On 13 March 2020, YEF Singapore members meditated on 17:2~5.

One member shared:

In this chapter, Jesus is praying and reflecting upon His life. He recognizes very strongly who He is and what is His identity. He knows what He is called to do and what His self-identity is. His mission on earth is to give eternal life and He never strayed from it.

All He did was to follow and listen and obey. His definition of eternal life is to know God and
recognise that Jesus is the son of God. The pharisees wanted to kill Jesus because they were worried that Jesus would take away their followers. John 11:45-48. When I read this, I felt truly that our world is so taken by our own selfish desires to benefit ourselves whether for greater power etc. In the eyes of Jews who persecuted Jesus, He was nothing to them but someone who blasphemed against God. They wanted to stone Him. They were so quick to condemn Him. Our world really cannot appreciate or understand the kind of love Jesus and God has for us. Jesus carried the cross all the way to the end even when He knew how others viewed Him.

Jesus was certain that He must finish the work God has given Him to do and that this might glorify God. Indeed He only wanted to glorify God; not Himself or any other man. This is humility that our world struggles to have. When we lack our self-identity in God, we start to seek affirmations from other people. We want others to tell us we are good and we have done well. It is a natural process for us to want to seek other people’s approval. But the true approval we should be seeking is God’s.