Daily Bible Nugget #270, John 17:6

The Nugget:

John 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

My Comment:

Saints obey the Scriptures (The New Topical Textbook, subheading under the main heading “The Scriptures,” page 240).

Jesus said of His disciples, “they have kept thy word” (John 17:6). That is an amazing statement. Recall that the two brothers, James and John, involved their mother in a request to have the privilege of being seated on the right and on the left of Christ in His kingdom. When the others heard of it, they were very upset at James and John (Matthew 20:24). Jesus had told them (Matthew 20:25, 26) that though the Gentile powers of that day exercised dominion over their subjects, Jesus ordered “But it shall not be so among you” (Matthew 20:26). I believe in this text Jesus taught against hierarchy. Perhaps some semblance of hierarchy seems necessary in church organization today, but I often wonder if this is really the will of our Lord Jesus Christ. The first churches established by the original twelve apostles and Paul were “house churches” that met in homes (Romans 16:3-5). There were no denominations then. But right after Jesus taught against hierarchy it seems the disciples got into quite a discussion among themselves about “who should be the greatest” (Mark 9:34). The fact that the disciples could even have such a discussion among themselves is surely proof positive that they did not take the words of Matthew 16:18, 19 to mean that Peter had the pre-eminence among them assigned by Christ Himself, though one major church stakes its claim to be the One True Church upon this text. One evidence of the authenticity of the Gospel record is that it clearly points up the flaws and foibles of the people it depicts–even of the apostles themselves. They were very human. But that is what makes the claim of Jesus all the more striking when He said of them, “They have kept thy word” (John 17:6). This is a most interesting theme to trace through Scripture. The only way I know of that you can trace this theme is by following out the cross references assembled for this amazing passage. I share the cross references below for your blessing and further spiritual insight. But the chief point at issue is that the apostles obeyed God’s Word. God has made provision for us that we should do the same through the power of His Holy Spirit working in our lives to produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23) as the result of the regenerative change He produces in our lives when we believe in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17; Titus 3:5).

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1202 for John 17:6.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1221 or in Logos 5 Bible software for John 17:6.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

John 17:6. have manifested. ver. Jn 17:8, *Jn 17:26. *Jn 1:18. +Jn 7:4. 12:28. 14:7, 9-11, 25. 15:15. *Ex 3:13-15. 6:2, 3. *Ex 9:16. *Ex 23:21. *Ex 34:5-7. *Ps 22:22. 25:14. 71:17-19. Je 31:34. *Mt 11:25-27. 16:17. *Lk 10:21, 22. 1 Cor 2:16. *2 Cor 4:6. *He 2:12. 1 J 5:20. thy name. FS121T1, +Dt 28:58. ver. Jn 17:11, 12, 26. +Jn 12:28. *Ex 23:21. 34:5. Dt 32:3. +**Ps 9:10n. +Ps 20:1n. +*Ps 89:24. the men. ver. Jn 17:2, 9, 11, 14, 16, 24. **Jn 6:37, 39. **Jn 10:27-29. *Jn 15:19. 18:9. +*Ac 13:48. gavest. ver. Jn 17:2, 20. **Jn 6:37. 10:29. 12:32. =Nu 3:9. =Nu 8:19. =Nu 18:6. He 2:13. world. Gr. kosmos, +Mt 4:8. 1 Cor 5:10. thine. ver. *Jn 17:9, *Jn 17:10. **Ro 8:28-30. 11:2. *Ep 1:4-11. **2 Th 2:13, 14. 1 P 1:1, 2. they. **Jn 8:31, 32. *Jn 14:21-24. *Jn 15:3, 7. **Ps 119:11. *Pr 2:1-5, 10, 11. *Pr 3:1-4. 23:23. *Col 3:16. *2 Tim 1:13. He 3:6. Re 2:13. *Re 3:8, 10. have kept. Gr. tēreō [(S#5083g, Mt 19:17): Jn 14:15, 21, 23, 24. 15:10, 20. 17:6, 11, 12, 15]. *+Jn 8:47, 51. =Le 23:17. Nu 23:21. +*Dt 33:9. 1 K 3:14. 11:34. 2 Ch 15:17. Jb 42:7, 8. +*Je 22:16. +*Ezk 18:22. Lk 1:6. *Ro 4:17. +*1 Cor 2:6. 2 Tim 4:7. James 4:11. 2 P 2:8. +*1 J 2:3. thy word. Gr. logos, Mk 9:32n. Three statements are made by the Lord of His disciples, each three times: their relationship to the Word, ver. Jn 17:6, 7, 8; relationship to the Sent One, ver. Jn 17:8, 18, 25; relationship to the world, ver. Jn 17:14, 14, 16 (CB). **Jn 8:47. +*Ps 119:67. +*Lk 8:21.