Day 313 Reading Schedule: John 16~17

John 16: Prophecy of the Coming of the Holy Spirit

[Overview]

This chapter records the farewell speech of Jesus, the Son of God, to his disciples. The main contents of this chapter are Jesus’s heart about ending his life with death on the cross, the disciples’ regret for still pursuing only the illusion of Jesus, and his concern about the impending persecution and his concern about the disciples’ misunderstanding and lack of understanding of Jesus’ suffering. This chapter consists of a prediction of the impending persecution (verses 1-4), the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit and its mission (verses 5-15), and the disciples’ questions and prophecy about death and resurrection (verses 16-33).

John 17: The High Priestly Prayer

[Overview]

This chapter is an intercessory prayer for God, and it records Jesus' high priestly intercessory prayer for not only Jesus himself and his disciples, but also all the saints. This chapter, which consists entirely of Jesus' prayer, is a rare chapter in the Bible that specifically mentions the content of Jesus' prayer along with the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. The reason why this chapter's prayer is called Jesus' 'high priestly prayer' is because it presupposes the death on the cross, which is the culmination of Christ's high priestly ministry. This chapter consists of Jesus' prayer for himself (verses 1-5), his prayer for his disciples (verses 6-19), and his prayer for all believers (verses 20-26). The prayer in this chapter has a gradual development, starting with a prayer for Jesus himself and expanding to a prayer for the saints until the Second Coming. However, in terms of content, it has a concentric structure that presupposes submitting oneself to God's will. This is an example of prayer that seeks God's will first, rather than asserting one's own will.