JOHN 17:1-11
INTRODUCTION
The story is told of a young girl who said, “Lord, I am not going to pray for myself today; I am going to pray for others.” But at the end of her prayer she added, “And give my mother a handsome son-in-law!” We just can’t seem to end a prayer without asking for something for ourselves!
Two Christian men lived near each other. The first was a farmer. Since there had not been any rain for several weeks, the farmer got up one morning and prayed for rain, but there was no rain that day.
His next-door neighbor was also up early, but he was praying that it would not rain, because he was taking an unsaved friend fishing that morning. There was no rain that day.
God hears both requests, but he can’t answer both. He will do that which glorifies Him the most.
I. PRAYER FOR THE GLORY OF THE SON VV. 1-5
This prayer concludes the Farewell Discourse. The Farewell Discourse begins at the Upper Room where Jesus washes the disciples’ feet and eats the Last Supper with them. In John 13, after Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, Judas Iscariot who has sold out to Satan leaves the room at the cover of night to complete his transaction to betray Jesus.
Therefore, from John 14-17, Jesus is left with the eleven disciples, who are the inner circle of His disciples. Jesus pours His heart to them. He tells them of His impending death on the cross. He comforts them and assures them that He is going to prepare a place for them. He tells them unequivocally that He is the One who gives vitality to life and causes life to be productive (John 15). He promises the disciples of the work, help, teaching, and empowering of the Holy Spirit. Before He is glorified through death on the cross, Jesus spends time to intercede for the disciples. This is the most extensive prayer of Jesus recorded in the Gospels. It is not a prayer of a person on a sickbed. Rather, it is the prayer of the Savior who looks at death not as defeat, but as victory, vindication, and glorification. Jesus has ended His teaching ministry, but His great High Priestly ministry is not ended. In this prayer, I would like you to learn the heart of prayer.
The first verse begins thus: After Jesus said this. After Jesus said what? This takes us back to 16:31-33. Jesus tells the Father, the hour has come. In the Gospel of John there are many instances where Jesus said, "My hour has not come." Now His hour has come; He is referring to His death. Now Jesus turns His gaze from earth to heaven, from the disciples to the Father. In verses 1-5, Jesus prays for Himself. There is nothing wrong in praying for yourself, but everything is wrong when your petition is centered only on material and financial needs. Yes, you are to pray for your material and financial needs, but remember that these are temporal things, but more than that pray also for your eternal needs. Many Christians are kindergarten Christians because the focus of their prayer is on themselves and the temporal needs of their immediate family. The Lord wants to take you to a deeper level in prayer. As we go through Jesus’ prayer, allow the Holy Spirit to teach you how to pray effectively. In His prayer of glorification, Jesus makes two requests. First, Jesus prays that in this hour which marks the climax of His earthly life and ministry, He may be used by the Father for the full and final display of divine love, as He offers His own life in sacrifice. Jesus’ death on the cross is the supreme demonstration of God’s love for you and me and all humanity. Here Jesus is looking forward to the cross but in a mood of hope and joy, not one of despondency. There is no expression of fatalism in Jesus’ prayer. When you are seriously ill how do you pray? I am not saying that you should not pray for healing. How many of you when you are ill pray that God should glorify His name through your illness? Why not? Because you have concluded that illness is the admission of human weakness, but Paul says when I am weak, I am strong. And God said to Paul, My grace is sufficient for you in your weakness. You see, to human point of view the cross was an instrument of shame. But to Christ it was a means of true glory. Jesus transformed the cross as a weapon of horrible death to an instrument of God’s glory.
The glory of the Son and the glory of the Father are intertwined. They are inseparable; they are closely connected. To glorify the Son is to glorify the Father. To dishonor the Son is to dishonor the Father. To reject the Son is to reject the Father. And to receive the Son is to receive the Father. The two are one. Second, Jesus prays that His own humiliation in death may reflect His own glory (v. 5). The hour of Jesus’ death on the cross is momentous for Himself and all humanity. It is through the cross can Jesus be exalted and His authority over all humanity fully exercised. It is from the cross that Jesus is to reign and distribute His royal gifts. Now gets this, while the hour of Jesus’ suffering on the cross is the hour of judgment to unbelievers, it brings the gift of eternal life to believers (v. 2). Jesus’ entire earthly life has been a demonstration of God’s love, but the uniqueness of this love is displayed on the cross. On the cross when Jesus was suspended between heaven and earth He was saying to you, I love you; I love you.
Jesus came to give the gift of eternal life, but only those who receive Him receive this life. In other words, God is sovereign. He can do whatever He wants, but humans are responsible in the way we respond to His revelation to us. Jesus gives us the definition of eternal life in verse 3. To know God is more than a mental assent. It is more than knowing the way to life. It is life. This knowledge is more than intellectual apprehension; it involves a personal relationship and fellowship with the Father through the Son. It involves a commitment to the Everlasting One. Eternal life then is based on a personal knowledge, experiential knowledge of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son, whom the Father sent. Jesus has glorified the Father because He has done all that He was sent to do. This shows you and me the perfect obedience of Jesus to the Father. Are you obedient to God? When God puts it in your heart to tell your neighbor what Jesus has done for you do you obey Him? Every Christian has a mission from God, but are you obediently carrying God’s mission in your life? Half obedience is total disobedience. Christ’s mission on earth was not self-centered; it was God-centered. Let me ask you a question: can you honestly say that everything you do in this your life is Christ-centered? Jesus came into the world with only one mission, namely to do the will of His Father who sent Him. Jesus did not come to do His own thing. If you live life doing your own thing, you will regret in life, but it might be too late to do the right thing. In this world, you are not here to do your own thing. You are not here to do what pleases you. You are here to do God’s will, don’t forget that. In Jesus’ mission, Satan tempted Him to shift the attention from the Father to Himself and His own needs (Matthew 4; Luke 4). Others wanted Jesus to shift the focus from the Father to Himself by crowning Him an earthly King (John 6:15). Even Peter wanted Jesus to take the path of least resistance (Matt. 16:22). However, in every temptation Jesus remained faithful and loyal to the Father and focused on His mission.
Verse 5, Jesus looks for glory in the least place you and I would look-- the cross. In the Gospel of John, the cross becomes the culmination of Jesus’ glory. The glory that Jesus seeks from His Father is the pre-incarnate glory. In other words, it is the glory that Jesus shared with the Father in His preexistent state (John 1:1). And this was before the creation of the universe. Jesus is asking the Father to exchange humiliation for glorification. You may curiously ask, did the Father grant His request? The answer is yes, the Father did (Acts 7:56; Philippians 2:10-11). The resurrection and ascension of Jesus is the proof of His glorification. Right now, as I speak with you, Jesus has assumed His exalted and glorified position.
You and I must learn from the way Jesus prays for Himself even at the most critical time of His life, when the cross is staring Him right in the face. Jesus had one request, glorify Your Son. The word, glorify, means to praise, to honor. Pray that God may be glorified in your life no matter the circumstance.
II. PRAYER FOR THE DISCIPLES VV. 6-11
What are the grounds for Jesus’ prayer for the disciples? What is Jesus’ reason for praying on behalf of the disciples? The answer is found in verses 6-11. In verses 1-5, Jesus has prayed for Himself, in particular for His glorification. I don’t want you to leave here with the impression that I don’t want you to pray for yourself. My concern is that in your prayer for yourself, don’t focus exclusively on your material or temporal needs; make your spiritual or eternal needs the center of your petition. Many Christians are kindergarten believers because they focus their prayer only on their material riches. The Lord wants to prosper you in the spiritual realm as well.
Verse 6, Jesus lifts His voice to pray for those the Father has entrusted to His care. Jesus has come to reveal the Father to the nation of Israel in particular, and the world as a whole. However, some rejected Him, thereby rejected the revelation of the Father. Few as these disciples were in numbers they have embraced Christ and the revelation of the Father (Matt. 11:25-27). This is the truth: these disciples whom the Father has given to Jesus Christ the Son do not have any intrinsic righteousness. In other words, God has chosen them not because they are good. God has chosen them not because of anything they have done. God has chosen you in Christ not because you are good or righteous, but He has chosen you on the basis of His sovereign grace. You and I were part of the wicked world, but God has given us to Jesus because of His gracious election. This shows God’s divine initiative in our salvation. None of us ever planned in his/her heart and said; today I am going to be saved. God takes the initiative by convicting you of your sin and your need for Christ through His Holy Spirit. Yes, you have a role to play and that is whether to say yes to Jesus or say no to Him. The reaction and the response are yours to make. Jesus says to the Father, I have revealed your character to them. God’s name reveals His character, and this is what Jesus has manifested to the disciples. God has given these men out of the world to Jesus. They did not come from a different planet. Here the term world is the moral order which is in active rebellion against God. The world as a whole has failed to recognize Jesus as the revealer of the Father (12:37), but a select company of men and women, have been given to Jesus Christ. God loves this world that has rejected His Son, but He cannot force His love on the world. However, God causes some to open their heart to Jesus Christ, and these have obeyed the teaching of Christ. So, Jesus is praying for His disciples who have kept His word. Jesus uses the term world eighteen times in this prayer, but he does not pray for the world. I will tell you why, God willing next Sunday.
In verse 7, Jesus says that the disciples have come to know that everything He has comes from the Father. In other words, Jesus is not a charlatan or an imposter, but the Messiah. The disciples may not have understood that the Messiah had to die and rise again. They may not have understood how all the OT prophecies of the Messiah would be fulfilled. Verse 7 also shows that Jesus lived His life in total dependence on the Father. Do you live your life in total dependence on God, or do you live your life independent of God? In verse 8, Jesus says three things about the disciples. 1. They accepted Jesus’ teaching, unlike the Pharisees and others who heard it but rejected it. The Pharisees were always in the temple but when God clothed Himself in the gab of humanity, they did not recognize Him. How do you treat Jesus Christ and what the Bible says about Him? Do you have any doubt that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life? 2. The disciples knew with certainty the origin of Jesus. Their acceptance of this revelation led them to further truth. Let me give you a secret to the knowledge of truth. When you embrace the revelation of God in Christ, then God opens your mind and heart to further truth. The prince of this world, who is Satan, has blinded those who question the deity and atoning death of Jesus Christ. 3. The disciples believed in Jesus Christ. They believed His teaching, revelation, miracles, and Messiahship. They committed their lives wholeheartedly to Him. Have you committed your life wholeheartedly to Jesus?
In verse 9, Jesus is saying that His prayer is for the disciples but not the world that has rejected Him. Jesus is right in not praying for the world, because He has revealed the Father in His teaching, miracles, and in His life, and yet the world has rejected Him. To pray for the world, the created moral order in active rebellion against God would be blasphemous; there is no hope for the world. There is hope for some in the world that would later come out of the world and become part of this redeemed people of God.
Verse 10, what belongs to the Father, belongs to the Son. There is community between the Father and the Son. What belongs to the One belongs to the Other. What did Jesus mean when He said; I have been glorified in them? God’s glory is the revelation of His character and presence. The life of Jesus reveals the character and presence of God (John 14:9). The lives of Jesus’ disciples reveal His character, and He is present to the world through them. Does your life reveal the character and presence of Jesus to those around you? When people see you, do they catch a glimpse of Jesus’ presence? Jesus has saved you to reflect His character and presence to those around you. Therefore, as a Christian be mindful how you live. You are a reflector of Christ to a dark and lost world.
In verse 11, Jesus prays for the protection and unity of the disciples. Jesus is saying, I am coming home, but Father protect them by the power of your name and unite them. Jesus uses the phrase, Holy Father. The term Holy Father carries the idea of both remoteness and nearness. It depicts God’s transcendence and immanence. Jesus is the only one who reveals the true nature of God. In all other religions, God is only transcendent, but in Christianity God is both transcendent and immanent. God has come to save us. Jesus says that God is holy; that means He is awe-inspiring. He is holy in character and being. At the same time, He is Father; He is Abba, Daddy. He is intimate to us. This teaches you and I to combine respect, awe, and intimacy when we approach the presence of God in prayer and worship. God is our Father, but He is not our buddy. He is our loving Father, but He is also holy. Therefore, we are to live in holiness. We cannot live loose lives and still call God our Father. The children of the heavenly Father must reflect the character of the Father as Jesus has shown us.
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