Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

I wrestled a great deal with how to properly deal with this passage.

It is not just the word of God but the words of Christ Jesus to the Father.

It’s a very high-level thing I feel very unworthy to be preaching on this morning so understand I come at this with a great deal of humility.

Even now, I’m aware of how many sermons could be written out of each verse alone.

This chapter covers so many truths about God, salvation, sanctification, and man that it could take months to unpack if not more.

But we don’t have months, we have 30 minutes so no pressure.

This chapter is unlike any other in Scripture as it is a full prayer from Jesus to the Father.

Many might point to what is called the Lord’s prayer in Luke but that’s better labeled the Disciples’ Prayer since it was not one which Jesus prayed for himself.

He was giving them an example and in part we know this because of the words, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

This, is a sacred moment in the life of our Lord.

His ministry has come to a close.

He has delivered his final words to the disciples beginning in the upper room and ending as they began walking toward the Brook Kidron.

The disciples are still a little confused about what he’s talking about but they certainly sense a seriousness in his tone and body language.

And as they reach the brook he gives them his final words in John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.

In the world you will have tribulation.

But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

And after this, he lifts his eyes to heaven and begins praying.

JC Ryle says of this passage, “We have here the prayer of one who spoke as never a man has spoken, and prayed as never a man has prayed,—the prayer of the second Person in the Trinity to the Father: the prayer of one whose office it is, as our High Priest, to make intercession for His people.”

In this prayer his final words to the Father he prays for himself, his disciples, and the rest of the saints to come.

What is contained in this prayer is therefore something we ought to stop, have reverence for, and truly consider deeply.

STAND for God’s unfailing life-giving word

John 17:1-5 “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, 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.

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

PRAY

As I studied this passage this week I was moved by considering the mind of Christ in the prayer.

When someone prays, you learn something about them.

One of those things is what is important to them.

There are several of these things that we can see here but I want to draw attention to three this morning.

The mind of Christ glorifies God through waiting, obedience, and delighting in His doctrines.

The Mind of Christ Glorifies God Through Waiting

We begin with verse one “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come...”

The Scriptures have demonstrated that God has given mankind every chance to repent and obey and at every step, they have rejected him by and large.

He gave them judges, priests, kings, and prophets.

None of them could save and despite their messages, all were rejected by mankind and they themselves even became corrupt.

Finally, God sent the Messiah, who was the better prophet, priest, and King.

The very Son of God would be the answer to the question lingering for thousands of years before, “Who can save us?” Throughout the ministry of Christ as recorded in John we have seen that he is constantly aware that God brings about His perfect will according to His perfect time.

Every step of the way Jesus was concerned with the timing of God’s plan and was patient for it to come.

He was in perfect harmony with God’s will and timing.

We know this because of his repeated statements in John that His hour has not yet come.

That is because The Mind of Christ glorifies God in waiting.

Specifically waiting on God’s perfect plan that had been unfolding for thousands of years.

At the beginning in John 2 there is a wedding in Cana which has run out of wine.

Jesus’ mother tells him about the fiasco and he replies, “...what does this have to do with me?

My hour has not yet come.”

In John 7:6 his brothers did not believe him and try to shoo him away telling him to do his works in more public places.

He replies, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.”

Or John 7:30, “So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.”

John 8:20, says he’s teaching in the temple “but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.”

God’s timing is perfect throughout all ages.

And here we see that finally, finally, Jesus speaks to His Father proclaiming, “The hour has come.”

What hour is that?

It is the time for Jesus to complete the work he came here to do: namely his death, burial, and resurrection.

This timing was established in the beginning according to the eternal decree of God.

Gal 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son..to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Rom 5:6 “For while we were still weak, at just the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

This hour is what his entire ministry has been working toward.

It is not late or short-sighted.

It is exactly as He has planned from the beginning.

Jesus is all too aware of this reality that he will be the recipient of the pain and suffering of the cross but even more, taking on the sins of the sheep who were given to Him by the Father that He should save them, as we will read.

Every sin you could imagine.

Every secret sin, every sin out in the open, and in between are about to be born by the holy and righteous Son of God so that He can pay the price for them and buy our redemption from judgement with His blood.

His hour has finally come.

And Jesus has waited patiently for this hour because he glorifies God in waiting.

He did not seek to speed it up and get it over with like I would.

He didn’t go beyond his instructions from the Father but waited, taking one step at a time no matter how arduous it was.

I’m sure being all-powerful has it’s temptations when being insulted by self-righteous pharisees.

Or when he was literally starving in the wilderness.

Might come in handy.

But instead the Mind of Christ glorifies God in waiting.

He lived a perfect life, fulfilling all of the law which we could not do, faithfully proclaimed the gospel to the lost, demonstrated his divinity with miracles and signs, served his disciples faithfully, and now the hour has come he has waited so patiently for.

Application:

Have this mind of Christ to patiently wait on God’s perfect plan.

Often when we have a calling in our heart, it is tempting to drop everything and move in that direction.

I have felt the calling toward pastoral ministry for over two decades and have been tempted at times to quit my job and just go.

But God’s timing is perfect and his plan progresses exactly as it must for our good and His glory.

Jesus had a far greater purpose than I do, and he was patient to wait on the Father’s plan through repeated rejections, dull disciples, exhaustion with people following him everywhere demanding signs, and living amongst the sin he possessed none of.

2 Pet 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you...”

God’s plan is perfect, and because we are not privy to the particulars of it we can begin to doubt.

But trust in the perfect plan of God and understand that in the waiting He is continuing to do a work in you so that at just the right time He will bring it all to pass.

The Mind of Christ Glorifies God Through Obedience

On this same train of thought, next we see that the Mind of Christ glorifies God through obedience.

John 17:1 “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,” and then in verses 4 and 5, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

I have described it as obedience because the glory Christ is seeking is inextricably linked to the cross.

Obedience and glory are almost one and the same.

It’s ironic because His glory is also the very thing which was so humiliating.

This kind of glory is not the kind of glory we see athletes or politicians pursue because it is not self-serving but humble; it is not narcissistic but holy; not unloving but guided by perfect love.

JC Ryle says, “This kind of glory is a specific kind of glory, namely, that divine glory that shines in humble, sacrificial obedience.”

It is for this purpose that Christ came.

We can see in His prayers in the garden of Gethsemane that what He was about to face was difficult and troubling.

He sweat drops of blood as the Father’s plan was unfolding and His unwavering character causes him to obey the Father at all costs.

Literally at ALL costs.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah’s unwavering commitment saying “...the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.”

(Is 50:7) The mind of Christ glorifies God through obedience.

By Jesus seeking glory, he achieves our good and our joy.

It puts the Father’s miraculous plan on display to redeem people from death to life to the praise of His glory.