The use of the word, "world," in John 17

“World” occurs 19 times in John 17 (World English Bible, public domain), where Jesus prayed for His disciples, and for His followers which came after them. There are 59 occurrences in John, which is about 1/3 of the occurrences in the entire New Testament, and more than the entire OT. Apparently, the New Testament writers, and Christ Himself, were more conscious of the idea of the world, the doings of people on our planet, than the OT writers were. Greek: κόσμος, kosmos. See here for more on the use of this Greek word in the NT. Perhaps the first use of world, and the next to last one, in John 17, refer to the world as a planet, rather than as the doings of humans on the planet, but the other 17 occurrences all seem to relate to the doings of fallen humans.

John 17:1 Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you; 17:2 even as you gave him authority over all flesh, he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 17:3 This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ. 17:4 I glorified you on the earth.* I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do. 17:5 Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed. 17:6 I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word. 17:7 Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you, 17:8 for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me. 17:9 I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 17:10 All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 17:11 I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are. 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 17:13 But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves. 17:14 I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17:15 I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. 17:16 They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. 17:17 Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.* 17:18 As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world. 17:19 For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. 17:20 Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who believe in me through their word, 17:21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. 17:22 The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one; 17:23 I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me. 17:24 Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. 17:25 Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me. 17:26 I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

*The word, earth, here, is translated from a different Greek word than the word which is translated as world. 

Thanks for reading!

"I am" in the Gospel of John -- important occurrences.

There are about 70 occurrences of the word pair "I am" in John, most rather trivial. Those below are not trivial.

This “I am” is not in John, but is the source of one that is in that Gospel:
Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.” Jesus was referring to the experience of Moses indicated above, and his critical hearers understood that He was doing so.

In John 4, Jesus, in effect, told the Samaritan woman that I am living water. 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 13 Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 47 Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life.

8:12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. 26 Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” [To Martha]

14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. [To Peter. Perhaps other disciples were present.]

15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2 Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

18:37 Pilate therefore said to him, “Are you a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Thanks for reading. He is!

"Father" differs in frequency in the gospels

I recently did a search for occurrences of the word, "father," in the Bible. I wasn't looking for it, but was struck by the number of times it was used in each of the four gospels.

Here's a link to the results of that search, using the English Standard Version.

The frequencies in the four gospels are these:

in Matthew: 70. 15 of these are in the genealogies at the beginning of Matthew. 15 are in the Sermon on the Mount, where something like "your Father which is in heaven" occurs frequently. There are 40 more references. It seems clear that Matthew wanted his readers to think of Christ (and themselves) in relationship to God the Father.

in Mark: 17. Most of these refer to an earthly father, not to God the Father.

in Luke: 41. 9 of these are from the parable of the Prodigal Son. Roughly half of the rest relate to God the Father.

in John: 108! I found that number to be astounding, especially considering that John doesn't have genealogies, or the parable of the Prodigal Son. Most of the statements are about God the Father. I suppose that the most significant is John 10:10, where Jesus said that He and the Father were one.

The frequent use, especially in John, indicates that Jesus, and the gospel writers, believed that the idea of a relationship with God the Father, through the Son, was important.

Thanks for reading. Read the gospels.

Prayers in the Bible: John prays for Christ's return

The most important parts of a book, story, essay, and the like are often the beginning and the end. I'm not sure that that's quite true of the Bible, as the beginning and the end don't say much about Christ's life, ministry, death and resurrection. But the beginning, setting forth a powerful God as creator, is important. So is the ending. The next to last verse in the Bible says, in part: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (World English Bible, Revelation 22:20b)

A lot of what is in Revelation isn't clear. But this seems quite clear. John, the same John who was one of Christ's closest followers, prayed for His return. So should we!

A group of Christians (I hope) declared that yesterday was the beginning of Christ's second coming -- that "the Bible guarantees" that that would occur on May 21st, 2011. If you are reading this, presumably that didn't happen. (Here's more on their claim.) Many Christians agree with me that such predictions are, at best, foolish, but about one thing we should be agreed -- we should work for, and pray for, Christ's return.

Thanks for reading. This is part of a series on prayer. The previous post is here.

Water in the book of John

I heard a recent sermon by the author of "the other side of the lake." As an aside, I guess it was, he mentioned the importance of water in the book of John. So I checked it out. I found that there were at least the following references to water:

In John 1, there is a discussion of the baptism of John the Baptist, which was with water.

In John 2, Jesus performed His first miracle, namely turning water into wine.

In John 3, Jesus told Nicodemus that one must be born of both water and the Spirit, and there is more about John the Baptist's baptism with water.

In John 4, Jesus met a woman of Samaria at the well, where she had come to draw water. Jesus said that He was an unending source of water.

In John 5, Jesus healed a man, who was lying by the pool of Bethesda.

In John 6, Jesus walked on the sea during a storm.

In John 7, Jesus proclaimed Himself as the source of living water.

I didn't find a mention of water in John 8.

In John 9, Jesus told a blind man to wash in the pool of Siloam.

In John 10, Jesus crossed the Jordan River.

In John 11, Jesus wept.

I didn't find water mentioned in John 12.

In John 13, Jesus washed the disciples' feet.

I didn't find water mentioned in John 13 through 18.

In John 19, blood and water came out of Jesus' side, when it was pierced.

I didn't find water mentioned in John 20.

In John 21 (the last chapter) Jesus met his disciples by the sea.

Water is an amazing and very important substance. It makes sense to believe that God's original blueprint for the universe included a special role for this combination of Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms, and that he designed them in such a way that they could carry out this special role. I don't think it's possible to prove that, though.

Thanks for the suggestion, other side! Thanks for reading.