Yours Is Mine – John 17: 6 - 19
Intro: When my grandparents received their social security checks in the mail, my grandmother would tell my grandfather, “what’s yours is mine and what’s mine is my own.” She was letting him know that what belonged to him also belonged to her. They shared what is known in legal language as “joint tenancy” defined as a type of ownership of real or Personal Property by two or more persons in which each owns an undivided interest in the whole.
I These verses are part of what is commonly known as “The High-Priestly Prayer of Jesus.” Here, Jesus establishes the relationship between himself, God and his followers. VS. 6 – “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.
A Throughout the O.T. the Israelites were referred to as God’s “chosen people.” In the N.T., Jesus was sent by God to show us what was possible for us as the elected / chosen people who believed and followed the teachings of Jesus.
B When we were younger, our parents encouraged us to write our name on everything that belonged to us. As we age, we keep an inventory in our heads of our belongings.
C God’s election is reserved for those who believe the promises of grace and trust Christ Jesus as their Savior. So, because of our belief in Christ as Savior, we are marked as belonging to God and as disciples are sent by God and Jesus into the world.
II There are 2 words in VS. 17 that need to be clarified: SANCTIFY and TRUTH. “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
A When we hear the word sanctify or sanctification our mind usually turns to one of two words: holiness or blessed. That is on the right track but not quite all that is intended.
B SANCTIFY in GK is the word ?????? / hagiaz? which does mean to make holy / purify / consecrate / to venerate / hallow/ sanctify.
C However, in Biblical Greek this word is used to mean “to be set apart by God to be a blessing for the world.” / in other words, blessed to be a blessing.
III The second word that needs clarification here is the word TRUTH. The need for clarification is based on a number of things.
A First and foremost is because of the second half of that verse. “your word is truth.” John 1:1 says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
B That verse from the beginning of John’s gospel implies that Christ Jesus is the Word. In the 2nd half of VS. 17 is Jesus saying He is truth? The difference in usage of the word TRUTH by John is subtle. At the beginning of his gospel WORD begins with a capital letter and here in VS. 17 it is a small letter. The capital letter implies a personal name much as we capitalize the first letter of our name.
C Another key to understanding is the relationship of WORD to TRUTH. The GK for truth is ????e?? / alethia applies to “the reality clearly lying before our eyes as opposite to a mere appearance without reality.” This implies that God’s word can be not only heard; but also seen in what followers of Christ do on because of their belief in the teachings of Jesus that come directly from God.
Concl: In His prayer, Jesus asks God to be with the believers, his followers, as He sends them into the world to bring the reality of God’s love to the world through all they do in the name of Christ Jesus. Jesus prays not for the disciples; but, for the world to receive what they say and do because the disciples (and us) belong to God and Jesus and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to show the love of God in all they (we) say and do.
