John 17 - I Pray

Introduction

What does it mean for someone to pray for you?

Let’s say you are in the hospital…awaiting an operation…outcome unknown

A family member

A pastor

Pastor Wayne

Pastor Wayne + __________

Jesus

What did it mean for the disciples to hear Jesus pray…for them?

Did they expect for Jesus’ prayers to be answered?

The longest recorded prayer of Jesus (John 17:1-26)

v.1-5 Jesus prays for himself

v.6-19 Jesus prays for the disciples

v.20-26 Jesus prays for all believers

1. Sanctify

John 17:13–19 CSB

13 Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them. 14 I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

v.13 “in the world” - but Jesus knows that his departure is immanent!

“joy may be complete”

John 15:11 “11 “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”

This joy depends on abiding in the Father’s love…which further depends on obedience

v.14 “your word” - the truth of the revelation of God

“the world hated them because they are not of the world”

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Exposition

their origin and character were different because they had believed in Jesus. Jesus spoke of the Father and the world as opposing loyalties

2 Timothy 3:12 “12 In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Al Mohler reports:

Arizona finds itself ground zero in a religious liberty dispute that could have nationwide implications. With equal urgency, this case reveals the contours of the challenge soon to be faced by every Christian college that dares to be Christian in any convictional sense.

It all started with some routine paperwork, filed for the Washington Elementary School District’s Feb. 28 school board meeting. The board’s routine “consent agenda” included approval of student teachers from Arizona Christian University, which was recommended by the staff. ACU had provided student teachers for the district for 11 years.

But what was expected to be routine turned out to be a revolution. Two LGBTQ members of the board objected to ACU and its students because the school published its commitment to education “with a biblical lens.” Here is the shocking truth the school board discovered: The “core commitments” of the Christian university are clear expressions of Christianity. “Before all else,” states the university, it is “committed to Jesus Christ—accomplishing His will and advancing His kingdom on earth as in heaven.” Sound familiar?

The board voted unanimously to reject the contract with the school and refuse its student teachers solely on the claim that the very existence of these Christian student teachers in the schools would harm pupils.

v.15 “not…take them out of the world” - as will happen to Jesus

“protect them from the evil one”

Matt 6:13 “13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

v.16 “not of the world” - I think that we know what this is, or at least we think that we know what this is, but can we define it?

The people constituting the world whose values, beliefs, and morals are in distinction and rebellion to God’s

v.17 “Sanctify” - somewhat rare in John; related to what word? Holy. How should we understand this? To make holy

The Gospel according to John (c. Jesus Prays that His Disciples May Be Sanctified (17:17–19))

At its most basic level of meaning, ‘holy’ is almost an adjective for God: he is transcendent, ‘other’, distinct, separate from his creation

Derivatively, then, people and things that are reserved for him are also called holy—whether a censer for an altar in the temple of the old covenant, or a man set apart to be the high priest.

The prophet Jeremiah, and Aaron and his sons, were all ‘sanctified’, i.e. set apart for sacred duty, reserved for God

The moral overtones in our English words ‘holy’ and ‘sanctification’ emerge only at that point: if someone is set apart for God and God’s purposes alone, that person will do only what God wants, and hate all that God hates. That is what it means to be holy, as God is holy

“by thy truth…thy word”

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Exposition

The way that Jesus asked the Father to sanctify the disciples was by using His word. This means that it is essential for disciples to know, understand, believe, and obey the revelation that God has given us. The words of God that Jesus revealed, and that stand recorded in the Bible, are the key to believers’ practical sanctification. Practical sanctification involves separation unto God from the world, the evil one who rules it, and the lies that he propagates throughout the deceived world.

v.18 “I have sent them into the world” - sanctification is for the purpose of mission; not for us to be holy all alone, all by ourselves

v.19 “I sanctify myself for them”

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Exposition

Jesus did not mean that He intended to make Himself more holy than He already was, since that would have been impossible. He set Himself apart to do God’s will partially for the sake of His disciples. He is our example of perfect sanctification, and His sanctification makes ours possible. Without the sacrificial death of Jesus there would be no salvation and no mission for us. There would be no sanctification for us either. One of the purposes of Jesus’ death was to set believers apart to God, and His mission, in order for them to function as priests in the world

2. Unite

John 17:20–23 CSB

20 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. 21 May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. 22 I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

v.20 “those who believe in me through their word” Who is that? Us!

v.21 “May they all be one” - this is a tricky one; or is it?

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Exposition

This unity rests on adherence to God’s truth, and it reflects the unity that exists between the Father and the Son. Furthermore, it is union with the Father and the Son: “that they also may be in Us” (cf. ch. 15). God answered this prayer initially on the day of Pentecost, when He united believers with Himself in the body of Christ, the church

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Exposition

This verse is a favorite of promoters of the ecumenical movement. The ecumenical movement seeks to unite the world’s Christian churches in one all-embracing church. However, as the content and context of this verse clarify, Jesus was not speaking about institutional unity but personal unity among genuine believers

“as you, Father, are in me and I am in you”

The Gospel according to John 3. Jesus Prays for Those Who Will Believe (17:20–23)

The Father and the Son are distinguishable (the pre-incarnate Word is ‘with’ God, 1:1; the Son prays to his Father; the Father commissions and sends, while the Son obeys), yet they are one.

Similarly, the believers, still distinct, are to be one in purpose, in love, in action undertaken with and for one another, in joint submission to the revelation received

“in us, so that the world may believe” - I recently saw the father of someone I know; he was the spitting image. When others see God’s character in us, our message is made believable.

v.22 “the glory you have given me” - what is this glory?

The Gospel according to John 3. Prayer for Those Who Will Believe (17:20–26)

That is to say, just as his true glory was to follow the path of lowly service culminating in the cross, so for them the true glory lay in the path of lowly service wherever it might lead them

v.23 “made completely one” - again, spiritual unity rather than organizational

Christians playing racquetball - unity though with plenty of differences! Just a very small example, but hopefully they would see the love of God in our lives

3. Gather

John 17:24–26 CSB

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. 25 Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me. 26 I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them.”

v.24 “to be with me” - a glorious thought! The timeless Son of God would have us with him forever!

“that they will see my glory” - as in the transfiguration? What do we have before us?

v.25 “Righteous Father” - God will do what is right by granting this petition

v.26 “made your name known” - so that God’s love may be in us

Application

Sanctify - recognize the purpose for your life is to be united with Christ and set apart for His service

Unite - enjoy spiritual unity with other believers

Gather - look forward with anticipation to the time when we will be gathered to Jesus