Learning what we must know

By Dean Collins

When did you know?

 Well I guess it depends on what you knew about. Pretty early you know not to touch the hot stove because it will burn you. Most of us had to learn that by experience and not just from Mom’s warning. I guess some things we instinctively know, but it takes time to know most things. The way you learned the alphabet was probably through lots of repetition. You learned the ABC’s song, and then one day you knew all 26 letters in their proper order. But then it’s another process to know how to read those letters in little groups as they form words. Eventually, you know how to read and write, but not by yourself. Almost always the process includes a relationship. A person who cares enough to invest in your knowing makes the difference.

As children grow, they discover there are so many things to know. And then when a child or adolescent masters or thinks they have mastered some knowledge, too often they think they know it all. But usually we figure out that knowing anything really involves lots of mistakes, failures, attempts, corrections, and humility. And wisdom appears when you realize that knowing more only creates a bigger awareness of what you don’t know.

Slow learners

We see that tendency when we examine the relationship of the disciples with Jesus. They spent about three years in nearly daily contact with him. They saw his miracles. They heard his parables. They watched as very smart and respected men tried to question Jesus and every time Jesus outmatched his questioners. But even after all that time, they had only begun to know Jesus and understand his mission. See what I mean by reading five chapters in the Gospel of John with details about that evening.

It was a lengthy conversation. After awhile, Jesus reviewed a topic that had come up many times before this evening and extensively again during the after-dinner talk. He was going away. Jesus explained one more time that God sent him to the world and now he was leaving the world to go back to his father. And the lightbulb moment came for the disciples.

“Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe you came from God.”-

Jesus’ response to this burst of insight was to ask them a question: “Do you now believe?” It’s the kind of question we might ask the child, the adolescent, even the adult who thinks they have it when we know they don’t. Jesus continued with a reality check, telling them how each of them would run in fear and leave him alone. But even as he explained, he comforted them: The father was with him and would also be with them. Most important of all, Jesus said, “I have overcome the world.” This ends the sixteenth chapter of John.

As the seventeenth chapter opens, Jesus is praying. These men had once asked that Jesus teach them to pray. The lesson would continue on this last night together. This time it wasn’t a short prayer. This was a long conversation with God. It was a powerful prayer, a prayer the disciples needed to hear. It is one we need to hear as well, because it involves us.

Jesus prayed about his own experience with God. Then he prayed for the disciples who were with him and then he prayed for us. Early in this prayer he explained eternal life with one phrase. It’s an eye opener:

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Already begun

We might have thought that eternal life was something to look forward to when we die and catch up with loved ones at a beautiful banquet table. That will happen, but Jesus clearly states that eternal life begins as we come to know God by and through our knowing his Son, Jesus. And we come to Jesus just like we come to know anything. We learn through repetition. We learn through relationship. We learn over time. Eternal life is a journey of knowing, and while it may feel like we’ve barely taken the first step, according to Jesus our eternal life has already begun.

Jesus would go on to pray for us, those who would believe because of the work and testimony of those apostles who overheard this very prayer. What would it have been like to sit with Jesus and hear him pray for you? (Your heart has been warmed by hearing someone pray for you, hasn’t it?). Let’s re-create that moment by considering this reality. Jesus is in the same room with you right now. Here’s his prayer:

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Did you hear it? See it? Understand its importance? Jesus prayed that we who believe would be one. That we would demonstrate the very same unity that he and his father share. And he tells us why that is so very important; the world will come to believe when they see us united as one.

Jesus prayed that we who believe would be one. That we would demonstrate the very same unity that he and his father share.
And he tells us why that is so very important;
the world will come to believe when they see us united as one.

How long does a prayer last? When is it finally answered? Is it like learning and knowing? Does it just happen to us, or is our participation required? Can and does God just snap his heavenly fingers and things are fixed? Well he certainly has that kind of power. Or does God desire such an intimate and personal relationship that we join him in answering his prayers for us? What do you and I need to do today to take a step toward answering this prayer of Jesus?

I suspect it might start with repentance. Forgive us for our stubborn individual and selfish ways. Forgive us for not seeing others the way You see them, as your image bearers. Forgive us for seeing and even preferring some people over other people who are different than us. Forgive us for our church fights where we argue and even isolate in different denominations convinced that “we know” what other Christians don’t know about You and Your kingdom. Forgive us.

The answer to this prayer must come if we are to follow Jesus. Knowing God and experiencing eternal life can’t happen if we insist that we are better than others. Knowing God involves knowing each other. Let’s get started on this eternal journey even now.
Amen.

Your time with God’s Word
John 16:28-33; 17:1-11,13-15, 20-21 ESV

Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash