6th May April 2011

John 17:1-5 – Jesus Prays for Himself

• “ Eternal Life is . . . ”
• For Jesus eternal life was more than living for eternity.
• When He thanks the Father for being given authority to give us eternal life, He is speaking of something more than an extension of our existence.
• We will ‘know’ eternal life.
• In Hebrew ‘da’at’ is the Hebrew word for knowledge – it is a third part of wisdom along with Chokhmah and Binah.
• To ‘know’ in this context is to experience two things;
• Firstly; Intimacy. The Bible often talks about the sexual experience using this word in phrases like; “He lay down with her and knew her”.
• Secondly; Application. The experience of applying its truth to your life.
• Eternal life is not something we wait for, it is something we comprehend and then work into our lives know.
• Ecclesiastes says that He has set eternity in the hearts of men.
• Lots of Christian teaching encourages us to allow what is in our heads to drop several inches into our hearts but Jesus would pray for us that what is in our hearts should be lifted several inches into our heads.
• Think about that.
• To know something in this context is to receive insight, to then understand it and then to apply it and make it part of who you are. ‘Da’at’ is the third part of this process.
• We should make eternity part of who we are in this life.
• What decisions would you make with eternal life in mind?
• What priorities would you set with eternity in mind?
• These are the things I will meditate on today.