Jesus Prays For His Disciples

INTRODUCTION

Please place a marker in John 17 and Ephesians 1.

We are returning to the Lord’s Prayer in John 17, where we are looking at how Jesus prays for Himself, the Disciples, and the future Church.

REMINDER: this is in the early morning hours on Friday of the Passion week… a mere moments from Judas carrying out his betrayal of Jesus

The final night of Jesus’ earthly life, and His final time meeting with the Disciples, are recorded in John 13-16

Those chapters are rich with promises and final instructions.

Returning to John 17, this is the final prayer with His disciples.

Last week, verses 1-5 revealed Jesus’ prayer for Himself. Namely:

That both the Father and the Son would be glorified

That through His earthly ministry, the Disciples would know eternal life

The He would receive back the glory that He had with the Father before the world was

This week, verses 6-19, reveal to us Jesus’ Prayer for His Disciples.

While there are lots of individual aspects that can be focused on, there are two major points we will explore.

Jesus’ Disciples Have Always Belonged To God

Jesus’ Disciples Need To Learn God As Their Own

Jesus’ Disciples Have Always Belonged To God

verses 6-10

Jesus completed His earthly ministry in that He manifested [God’s] name to the people [the Father] gave [Him]

The root of the Greek word for manifested has the literal meaning to shine.

Jesus did not just make known the Father’s name, but it shined from the Son [undeniable!]

This is an extension from verse 4, where Jesus glorified the Father on earth.

The glorification and declaration of the Father’s name are the supreme work of Christ!

Name is referring to the Father’s:

Identity

Nature

Attributes

Works

Christ revealed the Father and all that was true about Him.

John 1:14, 18; 14:9

Colossians 1:15, 19 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation… For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

And He revealed the Father with the disciples at the most intimate level.

They are the ones whom the Father gave to the Son out of the world.

This concept in itself is amazing.

Jesus makes clear multiple times that they were the Father’s first and were given to Him.

Verses 6, 9 - they were yours

Verses 6, 7, 10, 24 - the Father gave them to the Son

This is not a new revelation in the ministry of Jesus:

John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

The Father works sovereignly in people’s lives. There is an election of God which is the Father’s gift to the Son. Whoever comes to Jesus for salvation will by no means be cast out.

Rather, they are saved for a purpose:

Read Ephesians 1:3-14

We have every spiritual blessing

We are to be holy and blameless

We are adopted as sons

We are the praise of His glorious grace

We are redeemed from the slave market of sin (GRACE = God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense)

We have all wisdom and insight to the mystery of His will

We have an inheritance

We have the seal of guarantee of the Holy Spirit

Returning to John 17, we see the response of those who have been chosen before the foundation of the world:

They keep the word of God (v. 6)

They know that Christ’s message has come from the Father (v. 7)

They have received and come to know the truth (v. 8)

They believe that the Father sent the Son (v. 8)

This is the mark of a true believer: obedience to the Word of God.

A person who is saved is a person who is obeying the gospel

The gospel is a command (believe or perish)

Obedience to the command of the gospel is essential, and our Lord is saying that the disciples obeyed.

Not only do we see that believers have always been God’s, in Jesus’ prayer, but also that…

Jesus’ Disciples Need To Learn God As Their Own

verses 11-19

Jesus’ concern for those who have been given to Him is that they may be one.

Oneness is the essence of the Trinity, and it is to be the essence of the Body of Christ, as well.

The Father and the Son are one, which is the example left for us to emulate

Read Ephesians 4:1-6

Jesus recognizes that while He has been with the disciples, He has kept them and guarded them.

Now that He is going to return to the Father, He is concerned that they would not go astray

He identifies the very troubles that the disciples (and ultimately, the Church) will face:

They are in the world (v. 11)

The world has hated them (v. 14)

The evil one desires them (v. 15) 1 Peter 5:8–9 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

They are being sent into the world (v. 18)

Since the disciples are remaining without the presence of Christ, they must be committed to His Word in order to overcome the troubles they will endure.

They have kept the words of God given to them by Jesus (v. 6; faithful obedience)

They have come to know the truth through the words that Jesus has given them (v. 8) John 8:31–32 Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The word teaches them to not be of this world (v. 14, 17) Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The word is how salvation is brought to others (v. 20) Romans 10:14–17 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Since we have not always known God, we must be careful to learn Him.

He knows us more thoroughly and intimately than we could ever possibly know Him, as we have been His since before the foundation of the world.

We, on the other hand, were dead in our sins and alienated from God. Read Ephesians 2:1-3, 12

CONCLUSION

As we dig into the Lord’s Prayer here in John 17, we are being enriched with revealed truth about God and about us.

God’s election can be a controversial topic in some Christian circles to bring up, but it is truth mined from Scripture.

What should not be lost is that God did not choose us to have heaven and enjoy the comfy life, He chose us for a purpose… to be sanctified and to be sent.

John 17:17–18 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

If you were to ask me, “Pastor Ken, what do you want me to take home and meditate on today?”

There are three very important truths that emanate from the two main points:

If you come to Jesus for salvation, He will never cast you out (eternal security)

If you have come to Jesus for salvation, seek to know Him in His Word (sanctification)

As you are growing in your knowledge of Jesus, share Him with a lost and dying world (evangelization)