Psalm of Praise: Psalms 77:13-15
Your ways, God, are holy.
What god is as great as our God?
You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
With your mighty arm you redeemed your people.
Bible Reading: John 17:1-3
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.
For you granted him authority over all people
that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
A Reflection:
At the end of the Last Supper John tells us that Jesus prayed for his disciples. He is now with them, only a short time away from his arrest and maybe less than twelve hours away from his crucifixion and death. It is as if he has a foot in each camp. With one foot he is standing on this earth and concerned about his disciples and their future life and ministry, and with the other foot he is anticipating the glory that is to come.
This reminds me of the last verse of the great hymn by Charles Wesley, ‘Jesus the name high over all,’
Happy, if with my latest breath
I may but gasp His Name, Preach Him to all and cry in death,
"Behold, behold the Lamb!"
Jesus’ first concern as he prayed for his disciples was that they would know the only true God as revealed through himself, Jesus Christ, and that through knowledge of him they would receive eternal life.
There are many different concepts of God today and many different religions, as there have been throughout history. In our psalm today, written around 3,000 years ago, the psalmist recognises this as he says, ‘What god is as great as our God?’
Some religions may look at a different facet of God to us but the only person who fully knows God, who sees all his facets, is Jesus and so it is to him that we must look to know God. It is also to him that we must look to receive eternal life, for it is Jesus, God the Son, who died so that we could be forgiven share his glory in eternity. What god is indeed as great as our God!
Pray:
O that the world might taste and see The riches of His grace! The arms of love that compass me Would all mankind embrace.
Amen
Jesus the name high over all.