Read John 17: 13-19. 

DISCUSS

Verse 13 can seem a little hard to figure out at first. Jesus is talking about joining God the Father once He dies, rises from the dead, and ascends into heaven. 

• But what is Jesus saying about His joy here? Can you figure it out?
• What does it say about how Jesus viewed the importance of completing His mission that He would be happy in the face of what He knew was about to happen to Him?
• How would you define Jesus’ mission? What did He come to earth to do?

Verses 14-16, are a similar to the ones you studied from John 15. However, there is an interesting difference in verse 15. 

• Jesus acknowledges that the world pretty much hates all His followers, and that it’s a pretty tough gig being in the world at all. So, He asks God to whisk all His followers away to heaven so that they won’t have to put up with it, right? Right? (Wrong.) What does Jesus really ask God to do?
• Knowing the road would sometimes be tough for His followers, why do you think Jesus insisted on leaving us in the world? Think about this one in light of His overall mission.
• How does this change the idea of the hardship you have or will experience at times because you identify yourself as a Christ-follower?

Verse 17.

• Do you know what it means to be sanctified?
• Jesus is saying that He wants His followers to be sanctified, what is the means by which Jesus asks God to sanctify us?
• This had a slightly different meaning to the disciples in this specific moment. But as we are making the application to our lives, what does this mean exactly? How do we talk about God’s Word today?
• You are part of Jesus’ mission. To be on mission with Jesus is to be set apart for this task. And the means by which you’re set apart and prepared to be on mission for Jesus is by the truth of God’s Word. Does this make sense? What does your being in God’s Word have to do with your mission of sharing the Gospel with the lost?

Read Psalm 119:105. 

• In your own words, how does this pertain to Jesus’ words we just looked at? 
• How does this support the idea that to be on mission for God in this world, we have to be motivated by seeking Him in the Bible?

Read John 14: 6. Explain your understanding of these statements.

• What are 2 reasons why someone might agree with this statement.
• What are 2 reasons why someone might disagree with this statement.
• How might this impact the way we share your thoughts about these controversial topics?

Answer the following question in the quiz.

• After considering these Biblical passages, summaries the three main points that you took from this discussion.