[Propertalk] FW: Gospel Notes - John 17:6-19 (Brian Stoffregen) - Part 1B

[Joe Parrish]

Forwarded:


 


4 times Jesus gives something to people


 

eternal life (v. 2)
the word (vv. 8, 14)
the glory (v. 22)


Two “gifts” are used in both lists. God gives Jesus “the word” and “the glory,” which Jesus then gives to us. Two implications: (1) God is the source of everything for Jesus and for the faith community; and (2) the relationship between the Father and the Son as illustrated by the “giving” Father, is the same relationship between the “giving” Jesus and the faith community. By extension, we are to follow this pattern and be giving people – giving others the word and whatever else might help them receive the eternal life that Jesus wants to give them.

“WHERE” AS A PLACE OF RELATIONSHIP

The “where” of Jesus’ prayer in v. 24: “Where I am they also might be with me,” refers more to the relationship with the Father than being at a particular place. Where Jesus is and where we are to be is “children” in relationship with the Father. What this implies is that we are to be in a relationship to receive what the Father/Jesus wants to give us.

THE DISCIPLES AND THE WORLD

The word “world” (κόσμος kosmos) occurs 11 times in our text (17 times in ch. 17). Three different prepositions are used in terms of our relationship with the world (κόσμος kosmos). The quoted definitions come from Lowe and Nida’s Greek-English Lexicon.

THE FIRST is ἐν (en) (17:11, 11, 13) = “in the world”. Defining ἐν (en) as “a position on the surface of an area” and defining kosmos as “the surface of the earth,” en + kosmos seems to mean: “living on the planet.” We continue to live on planet earth, but Jesus no longer lives here.

THE SECOND is ἐκ (ek) (17:14, 14, 15, 16, 16) = “from the world”. In vv. 14 & 16 the verb “to be” is used. ἐκ (ek) with the verb “to be” can mean “to belong to” as the NRSV translates it. (The same construction is used in 1C 12:15f about “belonging to” or “being part of” the body.) ἐκ (ek) can also refer to the “source of activity or state”. Neither Jesus nor we are to “belong to the world” nor “have the world as the source of our activity or existence.”

In these cases, I think that the meaning of kosmos changes. It is no longer the “surface of the earth,” but one of the following definitions:


 

a. “the system of practices and standards associated with a secular society (that is, without reference to any demands or requirements of God)”

b. “people associated with a world system and estranged from God”


The “world’s standards” are not to be the source of our existence. We are separated from the “people of the world”.




 

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