The Work Which You Have Given Me to Do I Have Completed
“The Work Which You Have Given Me to Do I Have Completed”
A Meditation on John 17
In the supplication between the Lord Christ and God the Father, He said to the Father: “I have glorified You on the earth.” And He also said:
“The work which You have given Me to do I have completed” (John 17:4).
Here the Lord Christ glorifies the Father, not by words, but by work:
He gives us an example that this glorification is not by the tongue, but by action, as He said: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me” (John 4:34). He repeated this saying many times, as in (John 6:38). And here we see Him saying: “The work which You have given Me to do I have completed.”
He did not say, “I have done it,” but “I have completed it”:
That is, He reached in His work the level of perfection. Christ was perfect in carrying out the will of the Father. With complete perfection He made the people know the will of the Father. And on the Cross He said concerning the work of redemption: “It is finished” (John 19:30).
And you—can you say to the Lord the same phrase: “The work which You have given Me to do I have completed”?
And if you say the phrase “I have completed it,” you certainly cannot mean that you have reached the perfection with which Christ carried out the will of the Father. Perhaps by the phrase “I have completed it” you mean:
“You, O Lord, by Your grace, began the work, and I completed it.”
For by my own knowledge I cannot do anything, as You Yourself said to us: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). And as Your apostle Saint Paul said: “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). So You are the Lord who urged me to work, and I completed this work with You as well.
And You, O Lord, completed this work Yourself, then attributed it to me, out of Your humility…
This tenderness by which You attribute Your work to Your children we see in You continually. You gave me the Law and the commandments, yet You continually say: “The Law of Moses” (John 7:23). And You say: “Moses permitted a certificate of divorce,” and “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce” (Matthew 19:7–8), while You, O Lord, were the One who commanded and permitted. Yet You attribute Your work to him. Or as You allow one of Your martyrs or saints to perform a miracle through his hands so that people may love him, while the power is from You.
Or perhaps I can say:
The work which You gave me to do, I was a partner with You in completing it.
I entered into the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14) so that Your Spirit might work in me, or work by me, or work with me. As our teacher Saint Paul the Apostle said about himself and his companion Apollos: “We are God’s fellow workers” (1 Corinthians 3:9), “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6–7).
If this is the case with the work completed by two great saints such as Paul and Apollos, what does each one of us say?
He says: The work which You gave me to do, You completed it. As for me, I was merely a tool in Your hand. Yes, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory” (Psalm 115:1).
Who am I to say that I have completed any work—what work?! You are the One who begins with me, and You are the One who completes. You are the One who gives the desire, the will, and the power, and You are the One who shares in the work with Your servants in every good work.
This phrase spoken by Christ means complete faithfulness in work and in life. What truly is the work God has given us? One part of it God has given you concerning yourself, to sanctify this soul for Him. The other part is for others, to lead them to God. And upon both applies the phrase that the Apostle Paul said to his disciple Timothy:
“Take heed to yourself and to the teaching. Continue in them” (1 Timothy 4:16).
“For in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”
So yourself and the teaching are what the Lord has given you to work in. Are you completely faithful toward these two responsibilities:
perfection in all the responsibilities of your life, and perfection in the work of service?
Have you completed all your responsibilities—your family and personal responsibilities, academic and social responsibilities, and the responsibilities of your work? And at the same time, have you not neglected your spiritual life and your personal relationship with God?
Set before God a high example, which is Joseph the Righteous. Concerning himself, he was watchful and faithful over his purity, and thus he said: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).
And concerning service to others, he was perfect, as he became a cause of life for all people in his generation. His work as minister of provision for Egypt was a work God gave him “to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5). He was also perfect in his work in the house of Potiphar, and “the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand” (Genesis 39:9), and likewise while he was a prisoner.
Thus the first Psalm says about the righteous man: “And whatever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1:3). It is not enough that you succeed in life; rather, perfection is required in every work you do.
Have you also completed your work toward your family—not only the social duties, but the spiritual ones as well?
What about God’s commandments which He said concerning them: “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house” (Deuteronomy 6:7)?
Here we progress to the work the Lord has given us in the sphere of service, and we remember some details that the Lord Christ mentioned about the work He completed. He said:
“I have manifested Your name to the people.”
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word” (John 17:6).
How much the Lord Christ spoke to people about the Heavenly Father, about His care and His love. The word “Father” is repeated very often on His lips in the Gospels.
So have you also manifested the name of God to people?
Or do you sometimes feel ashamed to mention His name and withdraw when His name is mentioned?! In contrast to the prophet David who said: “I spoke of Your testimonies before kings, and was not ashamed” (Psalm 119:46).
I am proud of You, O Lord. Your name is my meditation, my delight, my sweet hymn: “By Your name I will lift up my hands… My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness” (Psalm 63:4–5).
Your name, O Lord, is the center of my preferred conversation with people; I find joy in speaking to them about You.
Whenever I meet them, whenever I visit them, Your name is continually on my lips with them: “Beloved is Your name, O Lord, for it is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97). I have manifested Your name to people because I love You and love them, and I want them to love You.
Many people, when they visit one another, speak about many topics related to society and its problems—and the only One they do not speak about is God! If only people would mention or remember the name of God in their problems, then God would solve those problems for them.
Consider the example of the prophet David in the story of Goliath the giant. All the people spoke about that “champion,” his might, his height, his weapons, his threats, the fear of the army, and King Saul’s promise of reward to whoever killed him (1 Samuel 17:25). But no one mentioned the name of God! Then the boy David came and manifested the name of God to the people and to Goliath in a faith-filled way, saying: “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26). And when King Saul showed him the difficulty of fighting him, saying: “You are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth,” David recounted the story of God’s help to him when a lion and a bear attacked him while shepherding the sheep, saying: “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me”. Then he went to Goliath and said:
“You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts… This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand… that all the earth may know that there is a God…” And he repeated the name of the Lord, saying: “Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands” (1 Samuel 17:45–47).
Thus David manifested the name of the Lord, and by the name of the Lord he prevailed, for the battle is the Lord’s.
From the importance of the name of the Lord, we place it at the forefront of our requests in the Lord’s Prayer. Thus the Lord taught us that our first petition in prayer is: “Hallowed be Your name.” And how do we hallow His name?
By manifesting it to people in its exaltation and sublimity, in its eternity and limitlessness, in its holiness and perfect power, in its wonders and miracles, in His love for us and His care. This sweet name of which we say in our praises:
Your name is sweet and blessed in the mouths of Your saints.
As the psalmist said: “Beloved is Your name, O Lord, for it is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97). Yet the matter is not merely to manifest the name of God to people; there is an important note:
Manifest the name of God to people in a way that makes them love Him, love His ways, follow Him, and keep His commandments. Thus the Lord said: “I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). And He said: “I have manifested Your name to the people whom You have given Me… and they have kept Your word” (John 17:6).
Who are those whom You have given Me?
Every person whom You brought into my path—I have manifested Your name to him. Everyone You allowed me to meet or who came to me—not only the twelve, My own whom I loved to the end (John 13:1), but also the multitudes on the mountain, the crowded crowds, Zacchaeus the tax collector who climbed the tree (Luke 19:4), Nicodemus who feared the Jews (John 3:1–2), and Martha who was troubled about many things while one thing was needed—You (Luke 10:41).
This is a lesson for every servant: to manifest the name of the Lord to all people—not only in Jerusalem and all Judea, but also in Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), “to the Gentiles far away” (Acts 22:21). And just as you testify for Him in Jerusalem, so you must also testify for Him in Rome (Acts 23:11).
Your work is to manifest the name of God to people—but beware. Beware lest your deeds cause people to blaspheme the good name which you manifest to them!
You manifest the name of God to them while you are far removed from Him, as Saint Paul rebuked the Romans: “For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Romans 2:24).
Therefore, your practical life must be what manifests the name of God, not merely your words, for people are not influenced by words that are not supported by a life connected to God. Concerning this, Saint John the Apostle said: “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest” (1 John 3:10).
Here I ask a frank question:
How many people have come to know the name of God through you, or have loved the name of God through you?
What is your harvest from those whom you made know His name and whom you led in His ways? When they recall any encounter with you, do they recall the name of God that was the subject of the meeting—especially those who previously had no relationship with God, of whom the Psalm says: “They have not set God before them” (Psalm 54:3)?
Behold, the Lord says: “I have manifested Your name to the people whom You have given Me,” and also says: “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost” (John 17:12).
So the matter is not limited only to manifesting the name of God to people, but also to keeping them in His name—that is, following up the work of God in their lives “that the love may be in them,” and that none of them may perish.
The Lord Christ used to manifest the name of God to people, keep them in His name, and also pray for them, saying: “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me” (John 17:11). Keep them within this name so that they do not depart from it. As He previously said about His sheep: “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand… nor is anyone able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:28–29).
Do you do likewise for those whom the Lord has given you? Do you pray for them? Do you offer sacrifices for them as Job the Righteous used to do continually for his children? (Job 1:5). My brother, do this and you will live.
Those whom the Lord has given you are His children; they belong to Him. The Lord Christ says: “They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word” (John 17:6). And as for you, preserve this gift. They are His, and they are a trust upon your neck—therefore keep them in His name.
Who are they? They are not only the members of your household.
The Lord has also given you friends, colleagues, acquaintances, neighbors, and many others.
Have you felt embarrassed to mention the name of the Lord to them? And what embarrassment is this?! Have you thought that the name of the Lord would disturb those who love to live in amusement and frivolity? No—it only awakens them.
Your work is to cast your seed on all kinds of soil, even on soil with thorns or without depth (Matthew 13). Who knows—your seed may encounter good soil and bear fruit.
Always set before you the saying of the Lord:
“I have manifested Your name to the people whom You have given Me” (John 17:6).
“I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26).
May the Lord be with you—in your words, in your service, and in all the seeds you cast upon the earth. And may He say to you: “Blessed shall be… the fruit of your land” (Deuteronomy 28:4).
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