07 | John 17:11-12, 20-23 | Keep Them in Your Name

CG Questions

As you listened to the sermon on Sunday or reflected on the passage from John 17, what would you like to share with the group?

Read John 17:11-12. What is Jesus’ central prayer in this passage? What is his motivation for this prayer?

Read John 17:20-21. Much attention is given to Jesus’ request for unity in his prayer. In light of Jesus’ prayer in verse 11, how does Jesus envision that the disciples and those who believe will be and remain unified?

What is the result of unity in both of the passages in the sermon from Sunday? How have you seen this play out at CPCoast?

INTRODUCTION

I’ve begun this series, week after week, with a prayer of my own for you that …

… among all the voices vying for your attention

… the one voice that will stand out among the noise

… is the voice of our mediator

… speaking to the Father on our behalf.

We continue our series in John 17 in the section that is Jesus’ prayer for his disciples that he then extends to all who believe through their word.

Last week we read this most powerful sentence:

I am praying for them.

Our Savior, Jesus, is not only the one who has worked for you.

He is not only the one who has shown his love for you in this, that he has laid down his life for you.

Our Savior offers this plea before the Father in heaven …

… that you and I, with all the church of every age

… would be one with him

… that we, also, would be with him and see his glory.

This morning we consider verses 11-12 …

… where Jesus commits his disciples to the loving care of the Father

… that he would keep them in his holy name.

PRAY

4:00

I want you to see the flow of Jesus’ prayer:

v9 - I am praying for them.

This is where he launches his explicit prayer, first for the 11 disciples who are with him, and then for all who will believe.

In this first section, he is praying for the disciples, the eleven to whom he has manifest the name of the Father.

v10 - He is praying in the confidence that these disciples truly belong to him …

… because they were given to him by the Father

… and because Jesus has faithfully revealed the Father to them so that they both know and believe.

What is has become to fascinating to me about Jesus’ prayer is how comprehensive, how methodical and thorough it is.

Each request he makes for these eleven disciples who are with him in the upper room that evening …

… finds a parallel in the final section of the prayer, where he prays for those who will believe through their word.

So, for our remaining weeks in John 17 we are going to bundle these two requests together.

This morning we consider v11-12 along with v20-23 …

… where Jesus prays that the disciples and the church would be kept in the Father’s name.

6:00

So, for the disciples, the eleven disciples:

What is his prayer for them?

The core of his prayer, his desire before the Father on behalf of this small band of disciples, this seedling church …

v11b - Holy Father, keep them in your name!

KEEP THEM IN YOUR NAME

But I have a question …

Why? Why the fervency of this prayer?

Hasn’t Jesus been making the Father known to them?

Hasn’t Jesus been the one who has been calling them, teaching them, and guarding them?

Why, now, does Jesus pray to the Father, with such fervency …

… that the Father would keep them?

Read v11a — Jesus is going to the Father.

Remember v1 - Father, the hour has come.

That is, Jesus is going to the cross, where he will suffer and die, just has he has been telling the disciples …

… and after which he will rise and ascend to the Father

… taking up his glorious seat in heaven.

9:00

Jesus will no longer be in the world.

The whole of this portion of Jesus’ prayer stands on this point …

… because Jesus is departing the world and going to the Father he asks the Father for two things:

1. Jesus asks the Father to keep these disciples.

2. Jesus asks the Father to keep those who will believe on account of their word.

The disciples will no longer have the physical presence of Jesus.

The Lord will no longer teach them, for he has already given them the word of God and the name of the Father.

I think of John 14:8–9 (ESV) Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

While Jesus was with the disciples, he himself kept them in the truth …

… against all their doubts and ignorance

… in all their pride and arrogance.

The story of the gospels are often the story of Jesus’ sure hand to shape the faith of these disciples.

But soon the hand of Jesus in their presence will be removed.

What is required now is that the Father keep them in this name.

12:00

Holy Father, Keep Them

The father is holy.

This is the heart of our justification, sanctification and glorification.

1 Peter 1:14–16 (ESV) As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Jesus, himself, calls this reality to mind with his appeal to the “Holy Father.”

Jesus is appealing to the divine holiness of the Father to keep the disciples in the name …

… that is in devotion to the divine person of God.

At the core of the holiness of God is this: the utter devotion of God to the glory of God himself.

God is not distracted by any lesser thing.

It is the disciples who are of little faith—who are blown and tossed by the wind.

It is the disciples who are often double-minded and full of doubt.

But the Lord God, he is single-minded.

The Lord knows but one glory …

… one shining radiance

… one joy and splendor.

And in Jesus, the Word made flesh, we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Jesus is praying to his holy, single-minded, all glorious Father …

… whose name he has made known to the these disciples

… that the Holy Father would keep them in this name.

Jesus knows how blown and tossed the disciples are.

He knows their double-mindedness.

He knows that without him, they will not keep themselves …

… they will not keep their own faith.

Oh, how pitiable is the one whose faith is in their own faith.

Jesus, knowing this, makes his request to the Father:

It is by his name (the divine power and authority of the Father) that the disciples will be kept in devotion to the glory of the Father and the Son.

Jesus has shown the Father to the disciples.

See 6 - Jesus has manifested the Father’s name to them.

Here, Jesus, who will no longer be with the disciples …

… so he prays that the Father himself will keep them in that very name that he has revealed to them.

That which Jesus has shown to them …

… which they have received, known believed

… the Father will now keep them in.

I have to pause here and ask you to consider this.

Have you heard the encouragement of his prayer?

The Holy Father in heaven keeps you.

Our inheritance in Christ is imperishable, undefiled and unfading because it is kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for salvation (1 Peter 1:4).

In this we rejoice!

Against every doubt and wavering.

Against every worldly assault and suffering.

The Son has prayed for those who are his.

The Father keeps them.

17:00

Now, consider the second portion of v11.

Read v11b (read whole first).

Unity

Jesus prays for their unity.

But it is essential that we give attention to the how of that unity.

It is insofar as they are kept in God’s name, as they are unified by power and reality of the one glorious God …

… that they will be found to be unified at all.

The Son’s concern is not that the disciples keep together as one unified group, but that they are kept in the name of the Father together.

Perhaps, you will understand what I am saying if I put it this way.

The disciples are not first a band of brothers.

How much does mankind desire a small band, an in crowd, a fellowship?

ILL: I still remember when a high school student of mine came up to me years ago and said rather awkwardly, “Hi, I’m Josh. I’m in a band!”

And then he just stood there, like nothing more needed to be said.

The small Christian school had a rock band in it and they were quite good.

They had recorded a CD and did many concerts in the surrounding county.

And when this young man thought of the most important thing he could say to introduce himself, all could think of was … “I’m in a band!”

He was a part of a small band of brothers, a fellowship, with a shared purpose and shared delight.

How much do we desire to be a part of such a small gathering of faithful friends!

But, hear this, the disciples are not first a band of brothers.

The Son’s concern is not that the disciples keep together as one unified group.

That they keep the band together after the lead singer is gone.

The disciples are not first brothers, but children.

They are not a band of brothers; they are children of the Father.

It is for this reason that the Son is not ashamed to call them brothers.

It is in this confidence and in this hope that the Son prays for them.

21:00

What is the unity of these disciples?

It is unity in the name of the Father.

The Son is perfectly devoted to the Father in love, purpose and obedience.

The Son’s singular good is the glory of the Father.

The only glory for the Son is found in unity with the Father and in obedience to his purpose of redemption.

Surely, if there is any glory for we who are not the Word made flesh, it will be found only in devotion, love and obedience to God.

And this devotion is expressed by devotion to Jesus, through whom the Father has been manifest to us.

23:00

v12 - Kept and Guarded

It is clear that Jesus has kept every single one that the Father gave to him.

It is simultaneously clear that there was one among the original twelve disciples that was never truly among their fellowship.

Oh, he was always there, but he was never actually following Jesus.

There are numerous indications along the way that Judas was following his own pride, his own purpose and, by means of theft and treachery, his own wealth.

It is clear that Judas never received, knew or believed that Jesus was from God nor that he was sent by the Father.

It is interesting that Jesus, here, does not call Judas by his name, but by the name of “the son of destruction.”

That is, Judas was one who is destined for destruction.

Judas is the precursor, the typological image of the great enemy of God who opposes the purposes of God.

Judas played the role of the anti-Christ.

Psalm 41:9 (ESV) Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

Jesus was a friend to him, but Judas never belong to him.

Oh, is there a warning for those in this room who suppose that you belong to this fellowship.

You have often been with the church.

You have gone where the church has gone, but you have never really followed Jesus.

We are not a band or a fellowship or a community or a membership to be joined.

We are a people called by the Father to belong to the Son.

There is no amount of hanging out or hanging on that can make you belong.

Ask yourself, do you belong to this little congregation because you often show up and do church stuff with us?

Or do you belong to this congregation because you are a disciple of Jesus Christ!

27:00

APPLY

The point of Jesus prayer here is this:

The unity of the apostles was found by being kept in the Father’s name.

28:00

Now, let us turn to the parallel portion of Jesus prayer in v20-23.

Read v20-23

THAT THEY MAY BE ONE

First consider the means of our unity:

This isn’t the only time that those who believe through the testimony of these apostolic witnesses were on Jesus’ mind.

After the resurrection, in his interaction with Thomas …

John 20:29 (ESV) Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

The apostles knew the name of the Father through the word of the Son.

The believers know the name of the Father and the Son through the word of the apostles.

So, the believers may also be one with the Son and with the Father.

v21 - The believers are one together in our devotion to the Father and to the Son as we have received him through the apostles’ teaching.

Acts 2:42 (ESV) And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

How is the church unified?

We are unified in the name of the Father and of the Son.

How have we come to receive, know and believe in this name?

Through the word that has been passed down to us.

Friends, we do not worship this book any more than we worship the apostles who wrote it.

We worship the Spirit who inspired it and the glorious Name it reveals to us.

What is the how of our unity?

That we have come to believe in Jesus through this word, this testimony.

31:00

In Jesus’ prayer for those who will believe, he also reveals a result of this unity of faith.

Read v21b.

Unity and Witness

Let us read this rightly.

It is not our unity with one another that is our primary witness.

It is our unity in the name of the Father that is a witness to the Son.

One of the greatest testimonies to the reality of Christ and his gospel …

… is the apostles’ utter and unified devotion to Christ and his gospel against every worldly confrontation.

Again, as in the previous section, it is not their devotion to one another, but their devotion to Jesus.

It is as they walk as children of the Father that they then walk as one family together.

The center and means of our unity is not our devotion to one another.

It isn’t our kindness or niceness or patience.

Our most compelling unity is our corporate devotion to the Lord our Savior.

It is this devotion to the Lord that overflows into a love for one another.

For we who share one love, will surely love those who are devoted to the same love.

34:00

Now, this part of Jesus’ request ends with an astounding statement.

You will remember that Jesus’ prayer for himself is that he would be glorified.

Here, in v22, Jesus says that we too have been glorified!

Read v22-23.

v22 - Glory

How has Jesus given glory to the disciples and to those who believe?

He has made known the name of the Father to them.

He has given them eternal life, which is to know God.

This is glory, to behold God.

Matthew 4:16 (ESV) the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.

Jesus has made the Father known to us.

We have seen God, and we have received him through the testimony of the Word.

This is our glory!

Romans 5:1–2 (ESV) Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

test

APPLY

I think it is appropriate that we would ask ourselves as a congregation of disciples of Jesus in this room.

Do we look like a people who have been caught up in the love of the Father and the Son?

Do we look like a people who have seen God?

We who remain in the world, awaiting the return of the Son …

… do we look like a people who await reunion in heaven?

… or do we look like a people clinging to the earth?

I pray that there is awakened in us, but our attention to Jesus’ prayer a stirred longing.

That we would find in the prayerful desire of Jesus a renewed longing for the things of God.

That we would long for the name of the Father.

That we would long for union together in Christ.

And that this shared longing would overflow into a tangible witness …

… that there would yet be those who are presently in the world

… who will believe through not only our word, but also our love for one another.

40:00

APPLY

I am moved by Jesus as a model of prayer:

When our own lives are drawing to a close, what desire would we make known to the Father?

What would be our prayer?

If we were to bring the work of our lives to the Father and say …

… I will be on this earth but a moment longer

… Father, I have been faithful about your glory and your purpose.

What a sweet word would be on our tongue if when the hour of our death draws near that we too would say:

Father, I am coming to you!

As though the final moment of your life is simply the last step of the trajectory of our life.

Is this the aim of your hope and your glorious end?

And what of those who remain after we are gone? Will you call them to mind in your final hour?

When the hour of our departure draws near, having laid down our lives for Christ’s church …

… having shared Christ and his gospel

… seeking the salvation of the lost

… the sanctification of the redeemed

What a sweet word would be on our lips were we to pray:

Father, keep your church even as I have sought to keep her in your name.

And what of those who, as we depart this earth, have not yet believed?

Will our funeral hall be filled by a band, a fellowship, a gathering of family and friends with shared interests and familial love?

Or will our funeral hall be filled with a gathering of saints with voices uplifted to the glory of the Father.

Can you see the contrast?

One is a gathering of people, a nice people, a good people, but hardly distinguishable from any other earthly family or fellowship.

The other, a people so taken, so captured by a singular glory, that they together, as one, lift up their eyes and their song to heaven.

What a sweet word would be on our lips were we to pray in our final hour:

Father, I only depart to be with the One that we together as your church have always sought.

May the unity that we have enjoyed together on this earth, as we sought your glory together …

… be seen by a world whose only hope is that they too would behold your glory and know the grace of Jesus Christ.

———

As much as Jesus’ prayer is instructive for us:

As much as I am convicted by my lack of desire for the things that so capture Jesus’ own heart in prayer …

… we ought not miss that the words of John 17 are not Jesus’ instruction for the church

… but Jesus’ prayer for the church.

That is, John 17 is not something that we will do, but something that Jesus desires and the Father will fulfill.

Jesus, we love you because you first loved us.

Jesus, we love the Father because you have shown him to us.

Jesus, we know we will be kept in the name of the Father because you have prayed for us.

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