Our High Priest’s Prayer / Christ’s Gifts for Easter

“By this [love] all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another”.
John 13:35
RECOMMENDED READING: JOHN 17 “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to
heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify
thee:2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him.3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the
work which thou gavest me to do.5And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.6
I have manifested thy name untothe men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me;
and they have kept thy word.7Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given
me are of thee.8\For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have
received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that
thou didst send me.9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast
given me; for they are thine.10\And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified
in them.11\And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.
Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be
one, as we are.12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou
gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture
might be fulfilled.13
And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they
might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.14
I have given them thy word; and the world hath
hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.15
I pray not that
thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the
evil.16
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.17
Sanctify them through thy
truth: thy word is truth.18
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them
into the world.19
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified
through the truth.20
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me
through their word;21
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.22
And the glory
which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:23
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.24
Father, I will that they also,
whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou
hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.25
O righteous Father,
the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast
sent me.26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” COMMENTS: John 17 gives us the prayer Jesus prayed to the Father before He was betrayed
and Crucified. Keep in mind that the Father and Christ are One in mind and mission and
even in thought. But while Jesus was living on earth as a human, He was separated from
the Father so He had to pray and the Father had to reveal Himself to Jesus in order for Jesus to understand and know His Father’s Will. This prayer reveals a glimpse or snapshot
in time of nature and depth and need for Jesus to pray. The Trinity is impossible for us, as
humans, to understand. But we can get a glimpse to enable us to have valid faith to believe
God is real and Triune in nature. That means the Father and Son and Holy Spirit are One
God and to worship One is to worship God and to fellowship with One is to fellowship with
God. In heaven God the Father is in constant communion and One with the Son and the
Holy Spirit is in constant communion with the Son as well. We don’t have to understand
that in order to fellowship and follow the Holy Spirit’s lead and enable the Holy Spirit to
help us understand and follow scripture and worship and receive Christ into our soul. We
can approach the Father in worship because Christ is our advocate because He paid the
price the Father required for our redemption. We are bought and adopted as God’s redeemed children and creation.
So, let’s look more closely at this prayer, often called the “High Priest Prayer” in order to
understand a bit better the Mind of God the Son and the Mind of God the Father. There is
much to explore and discuss in these few verses.
Revealed is acknowledgement by Christ that He is God and One with and Equal with the
Father.
Revealed is acknowledgement that Christ was One with the Father from eternity past even
before and during creation.
He was not praying this prayer to reveal such to the Father but to reveal this to His disciples (and to us). He was also asking the Father to strengthen the human part of Him to finish His mission.
He is also asking the Father to help His followers (including us) to continue His Work and
Mission and overcome the satan’s mischief. The Comforter or Holy Spirit is not mentioned in this prayer but later is promised and explained briefly by Christ after His Resurrection just before His ascension to heaven.
We need to keep in mind that Christ is God. He is God’s Son. He is God. He has all God’s
authority and power and wisdom and insights and experience and knowledge. He also has
all God’s love and compassion for us. He is worthy of all our worship and praise and devotion. His is worthy of our faith and obedience too. His Word gives ample instruction and
insights. His life gives us ample example to follow. His Holy Spirit gives ample one on one
daily help and comfort to maintain the walk of faith Christ followers are called to journey.
Christ provides mercy and forgiveness to everyone who simply asks and receives. The
Holy Spirit provides sustainable faith to obey and live a Christ centered and Christ-like life
each day.
Christ wants us to understand:

1. His open life and ministry and example give us a clear idea of what God is like and
   how He wants us to live and conduct ourselves.
2. His dependence on the Father and prayers show us how to have an ongoing relationship and prayer life with Him.
3. He prepared His disciples (and us) to receive the Holy Spirit to continue the instruction and guidance and relationship with all willing going forward like His first disciples had with Him.
4. By having a personal relationship with them, and with us, He is showing us both
   how to be a good parent and brother /sister as well as how to have a meaningful relationship with a parent or brother/sister.
   Consider the significance of God designing and implementing the institution of family into
   His creation and specifically at the center of the parent/child relationship and maturing
   process – a process that grows a child to become a parent and parents to become grandparents. Consider the significance of using that relationship to help us understands our relationship with God but also use our relationship with God to help us understand how we are
   to be in relationship with each other, especially with parents and children and piers.
   God is a vast mystery because His majesty and power and wisdom and perfectness is so
   vastly beyond us. We simply can not comprehend a God so far beyond and above us in all
   ways. BUT HE CAME DOWN TO US LIKE AND LIVE WITH US! HE SHED HIS
   MAJESTY AND POWER AND AUTHORITY IN ORDER TO BE KNOWN BY US AND
   TO BE AN EXAMPLE FOR US. HE WAS AND IS “GOD WITH US – EMMANUEL”.
   He came to be with us. He came to be among us. He came to guide and instruct us. He
   came to love us and show us how to love. BUT MOST OF ALL HE CAME TO REDEEM
   US BY BECOMING OUR PERFECT SACRIFICE TO PAY THE FATHER’S REQUIRED PRICE FOR OUR SINS.
   Easter, and especially Holy Week, is a sacred time and optimum time to reflect and re-discover who God is. Who Christ is. What He did and continues to do for any and all willing
   to receive.
   God gives us Gifts for Easter. Gifts available to any and all willing to accept them. Gifts
   that only have value to us if we open them and use them.
5. Christ gives us the gift of Forgiveness. Forgiveness that must be opened and
   accepted. Forgiveness used to forgive ourselves and forgive others. Forgiveness to
   motivate us to change our sinful past behavior and weaknesses by surrendering and
   following and accepting the Holy Spirit’s help and council and encouragement and
   strength to change from old habits to become more Christ-like. To become less
   selfish and more self-less. John 4:15 “15
   For we have not a high priest which cannot be
   touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet
   without sin.”
6. Christ gives us the gift of Faith. We think of faith as something we need to generate
   and express to God, but Faith is a gift to be unwrapped and used. A gift God gives
   His followers and guides them to use. Faith is a powerful tool enabling us to live a
   Christ-like life, to conduct and interact with others in a more compassionate and
   caring way. To obey His calling and follow His daily “nudging”. Faith also to resist
   temptations and recognize and deny satan’s snares and deceptive tricks.
7. Christ gives us Eternal Truth. God not only gives us faith to believe in and depend
   on but faith in a Truth that is reliable and dependable and never changes. Truth
   that is eternal and perfectly Good because it is Truth He creates. Truth that reflects
   His Goodness and Character and Nature.
8. Christ gives us a life to be admired and longed to have. Christ gives us new life. A life
   of integrity and decency and character. A trustworthy life. A moral life. A life with the
   capacity to love like Christ loves and for that motivated love to influence self-less and
   meaningful conversation and action. To live a life to be envied and imitated. A Christlike life.
9. Christ gives us a life with eternal purpose and worth. Christ gives us the confident
   hope and promise of an eternal home with eternal bodies and a mission and purpose
   to guide and transform others to desire and accept these eternal and good gifts too.
10. Christ gives us an eternal likeminded family. Christ bonds us to other believers who,
    as His church, becomes a family designed to and able to strengthen each other,
    encourage each other, and help each other to become more Christ-like and meet each
    other’s needs and lift each other up when fail or go through difficult times and
    situations.
11. Christ gives us confident hope for those who have passed on before us. He tells us
    where Christ followers go when they die and what their inheritance is. An inheritance
    of a new eternal body (like Christ’s after His resurrection). An eternal home in heave
    that He said He is preparing – building for us. A home filled with loved ones where we
    will know and love each other. A home with access to the saints of old and ability
    share and be encouraged by each other’s stories and memories. But most of all, a
    home where we will be able and willing to praise and worship Him without getting
    tired for all eternity.
12. Christ gives us freedom from sin and sickness and death. In heaven there will be no
    more sickness or death or aging. There will also be no more sin, for all will only be and
    do good. All will be Christ-like in character and conduct and integrity and love. We
    all will be known and loved by each other but also by Him. H
13. Christ will be accessible to us and us to Him. Easter makes God accessible to us more
    personally and continually. But in heaven the limits this sinful world and our human
    bodies hinder will be removed so our access and relationship with Christ and the
    Father and the Holy Spirit will be deeper and continual and more personal than
    possible on earth.
14. THIS LIST IS INCOMPLETE. I INVITE YOU TO REFLECT AND PRAY AND ADD TO THIS
    LIST. YOU WILL BE AMAZED AS YOU DISCOVER THE GIFTS AVAILABLE TO CHRIST FOLLOWERS
    WILLING TO OPEN THEMSELVES TO RECEIVE – TO OPEN – TO USE THEM.
    When we demonstrate Christ-like, unconditional love—especially to those who don’t know
    Jesus personally—we are telling the world to whom we belong. The longer we live with love
    toward others, the better idea the world will have of who Christ is.
    We have a treasure the world needs and longs for. But a treasure only God can create a
    desire to acquire. A treasure the world despised and rejects because satan deceives them.
    A treasure we are called to use and share. That treasure is EASTER. That treasure is
    Eternal Life. That treasure is JESUS!
    Eternal life free of sickness – sin – death comes with the His treasured gift.
    An eternal home in heaven with our Lord comes with His treasured gift.
    Perfect bodies that will not age and last eternity comes with His treasured gift.
    Enjoying fellowship and sharing heaven with family and friends known while alive and
    meeting and developing friendships with Christ followers from ages past comes with His
    treasured gift.
    But most of all, fellowshipping with and worshiping and singing praises to Christ, our Lord
    and Savior comes with His treasured gift.
    So much more our imagination can not conceive and more wonderful than we can imagine.
    God’s creation, and us, will be restored to the full beauty and perfection God originally in-
    tended during creation. The brief interruption of a few thousand years satan organized
    and tried to implement will be but a brief interruption in eternity but only for those who
    simply and sincerely repent of their sins and accept His precious gift and open and use it.
    “The business of the church is to demonstrate God.” Bruce Hurt
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