THIS IS THE MOST CRITICAL MOMENT for Christ and the world. Christ has completed his teaching to the world and has made known to the people the name of the Father, so that he may be their shield in life. The disciples now knew for certain that he came from the Father and that he is now going to him, carrying their names in his heart to present them to the Father. It was the Father who gave them to him, and they were within the sphere of his love and authority. Christ completed his instruction to them, as he was taught by and received from the Father. He now asks on behalf of those who were in his charge, those whom he kept from the world that hated them because of Jesus’ teaching to them, with the exception of him who betrayed love and the covenant and wickedly and deceitfully turned him over to the chief priests to be crucified. Christ asked the Father to keep them from the evil world that hates them, for they considered themselves not of this world. He said these things openly before the disciples so they would be assured he has placed them in the faithful hand of the Father. By this he makes their joy certain and also desires their joy be complete.

Then he asks the Father not to take them out of the world but to deliver them from the evil one. By this he arms them with the armor of truth, for when they know it they can conquer every suggestion that comes to them from the enemy.

Even though Christ made the truth known to them and told them he is the truth and the life, they still also needed the attention of the Father to establish in them the knowledge of the truth and to remain in it. How wonderful Christ is in his final farewell to his disciples, giving them into the care of the Father and ensuring that the gift of truth by the Father to his disciples is the greatest inheritance he can pass to them before he leaves them. While he was with them, as far as they were concerned, he was truth, but after he departed they were swallowed up in the truth of the Father to the very end.

July 26, 2005

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