John 1:1 & 1:14 tell us that God's Word, which was In The Beginning with God, was God and was manifested in Human Form in his day.

In Moses' and the prophets' day, that Word was manifested in spoken and written Form, thus His Word before being expressed in flesh Form, was expressed in written Form. All Scripture, therefore, is the Spoken Word in written Form. The Deuteronomist says that man is not to live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth, echoed by Jesus Himself when His body hungered and was tempted by Satan. Job says he esteemed God's word more than his necessary food. And the Psalmist declares those words sweeter to the taste than honey. Jeremiah, after finding and eating God's word, found them to be the Joy and Strength of his heart, while Ezekiel, after being ordered to eat the Roll of God, discovered, as did the Psalmist, its sweetness.

Jesus (the Word in human Form), after feeding the 5,000, declared that His body (the Word) was to be eaten and His blood drank for eternal Life.

So, we see here, God's Word expressed in 2 distinct forms, both sweet and producing life:

a.	His human Form expressed in Jesus, and
b.	His written Form expressed in Holy Scripture.

Are they not then the same? Was not Christ's life the spoken Word of the Father ( Jn.8:26; 14:10; 6:63)? Is He not then the spoken Logos as John has declared from the outset?

Listen carefully now. Take up your Bible. As you clutch that Book, binding His Word in Written Expression, know that you are holding Him in written Form. As you open to its first page, you sense in your hand the very Pulse of the Creative Power of God as it lives within its pages. And as you read and turn from page to page, its beat grows stronger, until finally you reach the page that opens to here, John 17, and you discover the very Heart from whence that beat was sensed. You are now holding within your hands the very life of Jesus in written Form, your eyes fixed upon His Heart as it is poured out to the Father in spoken intimacy. Through His veins is flowing the very life-source for all mankind: God's unconditional Love. This Heart will explode in a few short hours upon the Cross, to shed its content upon any who stand at its base, flowing like a River down through the Ages, healing all who will enter into its stream.

And so His Word, once as human Flesh, remains with us to this day in Written Form, still producing life within all whose eyes fall upon its pages, partaking of its content. No other book has such power which beats within to change one's life and alter his or her eternal destiny! It is the very Life of God!

Consequently, as you read John 17, know that your eyes are looking upon and into the very Heart of our Lord, penned in Written Form by the Beloved through the Power of the Holy Spirit. Be careful to enter its words with reverence and awe, but nevertheless, enter, for it is given for all who believe to see how their life is to be lived, as modeled by our Lord. May each soul absorb to its satisfaction the depth of God's Riches here proffered. As St. Augustine said, its depth is such "wherein the lamb may wade and the elephant swim." Many a scholar, attempting to sound the depths of so simple a word spoken in prayer, have acknowledged, as Martin Luther: "It is indeed above measure...I cannot set down sufficiently, I fear. For however plainly and simple it is expressed it is so deep, so wide, so rich, that no one can sound its depths." It is to be experienced!

The garden is upon us and His Hour of Passion about to begin. Walk with Him in spirit as He surrenders Himself in total submission to God's Plan for all.

John has shown us through Jesus' recent teachings God's Plan for all disciples' lives. It is the only formula expressly and uniquely given whereby all are to live. It was modeled in Jesus' earthly life, and Ch.17 will give us an intimate eavesdrop into Jesus engaged in His own Abiding Relationship as our example. That plan is simple, as unequivocally stated in Scripture by Christ. Its basis is found in the disciple's obedience to the New Commandment given by our Lord, and from which stems every successful step in the disciple's daily walk.

And so it begins with:

Let's state it in reverse order.

Indeed, it is plain to see that the end result of a successful step by step walk in Christ is:

(STEP 5)   our Strength
(STEP 4)   which is produced from the Joy
(STEP 3)   of our Unlimited Access
(STEP 2)   in an Abiding Relationship
(STEP 1)   resulting from direct Obedience to His Commandment of loving one another as He loved us.

There it is, right before us.

Do you see the progression of each step to the other and how each is inextricably linked to the first? Failure at any step is failure in its purpose. It cannot be emphasized enough that the whole linchpin upon which all hangs is the very first step: loving one another as He loved us. Do you see now how each step is affected in direct proportion to our success in obeying this single command. Failure to LOVE means failure in ABIDING which restricts ACCESS which affects JOY which reduces STRENGTH in one's daily walk. Herein lies the secret of Jesus' success in His own life, revealing it now to us for ours. He truly loved us as the Father loves us which guaranteed His mission's success.

And the purpose of this Strength, which stems from the basis of obedience to His Commandment, is as it was in Nehemiah's day: to accomplish God's Mission here on Earth. As their joy produced the Strength to build the walls around their holy city (Jerusalem) for defense against their enemies, while being a city upon a hill, a beacon to all mankind of God's holiness and redemptive love, it is no less today in the true spiritual sense. We are to be the light of the world, the salt of the Earth, a holy people (17:7) within an evil domain, to bring to the Father out of this world all that are His. Therefore, He will pray that we remain and be united.

John has shown us The Plan as taught and lived by Jesus, and now takes us into that inner sanctum of the Godhead in Holy Communion to give us an example of a model and successful Prayer for ours when prayed in His Name. Take note now of how He prayed that we might always pray, not asking amiss, but always in like manner. For this is truly what is meant to pray In His name, to the end the Father is glorified.