In His great prayer to the Father, Jesus can testify that His own, who were entrusted to Him by the Father, have kept His Word: “Now at last they have recognised that all you have given me comes from you, for I have given them the teaching you gave to me, and they have indeed accepted it” (Jn 17:7-8).
How important it is for Jesus that we know the Father! He is the beloved Son of His Father and we are to understand that all that He does and all that we see in Him comes from the One who sent Him. Again and again the Lord makes this clear to us! We can see the deep joy and gratification in our Saviour’s heart to be able to assure His Father that those entrusted to Him have accepted His message. They have known that everything in Jesus comes from the Father; they have encountered through Him the goodness of the Father; they have accepted the Word that saves and enlightens them, and they may enter forever into the Father’s House. And what about our Father? With what delight He looks upon His Son! “This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him” (Mt 17:5). It is the Father’s great joy to receive the trophy that His Son brings with Him after His triumph on the Cross: they are the souls He loves so much and whom He entrusted to the care of His Son, so that He might lead them to Himself; they are His people, whom He wants to fill with blessings already in this earthly life and to have with Him for all eternity; they are His beloved children.