BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

Today’s reading concludes Jesus’ Upper Room Discourse with his disciples, which John writes about in chapters 13-17. As we continue reading, Jesus is facing his impending death. It feels as if time slows and the air is heavy until Jesus wraps up his conversation with the high priestly prayer in John 17, recorded only in this gospel. When they see him murdered, the disciples might begin to doubt his claims, so Jesus reminds them that he is truly from the Father and will be departing soon to return to the Father. But this does not mean he will abandon them.

The Holy Spirit will be with them, guiding them in everything Jesus said and did, continuing to move them toward the goal of total union with Father, Son, and Spirit. Some see Jesus’ prayer like a doorway into life with God as Trinity. Jesus wants his people to live completely as one, just as he is one with the Father and Spirit, so that the world will know he is real and that God truly sent him (John 17:20-23).

The next scene turns dark, as Judas’ betrayal leads to Jesus’ arrest and confrontation with the Roman governor over Judea, Pontius Pilate. When Jesus tells Pilate that he came to bring the truth, Pilate scoffs, “What is truth?” This subtle hyperlink strings together earlier teachings that “God’s word is truth” (John 17:17) and that the “Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Pilate scoffs at the idea of truth while the truth stands in front of him.

Reflection Questions

• Meditate on Jesus’ prayer for his followers in John 17. What does this prayer say about the kind of life Jesus invites his followers into?
• On the way to the garden, where Judas betrays Jesus, he and his disciples cross the Kidron Valley, taking the same route that David took when he was rejected as king during Absalom’s insurrection (2 Sam. 15:23). How does this hyperlink point to Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel’s story?