The late John Stott, long-time gifted British expositor of the Word, stated that the John chapters 14-17 passage recording the high priestly prayer of Jesus (Yeshua) is surely the Holy of Holies of all of Scripture.
No greater words have ever been spoken than these of the Savior. The earnestness with which the Son of God pleads with the Father (and what He requests) is incomprehensible: "That they may be one as We are one." AS WE ARE: in like manner—to share in OUR glory—the glory which We had, in which We existed in for all time beforehand. The implications are staggering.
While we find ourselves fighting in vain against endlessly sinking into living for activities and accruements, our Lord and Master is steadily, constantly, masterfully relational. In and through all things, His eye is ever on the relational dynamics of all things. His conversations with the wicked unbelieving of His creation pierce to the dividing of soul and spirit, more like surgeries than conversations; and oddly enough, the righteous experience the same from Him, but theirs is unto life.
When one meditates on the restraint the Messiah exhibited while on Earth, away from His almightiness, one is spell-bound. His ability to do dashing miracles of untold numbers was controlled entirely by His relational aims. He performed only what would deepen the relational. He had no desire for show. When we peek into this high priestly prayer and see Him on His knees, we get a glimpse of the ultimate in unfettered love. Our humble High Priest quietly succeeded in asking and obtaining the inscrutable for us.
