August 18

CHRIST the COMPLETER, as seen in John 17. In the Lord’s prayer to His Father, seven times He declares to have accomplished what He set out to do. He said, “I have glorified You on the earth” (v 4), that is, He had displayed the glories of His Father while on this planet. Then He added, “I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (v 4)—everything done to the Father’s perfect standards and for the Father’s pleasure. But then He refers to His own: “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world” (v 6) and “I have given to them the words which You have given Me” (v 8; see v 14). God’s name reveals His character; God’s words reveal His heart. But more, “Those whom You gave Me I have kept” (v 12), and “I also have sent them into the world” (v 18). Kept in the world; commissioned to the world. And how can we fully understand these words? “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one” (v 22).

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