Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of John Chapter 17
Metaphysically Interpreting John 17:1-26
17:1These things spake Jesus; and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that the son may glorify thee: 17:2even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, that to all whom thou hast given him, he should give eternal life. 17:3And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ. 17:4I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do. 17:5And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
17:6I manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them to me; and they have kept thy word. 17:7Now they know that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are from thee: 17:8for the words which thou gavest me I have given unto them; and they received them, and knew of a truth that I came forth from thee, and they believed that thou didst send me. 17:9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me; for they are thine: 17:10and all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them. 17:11And I am no more in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are. 17:12While I was with them, I kept them in thy name which thou hast given me: and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 17:13But now I come to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves. 17:14I have given them thy word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17:15I pray not that thou shouldest take them from the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one. 17:16They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. 17:17Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth. 17:18As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world. 17:19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
17:20Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word; 17:21that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may believe that thou didst send me. 17:22And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one; 17:23I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that thou didst send me, and lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me. 17:24Father, I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
17:25O righteous Father, the world knew thee not, but I knew thee; and these knew that thou didst send me; 17:26and I made known unto them thy name, and will make it known; that the love wherewith thou lovedst me may be in them, and I in them.
February 8, 1925: John 17:1-13
How is man glorified of God? Man is glorified of God when he exalts God in his consciousness.
When is man to have authority over all flesh and to be given the consciousness of eternal life? To have authority over all flesh, man, in his spiritual identity, must control and direct his fleshly nature. When man realizes that he is one with eternal life, he radiates the consciousness of eternal life to his whole body.
What is the fundamental thought upon which eternal life rests and is made manifest? Eternal life rests in the understanding that there is but one God; that God is Spirit; that God is life; that God is everywhere present, all-knowing and all-powerful. Spirit identifies and manifests itself in its idea, perfect man, through which manifest man is educated, empowered, and invested with divinity. “Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
How does man manifest the name of God, and through that name glorify God? God's name is I AM. Man's name is I AM. When man thinks about God as omnipresent Spirit, he merges his I AM into spiritual I AM, and this conjunction exalts and glorifies both man and God.
How does spiritual man impart the gifts of God to outer consciousness? When man realizes that God is omnipresent Spirit, the word is his avenue of expression. All thoughts and words emanate from the one Logos or living Word. When man opens his consciousness for the inflow of the Logos, in Spirit he receives everything that God has to give.
What did Jesus mean by: “And all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them”? Jesus made the great renunciation by giving up himself and all his possessions to Spirit. Then he realized that he had made unity with God, that all that God had belonged to him, and that he was exalted, joyous, happy in the possession of the ideas that lay back of and within all things.
What is the meaning of: “and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled”? The “son of perdition” is the adverse consciousness that man builds through thinking that he has existence apart from God. This thought or adversary or carnal mind must perish before man can be wholly reconciled to God. The Scripture represents the truth, which is fulfilled in man's life, when he destroys all thought of separation from God.
March 14, 1937: John 17:14-26
How does one distinguish the natural man from the spiritual in a crisis involving life and death? Where life and death are involved the natural man thinks first of himself and his own safety, whereas the spiritual-minded man thinks of those dependent on him for help or guidance, and continues to meet his responsibility to them. Jesus prayed for His disciples just before His arrest.
What has the Holy Spirit to do with unity? The Holy Spirit is the consciousness of unity or perfect communion with God. “That they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us.”
In what respect is man one with God and Christ? As mind, idea, and expression are one, so man is one with God and Christ. Mind is the source of the idea, which becomes manifest in expression.
What idea is powerful enough to move all men to action? The idea of love, the summation of the idea of oneness, possesses such power.
Jesus prayed for His disciples: “That may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.” To what glory did He refer? The glory of Jesus Christ was His complete unification with the Father, through which He did always the things that were pleasing to God. Divine Mind is well pleased with the perfect idea or son of the Father.
How does man realize the ambition to excel? He learns to excel through becoming consciously one with Divine Mind and expressing the ideas gained through this union. His faith becomes an incentive to action. Through faith man concentrates his thoughts and gains power to express the ideas conceived in mind.
Sunday. March 21, 1943: John 17:1-8
What do we learn first from the prayer contained in the lesson for today? It teaches us to observe the way of Truth by uniting our individual will with the divine will and working under its leadership.
What is eternal life? It consists in the full knowledge of God, or consciousness of God, and of Jesus Christ, the perfect idea of man in the mind of God.
How do we glorify God? By doing perfectly the work that we are convinced we should do. This is the work that the Father gives us.
How is the prayer “Glorify thou me with thine own self” answered? The one who prays gains a quickened consciousness of the indwelling God. This glorifies him.
What work does Divine Mind give to each of us? That of expressing Truth and of searching it by example, precept, or both, whichever we are best fitted to do.
March 21, 1943: John 17:18-26
What is one of the Truth's most important teachings? That in Christ and in God we are all one; in other words, that life is universal and that all share in it alike.
Who is included in the vision of divine unity that Jesus had? The whole world. “That the world may believe that thou didst send me.”
How can the world know oneness and love? Only as peoples and nations learn to keep the way of the Christ. Those who have realized divine unity should become leaders of world thought.
How can the way be made plain to the world? People can be taught that understanding and good will exert unlimited power to resolve individual and mass differences. They can prove this by fair trial, when they will see for themselves that these things create harmony and accord instead of hate and discord. They cannot learn the way of the Christ, until it is taught them intelligently by example and by a faithful inculcation of principles.
Sunday, December 3, 1944: John 17:18-23
Are we “sent” into the world by the Christ Spirit? The desire felt by each of us to share our understanding of Truth with those who are ready to accept it is our call to teach; by it we are “sent.” We can teach chiefly by example, but also by precept, where that is acceptable, the observance of the principles of Truth.
Which principle is most urgently in need of application? The principle of good will among men, which will lead to peace on earth and give all an opportunity to help in making the “glory of God” manifest. This glory is that of the full realization of all our powers as a race imbued with the inspiration of Divine Mind.
Have we a good opportunity at the present time to demonstrate good will on a world-wide scale? Our opportunity now is greater than ever before, since our young men, who were reared in a tradition of good will and have no feeling of hatred for other nations, are scattered all over the world in the military and naval service.
What will convince the world of the truth taught by Jesus Christ? The achieving of unity by those who accept the truth taught by Jesus Christ and who express the Spirit of truth in their relations with one another. “That they may all be one ... that the world may believe that thou didst send me.”
What is the “glory” of the Christ that Jesus gave to His disciples? It is the consciousness of God that Jesus had in full measure and the unity that this consciousness made possible for them and for us. When we are all of one mind, the mind of Christ, all things become possible through our united action.
Sunday, November 25, 1945: John 17:20-23
Is a certain independence of other persons essential to the one who seeks to be baptized with the Holy Spirit? He must be independent of personality and able to stand alone. To depend on personality in even a slight measure puts the realization of the Holy Spirit beyond one's reach.
When did the disciples learn to stand alone? At Pentecost. Before that time they went in pairs or gathered together in groups, seeking strength in union.
What aids the individual in realizing the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit? The bringing of all his faculties into a state of unity.
Sunday, March 23, 1947: John 17:1-11
What is meant by “glory” as used in the text of this lesson? The joy, happiness, and felicity of the life that is in accord with spiritual truth (“hid with Christ in God”).
Among other things what glory does conscious unity with God or with our fellow men produce? The glory of harmony. If all who believe in God would join forces in bringing in the kingdom of heaven here and now, regardless of other minor differences, the millennium would dawn shortly.
What other forms of glory does unity in Christ develop? The glory of good will, of knowledge held in common, and of reciprocal action. Peace on earth is possible only among men of good will. “This is life eternal that they should know thee the only true God.”
What is included in a knowledge of God? Consciousness of God within us and in the whole cosmos, since there is no place where God is not.
How does the Christ glorify God on earth? By manifesting the divine nature in all things here and now. The perfect-man idea glorifies God by making union with God in spirit and in expression.
March 23, 1947: John 17:20-23
What sort of state is unity? A spiritual state. God cannot be within us except as spirit, the spirit that animates us and that we express.
Is it possible for all men everywhere to express the spirit of that which is perfect? This spirit is universal, therefore it is available to all who will express it.
Since it is universal, does it enter into anyone of itself, without preparation on his part? No, but it comes to those who learn to put their dependence in Spirit rather than in material aid.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 01-03-2014
