Have you ever wondered what Jesus said when He prayed to the Father?
Often, the Bible tells us that “Jesus prayed” or that He prayed “all night”
but it rarely tells us what He prayed. In John 17 we get to listen
in to the greatest prayer ever prayed. We get to enter into the Holy of
Holies.
This prayer is a great milestone in the ministry of Christ. It marks the
end of His earthly ministry and the beginning of His mediatorial ministry.
Here we get to see what Jesus is doing now...His intercession for
the saints. Heb 7:25.
The Setting
The night before the cross. The upper room. Luke 22:15 “I
have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” He has
just completed the “table talks” of Chapter 13-16. He has comforted them. He
gave them peace and joy. He told them the
Holy
Spirit
would come and indwell them, would teach them all things, would lead them into
all truth. He said He would go and prepare a place for them and He ends with
16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this
world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
In order for verse 33 to be true He knows this must be
done by the omnipotent power of God....so He goes immediately into
prayer .
As we look at this prayer remember this, He
could
have prayed
only for Himself. He could have been preoccupied with His own needs.
Instead, almost all this prayer is for
others
!
I.
He prays for His
Glory
.
A. Vs.
1: “In order that” your Son may glorify you. Notice how He has the
Father
in view here. He has glorified the Father (Vs. 4) by 1. His
Person (Heb. 1:3) 2. His miracles (Mat. 9:8) 3. His words 4. His holy life
fulfilling all righteousness (Mat3:13-15)
B. How
does the Father glorify the Son? By making Him King of Israel? No. By a
cross
. Why? In order that
the Son might put God’s attributes on display. At the cross you see
God’s holiness, righteousness, mercy,
justice
,
wrath
,
love
.
C. In
this prayer Christ acknowledges what He already knows: 1. He has power over
all
people. 2. He is the
giver of eternal
life
. 3. The Father has
designed that He should give Him certain ones that He should give eternal life
to. Love
gifts
from the Father. 4.
That the Father desires to glorify Him. 5. That the
time
has come.
D. He
completed the
work .
(Vs. 4).
II. He
prays for the Protection of the Disciples
A. In
Jn. 13 He washed their feet...The
Servant
role. In
Jn. 17 He brings them before the Father. The High Priest role.
B. Protect
them as they are still in the world. In Vs. 11 what does He mean by “your
name”? The “name” represents His entire
character,
His
nature. He says by all that you are...I have kept them, now you do it, Holy
Father.
C. Protect
them from the evil one. (Vs. 15) 1 Jn. 5:19. We need this protection.
D. Vs.
17. Sanctify them by the
truth
. What is
truth? Your
word
is truth.
III. He
prays for
you
...if you know Him.
A. Imagine,
the Son of God who absolutely knows He is going to the cross hours from now
.... is thinking about
you
. Jn. 10:14, 27. I
am the Good Shepherd, I
know
My sheep. He knew
Zacchaeus. He knew Nathanael Jn 1:47. He knows
you
.
B. He
prays for unity among us. (Vs.21) Why? So that the world may
believe
.
Lessons for our lives:
-
Jesus prayed with a focus on the joy set before Him...He prays interceding
for us! So you are never alone!
-
Jesus’ prayer is consistent with the will of the God. It really is an
affirmation of what God has already chosen to do...Now Father let’s do it.
-
Christ Petitions the Father for Himself, then the disciples and then for
us. He petitions for safekeeping (vs 11), for their joy (13), for their
sanctification (17), for their unity (11,21,22), for their usefulness (20),
and their eventual presence with Him in heaven (24).
-
One day we shall see His Glory (vs 24)!
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