The Divine authority of the cross
John 17:2 ~ terry phillips
March 11, 2018
If you would turn with me once again to John's Gospel the 17th chapter. I’d like to begin this morning by just reading through the first five verses of John 17.
“These things Jesus spoke and lifting up his eyes to heaven, He said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify Thee. Even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life. And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent. I glorify Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given me to do. And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee, before the world was.”
As we read through the New Testament accounts of our Lord's life, it's very obvious that toward the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus began to speak more and more about His impending death. This is something that you begin to see in the words that the Lord speaks to His disciples as the time approaches. We know, from the description that we have in the gospel accounts, that in this time and especially as the time drew near to the Lord's crucifixion, He was obviously anticipating the unthinkable severity of the suffering that He was about to endure. He was deeply grieved as He contemplated the sheer agony that would accompany His offering Himself on our behalf.
It’s important, it seems to me, that we are also aware, as we have begun to see last time, that we are also aware of the Lord's intense anticipation of the glory of the cross. Jesus was not only anticipating the agony of the cross, but He was also anticipating the glory of the cross. The apostle John especially is moved by the Spirit of God to record our Lord's emphasis on this aspect of His death, and he emphasizes it greatly. This is something that was much on the Lord's mind, and I trust we are able to begin to see that last time, and that that would be some good preparation for our considering, or working our way through the Lord's prayer to the Father.
When you think about it, the cross itself, the Romans means of execution seems so unlikely a means of making known the glory of God. We do not agree? That just doesn't seem like the place you can expect to see God's glory, much less the crowning manifestation of divine glory, as anticipated by the Lord Jesus Himself. We noted this last time, even at the beginning of the upper room discourse, or very much towards the beginning of the discourse, Jesus is anticipating this. As Judas goes out from them and follows through on his act of betrayal, Jesus, in that 31st verse says –
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself and will glorify Him immediately.” Now towards at the end of the upper room discourse, this again is on the Lord's mind as He lifts His eyes to heaven and begins to pray to the Father. “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee.”
From the limits of a merely human perspective, it's very difficult for us to see anything but agony on the cross, very very difficult. This is a view that the Lord gives to us here that opens to our understanding realities of really the most profound significance. This is the hour in which we are able to see the glory of Christ and of God in a most unique way. Are you anxious to see that in the cross of Christ? Is this something you long to see more of? I trust this is our desire.
We speak of the death of Christ, often. It’s the very focal point of our confidence and our trust, is it not? Of our hope, our confident expectation. And yet, many times, it seems to me, that we really don't think of it very carefully. We think of it, sort of…we begin to think of it generally. We speak of the Lord's death in general terms, and sometimes in very familiar terms and phrases that really become, just habitual. They almost become clichés for us. And in that regard, we, I think, many times expose this fact that we’re not all that intensely aware of the significance of the cross, from the divine perspective. And we can't just say, well that's the divine perspective we don't need to be interested in that, that's for God. The problem is, God has revealed the divine perspective to us. Actually, that's not a problem, that is a wonderful privilege, is it not? We don't have to just look at the cross from the limited view that we have, God gives to us, He grants to us in a remarkable condescending grace to us. He grants to us a different view, an expanded view, actually view beyond our comprehension. And I trust that this is something that we would look forward to. In many respects, this is the great theme of the 17th chapter. It's a thing that I want to especially draw our attention to.
Jesus, in this chapter, and as He begins this prayer, His prayer to the father. He sets the divine context of the cross. “The hour has come. Glorify Thy son, that the Son may glorify Thee.” That's the divine context of the suffering and the agony that Jesus was about to endure. The cross is not only a moment of suffering and shame, it is a display, a manifestation of divine glory like no other. Jesus begins then to illumine various specific aspects if you will, of the glory of the cross.
The first thing that we notice as we move into the second verse, as Jesus continues His statement. We notice the emphasis on divine authority associated with the cross. Notice this, in verse two— “even as Thou gavest Him”, that is the Son, “authority.” There is a divine authority that is on display. That is to be seen in our Lord suffering and His death. This is not what you and I would expect to see, the word authority is not what we would naturally expect to see in a moment of such shame and submission and humiliation on the cross. And yet, this is the very thing that Jesus first mentions as He anticipates the glory, the hour of glory. “Even as Thou gavest Him authority.” Even as Jesus in the humiliation of the cross, He's is accomplishing redemption for sinners. At the very same time Jesus is exercising a divine authority of profound proportions. And I would desire that we would look at that this morning together, or at least begin to.
The first thing that I want you to notice about this authority, as Jesus speaks of it here, is that it is an extensive authority. Jesus speaks of the authority that the Father has given Him over ALL mankind, or literally over all flesh. This is a remarkable thing. Here in what we observe, in what we consider, as we think of the Lord suffering and death, we are to recognize, that not only is this a moment of humility and suffering, this is a moment in which Almighty God is exercising authority through and in the person of His Son. An authority that extends over all of humanity. “As Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind.” I want you to notice how directly this ties into this matter glory. Again, we need to see the context very clearly, going back to the first verse— “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind.”
Surely, we would have to acknowledge that for the casual and the hardened observer in the land of Palestine during the Lord's earthly ministry, it would've been very easy to miss the authority of Chris. Especially in regards to His physical appearance, the people He was closest to or those who were following Him, not exactly an impressive group of men. For those who are literally just simply looking at Him and evaluating Jesus of Nazareth from the human perspective, it would have been very easy to miss the authority of Christ. Obviously, there were instances, some very unique instances in time, in which that authority was on display in a remarkable way. But the from the overall perspective, of just simply evaluating this man, Jesus, that authority would've been easy to miss.
This is even more true in our Lord suffering on the cross. How do you look at Jesus hanging on the cross, suffering in unspeakable agony and in that very moment, recognize that He is exercising an authority and an authority that extends all of humanity. Yet that's exactly what we see, that's the Lord's view of the cross as He anticipates the glory of the cross.
No one, including His closest followers, no one observing that awful spectacle could have possibly grasped at that point in time, the divine jurisdiction in operation. It's so obvious that the power of darkness is overwhelmingly being evidenced in this time. And yet, at the same time, the authority of the Savior. Jesus was not suffering for naught. The Son of God was not enduring this level of punishment, such a cruel punishment, on behalf of merely one small nation of people, and maybe along with that nation, a few straggling Gentiles in close proximity to the land of Palestine. Jesus had been granted authority to accomplish eternal redemption on behalf of sinners from every tribe and tongue, people, and nation. That's what Jesus is contemplating here— “even as Thou gavest Him authority over ALL mankind.”
This is something that we most certainly take for granted. We’ve talked about this a number of times. It’s something we need to be reminded of often. We seem to have in our minds, a perspective that God's redemptive purpose and plan has to fit, it absolutely has to fit, to some extent, within the framework of what we perceive to be the right thing for God to do. Don't we? We have a tendency to do that, we can't help but at that tendency.
We need to recognize very carefully the broad extent of God's mercy and grace that is evidence in His suffering and His death on the cross. There is a world-wide scope to the redemption that Jesus was accomplishing. It was a far-reaching authority that Jesus is exercising in the very act of His suffering and dying on our behalf. Jesus anticipated this, that is, the extensiveness of His redemptive authority. He anticipated this during His earthly ministry. We could go all the way back to His discourse with Nicodemus, could we not? When Jesus utters these words that are so familiar to millions of souls around this world— “for God so loved the world”.
To the Jew this is an extravagance that is unacceptable. What do you mean, God so loved the world, what about us? We’re God's chosen people. This is so deeply ingrained in the Jewish mindset, that even after the Lord explaining this time and time again to His disciples, that long after the Lord's resurrection and ascension to the Father, some of them were still wrestling in grappling with this. It took a remarkable vision from God to Peter to get him to go to proclaim the gospel in the house of a Gentile and when he did so, even when he was obedient and did so, and the rest of his Jewish brother found out he had done so they called him to give an account for such an egregious error from their perception, that he would go to a Gentile and proclaim the gospel to them. This was so ingrained in their mindset and yet, the Lord anticipates the extensiveness of the authority, the redemptive authority that God had granted to Him, even long before the cross. “For God so loved the world”. God had declared His love for the nation of Israel time and again. But Jesus comes and declares His love for the world.
This is beyond comprehension to the Jewish mind and it ought to create in us, an ongoing sense of wonder. But because of our pride and our arrogance, we tend to think, well, that's only right, that's only fair, that God would bring the gospel to us, right? We’re wrong in that. That's not right, it’s wrong. That's God's prerogative. He has the authority to proclaim redemption and to whom He will proclaim it. What does He say when He manifests His glory to Moses? --“I will have compassion,” on whom? “On whom I will have compassion.”
Another point in time where Jesus anticipated this, is in John's Gospel, the 10th chapter. Here He speaks of it more specifically. you recall that in the 10th chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus is referring to Himself, picturing Himself as the good Shepherd. Tremendous passage, such an encouraging portion of God's word. But in the middle of this discourse, in the Lord speaking of Himself as the good Shepherd. Verse 14— “I am the good Shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep.”
Now Jesus goes on from here in verse 16, and He says this— “and I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also. I must” notice that, “bring them also and they shall hear My voice, and they shall become one flock with one Shepherd. For this reason, the Father loves Me because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it out on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down.” Jesus had been granted the authority to lay down His life on behalf of, not only the lost sheep of Israel, but, on behalf of other sheep, and not just a few.
Jesus broadens this a little further in the 12th chapter. As we get a little closer, almost to the point of the upper room discourse. John chapter 12 verse 32— “and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” What an authority, the Lord Jesus demonstrates in His death, and His suffering on the cross. He has been granted authority by the Father to accomplish redemption, not just for one small little chosen nation of people, not for just a few outstanding groups of people or nations. He has been granted the authority to accomplish redemption on behalf of people all over this world, people in the most unlikely situations and circumstances, the most godless heathen imaginable. People from all walks of life. The worst sinners’ men have ever seen.
This is a remarkable demonstration, and it is on the basis of this authority that Jesus gives to His disciples, after His resurrection, a very direct command. It’s in relation to this authority. I remind you of Matthew chapter 28, the last few verses, very familiar to us. Jesus came up and He spoke to His disciples, and this is what He said— “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore,” that is in response to His authority. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” You recall the passage in the acts of the apostles. The first chapter, just before the Lord's ascension, His return to the Father. They’re wanting to know if this is the time that He will restore the kingdom to Israel. They asked the Lord in verse six, of acts chapter 1. Again, their mindset is Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel. Jews, Jews, Jews, that’s all they can think about. In spite of these things that Jesus has said. And by the way, in spite of numerous passages in the Old Testament, saying the very same thing.
Jesus says to them, it is not for you to know times and epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria,” and I love this last phrase— “even to the remotest part of the earth.” Does that not encourage and thrill your heart? “The remotest part of the earth.” Does it not thrill your soul that God, that the Lord Himself has been granted the authority to accomplish eternal salvation, redemption for sinners far beyond the confines of Palestine and far beyond the confines of even our nation or what we could consider to be the civilized or industrialized world, but to the farthest, the remotest ends of the earth. To people that we would not even know of their existence.
I was thinking about this, just contemplating this authority and my mind was drawn to several things, especially in regards to those who have taken this command so seriously, taken it to heart. Not only those who have gone, but those of us who take it seriously in terms of participation, financially, prayerfully. Have you ever thought of the difficulty of going and taking the gospel to a group of people who have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever? None of us have experienced that. I know that we have heard reports of this firsthand by those who we have supported, and it’s been a great encouragement.
I was thinking, Tom and I were talking about this as I was taking him back to the airport. Not too long ago, and we were talking about just the way that God has accomplished His redemptive purpose. The way this authority has been exercised as God has stirred up men's hearts to go and proclaim Christ, and we were talking about in the many years in the past, it was actually that long ago, but for many, many years during those times when someone will realize that call and yearned to take the gospel to another land another people, they would say goodbye to their loved ones and they would know it was a final goodbye. There was no coming home. They were going to the country of China and that would be the last their loved ones would see of them, this side of eternity.
What compelled them to do that? And more importantly, I think to myself, what gave them the sheer strength and audacity to proclaim Christ to people, who in many cases don't even have a word in their language to describe an Almighty God, much less any concept of God. What would give them the strength, the audacity to do such a thing? It’s the authority of Christ. God the Father bestowed upon Him the authority to redeem, to accomplish a redemption that would have worldwide significance.
I was thinking too, just as I was contemplating this and each of you have probably read many stories of missionaries who gone into places like this. I was thinking of a man that we got to know over a period of years. This has been a long time ago. His name was Paul Schwartz. He and his family felt called to go and proclaim Christ to cannibal tribes in the country of Borneo. I remember him coming back and describing what he went through and I can remember sitting there as a young person listening to him and wondering why he would do that. It wasn't just him, and it wasn't just him and his wife. It was him and his wife, and I forget how many kids they had. When they would go up that river, they eventually were able to get a boat. They didn't even have a boat to start with, a small little boat with an outboard motor. They motored their way up into this area and would be heard from or seen from for months on end. There was no communication and yet the Lord had laid this upon his heart and it comes back to this one thing, Jesus was granted authority by the Father, over all of mankind. Men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
That's what results in such praise and glory around the throne of God. That passage, we’ve looked at many times focuses on this in Revelation 5. “They sang a new song,” verse nine, “saying, worthy art Thou to take the book and to break its seals, for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God,” This is authority granted by the Father, “with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation and Thou hast made Him to be a kingdom and priests to our God and they will reign upon the earth. And I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” Jesus says as He looks at the cross that is almost upon Him, and He sees the glory. The Father has granted to Him authority over all of mankind.
There's a second thing that I want you to notice about the Lord's authority. Not only is it an extensive authority, but it is a sovereign authority. He says, “Even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life.” The passage we read earlier just a few moments ago, in the 12th chapter of John's Gospel, when Jesus says, in that 32nd verse, “If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself.” There are those who have ripped that from its context, the context of God's word and have laid hold of that to espouse universalism, that is to say that when Jesus says that He means everyone's going to be saved. It’s pretty clear that's not what Jesus meant, in a passage that’s even the poorest makes that very clear.
This authority is not only an extensive authority that has worldwide implications and ramifications and eternal glory, but it’s also an authority that exhibits the sovereignty of God. One of the things, that it seems to me, we are compelled to do in relation to this sovereign authority, is to notice the perfect harmony within the Godhead regarding this sovereign authority. And the shared possession of it, that is between Father and Son. Notice as you move on a little further in the 17th chapter, verses nine and 10. “I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine.” And then Jesus says this-- “And all things that are Mine are Thine and Thine are Mine, and I've been glorified in them.”
This sovereign authority, is an authority that is granted by the Father to the Son. The Father and the Son share this authority. And the exercise of this authority is done in perfect harmony. When Jesus accomplishes this redemption, this redemptive work on the cross, there is a sovereign perspective to this work. And Jesus doesn't go beyond or not far enough in regard to the work that He does on the cross. It’s in perfect harmony with the Father's will, in perfect harmony with the authority that Almighty God has granted to Him.
One of the things that I especially think is important for us to be reminded of, in regards to the statement, the Lord makes here-- Christ's redemptive work on the cross was not an act of distressed impulse if you will, on the part of God. It's not as though God is, as though we are to see God as a being who is frantically pursuing sinners in the hope of saving as many as He can convince to turn from their sins to His Christ. I have been reminded, recently again, and I have been in numerous times, especially in the recent past—That this is a distortion of God that has become exceedingly popular. This concept that God is somehow just desperate to save sinners. To find those who will agree to come to Him. You see this evidenced in many ways, but I want you to notice in this passage, in the words of our Lord Himself. What does He say about this?
He says that God the Father has given Him authority in this redemptive work he’s about to accomplish. It’s an authority that is extensive. It reaches to the very ends of the earth, the remotest parts of the earth. But it is a sovereign authority in that it relates specifically to all whom the Father has given Christ. Not one of them is lost. Jesus speaks of this concept numerous times actually in John's Gospel, I remind you of one that is very well known to us. John chapter 6, verse 37— “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, the one who comes to Me,” Jesus says, “I will certainly not cast out” What a promise. What a commitment. What authority.
When we think of God's people taking this tremendous and blessed proclamation of life to the nations, to the remotest parts of the end of the earth, to places where people have no respect for God whatsoever, we go on the basis of this authority. But it's not just an extensive authority it’s a sovereign authority. And oh, that should give us great comfort. We’re not God, we’re not sovereign, God's authority is.
God is grieved over the plight of all sinners, there's no doubt about that. God bestows much mercy and grace upon all sinners, in many ways. But God is not, and this is important, He is not distraught over human unbelief. It grieves Him, but He’s not distraught over it. He has the authority and He has exercised the authority in His Son, to redeem whom He will redeem. And He has and He will. He has a specifically effectual redemptive plan steadfastly determined before the foundation of the world, do I understand that? No, I do not. Do you understand it? No, you do not. The Father granted to the Son, the administration of the royal prerogative, if you will. In fully accomplishing eternal redemption for those He had given to the Son in His own sovereign authority. Notice He says that— “to all whom Thou hast given.” No one's missing, no one is left out. Not one.
One of the things that this also says to me, is that—there can be no question as to the legitimacy of Christ's work on the cross. The only way I can question, then, the legitimacy of Christ's redemptive work, is to attempt to deny the very existence or authority of God Himself. Because, God granted this authority to His Christ. Jesus declares it, God declares it, time and again throughout the Scriptures. If God said it, it must be so. Imagine the authority that is at work in the act of redemption. Have you ever thought about this for a moment? We see Christ on the cross, suffering for us on our behalf, bearing our sins and fully absorbing the full thrust of God's wrath on our behalf. On what authority or basis can we be sure of that? From the authority of Almighty God. A legitimate authority can be a pretty important thing, can it not?
Let’s say you’re someone who, a young man who really likes to go fishing and you found some remote pond located on somebody's property that surrounded by a fence with ominous signs all over it. “No trespassing” or maybe, “trespassers will be shot” and a friend of a relative of the person who owns that land says, “it's okay. I have permission we can go do it. We can go fish there” You’re going to question that, aren’t you? You’re gonna say, “are you sure?” You’ve ever done that? I've been in those situations where someone said, “yeah, it’s okay, they said it's all right.” And I said, “are you sure?”
This is something we can be sure about, absolutely certain. The God who commanded, and this world was brought into existence-- commanded that redemption be accomplished through Christ, you and I can be certain about that. As certain as this world exists, we can know this, that His sacrifice is effectual for those who come to Christ for salvation. I want you to notice this, in the light of the sovereignty of God here, the personal application of Christ's redemptive work is accomplished through an open invitation to sinners from every background, every circumstance, every tribe, tongue people and nation. There's an element here of human responsibility as well, that can't be denied, can't be ignored. It demonstrates the accountability of man, and it, promotes the glory of God. Here’s an open invitation to sinners based upon the authority of Almighty God.
It's an interesting thing and it's a sad thing, when we reject that authority. My brother Tom, was also sharing something else to me on the way up to the airport the other day, a really sad situation. He was talking about a couple that they had gotten to know through some short-term missionary work there in Mongolia. A couple that had come out there, I think they were there before they were even married. They were going to the Masters college out in California. Not long, I don't know how long after they returned, and this has been probably, maybe I don't know, maybe 15, 16 years ago they were there. Sometime after that these two young people were married and at some point, they completely rejected Christ. And now, they’ve declared themselves to be atheists. They don't even believe in God. And Tom was describing to me some of his conversation with them recently. There were some good things, I was encouraged by some of the comments that were made back and forth as Tom was responding to them, but one of the comments they made to him that really struck me. They said, “you know this whole idea of worrying about whether somebody saved or not or whether they're going to end up facing God's judgment and wrath, it’s just so hard to bear. Right now, we’ve completely thrown that out the window. We don't believe that's true, and it’s so freeing for us”
It really struck me, that statement. Talk about a deception. There is no freedom in that at all. The problem is they’re still in their sin. Whether they even acknowledge there is such a thing, as sin or not, they still are in their sin and now they rejected the only possible remedy for their sin. And they've enslaved themselves to the moment. There’s no freedom in that perspective, they've enslaved themselves to the moment because the moment is all you got, you don't have Christ and there is no God, then you’ve got nothing but the moment.
On the authority of Almighty God, Jesus came into this world to save sinners like you and I, and we can be sure of that, we can be certain of it. As sure as the world is held together by the word of God's power.
One last thing I notice, and this I'm just going to mention this morning, we’ll dig into it next time, Lord willing. You notice that this authority that is granted to Christ is a life-giving authority. Isn’t this tremendous? It's more than just forgiveness. It's more than just reconciliation, it’s the granting of life. “Even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal.” Is that not the most blessed truth imaginable? You talk about a profound authority. That's it. The first Adam became a living soul. Paul says in first Corinthians 15. Then, by contrast, the last Adam became what a life-giving Spirit. John began this gospel, in that fourth verse of chapter 1— “In Him was life.” Jesus spoke of this in John chapter 5, very specifically, He says, verse 20— “for the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel for just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life. Even so, the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.” later on, just skipping down a few verses, He says in verse 26— “for just as the Father has life in Himself, even so, He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.” Wow, that’s some kind of authority, is it not? And that authority was being exercised, and is to be seen at its apex, if you will, on the cross of all places. The Son of man, the Son of God, exercising the authority that the Father had granted to Him, to accomplish eternal redemption for sinners and to give to them life. What this life involves I trust, Lord willing, we will be able to look at more carefully next time, lets bow together in prayer.
“These things Jesus spoke and lifting up his eyes to heaven, He said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify Thee. Even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life. And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent. I glorify Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given me to do. And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee, before the world was.”
As we read through the New Testament accounts of our Lord's life, it's very obvious that toward the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus began to speak more and more about His impending death. This is something that you begin to see in the words that the Lord speaks to His disciples as the time approaches. We know, from the description that we have in the gospel accounts, that in this time and especially as the time drew near to the Lord's crucifixion, He was obviously anticipating the unthinkable severity of the suffering that He was about to endure. He was deeply grieved as He contemplated the sheer agony that would accompany His offering Himself on our behalf.
It’s important, it seems to me, that we are also aware, as we have begun to see last time, that we are also aware of the Lord's intense anticipation of the glory of the cross. Jesus was not only anticipating the agony of the cross, but He was also anticipating the glory of the cross. The apostle John especially is moved by the Spirit of God to record our Lord's emphasis on this aspect of His death, and he emphasizes it greatly. This is something that was much on the Lord's mind, and I trust we are able to begin to see that last time, and that that would be some good preparation for our considering, or working our way through the Lord's prayer to the Father.
When you think about it, the cross itself, the Romans means of execution seems so unlikely a means of making known the glory of God. We do not agree? That just doesn't seem like the place you can expect to see God's glory, much less the crowning manifestation of divine glory, as anticipated by the Lord Jesus Himself. We noted this last time, even at the beginning of the upper room discourse, or very much towards the beginning of the discourse, Jesus is anticipating this. As Judas goes out from them and follows through on his act of betrayal, Jesus, in that 31st verse says –
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself and will glorify Him immediately.” Now towards at the end of the upper room discourse, this again is on the Lord's mind as He lifts His eyes to heaven and begins to pray to the Father. “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee.”
From the limits of a merely human perspective, it's very difficult for us to see anything but agony on the cross, very very difficult. This is a view that the Lord gives to us here that opens to our understanding realities of really the most profound significance. This is the hour in which we are able to see the glory of Christ and of God in a most unique way. Are you anxious to see that in the cross of Christ? Is this something you long to see more of? I trust this is our desire.
We speak of the death of Christ, often. It’s the very focal point of our confidence and our trust, is it not? Of our hope, our confident expectation. And yet, many times, it seems to me, that we really don't think of it very carefully. We think of it, sort of…we begin to think of it generally. We speak of the Lord's death in general terms, and sometimes in very familiar terms and phrases that really become, just habitual. They almost become clichés for us. And in that regard, we, I think, many times expose this fact that we’re not all that intensely aware of the significance of the cross, from the divine perspective. And we can't just say, well that's the divine perspective we don't need to be interested in that, that's for God. The problem is, God has revealed the divine perspective to us. Actually, that's not a problem, that is a wonderful privilege, is it not? We don't have to just look at the cross from the limited view that we have, God gives to us, He grants to us in a remarkable condescending grace to us. He grants to us a different view, an expanded view, actually view beyond our comprehension. And I trust that this is something that we would look forward to. In many respects, this is the great theme of the 17th chapter. It's a thing that I want to especially draw our attention to.
Jesus, in this chapter, and as He begins this prayer, His prayer to the father. He sets the divine context of the cross. “The hour has come. Glorify Thy son, that the Son may glorify Thee.” That's the divine context of the suffering and the agony that Jesus was about to endure. The cross is not only a moment of suffering and shame, it is a display, a manifestation of divine glory like no other. Jesus begins then to illumine various specific aspects if you will, of the glory of the cross.
The first thing that we notice as we move into the second verse, as Jesus continues His statement. We notice the emphasis on divine authority associated with the cross. Notice this, in verse two— “even as Thou gavest Him”, that is the Son, “authority.” There is a divine authority that is on display. That is to be seen in our Lord suffering and His death. This is not what you and I would expect to see, the word authority is not what we would naturally expect to see in a moment of such shame and submission and humiliation on the cross. And yet, this is the very thing that Jesus first mentions as He anticipates the glory, the hour of glory. “Even as Thou gavest Him authority.” Even as Jesus in the humiliation of the cross, He's is accomplishing redemption for sinners. At the very same time Jesus is exercising a divine authority of profound proportions. And I would desire that we would look at that this morning together, or at least begin to.
The first thing that I want you to notice about this authority, as Jesus speaks of it here, is that it is an extensive authority. Jesus speaks of the authority that the Father has given Him over ALL mankind, or literally over all flesh. This is a remarkable thing. Here in what we observe, in what we consider, as we think of the Lord suffering and death, we are to recognize, that not only is this a moment of humility and suffering, this is a moment in which Almighty God is exercising authority through and in the person of His Son. An authority that extends over all of humanity. “As Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind.” I want you to notice how directly this ties into this matter glory. Again, we need to see the context very clearly, going back to the first verse— “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind.”
Surely, we would have to acknowledge that for the casual and the hardened observer in the land of Palestine during the Lord's earthly ministry, it would've been very easy to miss the authority of Chris. Especially in regards to His physical appearance, the people He was closest to or those who were following Him, not exactly an impressive group of men. For those who are literally just simply looking at Him and evaluating Jesus of Nazareth from the human perspective, it would have been very easy to miss the authority of Christ. Obviously, there were instances, some very unique instances in time, in which that authority was on display in a remarkable way. But the from the overall perspective, of just simply evaluating this man, Jesus, that authority would've been easy to miss.
This is even more true in our Lord suffering on the cross. How do you look at Jesus hanging on the cross, suffering in unspeakable agony and in that very moment, recognize that He is exercising an authority and an authority that extends all of humanity. Yet that's exactly what we see, that's the Lord's view of the cross as He anticipates the glory of the cross.
No one, including His closest followers, no one observing that awful spectacle could have possibly grasped at that point in time, the divine jurisdiction in operation. It's so obvious that the power of darkness is overwhelmingly being evidenced in this time. And yet, at the same time, the authority of the Savior. Jesus was not suffering for naught. The Son of God was not enduring this level of punishment, such a cruel punishment, on behalf of merely one small nation of people, and maybe along with that nation, a few straggling Gentiles in close proximity to the land of Palestine. Jesus had been granted authority to accomplish eternal redemption on behalf of sinners from every tribe and tongue, people, and nation. That's what Jesus is contemplating here— “even as Thou gavest Him authority over ALL mankind.”
This is something that we most certainly take for granted. We’ve talked about this a number of times. It’s something we need to be reminded of often. We seem to have in our minds, a perspective that God's redemptive purpose and plan has to fit, it absolutely has to fit, to some extent, within the framework of what we perceive to be the right thing for God to do. Don't we? We have a tendency to do that, we can't help but at that tendency.
We need to recognize very carefully the broad extent of God's mercy and grace that is evidence in His suffering and His death on the cross. There is a world-wide scope to the redemption that Jesus was accomplishing. It was a far-reaching authority that Jesus is exercising in the very act of His suffering and dying on our behalf. Jesus anticipated this, that is, the extensiveness of His redemptive authority. He anticipated this during His earthly ministry. We could go all the way back to His discourse with Nicodemus, could we not? When Jesus utters these words that are so familiar to millions of souls around this world— “for God so loved the world”.
To the Jew this is an extravagance that is unacceptable. What do you mean, God so loved the world, what about us? We’re God's chosen people. This is so deeply ingrained in the Jewish mindset, that even after the Lord explaining this time and time again to His disciples, that long after the Lord's resurrection and ascension to the Father, some of them were still wrestling in grappling with this. It took a remarkable vision from God to Peter to get him to go to proclaim the gospel in the house of a Gentile and when he did so, even when he was obedient and did so, and the rest of his Jewish brother found out he had done so they called him to give an account for such an egregious error from their perception, that he would go to a Gentile and proclaim the gospel to them. This was so ingrained in their mindset and yet, the Lord anticipates the extensiveness of the authority, the redemptive authority that God had granted to Him, even long before the cross. “For God so loved the world”. God had declared His love for the nation of Israel time and again. But Jesus comes and declares His love for the world.
This is beyond comprehension to the Jewish mind and it ought to create in us, an ongoing sense of wonder. But because of our pride and our arrogance, we tend to think, well, that's only right, that's only fair, that God would bring the gospel to us, right? We’re wrong in that. That's not right, it’s wrong. That's God's prerogative. He has the authority to proclaim redemption and to whom He will proclaim it. What does He say when He manifests His glory to Moses? --“I will have compassion,” on whom? “On whom I will have compassion.”
Another point in time where Jesus anticipated this, is in John's Gospel, the 10th chapter. Here He speaks of it more specifically. you recall that in the 10th chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus is referring to Himself, picturing Himself as the good Shepherd. Tremendous passage, such an encouraging portion of God's word. But in the middle of this discourse, in the Lord speaking of Himself as the good Shepherd. Verse 14— “I am the good Shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep.”
Now Jesus goes on from here in verse 16, and He says this— “and I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also. I must” notice that, “bring them also and they shall hear My voice, and they shall become one flock with one Shepherd. For this reason, the Father loves Me because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it out on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down.” Jesus had been granted the authority to lay down His life on behalf of, not only the lost sheep of Israel, but, on behalf of other sheep, and not just a few.
Jesus broadens this a little further in the 12th chapter. As we get a little closer, almost to the point of the upper room discourse. John chapter 12 verse 32— “and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” What an authority, the Lord Jesus demonstrates in His death, and His suffering on the cross. He has been granted authority by the Father to accomplish redemption, not just for one small little chosen nation of people, not for just a few outstanding groups of people or nations. He has been granted the authority to accomplish redemption on behalf of people all over this world, people in the most unlikely situations and circumstances, the most godless heathen imaginable. People from all walks of life. The worst sinners’ men have ever seen.
This is a remarkable demonstration, and it is on the basis of this authority that Jesus gives to His disciples, after His resurrection, a very direct command. It’s in relation to this authority. I remind you of Matthew chapter 28, the last few verses, very familiar to us. Jesus came up and He spoke to His disciples, and this is what He said— “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore,” that is in response to His authority. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” You recall the passage in the acts of the apostles. The first chapter, just before the Lord's ascension, His return to the Father. They’re wanting to know if this is the time that He will restore the kingdom to Israel. They asked the Lord in verse six, of acts chapter 1. Again, their mindset is Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel. Jews, Jews, Jews, that’s all they can think about. In spite of these things that Jesus has said. And by the way, in spite of numerous passages in the Old Testament, saying the very same thing.
Jesus says to them, it is not for you to know times and epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria,” and I love this last phrase— “even to the remotest part of the earth.” Does that not encourage and thrill your heart? “The remotest part of the earth.” Does it not thrill your soul that God, that the Lord Himself has been granted the authority to accomplish eternal salvation, redemption for sinners far beyond the confines of Palestine and far beyond the confines of even our nation or what we could consider to be the civilized or industrialized world, but to the farthest, the remotest ends of the earth. To people that we would not even know of their existence.
I was thinking about this, just contemplating this authority and my mind was drawn to several things, especially in regards to those who have taken this command so seriously, taken it to heart. Not only those who have gone, but those of us who take it seriously in terms of participation, financially, prayerfully. Have you ever thought of the difficulty of going and taking the gospel to a group of people who have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever? None of us have experienced that. I know that we have heard reports of this firsthand by those who we have supported, and it’s been a great encouragement.
I was thinking, Tom and I were talking about this as I was taking him back to the airport. Not too long ago, and we were talking about just the way that God has accomplished His redemptive purpose. The way this authority has been exercised as God has stirred up men's hearts to go and proclaim Christ, and we were talking about in the many years in the past, it was actually that long ago, but for many, many years during those times when someone will realize that call and yearned to take the gospel to another land another people, they would say goodbye to their loved ones and they would know it was a final goodbye. There was no coming home. They were going to the country of China and that would be the last their loved ones would see of them, this side of eternity.
What compelled them to do that? And more importantly, I think to myself, what gave them the sheer strength and audacity to proclaim Christ to people, who in many cases don't even have a word in their language to describe an Almighty God, much less any concept of God. What would give them the strength, the audacity to do such a thing? It’s the authority of Christ. God the Father bestowed upon Him the authority to redeem, to accomplish a redemption that would have worldwide significance.
I was thinking too, just as I was contemplating this and each of you have probably read many stories of missionaries who gone into places like this. I was thinking of a man that we got to know over a period of years. This has been a long time ago. His name was Paul Schwartz. He and his family felt called to go and proclaim Christ to cannibal tribes in the country of Borneo. I remember him coming back and describing what he went through and I can remember sitting there as a young person listening to him and wondering why he would do that. It wasn't just him, and it wasn't just him and his wife. It was him and his wife, and I forget how many kids they had. When they would go up that river, they eventually were able to get a boat. They didn't even have a boat to start with, a small little boat with an outboard motor. They motored their way up into this area and would be heard from or seen from for months on end. There was no communication and yet the Lord had laid this upon his heart and it comes back to this one thing, Jesus was granted authority by the Father, over all of mankind. Men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
That's what results in such praise and glory around the throne of God. That passage, we’ve looked at many times focuses on this in Revelation 5. “They sang a new song,” verse nine, “saying, worthy art Thou to take the book and to break its seals, for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God,” This is authority granted by the Father, “with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation and Thou hast made Him to be a kingdom and priests to our God and they will reign upon the earth. And I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” Jesus says as He looks at the cross that is almost upon Him, and He sees the glory. The Father has granted to Him authority over all of mankind.
There's a second thing that I want you to notice about the Lord's authority. Not only is it an extensive authority, but it is a sovereign authority. He says, “Even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life.” The passage we read earlier just a few moments ago, in the 12th chapter of John's Gospel, when Jesus says, in that 32nd verse, “If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself.” There are those who have ripped that from its context, the context of God's word and have laid hold of that to espouse universalism, that is to say that when Jesus says that He means everyone's going to be saved. It’s pretty clear that's not what Jesus meant, in a passage that’s even the poorest makes that very clear.
This authority is not only an extensive authority that has worldwide implications and ramifications and eternal glory, but it’s also an authority that exhibits the sovereignty of God. One of the things, that it seems to me, we are compelled to do in relation to this sovereign authority, is to notice the perfect harmony within the Godhead regarding this sovereign authority. And the shared possession of it, that is between Father and Son. Notice as you move on a little further in the 17th chapter, verses nine and 10. “I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine.” And then Jesus says this-- “And all things that are Mine are Thine and Thine are Mine, and I've been glorified in them.”
This sovereign authority, is an authority that is granted by the Father to the Son. The Father and the Son share this authority. And the exercise of this authority is done in perfect harmony. When Jesus accomplishes this redemption, this redemptive work on the cross, there is a sovereign perspective to this work. And Jesus doesn't go beyond or not far enough in regard to the work that He does on the cross. It’s in perfect harmony with the Father's will, in perfect harmony with the authority that Almighty God has granted to Him.
One of the things that I especially think is important for us to be reminded of, in regards to the statement, the Lord makes here-- Christ's redemptive work on the cross was not an act of distressed impulse if you will, on the part of God. It's not as though God is, as though we are to see God as a being who is frantically pursuing sinners in the hope of saving as many as He can convince to turn from their sins to His Christ. I have been reminded, recently again, and I have been in numerous times, especially in the recent past—That this is a distortion of God that has become exceedingly popular. This concept that God is somehow just desperate to save sinners. To find those who will agree to come to Him. You see this evidenced in many ways, but I want you to notice in this passage, in the words of our Lord Himself. What does He say about this?
He says that God the Father has given Him authority in this redemptive work he’s about to accomplish. It’s an authority that is extensive. It reaches to the very ends of the earth, the remotest parts of the earth. But it is a sovereign authority in that it relates specifically to all whom the Father has given Christ. Not one of them is lost. Jesus speaks of this concept numerous times actually in John's Gospel, I remind you of one that is very well known to us. John chapter 6, verse 37— “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, the one who comes to Me,” Jesus says, “I will certainly not cast out” What a promise. What a commitment. What authority.
When we think of God's people taking this tremendous and blessed proclamation of life to the nations, to the remotest parts of the end of the earth, to places where people have no respect for God whatsoever, we go on the basis of this authority. But it's not just an extensive authority it’s a sovereign authority. And oh, that should give us great comfort. We’re not God, we’re not sovereign, God's authority is.
God is grieved over the plight of all sinners, there's no doubt about that. God bestows much mercy and grace upon all sinners, in many ways. But God is not, and this is important, He is not distraught over human unbelief. It grieves Him, but He’s not distraught over it. He has the authority and He has exercised the authority in His Son, to redeem whom He will redeem. And He has and He will. He has a specifically effectual redemptive plan steadfastly determined before the foundation of the world, do I understand that? No, I do not. Do you understand it? No, you do not. The Father granted to the Son, the administration of the royal prerogative, if you will. In fully accomplishing eternal redemption for those He had given to the Son in His own sovereign authority. Notice He says that— “to all whom Thou hast given.” No one's missing, no one is left out. Not one.
One of the things that this also says to me, is that—there can be no question as to the legitimacy of Christ's work on the cross. The only way I can question, then, the legitimacy of Christ's redemptive work, is to attempt to deny the very existence or authority of God Himself. Because, God granted this authority to His Christ. Jesus declares it, God declares it, time and again throughout the Scriptures. If God said it, it must be so. Imagine the authority that is at work in the act of redemption. Have you ever thought about this for a moment? We see Christ on the cross, suffering for us on our behalf, bearing our sins and fully absorbing the full thrust of God's wrath on our behalf. On what authority or basis can we be sure of that? From the authority of Almighty God. A legitimate authority can be a pretty important thing, can it not?
Let’s say you’re someone who, a young man who really likes to go fishing and you found some remote pond located on somebody's property that surrounded by a fence with ominous signs all over it. “No trespassing” or maybe, “trespassers will be shot” and a friend of a relative of the person who owns that land says, “it's okay. I have permission we can go do it. We can go fish there” You’re going to question that, aren’t you? You’re gonna say, “are you sure?” You’ve ever done that? I've been in those situations where someone said, “yeah, it’s okay, they said it's all right.” And I said, “are you sure?”
This is something we can be sure about, absolutely certain. The God who commanded, and this world was brought into existence-- commanded that redemption be accomplished through Christ, you and I can be certain about that. As certain as this world exists, we can know this, that His sacrifice is effectual for those who come to Christ for salvation. I want you to notice this, in the light of the sovereignty of God here, the personal application of Christ's redemptive work is accomplished through an open invitation to sinners from every background, every circumstance, every tribe, tongue people and nation. There's an element here of human responsibility as well, that can't be denied, can't be ignored. It demonstrates the accountability of man, and it, promotes the glory of God. Here’s an open invitation to sinners based upon the authority of Almighty God.
It's an interesting thing and it's a sad thing, when we reject that authority. My brother Tom, was also sharing something else to me on the way up to the airport the other day, a really sad situation. He was talking about a couple that they had gotten to know through some short-term missionary work there in Mongolia. A couple that had come out there, I think they were there before they were even married. They were going to the Masters college out in California. Not long, I don't know how long after they returned, and this has been probably, maybe I don't know, maybe 15, 16 years ago they were there. Sometime after that these two young people were married and at some point, they completely rejected Christ. And now, they’ve declared themselves to be atheists. They don't even believe in God. And Tom was describing to me some of his conversation with them recently. There were some good things, I was encouraged by some of the comments that were made back and forth as Tom was responding to them, but one of the comments they made to him that really struck me. They said, “you know this whole idea of worrying about whether somebody saved or not or whether they're going to end up facing God's judgment and wrath, it’s just so hard to bear. Right now, we’ve completely thrown that out the window. We don't believe that's true, and it’s so freeing for us”
It really struck me, that statement. Talk about a deception. There is no freedom in that at all. The problem is they’re still in their sin. Whether they even acknowledge there is such a thing, as sin or not, they still are in their sin and now they rejected the only possible remedy for their sin. And they've enslaved themselves to the moment. There’s no freedom in that perspective, they've enslaved themselves to the moment because the moment is all you got, you don't have Christ and there is no God, then you’ve got nothing but the moment.
On the authority of Almighty God, Jesus came into this world to save sinners like you and I, and we can be sure of that, we can be certain of it. As sure as the world is held together by the word of God's power.
One last thing I notice, and this I'm just going to mention this morning, we’ll dig into it next time, Lord willing. You notice that this authority that is granted to Christ is a life-giving authority. Isn’t this tremendous? It's more than just forgiveness. It's more than just reconciliation, it’s the granting of life. “Even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal.” Is that not the most blessed truth imaginable? You talk about a profound authority. That's it. The first Adam became a living soul. Paul says in first Corinthians 15. Then, by contrast, the last Adam became what a life-giving Spirit. John began this gospel, in that fourth verse of chapter 1— “In Him was life.” Jesus spoke of this in John chapter 5, very specifically, He says, verse 20— “for the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel for just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life. Even so, the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.” later on, just skipping down a few verses, He says in verse 26— “for just as the Father has life in Himself, even so, He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.” Wow, that’s some kind of authority, is it not? And that authority was being exercised, and is to be seen at its apex, if you will, on the cross of all places. The Son of man, the Son of God, exercising the authority that the Father had granted to Him, to accomplish eternal redemption for sinners and to give to them life. What this life involves I trust, Lord willing, we will be able to look at more carefully next time, lets bow together in prayer.
