“The work which You have given Me to do, I have finished”1 (Jn 17:4)
ontemplation 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 finished” (Jn 17:4).
Here the Lord Christ glorifies the Father, not with words but with action: He gives us an example that this glorification is not by the tongue, but by work, as He said: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me” (Jn 4:34). He repeated this many times, as in (Jn 6:38). And here we see Him saying: “The work which You have given Me to do, I have finished.”
He did not say “I have done it,” but “I have finished it”:
Meaning that He reached in His work the level of perfection. Christ was perfect in fulfilling the will of the Father. With all perfection He made known to the people the will of the Father. And on the Cross He said concerning the work of redemption: “It is finished” (Jn 19:30).
And you—can you say to the Lord the same phrase: “The work which You have given me to do, I have finished”? And if you say the phrase “I have finished it,” it cannot mean that you have reached the perfection by which Christ fulfilled the will of the Father! Perhaps you intend by the phrase “I have finished it”:
You, O Lord, by Your grace began the work, and I completed it.
For by my knowledge I cannot do anything, as You said to us: “Without Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). And as Your holy apostle Paul said: “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). So You, Lord, are the One who moved me to work, and I completed this work also by You.
Or: You, O Lord, completed this work Yourself, then attributed it to me out of Your humility…
And this tenderness by which You attribute Your work to Your children, we see in You continuously. You gave me the Law and the commandments, and yet we see You continually saying: “the Law of Moses” (Jn 7:23). And You say: “Moses permitted to give a certificate of divorce” — “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce” (Mt 19:7–8). While You, O Lord, are the One who commanded and allowed. But You attribute Your work to him. Or as You allow one of Your martyrs or saints that a miracle be performed by his hands, so that people may love him, while the power is from You… Or perhaps I may say:
The work which You gave me to do, I was a partner with You in finishing it:
I entered into the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 13:14) so that Your Spirit works in me, or works by me, or works with me. As our teacher Saint Paul the Apostle said concerning himself and his companion Apollos: “We are God’s fellow workers” (1 Cor 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 Cor 3:6–7).
If this is the state of the work completed by two great saints like Paul and Apollos, then what does each one of us say?
He says: The work which You gave me to do, You finished it. But I was only an instrument in Your hand. Yes: “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your holy name give glory” (Ps 115:1). Who am I to say that I have completed a work—any 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 participates in the work with Your servants in every good work.
This phrase which Christ said indicates complete faithfulness in work and in life. So what is truly the work that God gave us? One part He gave you concerning yourself, so that you may sanctify this soul for Him. And the other part is for others, so that you may 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 doctrine; continue in them” (1 Tim 4:16). “For in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” So your own self and the doctrine are what the Lord gave you to do. Are you completely faithful toward these two responsibilities, namely:
Perfection in all the responsibilities of your life,
and also perfection in the work of service.
Have you completed all your responsibilities—family and personal, academic and social, and the responsibilities of your work…?
And at the same time you have not forgotten your spiritual life, and your personal life in its connection with God.
Give God a lofty example like Joseph the Righteous. Concerning himself he was watchful over it and faithful in its purity, and thus he said: “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Gen 39:9)… And concerning serving others, he was perfect, as he was the cause of life for all people in his era. His work as minister of supply for Egypt was work God gave him “to preserve life” (Gen 45:5)… And he was also perfect in his work in Potiphar’s house: “And all that he did, the Lord made it prosper in his hand” (Gen 39:3), likewise when he was in prison.
Thus the first psalm says concerning the righteous person: “Whatever he does shall prosper” (Ps 1:3). It is not enough that you succeed in life, but perfection is needed in every work you do.
Have you also completed a work toward your family? Not only your social duties, but also your spiritual ones?
What about the commandments of God concerning which He said: “You shall talk of them when you sit in your house… and you shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deut 6:7).
And here we move gradually to the work which the Lord gave us in the sphere of service. We recall some details that the Lord Christ said concerning the work He completed. He said:
I have manifested Your name:
“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” (Jn 17:6). How much the Lord Christ spoke to people about the heavenly Father, His care, and His love. The word “Father” is repeated very, 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 hide when His name is mentioned?! Unlike David the prophet who said: “I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and will not be ashamed” (Ps 119).
I am proud of You, O Lord; Your name is my recitation, my utterance, my sweet hymn: “In Your name I will lift up my hands; my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness” (Ps 63). Your name, O Lord, is the center of my preferred conversation with people; I find delight in speaking to them about You.
Whenever I meet them, whenever I visit them, Your name is always on my tongue with them: “Your name is beloved, O Lord; it is my meditation all day long” (Ps 119)… I have manifested Your name to people, because I love You and I love them, and I want them to love You.
Many, when they visit one another, talk about numerous issues of society and its problems… and the only one they do not talk about is God…! Would that people would mention or remember the name of God in their problems, and God would solve these problems for them.
The example of David the prophet in the story of Goliath the giant:
All people were talking about that “man coming up”—his might, his height and breadth, his weapons, his threats, the fear of the army before him, and the promises of King Saul to whoever kills him (1 Sam 17)… But the name of God was not mentioned by anyone!! Then came the boy David, and he manifested the name of God to the people and to Goliath in a manner full of faith, saying: “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam 17:26, 36). 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,” he told the story of God’s help for him when a lion and a bear attacked him as he shepherded the sheep, and said: “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me…” And he went to Goliath and said to him:
“You come to me with a sword and with a spear. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you… that all the earth may know that there is a God…” And he repeated the name of the Lord saying: “…and all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s…” (1 Sam 17:45–47)…
Thus David manifested the name of the Lord. And in the name of the Lord he overcame, for the battle is the Lord’s.
Because of the importance of the name of the Lord, we place it at the beginning of our requests in the Lord’s Prayer.
Thus the Lord taught us that the first petition in prayer should be: “Hallowed be Your name.” And how do we hallow His name?
By manifesting Him to people—in His loftiness and exaltation, in His eternity and infinitude, in His holiness and perfection of power, in His wonders and miracles, in His love for us and in 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 in the psalm: “Beloved is Your name, O Lord; it is my meditation all day long” (Ps 119).
But the matter is not only to manifest the name of God to people, but there is also an important note: manifest the name of God to people in a way that makes them love Him, and makes them love His ways and 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” (Jn 17:26). And He said: “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me, and they have kept Your word” (Jn 17:6).
Who are those whom You have given Me? Every person You guided toward my path—I have manifested Your name to him… Everyone You permitted me to meet or who came to me… Not only the twelve, My own whom I loved to the end (Jn 13:1), but also the multitudes on the mountain, the crowded masses, Zacchaeus the tax collector who climbed the tree (Lk 19:4), Nicodemus who feared the Jews (Jn 3:1–2), and Martha who was troubled by many things, while the one thing needed was You (Lk 10:41).
It is therefore a lesson for every servant: to manifest the name of the Lord to people—all people. Not only in Jerusalem and all Judea, but also in Samaria and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). Far to the nations (Acts 22:21). And as you bear witness to Him in Jerusalem, you ought to bear witness to Him also in Rome (Acts 23:11).
Your work is to manifest the name of God to people, but be careful. And of what should you be careful? Be careful lest your works make people blaspheme the good name you manifest to them!!
So you manifest the name of God to them while you are far from Him! As Saint Paul rebukes the Romans: “…For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Rom 2:24).
Thus your practical life must be the one that manifests the name of God—not merely your words. For people are not affected by words unsupported by a life connected with God. Concerning this Saint John the Apostle said: “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest” (1 Jn 3:10).
Here I ask a straightforward question: How many persons came to know the name of God through you? Or loved the name of God through you?
What is your harvest of people to whom you made His name known, whom you led in His ways? And when they remember any encounter with you, they remember the name of God which was the topic of that encounter… especially those who previously had no connection with God, those of whom the psalm said: “They have not set God before them” (Ps 54). Behold the Lord says: “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me.” And He also says:
“I kept them in Your name… those whom You gave Me I have kept, and none of them is lost…” (Jn 17:12).
Thus the matter does not stop at manifesting the name of God to people, but also keeping them in His name… meaning: follow up the work of God in their lives “that the love” with which He loved You may be in them, and that none of them perish…
The Lord used to manifest the name of God to people, and He kept them in His name, and He also prayed for them, saying: “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me…” (Jn 17:11). Keep them inside this name, so that they do not go out of it… As He previously said concerning His sheep: “…and I give them eternal life, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand… no one is able to snatch out of My Father’s hand” (Jn 10:28–29).
Do you also do likewise for those whom the Lord has given you? Do you pray for them? And do you offer sacrifices for them, as Job the Righteous did every day for his children? (Job 1:5). My brother, do this and live.
Those whom the Lord has given you are His children. They belong to Him. The Lord Christ says concerning this: “They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word” (Jn 17:6). And from your side, keep 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 your household…
But the Lord has also given you friends, colleagues, acquaintances, neighbors, and many others. Did you feel embarrassed to mention the name of the Lord to them?! And what embarrassment is there in this?! Did you think that the name of the Lord may disturb those who wish to live in amusement and frivolity? No—it only awakens them…
Your work is to cast your seeds upon the ground—upon every ground, even upon the ground that has thorns, or that has no depth (Mt 13)… Who knows? Perhaps your seed may meet good soil and bear fruit. Always place before you the saying of the Lord:
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me.”
“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.”
And may the Lord be with you in your words and in your service, and in all the seeds you cast upon the ground. And may He say to you: “Blessed shall be… the fruit of your land” (Deut 28:4).
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An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III published in Watani newspaper on 25–1–1998.
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