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Jesus' Attitude Towards God - John 17
Jesus' Attitude Towards God - John 17
In John 17 we read the longest recorded prayer of Jesus as He speaks unto God. It is interesting to see Jesus’ attitude towards the Father. I find in Him the perfect balance of intimacy and awe/respect. When this is unbalanced in the realm of intimacy you see disrespect where God is more of a ‘good buddy’ and than God. This easily leads to a flippant attitude towards both God and His word. On the other hand, other people often see God as an austere hateful being. Such leads to a lack of love and respect.
Jesus in all of his power, authority, and position YET remained humble before the Father. As Paul wrote concerning Him: "And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). Here in John, Jesus stated simply that “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do” (John 17:4). In speaking to God, He addresses Him as ‘Father’ (1,5), Holy Father (11), and ‘righteous Father’ (25). One commented that "Everything is traced back to the Father: he has assigned the work; he has given the people; he is the one to whom Jesus is about to return; and he is the recipient of Jesus’ petition”.* In His prayer you can see that even His requests were ultimately concerned with bringing glory unto God (cp. vs. 1 - ‘THAT the Son may glorify you’).
We need to strive for this same balance in our thinking of and interacting with God. He is our Father who loves us and invites us to cast all of our cares upon Him. He is also our God who brings even our thoughts into judgment. He is a Father that is gracious and willing to forgive but He is also a righteous judge who displays His wrath against all ungodliness (Rom. 1:17).
More about Jesus let me learn, more of His holy will discern, more like Jesus let me be. Let me learn to be as balanced in my thinking about God as Jesus was.
Hugh DeLong
*Quoted by Andreas Kostenberger in his commentary on John 17, Logos edition.
