatic position at the start of this whole unit of thought. The noun comes from the perfect tense form of the verb meaning to depend on, trust in or place our confidence in someone (πείθω). The perfect tense of the verb can carry the force of "believe in" the sufficiency of God similar to its usage in the LXX (BAGD, p.639).

We have now come full circle in Paul's thought process. We are needy. We are not competent in ourselves. We are not qualified to even be servants of God. Who is qualified for these things? Not me! Not you! Nobody. We are qualified only as we recognize our neediness and His sufficiency. We become competent in His competency. The irony of our faith is that our confidence begins with our need. Our confidence in ministry develops as we discern His sufficiency in our need.

CONFIRMATION IN MINISTRY

How do we make it in ministry when others attack us and hard times overwhelm us? When conflicts erupt, and critics rise up, who replenishes our broken hearts? How do we stay faithful under fire? Paul wrestled with those questions as the waters of despair threatened to engulf him (2 Cor. 2:13 & 7:4). God comforted Paul with the positive report of their love for him (2 Cor. 7:6-7).

People! Changed lives! Heart memories! Paul says people are our "letters of recommendation" (2 Cor. 3:1). The expression "recommendation letters" (συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν), was a technical term for a common practice in the ancient world. An influential person would write a letter on behalf of someone else. Such letters were a form of credentialing. The recommended person would carry the letter with him to validate his request for help, hospitality, acceptance or employment (Witherspoon, Conflict & Community, p. 377).

Paul writes to the Corinthians, "You, yourselves (ὑμεῖς ἐστε) are our letter!" The pronoun is emphatic. People were his letter of recommendation, "having been written" (ἐγγεγραμμένη) on his heart. The verb is a perfect passive participle indicating the writing took place in the past with ongoing results in the present. The hand moving the stylus to write this letter on his heart was Christ himself because they were Christ's letter (v.3 ἐπιστολὴ Χριστοῦ, subjective genitive). He changed their hearts and wrote their story on Paul's heart.

Does Paul say they were written on "our" (ἡμῶν) hearts or that he was written on their ("your" - ὑμῶν) hearts? The best manuscript evidence reads "our" (ἡμῶν) hearts (Metzger, Textual Commentary, p.577). Paul carries the letter of recommendation wherever he travels like a man carrying a papyrus to authenticate his credentials (Rienecker, Key, p.459). He later writes that they were in his heart to live and die together (2 Cor. 7:3) - a beautiful expression of the Christian bond.

Paul's credentials were people, not paper, and they were written on his heart (and perhaps much maligned Timothy's heart as well since the pronoun is plural). The letters were written (v.3) not with "ink" (μέλανι) on "stone tablets" (πλαξίν λιθίναις) - a mixed metaphor - but with the "Spirit of the Living God" on "fleshy heart tablets (πλαξὶν καρδίαις σαρκίναις). The ending ιναις as opposed to ικος on the word "fleshly" (σαρκίναις) indicates the raw material used for writing rather than an ethical description of the writing (Moulton, Grammar, 2:378). Human hearts are the paper on which God writes his greatest masterpieces!

Everywhere Paul goes their letters are being known (γινωσκομένη) and being read (ἀναγινωσκομένη). The verbs are present tense participles indicating a continuous and repeated reading "by all men" (ὑπὸ πάντων ὰνθρώπων). Paul's heart is an open book for others to read the stories of God's grace written in human lives.

How does God confirm our confidence to "keep on keeping on" in the face of conflict and disappointment? God confirms our confidence as we remember the lives of those He has changed through us. God uses His people, and our good memories of people, to replenish our discouraged hearts for His work.

Lord, remind me of your converts when I am tempted to obsess about my critics!

NO MERCENARIES ALLOWED!

The preacher pollutes God's message when tainted by money. Paul addresses the temptation to preach God's Word with mercenary motives in 2 Corinthians 2:17. Many (οἱ πολλοὶ), not just a few, in his day, were huckstering God's Word and the same is true - if not truer - in our day. Money motives can quickly corrupt our preaching. We can get caught up in salary comparisons to the point that we compromise our message. The goal of prosperity dilutes the power of the message.

The word translated "peddling" (καπηλεύοντες) means to merchandise God's Word for a profit (Rienecker, Key, p.458). The word carried a distinctly negative connotation in Paul's day although the noun form merely referred to a retailer. The noun was used in the Septuagint for wine merchants who watered down the wine for greater profits (Isaiah 1:22). It was also used by philosophers like Plato to describe the sophists who marketed their teaching for the money. The word became synonymous with deceitful hawking of merchandise for unfair profits - profiteering (TDNT, 3:603).

The prophet Zechariah foresaw the day when "there will no longer be a Canaanite" in the Temple (Zechariah 14:21). The word "Canaanite" referred to the traders or merchants from Phoenicia who sold their wares in the Fish Gate and controlled the financial exchanges at the Temple (TDNT, 3:603). Jesus undoubtedly saw the same huckstering in the Temple in His day which led to His cleansing of the "robber's den" (Matthew 21:12-13). He drove them out with a whip. No room for mercenaries in the ministry!

How should we preach God's Word? We should preach out of sincere motives (εἰλικρινείας). The word means unmixed or pure (BAGD, p.222). Paul spoke about the unleavened bread of sincerity (εἰλικρινείας) and truth in contrast to the leaven of sin that corrupts the church (1 Corinthians 5:8). We must not water down the message or mix the Word with sinful desires to make us more successful in ministry.

The etymology of the word εἰλικρινείας is interesting. It comes from two words, εἰλη and κρίνω. The second word means to judge, but the derivation of the first word is questionable. It could mean "light of the sun" so the light/heat of the sun judges us by melting the covering (presumably wax that hid cracks in pottery) that hides our motives (TDNT, 2:397). However, the derivation of εἰλη is uncertain (Moulton, Grammar, 2:273). Sincerity emphasizes the sense of being tested or judged since κρίνω is foundational to the meaning, but we should not press the analogy to the sun very hard.

God tests our motives in preaching. We speak (λαλοῦμεν) "in the sight of God" (κατέναντι Θεοῦ). Literally, the adverb means "opposite" God although the figurative meaning "in the sight of" expresses the sense well (BAGD, p.421). When we preach God's Word we stand, as it were, opposite the tribunal of God. We stand before the judicial bench of our sovereign judge. The warning is stark. He sees through our mixed motives.

No mercenaries allowed!

THE SMELL OF CHRIST

We smell of Christ. We reek of the gospel. We are either the sweet smell of expensive perfume or the rank odor of a rotting corpse depending on the response of the sniffer. Paul writes, "We are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?" (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)

Paul draws his metaphor from the spectacle of a Roman triumphal procession. We are the prisoners being dragged through the streets as trophies of God's grace on display before the world. Wherever the victorious Christ drags us we emit "the smell of the knowledge of Him" (την οσμην της γνωσεως αυτου) before the watching crowds who treat us so rudely according to the word picture Paul is painting (2 Cor. 2:14). The aroma emanating from us could refer to the practice of scattering spices along the triumphal path, or it could refer to the stench that rises from the bodies of the prisoners themselves (Witherington, Conflict and Community, p.366).

We are the fragrance of life to those who are being saved (τοις σωζομενοις). The word for "smell" used here (ευωδια) means a pleasant aroma, a delightful fragrance. The word translated "being saved" is a present tense participle in the passive voice. The rescuing is performed by someone else, namely Christ, and is a continuous ongoing process. People are being rescued as they sniff the perfume of Christ in our lives.

We are the stench of death to those who are being destroyed or ruined (τοις απολλυμενοις). Once again the participle is in the present tense emphasizing the ongoing aspect of the process. The form can be either middle or passive. The verb in the middle voice simply means to perish or die, and this is probably the force of the word as opposed to being destroyed by someone else. The word in the middle voice can mean simply to be lost (BAGD, p.95).

The significance of the parallel phrases "out of life into life" (εκ ζωης εις ζωην) and "out of death into death" (εκ θανατου εις θανατον) is more difficult to determine. We could make a case that the first phrase refers to the living one (a believer) leading the dead one (an unbeliever) into life, but the parallel phrase cannot be meaningfully understood in a similar way. The best way to understand these phrases is to see them as Semitic idioms. The Hebrews expressed a superlative - really alive or really dead - by repeating the word (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, pp.80-81, fn18). We are a living smell or a deathly smell to all we influence in this world.

Another analogy is possible although we cannot be certain. The Talmud and the Mishnah refer to the Torah as medicine. The Law is a powerful drug which can be either life-giving or lethal depending on the reaction of the one receiving the drug. The life-giving or lethal nature of the Law is not intrinsic to the Law itself in Rabbinic thinking but is the result that comes from the nature of those who are touched by the Law (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, p.81, fn19). Paul, with his Rabbinic training, could have also had this imagery in mind as he expressed these truths regarding the gospel.

Preaching the gospel is always effective one way or another. God's Word works to produce results in the lives of people for life or death. The smell of Christ in us will always accomplish its perfect work in others.

Who is adequate for such a calling?

THE PARADE OF TROPHIES

Paul erupts into a doxology (2 Cor. 2:14) when the positive report from Titus (2 Cor. 7:5-7) transforms his despair into delight. "But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ" The present tense of the verb (θριαμβευοντι) coupled with the adverb "always" (παντοτε) expresses a truth Paul now realized. Triumphing was taking place even while despairing. The sun is always shining above the clouds.

The verb translated "leads us in triumph" is one word (θριαμβευοντι). The word can mean "cause us to triumph" (see KJV), but the primary meaning of the word is to "lead or exhibit in a triumphal procession" (BAGD, p.363). Some argue that the latter meaning is incongruous. Paul does not picture himself as the conquered person but as a partner in the conquest (Hodge, Second Corinthians, p.44). At the very least, some say, we should picture ourselves as soldiers in a Roman triumphal procession (Rienecker, Linguistic Key, p. 458).

Paul is painting the picture of a Roman triumphal procession for a victorious general - an ancient ticker tape parade. We have many descriptions of these triumphal processions in ancient literature. It was called "A Triumph." The parade began with the city officials followed by trumpeters. The spoils taken from the enemy followed by white oxen to be sacrificed came next in the parade. Then the prisoners of war were paraded in chains before the soldiers marched through the city followed by musicians and dancers celebrating the victory. Finally, the victorious general riding in his chariot arrayed in a purple toga entered the city as the honored leader (Rienecker, p.457).

We, like Paul, are the prisoners of war, not the soldiers, in this triumphal procession. We are trophies of God's grace being paraded through the streets of this world (Witherington, Conflict & Community in Corinth, pp. 366-370). As trophies, we are in the parade not to bask in the glory of the king as soldiers but to be "Exhibit A" of the greatness of His grace. This theme of a suffering captive sets the tone for Paul's great discourse on the "glory of the ministry" in 2 Corinthians 2-7 (Robertson, Glory of the Ministry).

What happens to the captives? The prisoners of war are killed in the end! We, too, die to bring Christ glory! The death of the prisoners was not immediate, however. The emperors often kept prisoners of war around for years as Julius Caesar did with the Chief of Gaul (Robertson, Glory of the Ministry, p.40). Vercingetorix, Chief of Gaul, was killed eventually to glorify Caesar. We die eventually to glorify Christ. Until then, we live as trophies of His grace bringing glory to our King!

SOUL CORROSION

Conflict corrodes the souls of spiritual leaders. The byproduct of soul corrosion is despair. Many call it "burnout." We feel this soul weariness in our ministries, and Paul felt it in his ministry.

"Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus, my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went to Macedonia" (2 Cor. 2:12-13).

"For when we came to Macedonia our flesh had not rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within" (2 Cor. 7:5).

Paul uses the same expression in both verses separated by four chapters in his letter to the Corinthians. He writes, "I had no rest" (εσχηκα ανεσιν - εσχηκεν ανεσιν). The verbs are in a perfect tense because Paul was stressing the strain on his spirit continuing until he met Titus returning from Corinth in 2 Corinthians 7 (Rienecker, Linguistic Key, p. 457). The word translated "rest" (ανεσιν) means relief or relaxation for his spirit (BAGD, p. 65).

Paul was so depressed that he could not even enter the door (θυρας) that the Lord had opened (ανεωγμενης) for ministry in Troas. The passive voice shows that the door was opened by God. The perfect participle indicates that the door continued to stand open (Rienecker, Linguistic Key, p.457). The pit of despondency so sapped the energy out of Paul's ministry that he couldn't even take advantage of God's opportunity for reaching people for Christ. God gave him an open door, and he walked away in despair. Churches, sadly, are littered with burned-out ministers like Paul.

Conflict had erupted in the church at Corinth. Paul had written two letters to the church - Corinthians A and B. Corinthians A (1 Cor. 5:9) is a letter we no longer have, and Corinthians B is our 1 Corinthians. Paul had followed up with a personal and very painful confrontation in which the opposition reared up to attack Paul (2 Cor. 2:1). He left Corinth in despair and wrote a third letter (Corinthians C) which we also no longer have (2 Cor. 2:3-4,9). It was a painful letter and, after sending Titus with the letter to Corinth, Paul was filled with anxiety regarding how the letter would be received (F.F. Bruce, Apostle of the Heart Set Free, pp. 264-279)

Paul describes his feelings in 2 Corinthians 7:5. He was pressured (θλβομενοι) in everything (παντι); battles raged outside his soul (εξωθεν μαχαι) meaning with other people - either enemies of the gospel or fellow Christians who criticized him. He felt terrors within his soul (εσωθεν φοβοι) that he was a failure in ministry. Few fears are more demoralizing than feeling like all your years of hard work are going up in smoke!

If we know the dark side of ministry, Paul knew it too! But burnout need not be permanent. It wasn't for Paul! In between these two descriptions of despair is a grand parenthesis of triumph in Christ (2 Cor. 2:14-7:4). A.T. Robertson titled his exposition of these chapters "The Glory of the Ministry: Paul's Exultation in Preaching." Ministry burnout leads to the glory of the ministry when lifted from the pit of despair by God's grace.

PERFECT LOVE'S PRESENCE

The purpose of Christ's revelation of God to us is the presence of His perfect love in us. Jesus closes His priestly prayer for us with these words dripping with tears of love. "I have made Your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:26).

The Father's love for His only Son is the same love that lives in us. God revealed Himself to us in His Son for the express purpose of making His love live in us. The expression "the love with which you loved Me" (η αγαπη ην ηγαπησας με) is called a "cognate accusative" (Blass/Debrunner, Grammar, p. 85). It is a Semitic idiom consistent with the Hebrew style of writing that John often displays. The noun (αγαπη) is followed by the same root as an Aorist verb (ηγαπησας) to form a cognate accusative (Moulton, Howard, Turner, Grammar, 3:245).

The cognate accusative expresses the content of the Father's love (Robertson, Grammar, p. 477). The inner content of the Father's love for us is His love for the Son. He loves us with the same love He possesses for His only Son. It is not merely - if we can ever use such a word to describe God's love - the fact that He loves us. Jesus prays that God's love might be "in them" (εν αυτοις) so, by extension in us.

God's perfect love lives in us. It is not just that God loves us. God intends the inward presence of His perfect love to fill our lives. God's purpose is that His perfect love will rule our lives and govern our relationships (Meyer, John, p. 475). We can love others with God's love because God's love is present in our hearts in a way that was impossible for us as unbelievers. Perfect love is in us because Christ is in us! His presence creates the capacity for our love which is why Jesus adds "and I in them" (καγω εν αυτοις).

There is a rich and precious implication of these words that we should not miss. The Father loves the Son who lives in us! God's love does not attach itself eternally to sin so the object of perfect love is the perfect Christ living in us and reproducing His life in us (Godet, John, p. 905). Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:39) because Christ is in us and nothing can separate the Son from the Father (John 17:26).

Love is the perfect end to His priestly prayer for us because love is the end of God's eternal purpose for us.

"But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor. 13:13).

HIS LAST WILL

Jesus wills us with His last, irresistible will to be with Him in His glory (John 17:24). "Father, whom you have given to me, I will that where I am they may be with me in order that they continually see my glory which you have given to me because you loved me before the foundation of the world." He wills us to join Him in Heaven because true lovers long to be together forever!

Jesus' will is more than want or desire and far more than a wish. Jesus no longer asks the Father. He expresses His will for us to the Father which, taken in the context of impending death, is more like His last will and testament (Godet, John, p. 903). "I will" (θελω) is a "quasi-imperative" (Hanna, Grammatical Aid, p. 180). He wills that we be with (μετ') Him. The preposition suggests being in close association with another person (BAGD, p. 508).

The verb θελω, when used of God in the Old Testament, refers, all but once, to the sovereign will of God, resolute and unbending. The resurrection power of the Son in perfect harmony with the Father gives life to whomever He wills (θελω, John 5:21). Jesus' will determines whether John lives or dies before the return of Christ (John 21:22). It is a matter of His will (TDNT, 3:47-48).

Jesus wills that we be with Him to continually see (θεωρωσιν) His glory. The present tense verb indicates an ongoing seeing not a one-time seeing. The verb carries the sense of being a spectator or observer of His glory (BAGD, p.360). We will see His glory continuously when we are with Him forever.

Here is not the glory Jesus had before the world began (John 17:5). Here is the glory the Father gives to the Son after He completes His saving work on earth. Jesus' pre-incarnate glory is nowhere said to be given to Him. His pre-incarnate glory is His by virtue of who He is as eternal God (Meyer, John, pp. 472-473). Jesus speaks here of His glorious reward proleptically, as if it has been given (δεδωκας) to Him already, so certain is He of the completion of His work. He wills us to see His glory, a glory certain yet not yet seen.

We will be with Him because He wills us to be with Him!

LOVED LIKE JESUS

Our unity as Christians demonstrates love, not our love but God's love! Jesus prays in John 17:23 that we might become perfected or completed (ωσιν τετελειωμενοι) into one (εις εν). The passive voice tells us the perfecting of our unity is done by God not us. The preposition "into" (εις) as opposed to the more common "in" indicates the purpose or result of a process (BDF, Grammar, p. 111). God's work of uniting believers as one is in a process of completion throughout life.

The purpose of our unity is that (ινα) the world might know (γινωσκη) true love. The content of the knowledge is introduced by a second "that" (οτι). Our unity shows that (οτι) God, the Father, sent Jesus (απεστειλας) and loved (ηγαπησας) the disciples of Jesus. A single "that" (οτι) governs both verbs, "sent" and "loved." (Morris, John, p. 736, fn 69). God's love for us and God's sending of His Son are a unit of thought. The sending of His Son proves the depth of His love for us.

The measure of the Father's love for us is the amount of His love for His Son. The adverb "just as" (καθως) compares His love for us to His love for His Son. Jesus says, "you loved them, just as you loved me." Both verbs are in the Aorist tense indicating an action that is undefined with respect to any process. The love simply is! The Aorist tense most commonly expresses His love as a simple fact without reference to any process (Burton, Moods and Tenses, p.19). We have been loved just as Jesus has been loved. His love is a fact! Count on it!

God, the Father, loves me like He loves Jesus. Mind boggling! How can we explain a truth like this?! We are so identified with Jesus that we are loved infinitely in Jesus. "I in them and you (the Father) in me," Jesus prayed. The depth of our union with Jesus expresses the depth of the Father's love for His Son.

Our unity shows God's love to this world.

THE ONE-NESS OF IN-NESS

Jesus asks the Father that we, as His followers, be one in Him. He asks not only for the disciples but also for those who believe through their message (John 17:20). His heart cry for us is our unity in Him. He prays "that they all (παντες) might be one, just as you, Father, (are) in me and I in you, that they, themselves, might also be in us, in order that the world might believe that you, yourself, sent me" (John 17:21).

There are three clauses introduced by "that" (ινα) in this verse. The first two ινα clauses express the content of the request while the third ινα clause introduces the purpose for the oneness (Rienecker, Linguistic Key, p. 256). It is possible that the second of the two content ινα clauses is actually in apposition to the first (Dana & Mantey, Grammar, p. 249) reinforcing and expanding the content of the request.

Our oneness is God's oneness. We are one as God is one. The expression "just as"(καθως) indicates essential oneness, a oneness of nature and purpose. Jesus is not asking for organizational unity, and He is not asking for the uniformity of conformity. The Father and the Son are different yet one. Their oneness controls their differences even as their differences stimulate their love. If God were one but not three, He could not love. If God were three but not one, He could not save. In eternity past, God must be three to have someone to love, and He must be one to be united in the plan of salvation. God's oneness of purpose is grounded in the possession of an inner reality of oneness. It is an ontological unity having to do with the very nature of God's existence. They are different but one, so we, too, are different but one.

The key is the preposition "in" (εν). The Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father, and we are in both! (plural pronoun -ημιν) Although impossible to fully grasp, our one-ness depends on our in-ness! We cannot be one with someone who is not in Christ. The preposition must not be understood simply as "belongs to" or "with" God. The theological implications are more profound than mere proximity or association (Turner, Grammar, 3:263). We are only one with each other because we share in the spiritual nature of the triune God. All other unity is not the unity Jesus asks from the Father on our behalf.

The purpose (ινα) is to show the world that the Father sent Jesus. The purpose is not exactly, or merely, evangelistic since people can believe that the Father sent the Son without trusting in the Son for personal salvation. However, our unity should be a visible witness to the world. We show the unity of God as we show unity among ourselves. We must not seek merely organizational unity or structural uniformity. The greater witness is spiritual unity of heart despite our differences in form and structure.

Father, help me to live as one with other followers of Jesus even with our differences - especially in our disagreements - to show the world our oneness of heart and purpose in Christ.

SANCTIFIED TO SERVE

Jesus uses the imperative mode to make His request for us to the Father when He says, "Sanctify (αγιασον) them in the truth, your word is truth" (John 17:17). His request for our sanctification arises out of the reality that we are not part of this world just as He is not part of this world (vs.16). Our otherworldliness leads to hostility from the world system and forms the basis of our sanctification.

Sanctify does not mean to purify which would be the verb καθαριζω (BAGD, p.387). Sanctify means to set apart for God, to consecrate or dedicate (BAGD, p. 8). The verb was frequently used in the LXX, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, for the sanctifying of priests to serve God and the sanctifying of the sacrifices for the worship of God (NIDNTT, 2:232). The priests and the sacrifices were set apart exclusively for God's use. Purity, of course, is the necessary result of sanctification because that which is sanctified must no longer be profane.

Jesus' sanctification is the basis for our sanctification (vs. 19). Jesus said, "I sanctify myself on behalf of them (υπερ αυτων) in order that (ινα) they, themselves, might be sanctified in truth." Jesus needs no purification. He sets Himself apart (sanctifies Himself) to carry out the Father's will. He is sanctified to die as our sacrifice for sin - an idea drawn from the Old Testament doctrine of sanctified sacrifices.

The truth found in God's Word is the means of our sanctification. We are sanctified in the sphere of truth (εν τη αληθεια). God sets us apart within the orbit of truth's influence so that truth defines our lives. God's Word is truth. "Your word" has the definite article (ο λογος ο σος), but "truth" does not have the definite article (αληθεια). The absence of the article is intentional. "Truth" and "Word" are not "convertible" terms (Robertson, Grammar, p. 768). The absence of the article does not make truth indefinite. Truth is qualitative. Truth describes the quality that defines the Word of God. We are sanctified as God's Word permeates our lives with His truth. We become God's as God's Word becomes ours. The more we immerse ourselves in God's Word, the more we set ourselves apart for God's work.

Service is the purpose of sanctification (vs. 18). Just as God sent (απεστειλας) Jesus into this world so Jesus sent (απεστειλα) us into the world. He was commissioned to die for us, and we are commissioned to live for Him (Carson, Farewell Discourse, p. 193). Jesus' purpose in sanctifying us is to send us out to serve Him in this world.

Jesus prays for our sanctification. He is not praying for our moral purity as much as He is praying for our consecrated service. Moral purity is a corollary to consecration. We are to live holy lives because profane lives render us useless for His service. We are sanctified to serve.

THE BELIEVER, THE WORLD AND THE EVIL ONE!

We face a world system (κοσμος) filled with evil. Often - too often - we wish to escape the evil in this world system, but that is not God's will for us during this age. Jesus intends that we stay in the world so long as the world is not in us. Jesus prays, "I am not asking that you (Father) remove them from the world but that you might keep them from the evil (one)" (John 17:15).

Is it evil or the evil one? The articular adjective in the genitive case (του πονηρου) can be taken as either neuter or masculine in gender. Some take it as neuter indicating generic evil that rules this world system (Godet, John, p.896). The prayer is that we would be kept out of an evil domain. Others understand the adjective as masculine referring to the Evil One - the Devil (Meyer, John, p.467). We are not to be kept out of the evil domain but from the power of the Evil One even as we remain in his domain. This interpretation fits the context better.

We hear an echo from the Lord's Prayer (Mt. 6:13) where Jesus taught us to pray, "deliver us from the Evil One." The verb "deliver" (ρυσαι) is different, and the preposition "from" (απο) is different, but the sentiment is parallel. The distinction between prepositions is not significant in this case, and the better contextual interpretation is that Jesus is talking about the Evil One not evil generically in the Lord's Prayer (Bernard, John, 2:573).

The preposition "from" (εκ) frequently used in John 17 indicates separation from what once had power over us (Robertson, Grammar, p.598). The phrases "from the world" (εκ του κοσμου) and "from the Evil One" (εκ του πονηρου) are parallel in John 17:15. Jesus says that we are not removed (αρης) from the world, but we are separated from the Evil One who controls and dominates the world. John will later write that we have overcome the Evil One (1 John 2:14) who controls the world. "We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in (the power of) the Evil One" (εν τω πονηρω, 1 John 5:19).

Jesus prays that the Father might keep (τηρησης) us from the Evil One. The verb can mean to keep as in "not lose" but is probably better understood as to keep as in "protect" (BAGD, p.815). The expression is only found in one other place in the New Testament - Revelation 3:10 (Bernard, John, 2:573). We are kept from "the hour of testing which is about to come upon the whole world," John writes in the Apocalypse. Once again the preposition "from" (εκ) is not an expression of motion signifying that we are kept through a period of time. The preposition indicates an absolute keeping - a separation - from the hour of testing coming upon this world. In the same way, we are separated from the power of the Evil One by His protection. The Devil has no power over us!

Jesus asks the Father to protect us from the power of Satan even as He leaves us in the domain of Satan. If Jesus asks the Father for our protection, surely the Father agrees, so we are secure in His keeping that separates us from the power of the Evil One. All who are His are kept by His power!

PRAYER THAT FILLS US WITH JOY

Jesus prayed to be heard. His prayer in John 17 was not silent but audible. He prayed out loud as the disciples listened. His prayer was for their benefit demonstrating for us that audible prayer leads to joy for those who listen.

How do we know Jesus prayed out loud in John 17? He said, "These things I am speaking in this world in order that they might possess My joy having been filled up in them" (John 17:13). The verb translated "I am speaking" (λαλω from λαλεω) means to speak in contrast to staying silent. The word referred to the physical act of making sounds in contrast to the inability of a deaf and mute person to make sounds (cf. Mark 7:35; BAGD, p. 463). Jesus prayed out loud not for His benefit or God's, but for the benefit of the disciples who were listening (Meyer, John, 3:467).

"These things" (ταυτα) that Jesus is saying could refer to the entire discourse (John 13-16), but most likely refer to the prayer itself (John 17). The present tense of speaking (λαλω) implies that He is continuing to express "these things" not that He had said "these things" in the past. Jesus was making the following requests to the Father as the disciples listened to Him pray.

• Keep them in your name (v.11)
• That they may be one (v.11, 21)
• Keep them from the Evil One (v.15)
• Sanctify them in truth (v.17)
• That they may be perfected in unity (v.23)
• That they may be with Jesus and see His glory (v.24)

The purpose of Jesus' prayer was that (ινα) they, and we by extension (see v.20), might possess (εχωσιν) His joy (την χαραν την εμην). What is the joy Jesus wants us to enjoy? It is the joy that Jesus Himself possesses (John 15:11; 16:24). Jesus' joy is the joy of His heart drawn from the obedient communion with the Father. It is the joy of knowing for certain that no matter what happens we are being kept by the Father, protected in His care just as Jesus was kept by the Father (Godet, John, p. 895). Jesus knew this joy even as He faced the cross. We, too, can experience His joy in the certainty of God's loving care for us.

The joy has filled us and is continuing to fill us up. The verb is a perfect tense (πεπληρωμενην) indicating a past filling with abiding results. The passive participle tells us that God does the filling that we enjoy. We do not fill ourselves with His joy. He makes us full of joy no matter our circumstances in life.

The joy we experience - His joy - is found in ourselves (εν εαυτοις). This joy is a joy we experience in our inner conscious person (BAGD, p. 212). We have an inner joy that comes from hearing Jesus pray for God's loving care sheltering us in this world. Nothing can happen to us outside of God's work of keeping us which produces in us a deep joy in our inner person.

We can follow Jesus' example in prayer for each other. All too often our prayers revolve around our health and wealth. Perhaps if we heard others pray for us as Jesus prayed for us, we would be filled up with Jesus' joy in our inner being! Perhaps if we prayed more for the things Jesus prayed about, we would experience more of the joy Jesus enjoyed!

IN HIS CUSTODY

Jesus keeps all He receives. The pattern of protection Jesus demonstrated for His disciples is the pattern we can expect for ourselves. "While I was with them, I, myself, was keeping them in your name which you have given to me, and I guarded them, and no one out of them was lost except the son of lostness, that the Scripture might be fulfilled" (John 17:12).

The two verbs for protection used here are probably used synonymously (NIDNTT, 2:135), although there could be slightly different shades of meaning between the two. The first verb (ετηρουν) meant to keep watch over or preserve (BAGD, p. 814) while the second verb (εφυλαξα) meant to guard or defend (BAGD, p. 868). Both verbs could be used for prisoners under the custody of guards.

The first verb (ετηρουν) is an Imperfect tense indicating action in progress or repeated action. Jesus was keeping watch over the disciples until this moment of His prayer for them. The second verb (εφυλαξα) is an Aorist tense indicating a summation of His guardianship. They were in His custody, and He lost no one out of the group (ουδεις εξ αυτων).

The exception (ει μη) was Judas. Jesus describes him as the "son of destruction" (ο υιος της απωλειας), an expression drawn from the Hebrew (Semitic) style of writing. The play on words with the previous verb (απωλετο) is hard to bring out in an English translation. Both words come from the same root meaning to ruin or destroy, and Jewish literature associated the word with the destruction of the world at the end of the age (NIDNTT, 1:463). The verb carries a sense of lostness and is used for the lost sheep and the lost coin in Jesus' parables (Luke 15:4, 8). People without God are lost. Lostness is the condition of their souls (NIDNTT, 1:464).

Judas and the "man of lawlessness" (2 Thess. 2:3) are both described as sons of destruction. It is a Semitic idiom like "sons of light" or "sons of darkness." The noun "son" (υιος) followed by the genitive expresses a quality or characteristic (Turner, Grammar, 3:207), not a prediction. Jesus stresses that lostness characterizes the condition of Judas more than He stresses lostness as the destiny of Judas (Morris, John, p. 728). A lost condition will eventually lead to a lost destiny. He is a ruined soul whose end is destruction apart from repentance. Judas is responsible for his choices, but those choices exhibit his characteristic condition as the son of lostness.

Jesus keeps us in His custody. We are "sons of God (υιοι θεου) being sons of the resurrection" (Luke 20:36). We are not sons of lostness just as the disciples were not! We are children (τεκνα) of God (John 1:12). Jesus holds His children in His custody forever. He will not lose a single one!

ONE IN HIS NAME

Jesus' departure from this world is the grounds for His prayer. He said, "I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to you, Holy Father" (John 17:11). The verbs, "I am" (ειμι), "they are" (εισιν), and "I come" (ερχομαι), are all in the present tense. Jesus prays as if His pending departure has already happened. He prays from the vantage point of heaven.

God's holiness in contrast with the world's unholiness is the grounds for guarding us. "Holy Father, keep them in Your name," Jesus prays. The vocative, "Holy Father" (πατερ αγιε) is important. Jesus' prayer request to the Father to guard His followers is in perfect harmony with God's holiness and because of the world's unholiness. We remain in this unholy world, so we need a Holy Father to keep us in His name. We can pray, "Hallowed be your name" (Mt. 6:9) only as the Holy Father keeps us in His name (Meyer, John, p. 466).

"Keep" (τηρησον) is an imperative of request. It carries the force of urgency and intensity without carrying the force of command (Dana and Mantey, Grammar, p. 176). The verb (τηρεω) means "to keep watch over, guard" or even "hold" and "preserve" someone (BAGD, p.814). Jude later addresses his letter to those who are "beloved in God the Father, and have been kept (perfect tense of τηρεω) for Jesus Christ" (Jude 1:1). Here is the answer to Jesus' request in John 17!

Jesus asks the Father to "keep them in Your name, which You have given Me" (John 17:11). The textual problem illustrates the dilemma for interpreters. Is Jesus talking about the disciples being given to Him - some manuscripts use the pronoun ους - or is He talking about the name being given to Him - other manuscripts read ω. The disciples are certainly given to Jesus (John 17:9), but the more difficult reading is preferred in this verse. The gift in this verse (and verse 12) is the name. The antecedent of "which" (ω) is "the name" (τω ονοματι). The Father gives the Son His name thereby indicating that God's essential nature is seen in the Son (Bernard, John, 2:559).

The purpose of keeping them in His name is unity - oneness - "that (ινα) they may be (ωσιν) one (εν) even as we are." We are one as the Father and Son are one (see John 10:30). Jesus extends His prayer for unity to all His followers including us in verse 21. The verb (ωσιν) is a present active subjunctive from ειμι. It is the verb of existence - to be not to become. Jesus does not pray that we become one. He prays that we continue to be one. The number one (εν) is neuter in gender suggesting an essential oneness - a unit. We exist as one just as the Father and Son exist as one (Morris, John, p. 727).

Our oneness is not organizational but organic, not ecumenical but spiritual. We are a unit in the name of Jesus. Jesus speaks of an ontological unity here. We do not create unity. We participate in a unity He created. All who genuinely name His name share His life, so we participate in His oneness no matter what human name we use to describe ourselves. We are kept in His name because we share in His nature. God will never fail to keep us one although we may fail to live as one.

SECURED BY HIS PRAYERS

Jesus asks the Father to protect us. Can we be any more secure than that?! Twice Jesus will use the term "keep" (τηρεω) in His prayer for us. He asks the Father to guard us in God's name (John 17:11), and He asks the Father to protect us from the Evil One (John 17:15). Jesus establishes the keeping work of the Father by the intercessory prayer of the Son making us eternally secure in God.

Jesus prays for us, not the world. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours (John 17:9). Jesus certainly loves the whole world. Why does He not pray for the whole world? Because He prays here as our High Priest seeking the protection of those He is leaving in this world. Such a prayer can only be prayed for believers, not the world.

Jesus uses the verb "ask" (ερωτω) twice in this verse. It is a present tense verb best understood as a progressive present indicating action in progress at the time (Burton, Moods and Tenses, p.7). The verb (ερωτω) can mean either to ask a question or make a request on behalf of another (BAGD, pp. 311-312). Here Jesus is requesting the Father's help on our behalf. Jesus uses another verb (αιτεω) for the prayers of men but always uses ερωταω for His prayers because it implies equality with the Father (Morris, John, p. 549, fn 48).

The preposition περι with a genitive object usually means "about or concerning" (BAGD, p. 644). However, περι can be used, as it is here, as a substitute for υπερ meaning "on behalf of" (Blass/Debrunner, Grammar, p. 121). The second use of περι connects the relative pronoun "whom" (ων) with its antecedent "their" (αυτων) making both prayer requests for the same group - His followers (Robertson, Grammar, p. 721).

The Father has given (δεδωκας) us to Jesus. The perfect tense expresses past action with a current result (Burton, Moods and Tenses, p. 37). Even before the cross, the Father had already given the disciples to the Son. They were His even as they abandoned Him! We too, are His, the love gift of the Father to the Son, even though we don't always live as if are His.

We had belonged to the Father before the Father gave us (εδωκας) to the Son (John 17:6). The gift is not a handoff as we no longer belong to the Father because Jesus says to the Father "they are yours" now (σοι εισιν). The verb (εισιν) is a present progressive tense. "They continue to be yours, Father, even as they are mine," Jesus asserts (John 17:10).

Our eternal security is secured by the gift of the Father and the prayers of the Son so that we need never worry about our eternal destiny.

GIVEN FOR KEEPS

We are the Father's love gift to His Son.  Jesus says of the disciples - we are included by extension - that the Father gave (εδωκας) them to Jesus out of (εκ) the world (John 17:6). The disciples were separated out of the unbelieving world to be the Father's love gift to Jesus (Meyer, John, p. 463).

Jesus goes on to say, "they were yours" (σοι ησαν) and "to me" (καμοι) "them" (αυτους) "you gave" (εδωκας). The disciples were the Father's possession first. They belonged to the Father before they belonged to the Son. The word translated "yours" (σοι) is a possessive use of the dative case (Moule, Idiom Book, p. 120).

Jesus had said earlier that those who do not hear God's words are not from God (John 8:47). God separated the disciples from those who do not hear His words so that they become God's possession. The Father chooses us for Himself and gives us to His Son so we are secure in His love! We are His before we even come to Christ.

"They have kept your word," Jesus says. The "word" is singular (λογον) because Jesus is not talking about specific words but His essential message as a whole. The disciples have failed to keep His words at times, just as we do, but they have kept His word, His essential message, and not left the faith. Jesus had said earlier, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word (singular, λογον); and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). We fail in specific areas, but we are secure in His sovereign love so we keep His essential message.

The disciples have kept (τετηρηκαν) His word. The verb is in the perfect tense. Robertson calls it a "durative - punctiliar" act (Grammar, p. 895) in that a process preceded a complete state. The disciples have lived through a process of keeping that has led to a culmination of that process in their current state. The verb "to keep" (τηρεω) means to hold or preserve. It can also mean to observe or obey (BAGD, pp. 814-815).

Spiritual testing leads the disciples to hold on to His word. Jesus makes this affirmation in advance of their abandonment at the cross the next day. Jesus is absolutely certain that the consummation of their testing will be the keeping of His word. How can Jesus be so certain about the end result given the obvious fickleness of their faith? Jesus can be certain because they are the Father's possession - a love gift to the son.

The fickleness of our faith never negates the faithfulness of His love! We are given for keeps!

MY GLORY!

Glory, His and His Father's, dominated the mind of the Savior on His last night on earth. Twice Jesus requests the Father to glorify Him as He faces death on the cross (John 17:1&5). The verb "glorify" (δοξασον) is the imperative of request (Burton, Moods and Tenses, p. 80) stressing the seriousness, even demand, of His petition to the Father. Prayer can be demand when Father and Son are one!

The second request (17:5) is different than the first in two ways. Jesus said, "glorify me" (v.5) rather than "glorify the Son" (v.1) stressing the personal relationship rather than His role as Savior. Jesus focused on His past glory (v.5) versus His future purpose to glorify the Father (v.1).

And you, Father, glorify me now, alongside yourself, with the glory which I used to have alongside you before the world was.

"I want back what I gave up," Jesus cries out. He wants to be glorified "with the glory" (τη δοξη), an instrumental use of the dative case (Moule, Idiom Book, p. 44). The glory is the instrument for glorification. "Glory" means magnificence, radiance or splendor (BAGD p. 204). He is asking to be honored with the magnificence or splendor He once had with the Father.

"I want back what I had with you," Jesus pleads. "The splendor I had alongside yourself" (παρα σεαυτω) is the glory Jesus seeks. The preposition (παρα) with the dative (σεαυτω) means "by the side of, beside or near" (BAGD, p. 610). This is the glory Jesus experienced alongside the Father on the throne of Heaven in eternity past.

"I want back what I used to have," Jesus demands. The verb (ειχον) is in the imperfect tense. It is best understood as a customary imperfect indicating repeated, ongoing action in the past (Burton, Moods and Tenses, p. 12). Jesus possessed the majestic radiance of Almighty God in His pre-incarnate life. Now He looks forward to a return to that state of splendor He once enjoyed.

"I want back what I once enjoyed before creation," Jesus requests. The present articular infinitive (του ειναι) is a temporal use indicating the time of the glory that He seeks again (Robertson, Grammar, p. 978). The prepositional phrase "before the world" (προ τον κοσμον) further defines the time. The preposition (προ) combined with the articular infinitive (του ειναι)  often substitutes for another preposition (πριν) meaning "before" (Robertson, Grammar, p. 1074). He wants His glory from before the cosmos existed when the angels worshiped Him in all His splendor.

Jesus gave it all up to save us, but He got it all back when His cross work was completed. Paul gives us a divine commentary on the prayer of Jesus in Philippians 2:5-11 which was likely an early confessional hymn. Jesus laid aside His glory and humbled Himself to die on the cross. God, then, exalted Jesus giving Him a name above all names so that at the name of Jesus every knee will one day bow and every tongue will one day confess Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The circle of John 17:1 and 17:5 is complete in that glorious day.

Lord, be glorified in me today!

DEFINING ETERNAL LIFE

Eternal life is not merely endless existence. Eternal life is knowing God. Jesus said This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent (John 17:3). To know God is the essence of eternal life. Here is the simplest definition of life forever.

The ινα introduces a clause in apposition to eternal life (Robertson, Grammar, p. 1078). Eternal life is explained by what follows ινα in the verse. It is not that the knowledge of God gives life or is the way to have eternal life. When I know God my life is transformed into eternal life for life is found in God and death, by definition, is separation from God (Morris, John, p. 720).

Knowing God is a present tense verb (γινωσκωσιν) indicating that our knowledge starts now. We have eternal life right now as we live on earth because we know God now. We are not merely awaiting eternal life in the age to come. We enjoy it now. The aspect of the present tense indicates a continuous, ongoing knowledge, even increasing knowledge. Certainly our knowledge of God is growing until it culminates in perfect knowledge in the age to come, but we are still living eternally right now because we know God right now.

The contents of our knowledge are laid out in almost a confessional form (Meyer, John, p. 461). The substance of our knowledge is the knowledge of two persons - God and (και) Jesus Christ. One must know both to live eternally. To know a person we must know certain propositions about that person before we can know the person relationally.

God is the only (μονον) God. He is solitary, unique. There are no other gods to know if you want eternal life. God is the true (αληθινον) God (1 John 5:20). He is trustworthy, genuine, authentic and real. He is not spurious or fake like the gods (idols) of this world. To know those gods is not to enjoy eternal life for those gods do not live forever.

John 17:3 is the only place where Jesus calls Himself by His compound name - Jesus Christ. Some suggest that  the verse is an editorial comment by John rather than part of Jesus' prayer. However, the second person verb "whom you sent" (απεστειλας) and the personal pronoun "you" (σε) both prove that Jesus is praying these words. He is Jesus (God saves) and Christ (The Anointed One) who was sent by God so we could know God.

Eternal life is knowing God now and forever!

THREE GIFTS AND THREE GROUPS

Jesus uses the verb "to give" (διδωμι) 3 times with respect to 3 distinct groups of people in the opening words of His great prayer (John 17:2). The order of the groups is significant despite the fact that some English translations reverse the order of the final 2 groups. Each group is a subset of the previous group in the sequence (Blass/Debrunner, Grammar, p. 77).

Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you, since you gave to Him authority over all flesh, in order that the ones you have given to Him, He may give to them eternal life.

The first group is "all flesh" (πασης σαρκος). The Father gave (εδωκας) to Jesus authority over all flesh. The genitive is best understood as an objective genitive so "all flesh" is the object of authority (Robertson, Grammar, p. 500). The noun "flesh" (σαρκος) is used to stress the weakness of humanity. All (πασης) humans in fleshly weakness are given to the Son to be under His authority.

The second group of people is the Father's gift to the Son.This group is a subset of all flesh. "You have given" (δεδωκας) them to Me, Jesus prays. The verb is from the same root (διδωμι), but it is a perfect active indicative. The Father gave these people to the Son in the past with ongoing results. The disciples were already given to the Son by the Father. The group is identified by the neuter, singular construction "the ones whom" (παν ο).  The neuter singular construction is used for a group of people characterized by some defining quality (Turner, Grammar, 3:21). The quality that defines this group is that they are a gift from the Father to the Son.

The same construction is used by Jesus in John 6:37 where He says: All that (πας ο) the Father gives (διδωσιν) Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. Everyone given by the Father will come to the Son. It is sufficient for anyone coming to Christ that they be given by the Father.

The Son gives (δωση) eternal life to the ones (αυτοις) who have been given to Him by the Father. The pronoun (αυτοις) views the collective group (πας ο) individually. Jesus gives eternal life individually to each one who has been given to Him as part of the collective group. Eternal life is our personal gift from Jesus.

Jesus' words are, perhaps, the strongest statement about sovereign election in Scripture. There is no way to escape the grammatical argument of the passage. All who have been given at some time in the past to the Son receive the gift of eternal life from the Son.

Thank you, Jesus, that I am doubly gifted! I am the Father's gift to you, as incomprehensible as that may be, and I receive your gift of eternal life with joy. Secure forever as the Father's gift to you, I appreciate with joy your gift to me.

PEACE UNDER PRESSURE

Jesus draws 3 contrasts between our 2 spheres of life followed by 1 command built on 1 reality that clarifies our perspective. He concludes his instruction in the upper room with the familiar refrain, "These things I have spoken to you" (John 16:33; cf. 14:25; 15:11; 16:1,4,6,25,33). This expression (ταυτα λελαληκα υμιν) is not used elsewhere in John (Morris, John, p. 656).

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

There are 3 contrasts in this verse.

In Me  vs.  In the world

Peace  vs. Pressure

Might have  vs.  Have

We simultaneously experience 2 spheres of life. The "in Me" (εν εμοι) sphere of life should be the dominant reality. The expression is emphatic both in position and form. The "in the world" (εν τω κοσμω) sphere of life, while seemingly the dominant reality, should actually be secondary not primary.

The 2 spheres of life are characterized by 2 contrasting experiences. In Christ we have peace (ειρηνην) while in the world we have pressure (θλιψιν). We can experience peace and pressure at the same time because we live in both spheres simultaneously. Peace and pressure co-exist in the life of every Christian. Peace is not the absence of pressure. We can have peace in the middle of our troubles.

Pressure in the world is a given while peace is a possibility. Jesus says, "you have" (εχετε) pressure in this world. The present tense indicative verb implies an ongoing reality. Jesus says, "you might have" (εχητε) peace in Him. The present tense verb is subjunctive in mood which is the mood of probability or possibility. Peace is not guaranteed unless the following command is obeyed.

The command is to "take courage" (θαρσειτε) which follows a strong adversative "but" (αλλα). Peace under pressure comes from courage under fire. We can have courage because Jesus has established a new reality for us. "I have overcome the world." The "I" (εγω) is not only emphatic but contrastive as well. "I" contrasts strongly with "you" (Robertson, Grammar, p. 677). We might have expected Jesus to say, "Take courage. You have overcome the world." He doesn't say that, of course, because the victory is not in us but in Him.

John 16:33 is the only time John uses the verb νικαω in the Gospel, but he uses it 6 times in 1 John (cf. 1 John 5:4) and 17 times in Revelation (Morris, John, p. 714, fn 82). Here in John 16:33 the verb is a perfect active indicative form (νενικηκα) indicating that Jesus has already won the the victory with ongoing results for us. He states this before the cross so certain is He of the results of the looming battle. Jesus faced the cross with assurance of total victory. He goes to the cross with confidence that He will conquer the enemy despite the horror He faces in battle.

We must take courage in His victory. We have victory because He has victory. We are conquerors because He is conqueror (Romans 8:37). We can have peace under pressure because we take courage that He is the conqueror.

SATAN'S WORK BUT GOD'S PURPOSE

"An hour is coming (ερχεται) even has come (εληλυθεν)," but this hour is not merely any hour (John 16:32). This hour is "the" hour! Jesus prayed, "Father, the hour has come" (εληλυθεν) for the glorification of the Son (John 17:1, cf. John 2:4; 7:6). The time has arrived for the greatest event in human history to take place. The enmity between the seed of Satan and the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15) will come to its decisive hour.

Jesus must face this battle alone. The hour has come for the disciples to leave Him alone as they are scattered (John 16:32) each to his own (εκαστος εις τα ιδια). When we are scattered from the Lord and each other, we individually (each one - εκαστος) enter into (εις) our own things (τα ιδια). The expression is used for John taking Jesus' mother into his own household (John 19:27). It could be translated "each for himself."  The adjective is neuter plural referring to our possessions and our relationships.  Our human nature drives us to seek our own personal goals - the matters we control - whenever we abandon the Lord.

The scattering (σκορπισθητε) and subsequent abandonment (αφητε) are introduced by an important conjunction (ινα). The conjunction can be translated simply "that" indicating the content of the hour coming upon them, or it could be translated "when you are scattered" (Dana and Mantey, Grammar, pp. 248-249). However, the original and most common use of ινα was to introduce a purpose clause. In fact, ινα plus a subjunctive verb became "almost the exclusive means of expressing purpose" (A. T. Robertson, Grammar, p. 982). The scattering (σκορπισθητε) and the abandoning (αφητε) are both subjunctive verbs so this is best understood as a purpose behind the coming hour.

Jesus used the scattering (σκορπιζει) of the sheep as a description of Satan's work (John 10:12) when the hireling shepherd abandons his sheep. Jesus didn't abandon His sheep, but Satan did scatter the sheep in this hour. Satan's scattering work must be seen as within the scope of God's overall purpose. In the garden at His betrayal, Jesus said, "All this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures of the prophets. Then all the disciples left him and fled" (Mt. 26:56). Zechariah had predicted the scattering when he wrote, "Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered' (Zech. 12:7). God intended to scatter the sheep leaving Jesus alone to battle Satan on the cross. The apparent victory of Satan was part of God's sovereign plan for the disciples.

Satan's work accomplishes God's purpose. We cannot understand, sometimes, why Satan seems to win in this world. We scatter, like the disciples, to pursue our own things in life feeling like Satan has won; forgetting, in our despair, that God has a purpose even in the victories of Satan!

MY FATHER LOVES ME THIS I KNOW!

My Father loves me. He is happy to hear me when I pray. Jesus said, "In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father" (John 16:26-27).

The pronoun "himself" (αυτος) is emphatic both by usage (Moule, Idiom Book, p. 121) and in position as the first word of the phrase preceding "for" (γαρ). The verb "loves" (φιλει) indicates ongoing affection in the present tense. It is the only place where John uses φιλειν as opposed to αγαπαν in order to communicate God's love for us (Bernard, John, 2:520). While an absolute distinction cannot be maintained between these two verbs, it is generally true that φιλειν implies the idea of human affection more than the higher form of willful love (αγαπαν) normally used for God by John.

Jesus says that He does not need to persuade the Father to listen to us because the Father Himself has great affection for us. Jesus does not mean He will never intercede for us or be our advocate with the Father. He means that we do not need Him to be our "go between" in prayer because we can go directly to the Father. He, Himself, loves us. He, Himself, hears us!

Jesus gives us two reasons for the Father's love. The οτι is causal and introduces two perfect tense verbs indicating two reasons the Father loves us. First, He loves us because "Me, you, yourselves, have loved." The "me" (εμε) and the "you" (υμεις) are both emphatic. The perfect tense tells us that the choice to love (πεφιληκατε) was a past event (for the disciples) with ongoing results in present time.

The Father loves us because we love His son. This love is different than His love for the world (John 3:16). The affection He feels for those who love His son is an affection He does not feel for those who do not love His son. He loves us in a different way than He loves the world. Like the father who loves a young man because the young man loves his daughter, our heavenly Father loves us because we love Jesus. Our love for Jesus "seals the deal" on His love for us.

The second reason for the Father's love is because we have believed (πεπιστευκατε) is another perfect tense indicating a past choice with continuing results in the present. This is not a nebulous faith. The content of the faith is defined by "that" (οτι) - a content not a causal usage as earlier. We believe that Jesus "came forth from (παρα) the Father." the preposition (παρα) means "from the side of" (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 579,614). It is not enough to believe that Jesus was born into this world. We must believe that Jesus was sent from the side of the Father. Faith in the pre-existence of Jesus is essential to enjoy the personal love of the Father.

My Father loves me.

This I know.

For my Savior

Tells me so!