Finding Eternal Life In The Cross

𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐀 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒, 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐬

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐀𝐜 𝟐𝟎: 𝟏𝟕-𝟐𝟕

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟔𝟖: 𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟏, 𝟐𝟎-𝟐𝟏 “𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐎 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟕:𝟏-𝟏𝟏

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆,” (𝒗.3) 

         This entire chapter of John’s Gospel is all about the prayer of Jesus for the world that has been turned into a battleground where the forces of Satan are constantly at war with those who are under the authority of God.

         As we all know by now, Satan and his minions are moved by their deep and bitter hatred for Christ and those who follow the Son of God and in this Gospel passage we see Jesus praying not only for his disciples but for all those who follow him today. He prayed that God would keep us safe from the influence of Satan by setting us apart and making us pure and holy by uniting us with God through him.

         What Jesus is also telling us in this passage is that we shouldn’t be afraid of the cross because it is through the cross that we can have eternal life. In this life something has to give and we may have to give up something to which we are so attached so we can enjoy the victory that Christ promised.

         Jesus found his glory in the cross because the cross brought to completion his earthly mission. The cross symbolized the depth of his great love for us because his death on the cross canceled the debt of sin that is upon us and erased the curse of our condemnation.

          How then is the cross related to eternal life and how can we have eternal life through the cross. Jesus tells us in this passage that we can have eternal life by simply knowing God the Father through him. And for us to gain this eternal life, we need to enter into a personal relationship with God through Christ.

         Having a personal relationship with God is not just confessing our sins and turning away from sinful tendencies but pursuing a life of total obedience to God. As Jesus brought honor and glory to God by his perfect obedience, we too can give glory and honor that God deserves when we yield in complete obedience to His Will for us.

         Jesus could have avoided the cross but in the end, he submitted to the Will of God: “𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒆, 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆.” (𝑳𝒌 22:42) At the end of the day, it was the Will of God that Jesus obeyed because he knew this was the only way that God could be glorified.

         We must remember that before Jesus was sent down from heaven, he was already one with God. “𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝑮𝒐𝒅.” (𝑱𝒏 1:1) And when his mission was almost finished, Jesus asked the Father to restore him to his original place of honor and authority (𝒗.5) and this was attested to by Stephen who in his hour of death saw a vision of heaven being opened and he saw the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God (𝑨𝒄 7:56).            

         And when Jesus said: “𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚!” (𝒗.10) it means that as God’s glory was fully revealed in his character, this same character of God that was in Jesus and which was passed on to his disciples by the power of the Holy Spirit is being passed on to us and by our obedience to his Will our lives must be reflective of the character of Jesus. 

         We should not look at the cross as the end. The cross is simply the means by which we can gain eternity. As such, we must look beyond the cross and with great expectation and hope look towards the resurrection that follows. Jesus had to face his cross because it was the way to return to God. We too must embrace our cross because it is through the cross that we will find our way to God.

         This passage also gives us a glimpse of what discipleship is all about. As Jesus asked God that his disciples be united in harmony and love in the same way that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are united (𝒗.11) we must come to a realization that discipleship is premised on obedience because a disciple is one who keep’s God’s Word as spoken by Jesus.

         While we have been given the privilege of having a free conscience, the reality is that we cannot be called a disciple of Christ for as long as we persist in doing what we like because discipleship involves complete submission. What we all must know is that we are destined to a life of discipleship as we have all been given by God to Jesus so that we will all be united with the Triune God (𝒗.11).

         It is also a fact of life that it is in death that the great men of history have found their glory. It is in death and how they died that provides the people a picture of who they really were. Many of those who have gone ahead of us have been misunderstood, undervalued, condemned as criminals in their lifetime, but their deaths showed their true value. Similarly, we see people saying good things to a person who died something that they may have not done when that person was still living, and these are times when you appreciate the value of the person who died whom you may have misunderstood.

         The underlying message in this passage today is not just about we being united with God in the same way that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit were united but we whom Jesus has predestined to become his disciples must also be united with one another.

         In other words, today’s gospel passage also speaks of discipleship and when Jesus said that “𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖… 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆.” Translated into today’s reality, a disciple is one who sees God in Jesus and is aware that no one is one with God as Jesus is. And if we regard ourselves as disciples of Christ, we must realize that we must keep God’s Word as we hear it spoken by Jesus. It means that we as disciples are given to Jesus by God and it is the Spirit of God who moves in us such that we can respond to the call of Jesus.

         There’s another thing that we all should know and this to me is the most important. If there’s anyone who balk at the idea of submitting oneself to God or give our entire selves to God, we should know that it was God who first gave us everything that we need in life.

         Very important that we take note of the “𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔” from God starting in 𝒗.2: (1) 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅; (2) 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒕𝒐, (3) 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏. This by far is one of the most invaluable truths that we see in 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 17 and that is the undeniable truth that each of us who believe is God’s love gift to the Son (𝑱𝒏 6:37).

         This is a mystery that cannot be explained but we thank God for it: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆.” (𝑹𝒐𝒎 11:29) This simply means that our salvation is secure in God’s love, for the Father will not take us way from the Son.

         Thus, the unity of the Church and or of the Community is what will bring glory and honor to the Father, and it is only through such unity that we can achieve victory over the dominions and principalities that are at work to separate us from God.

         Living in unity and harmony as a community of disciples is the greatest proof of the existence of God's love for every person on earth and at the core of the Church is the cross of Jesus Christ which gives us an unbridled view of the unconditional love of God. Our task then as disciples is to love God back by making this love known to the ends of the earth. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 3, 2025)