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I grew up with the idea that I needed to believe in Jesus to go to heaven. Even in seminary, three semesters of systematic theology were required for graduation. But discipleship groups? Those were optional. It's easier to learn about Jesus than to know him.
John 17:1-5
Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent—Jesus Christ. I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.
When I think about getting glory, it looks like money, power, or fame. But when Jesus asked for glory, he was thinking about his crucifixion. If I told you that I would be publicly killed by a firing squad for treason against the United States, would you feel some sympathy for me? Perhaps. But if I told you that I knew God would exalt me in my death? You might wonder if I was crazy. Jesus considered the most shameful death in his culture as his appointed hour of glory. Even as the Roman state demonstrated its authority over his body, he understood himself to have authority over all people. If he had remained dead, his paradoxical views on shame and death would have died with him. But Jesus knew that he would step through death to eternal life. That's why he asked the Father for glory. His glorification—his shameful death on a cross—is how he gives us eternal life. This life isn't pie-in-the-sky. It begins as soon as you know God, and lasts forever. He said, "This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." Jesus is fulfilling the promise given by God to the prophet Jeremiah, "they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them" (Jeremiah 31:34). So Jesus went to the cross. Isn't that glorious?
What surprises you about how Jesus defines eternal life?
Where have you felt the gap between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus?
Do you experience your relationship with God as "life that will never end"?
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