The High Priestly Prayer
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I’ve had the opportunity to spend a fare bit of time in the Rocky Mountains.
Mandee was raised in Colorado and I worked as a youth pastor back about 12 years ago.
Over the years I’ve camped, hiked, hunted, driven through and flown over the mountains.
in fact, a couple years ago I knocked something off my bucket list.
I’ve always wanted to ride my dirt bike through the mountains, and in 2020 we went camping and we were able to ride hundreds of miles of trails in the mountains.
It was absolutely amazing!
The Rocky Mountains are just beautiful… no matter which way you see them...
Hiking through the Rocky mountains
Riding dirt bikes
Driving Through on i70
Flying over the Rocky mountains
Each perspective has a unique and stunning beauty.
The beauty of the Rocky Mountains is analogous to John’s gospel
The Gospel of John is a beautiful masterpiece of literature and theology.
Its a gospel full of mystery and intrigue.
From the very beginning we see John weaving together a paragon of story and symbol.
John has woven together the story of creation, the temple, the Exodus, the story of exile and return.
He has bent our ears to the reverberating echos of the prophets and has opened our eyes to see the christoform structure of the the Old Testament.
residing in the background of nearly every section of Johns gospel are images and shadows of creation and the temple.
Over the last couple years we have explored the beauty of the gospel from different angles and perspectives.
We have zoomed in and looked at the details of some of the stories - like hiking
We have seen the beauty of Johns gospel from the midlevel perspective - like driving through the mountains
And we have seen some of passages from a 30k foot vantage point.
But now, as we come to John 17, we face a dilemma…
We could hike through this passage and spend roughly 26 weeks on the High Priestly Prayer, a week per verse… and thats not at all an exaggeration.
We could take a drive through this passage and get a sense of its beauty over the course of about three weeks.
The high priestly prayer is divided into three sections where:
Jesus prays for glorification
Jesus prays for his disciples
Jesus prays for the future church
We could spend a week on each one of these sections… which i did a few years ago (Available on the website)
Or we could look at it from a high vantage, and see the unique beauty of this chapter from 30k feet.
And thats what we are going to do this morning with the High Priestly Prayer.
As we turn our attentions to John 17, we should understand that this chapter is indeed hallowed ground,
Here in chapter 17, John brings into the presence of Christ as he is praying to the Father.
We have a couple prayers of Jesus throughout the gospel, but typically they are no more than a few sentences.
But here in John 17 we have a 26 verse prayer of Jesus, the longest in all the bible.
This prayer has three movements, and the first comes in verses 1-8 where Jesus prays for glorification
The second movement is when Jesus prays for his disciples
And the third movement is when he prays for the future church.
So look at the first part of this prayer we see Jesus praying for glorification
Jesus Prays For Glorification
Jesus Prays For Glorification
Jesus begins his prayer with a celebration and a request. And the two are closely linked
The request comes in verse 1.
The celebration comes in verse 4.
And we will start with the celebration:
I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
Jesus is celebrating the fact that he has accomplished the work the Father gave him to do.
The final step is the cross, and that awaits him the next day. But he has completed the deeds and words which the father gave him to do in his life.
He has laid before his disciples all that the father has given to him.
He has spoken the words of the Father
He has fulfilled all righteousness
He has established his kingdom
he has presented himself as the true Priest, King and Prophet
He has shown himself to be the true fulfillment, the telos, of all the promises and covenants given to Israel.
Christ’s obedience is the reason for the celebration, and also the grounds for the request in verse 1.
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
The Request: “glorify you Son that the Son my glorify you”
This is the request, to be exalted, to be lifted up to that position alongside the Father where he is glorified as the true King over all the earth.
The glory the son asks for is the glory promised to the Messiah in Psalm 72:8
May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!
Its the glory and dominion promised to the Son of Man in Daniel 7:14
And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
This is the glory the Son is requesting from the Father
And he request this glory so that he might glorify the Father.
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
The son glorifies the Father, not in the sense that the father was lacking glory, but rather he glorifies the Father in the sense that when the Son is enthroned in glory, from that throne he will spread the glory of the Father from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth.
The Father was glorified in Judea and the surrounding areas in Christ’s earthly life, but when Christ is exalted, the glory of God will extend to the nations… to the ends of earth
And not only that... to the end of time.
The son glorifies the father by giving eternal life to all those the father has given him.
And what exactly is eternal life?
We often think of eternal life as life after death
As going to heaven
As the reality that our souls will not cease to exist, but that we live forever spiritually.
However, What does Jesus say eternal life is?
since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Eternal life is not just a future reality
Its not just that we will live forever with God in the new heavens and the new earth.
Eternal life starts the moment you know God!
Eternal life is knowing the Father and knowing Christ.
Eternal life is here and now, its the new covenant, its the new age, its the new day that Christ brings.
Its life lived in union with Jesus.
And Jesus has given this life, this union, this covenant, this knowing of the triune God to all that the Father has given to Christ.
One of the beautiful truths we see in Jesus’ prayer here in John 17, is the truth that we, the church, the bride of Christ, are in fact a gift from the Father to the Son.
The Father chose us, before the foundations of the world, to be a bride for his Son.
He gave the bride to his son,
yet for the Son to receive the bride he had to, like Adam, die for her first.
He had to fight for her, he had to teach her, he had to protect her, he had to prepare her and bring her into union with himself.
Jesus mentions the church as a gift from the Father again in vv 6-8
“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.
For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
So after praying for glorification, Jesus prays for his those whom the father has given.
He starts with his disciples, and then moves on to pray for us, those who would believe from the testimony of the disciples.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
What Jesus prays in verses 9-19 grows out of the fact that he is going away.
He has been preparing his disciples for his departure for he knows that they will be tested, they will be hated, they will persecuted and face tribulation.
Part of the way Jesus prepares his disciples is that he prays for them.
We prepare our children not only by teaching them, training them, equipping them to live faithfully and virtuously in this world, but we also prepare them by praying for them.
And that is what Jesus is doing in vv.9-19
He prays for his disciples entrusting them to the father.
He is very much aware that the disciples are at risk.
The world, which hates them as it hated Jesus, will threaten and abuse them.
They don’t belong to it, but they are to be sent into it, and they need protecting.
That’s what this next part of the prayer is about.
I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
So Jesus prays entrusting his disciples to the Father. And there are two main ways he asks for the Father to keep the disciples:
That they will be kept in the Fathers name
That the Father would sanctify them in truth
Jesus prays that his disciples will not fall prey to the evil schemes of the world, but rather that they would be kept in the name of the Father.
Jesus is departing, and he is asking the Father to, by his power, keep his disciples in his name, keep them living faithfully in the truth.
This, too, is what we pray for our children, for our spouses, for our friends, for ourselves.
That the Lord would keep us in his name.
That by the power of the Spirit we will live our lives faithfully before the King.
There are so many powers at play that try to pull our faith and our allegiance away from Christ.
Our education system is designed to convince students that God’s word is not true
The morals of our day are so twisted to the point that we call evil good and good evil.
To live faithfully, to be kept in the name of the Father, should dominate our prayers.
This is Jesus’ prayer for his disciples, and this should be our prayer too, that we be kept in the safe hands of the Father.
But not only that, Jesus also prays...
That they would be sanctified in the truth
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
Sanctify is a word that is closely related to the word, holy, its the same word just in its verbal form.
Its the same root word used in v. 11, where Jesus calls God, “Holy Father”
When we see the word sanctify, we often, and rightly, think of the doctrine of sanctification.
Sanctification is the work of being set apart for holiness.
Its the process of growing in maturity and wisdom
Its the cultivation of godly habits and liturgies
Its a life of discipline and hard work.
Its being fearless and courageous in the faith.
It is being shaped and formed into the image of Christ as we pour of the scriptures and wear out our knees in prayer
The doctrine of sanctification is far reaching and beautiful.
When the disciples heard the word ἁγιάζω “sanctify” they were not thinking of a doctrine, but rather a place and a person.
In first-century Judaism, ‘holiness’ called to mind the Temple in particular.
It was the holy place, the place where the holy God had promised to live.
It referred particularly to the Holy of Holies, the innermost room, where the high priest would go once a year to make atonement for the people.
The high priest had to go through special ceremonies of ‘consecration’, or ‘sanctification’ to be ‘set apart’ so that he could enter into the presence of the holy God, and there pray for his people.
In the same way, Jesus is saying that he has been, all along, ‘set apart’, ‘consecrated’ ‘sanctified’ for God’s service.
And Jesus, the holy one, is praying that his disciples (and this extends to us as well) would be sanctified, that we too would be set apart as his new holy priesthood.
The Priesthood is one of the fascinating connections between Jesus’ ministry to the church and the Old Testament.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus healed who he did?
Why did he give sight to the blind?
Cleans the lepers?
Cause the lamb to walk?
healed withered hands
Heal the women with the issue of blood?
Why these and not others?
Heart issues, cancer, diabetics?
Jesus’ healings were not just a flex, showing off his power.
But rather Jesus’ healings were a demonstration that he is forming a new priesthood.
Lev. 21 tells about the holiness of the priests and how they could not have certain physical ailments if they were to be priests.
Such as being blind or lame, a man with injured feet or hands, leprosy, and others.
Jesus’ healings was a symbol that he is creating for himself a new priesthood, and the priesthood he is making for himself is made up of men women and children from the nations.
This is Jesus’ prayer to the Father, he wants his disciples and all of his people to be sanctified like priests in his kingdom.
Jesus Prays for the Church
Jesus Prays for the Church
Imagine a historical person that you greatly admire
a hero perhaps.
It could be a great war hero, like George Washington. Perhaps someone like Shakespeare, or CS Lewis.
Think of someone you respect and admire. Now imagine that there has been a recent discovery in the old manuscripts, a letter from the great man himself. And now imagine that in the letter he was talking about you.
This is what we find in the last section of the High Priestly Prayer.
Jesus praying for you.
For you individually and for us as a church.
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
The main thrust of Jesus prayer for his church… for the kingdom of priests, for his body, for his bride, is for his people to be united with one another as we are united to Christ.
This is the prayer my friends.
Jesus prays for you, that you would have unity with your brothers and sisters in Christ.
That you would united to one another as the son is united to the father.
Look at verse 21
that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Jesus prays that we would be one in the same way, or just as Jesus and the Father are one
This unity he speaks of is a unity that transcends preference or personality
This is a unity that is stronger than background or culture
This is a unity that is to exist among credo-baptists and peadobaptist, among Postmil and premil, old and young, male and female, KJV or NIV,
This unity that Christ prays for does not depend on your theological preferences, nor your denominational or political affiliation.
This unity is only found and experienced in God.
“That they may ALL be one, just as you , Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in US...”
God has created us to long for community and unity..
And this is true of all people
In fact, the world is always trying to manufacture and sell unity and community.
They try to convince us that they have the real thing, but as soon as you get your hands on it you realize its false, fake, a trick…
like the impossible burger or a Rolex watch you buy on the street.
One of the richest and most powerful companies in the world exists to try and provide unity and community for people
Facebook’s mission statement is, “to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”
However, The Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology put out a study that directly links time on Facebook with increased depression and loneliness.
Another study showed that now over 60% of all divorce involves facebook
So in an effort to build community and bring the world closer together what we see happening is facebook and other Social Media platforms are creating isolation and loneliness and division.
The world tries and tries to provide that which can only come from God - true unity and community.
Jesus prays that we would be one, that we would be united in Christ.
And church, we too must pray and fight for this unity.
unity for unity’s sake is doomed to fail.
The unity Christ prays for is not just that everyone would get along and agree.
Thats not it at all! And thats not what we are fighting for.
We fight for a unity that is anchored in Christ, who is the rock, under the absolute authority of the Word of God.
As Martin Luther said,
Cursed be that unity for which the Word of God is put at stake.
Martin Luther
Or as Hugh Latimer wrote,
Unity must be ordered according to God’s holy Word, or else it were better war than peace.
Hugh Latimer
Christian unity is not uniformity of opinions, cultures, or expressions etc.
But it is individuals dying to our own pride, our own way of doing things, and submitting ourselves together under the authority of God’s word.
Apart from God’s word there can be no unity.
We fight for a unity that grows out of the truth of the gospel.
Unity does not grow out of appreciation or admiration of one another
It does not grow out of similar experiences or social or economic standing
Christian unity grows forth from the good news of the gospel
J.C. Ryle says,
Unity without the gospel is a worthless unity; it is the very unity of hell.
J. C. Ryle
However, unity in Christ contains a power that will turn the world upside down.
Unity in Christ, that is unity under the authority of God’s word and the gospel, will transform this world.
Church, our unity with one another is the greatest testimony to the unbelieving world.
You can wow philosophy students and professors with your learning and apologetics.
You can capture an audience with your ability to communicate the deep truths of God
You can draw people to yourself through the gifts God has given to you…
You could be an influencer, an author, a recording artist, a preacher, an elder, a deacon, a missionary, a whatever… but none of these things compare to the testimony of living in unity and community with one another in Christ.
We declare the love of Christ when we live as one, united to each other in the truth of the gospel.
Salvation is fellowship with one another in Christ.
We must fight for this together. Because there is nothing more the Evil One will want to destroy at Exodus Church than unity.
A lot is happening in our church, we are growing, we are expanding our space, we are seeing new people come every week.
If we are to live faithful
If we are to be sanctified and set apart
If we are to experience the joy of Christ
If we are to share in the glory of the gospel
If we are to realize the weightiness of our calling
If we are to pray the high priestly prayer with Christ.
We must be One. We must be united together in Christ.
And if we will humble ourselves, die to our pride, consider others greater than ourselves, if we fight for unity, strive to outdo one another in showing honor, there is no telling what God might do with this church.
This is our calling Church, lets fight the good fight, stand firm in the faith, lets lay down our lives, our pride, our selfish desires at the foot of the cross, and live in the freedom and glory of our union with Christ and one another.
Lets pray.