March 31: Jesus’ Prayer for His Disciples, Present & Future
♫ Music:
Day 38 - Friday, March 31
Title: JESUS’ PRAYER FOR HIS DISCIPLES, PRESENT & FUTURE
Scripture: John 17:1–19
When Jesus had said these words, he raised his eyes to Heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son now so that he may bring glory to you, for you have given him authority over all men to give eternal life for all that you have given to him. And this is eternal life, to know you, the only true God, and him whom you have sent—Jesus Christ.
“I have brought you honor upon earth, I have completed the task which you gave me to do. Now, Father, honor me in your own presence with the glory that I knew with you before the world was made. I have shown yourself to the men whom you gave me from the world. They were your men and you gave them to me, and they have accepted your word. Now they realize that all that you have given me comes from you—and that every message that you gave me I have given them. They have accepted it all and have come to know in their hearts that I did come from you—they are convinced that you sent me.
“I am praying to you for them: I am not praying for the world but for the men whom you gave me, for they are yours—everything that is mine is yours and yours mine—and they have done me honor. Now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world and I am returning to you. Holy Father, keep the men you gave me by your power that they may be one, as we are one. As long as I was with them I kept them by the power that you gave me; I guarded them, and not one of them was destroyed, except the son of destruction—that the scripture might come true.
“And now I come to you and I say these things in the world that these men may find my joy completed in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, for they are no more sons of the world than I am. I am not praying that you will take them out of the world but that you will keep them from the evil one. They are no more the sons of the world than I am—make them holy by the truth; for your word is the truth. I have sent them to the world just as you sent me to the world and I consecrate myself for their sakes that they may be made holy by the truth.”
Poetry & Poet:
“Hymn”
by Mark Jarman
“Great is thy faithfulness,”
Say the leaves to the light.
“Oh God, my father,”
Says darkness to night.
“There is no shadow,”
Says the eye to the sun.
“Of turning with thee,”
As tears start to burn.
“All I have needed,”
Says the sand to the storm.
Thy hand has provided,”
Say the combs to the swarm.
“Great is thy faithfulness,”
Says the cup to the brim.
“Lord unto me,”
Say I unto him.
JESUS’ PRAYER FOR HIS DISCIPLES–PRESENT AND FUTURE
Jesus’ final prayer with his disciples is shockingly intimate, full of grief, promises, and tensions that are felt by the global community today around suffering, death, and hopeful purpose. The prayer begins with Jesus’ lifted head toward heaven before a discourse, prayer, and plea for His most intimate followers to carry on the work He has begun. While only four words, the phrase “he raised his eyes” sets the stage for the posture the disciples should have as they experience Jesus’ death, their own future persecution, and honor the authority bestowed on them.
This same posture is reflected in our poetry reading by Mark Jarmin as he concludes with a head-lifted posture phrase of “Lord unto me,” uttered to God. Before entering this meaty prayer of preparation and commission Jesus models the posture the disciples then, and now, are to use as they step into obedience. The significance of this is found in also knowing of the deep suffering described in the chapters to follow. Knowing what is to come, Jesus “raised his eyes.” He modeled what His words to follow will exhort; a posture of Truthful submission and belief in more than can be seen by human eyes. His posture models knowing God. His prayer to follow encompasses suffering, tragedy, and even death but His raised eyes root His followers in the character of God reminding them of the symbol of promise and Hope He gave them, through Jesus, for what lies ahead.
Last week I sat in my backyard with East African mosquitos swarming at my ankles. I found around my table a man who serves from West Africa. He carried with him a necklace made in the shape of a cross. It was woven with leather, and metal together and he explained that for centuries his people had made this symbol of hope, but it carried with it no understanding. Just forty years ago his people heard the truth of God for the first time. With awe and wonder he recounted what it meant to realize the symbol given to them for years was infused with deep meaning and hope through the person of Jesus. This man’s story and that of His people involve persecution, suffering, death, and famine. The leather cross before me caused me to also raise my eyes as I listened. It was a link to the promised hope found in the person of Jesus, in knowing God. It reminded me that in raising our eyes we find hope in the most difficult stories.
This entire passage is rooted in the picture of Jesus’ raised eyes––the promise that who God is allows us to journey through suffering, the calling to something beyond what can be seen, and a completed––joy not in accomplishments, ministry, or dreams fulfilled but an invitation to raise our eyes in the midst of our journeys and find our place in the story God.
God calls us to something beyond ourselves and it begins by raising our gaze upwards and reminding ourselves of who God is––his majesty, vastness, complexity, grace, and light. The posture of raised eyes is an invitation into Hope.
Prayer:
Lord God,
We raise our eyes to you, rooting ourselves in Truth from you, consecrating ourselves, and asking you to make us holy through you. May we know you. May who you are draw our gaze, hearts, and hopes toward you.
Amie Cross, M.Div.
Alumna of Torrey Honors College
Biola University
Chaplain and Missionary
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab
About the Translation of the Bible for the 2023 Lent Project:
J.B. Phillips New Testament Translation of the Bible
J.B. Phillips (1906-1982) was well-known within the Church of England for his commitment to making the message of truth relevant to today's world. Phillips' translation of the New Testament brings home the full force of the original message. The New Testament in Modern English was originally written for the benefit of Phillips' youth group; it was later published more widely in response to popular demand. The language is up-to-date and forceful, involving the reader in the dramatic events and powerful teaching of the New Testament. It brings home the message of Good News as it was first heard two thousand years ago.
https://www.biblegateway.com/
About the Artwork:
La Prière Sacerdotale (The High Priestly Prayer)
Eugène Burnand
1900–1918
Oil on canvas
190 x 370 cm
Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne
Lausanne, Switzerland
Artist Eugène Burnand believed his art could carry a contemporary spiritual message. In painting Jesus, Burnard wanted to give his Christ features that were not idealized but faithfully reproduced from a model he had chosen and who represented the reality of a physical, living man. This work, which uses a frieze-like composition, positioning the disciples on either side of Jesus, was exhibited in England and Germany immediately after its completion. But Burnand was not satisfied. In 1904 he met an upholsterer in Neuchatel whose facial features conformed to his “vision” of Christ’s likeness, so he repainted the portrait of Jesus. Shown that same year at the Exposition Nationale Suisse des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne, the painting was then given to the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne, but the artist still took it back to his studio several more times. It was his own son, Franz, who he felt embodied the Savior in the fifth and final version of the work in 1918.
https://www.mcba.ch/en/collection/la-priere-sacerdotale-the-sacerdotal-prayer/
About the Artist:
Eugène Burnand (1850–1921) was a prolific Swiss painter and illustrator. Born of prosperous parents who taught him to appreciate art and the countryside, he first trained as an architect but quickly realized his vocation was painting. He studied art in Geneva and Paris, then settled in Versailles. In the course of his life he traveled widely. He was primarily a realist painter of nature. Most of his works were of rural scenes, often with animals, in the depiction of which he was a master. He increasingly painted human figures as the years went on, and by the end of his career could be called a portraitist whose skill in revealing character was profound. A deeply religious man, his Protestant beliefs led him to include more religious works that he put his stamp of realism on, and he became best known in Europe for his illustrations of "The Parables,” published in French, German, and English. His works are now widely distributed in museums and private collections throughout the world and in his own dedicated museum in Moudon, Switzerland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Burnand
About the Music:
“Prayer of John 17” from the album New Song
Lyrics: (King James Bible)
Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son,
that thy Son may also glorify thee:
As thou hast given him power over all flesh,
that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him.
And this is life eternal, that they might
know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
I pray not for the world, I pray not for the world,
but for them which thou hast given me;
for they are thine.
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine;
and I am glorified in them.
And now I am no more in the world,
but they 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.
Sanctify them, sanctify them,
sanctify them through thy truth:
thy word is truth.
Sanctify them, sanctify them,
sanctify them through thy truth:
thy word is truth.
O righteous Father,
the world hath not known thee:
but I have known thee,
and these have known
that thou hast sent me.
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.
About the Performers:
The Philadelphia Singers was a choir in Philadelphia founded by Michael Korn in 1972. In 2001, the Philadelphia Singers were named "Resident Chorus of The Philadelphia Orchestra." The choir also appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, premiering in the United States works by Sir James MacMillan, Luciano Berio, and Augusta Read Thomas. The Philadelphia Singers maintained its own annual subscription series and was the only Philadelphia ensemble to have a regular national radio broadcast on Public Radio International; it was called "Christmas with The Philadelphia Singers." The program was a live broadcast of its annual concert, "Christmas on Logan Square,” at St. Clement's Church. The ensemble was devoted to presenting choral music from all periods, with a particular focus on American choral music. The group dissolved after its 2015 season, citing rising costs and lack of funding sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Philadelphia_Singers
About the Poetry and Poet:
Mark Jarman is an American poet and critic often identified with the New Narrative branch of New Formalism. Centennial Professor of English, Emeritus, at Vanderbilt University, he is the author of eleven books of poetry, three books of essays, and a book of essays co-authored with Robert McDowell. Jarman's awards for poetry include a Joseph Henry Jackson Award, three grants from the NEA, and a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. His book The Black Riviera won the 1991 Poets' Prize. Questions for Ecclesiastes was a finalist for the 1997 National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry and won the 1998 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets and The Nation magazine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Jarman
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/mark-jarman
About Devotion Author:
Amie Cross, M.Div.
Alumna of Torrey Honors College
Biola University
Chaplain and Missionary
Amie Cross completed her undergraduate studies at Biola as a part of the Torrey Honors Society cohort. She received her MDiv in Community Chaplaincy from Liberty University and finds joy in holding hard stories with her eyes raised. She has lived in East Africa for ten years where she lives and serves with her husband and five children. She currently serves as the elementary school chaplain for an international school and as a crisis response chaplain for global workers. Watching God bring comfort and helping carry the burdens of others while awaiting His redemption brings her joy.