Jesus is Praying for Us
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“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 story is told of two men riding a tandem bicycle up a steep hill. After much effort, they finally made it to the top of the hill.
The front rider said, “That was a tough ride.”
To which the second rider replied, “Sure was, and if I hadn’t kept the brake on we might have slipped backwards.”
Source: https://www.ministry127.com/resources/illustration/working-against-each-other
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Our text today is the conclusion of what is typically called Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer.” On this night just a few hours before his betrayal, Jesus had prepared his disciples for the coming events.
He would leave them, but he would send another Comforter not merely to abide with them, but in them. Finally, Jesus prayed. He prayed first seeking His Father’s glory. Then, Jesus prayed for the Eleven. He prayed for their unity, the protection from the world, and preparation for mission.
Finally, in these last seven verses of John 17, Jesus prayed for us - and all those who would accept Christ as Lord and Savior from that time through today till the end of the world.
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Jesus prayed for you… and me!
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And Jesus’ prayer for us revolves around one central desire and concern - our unity as His Church, the Body of Christ, the Family of God.
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Big Idea: Jesus' prayer for us is our unity as His Church.
Big Idea: Jesus' prayer for us is our unity as His Church.
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Truly, it only makes sense that Jesus be concerned that his Church remain unified.
The Eleven were constantly squabbling over who was greatest in the kingdom of God.
Furthermore, as Jesus said in Matthew 12:25
Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.
Surely Jesus knew the various stresses the Church would experience even from its earliest days. We think of the controversy that is recorded in Acts 6. Jews had come from many different regions to observe the Day of Pentecost.
The miracle of speaking in different languages that accompanied the pouring out of the Holy Spirit enabled the believers to witness to these different groups of Jews in their native languages.
In those early days of the Church, the believers thought Jesus would return imminently. So, apparently, many of those Jews from different regions stayed in Jerusalem for some time, instead of going back home after the festival.
Obviously, that meant there was need to provide food for the people, especially those who were widows or very poor. Of course, there were also the locals who depended on this ministry of food.
And then a complaint arose that the locals were being favored over those who were visiting.
But this was a minor issue compared to the problem that threatened the Church a few years later. The Holy Spirit first led Philip to witness to the Ethiopian eunuch and then to Samaritans.
Later, the Holy Spirit revealed to Peter that God accepts all who put their trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Then, God appointed Paul to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Many, many Gentiles accepted Christ as Lord and Savior.
And conservative, nationalistic Jews didn’t know how to handle this influx of foreigners into the Church.
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Jesus knew how personalities and personal convictions and beliefs could strain relationships, even close relationships like that enjoyed by the missionary team of Paul and Barnabus or of Euodia and Syntyche, founding members of Philippi Church.
Jesus knew how false teachers would seek to confuse the elect and cause them to doubt their faith.
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Jesus knew how differences in interpretation and doctrine, church government and Christian practices would divide Christians, even to today. So Jesus prayed for us - for our unity.
As we consider Jesus’ prayer for unity, notice first…
1. The Pattern for our Unity, vv. 20-22.
1. The Pattern for our Unity, vv. 20-22.
“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,
These verses answer the question: “How are we united?”
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Notice what Jesus prays for … “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us.”
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The pattern for the unity we are to practice and experience as Christ’s Church is the unity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as Triunity in the Godhead.
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Yes, we don’t truly understand how God can be three Persons in one Godhead - a Trinity. But we recognize this truth from scriptures.
As our by-laws state:
We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections.
We know that each of the Persons of the Godhead have special emphases and work, yet all are one. They are a perfect example of unity and community, of seeking the glory of one another instead of oneself.
Jesus’ prayer is that we might experience the same unity in community that He and the Father (and the Holy Spirit) experience. One commentator points out, Jesus did not refer to the Spirit in his prayer…
But it is the Spirit (mentioned from chapters 14–16) who facilitates this intimacy. Later John will write in his first letter, “We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13).
Burge, G. M. (2000). John (p. 468). Zondervan Publishing House.
The Father and Son are one. We are to become one with them, both individually and as a community of believers. Someone has explained:
The fact that these [three persons of the Godhead] can be separate and yet relate together in beautiful love and harmony sets the pattern that Christ had in view in this verse.
Gangel, K. O. (2000). John (Vol. 4, pp. 323–324). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
This commentator later makes this application:
Applying this prayer for unity to the church does not argue for ecclesiastical connections but to personal relationships among members of the body. It does not negate denominations or other kinds of church distinctions, but those things are secondary to the union among members in the body.
Gangel, K. O. (2000). John (Vol. 4, pp. 323–324). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
But notice something beautiful Jesus said in verse 22.
The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
Consider this thought:
After the Sinai covenant was given, the glory of God left the mountain (Ex. 24:16) and descended on the tabernacle to live in Israel (Ex. 40:34). In the Gospel Jesus has been that place of glory (John 1:14), replacing, as it were, the temple. But now the thought is of the glory of God passing to Jesus’ followers, indwelling them. The confidence of the church’s mission rests here: If it lives in the Spirit (and thereby in the Father and Son), if it reflects God’s glory and love, if it shows a unity in its ranks born by a shared knowledge of God, its testimony will astonish the world.
Burge, G. M. (2000). John (p. 468). Zondervan Publishing House.
This thought emphasizes the second point we find regarding Jesus’ prayer for our unity.
2. The Proclamation of our Unity, v. 23.
2. The Proclamation of our Unity, v. 23.
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.
Jesus’ words here answer the question: “Why should we pursue unity?”
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As we experience unity with God the Father and God the Son … and one another, Jesus gives us of his glory, which the Father gave to him.
Like the cloud overshadowing the Temple by day and the pillar of fire by night, like God’s presence inhabiting the Temple in such a powerful way that the priests could not enter, like Jesus was the Glory of God on earth, our unity in God and with one another demonstrates the presence of God in the world.
When the world sees our unity and love for one another, it will recognize that God is truly God and that God loves us.
As someone has noted:
The biggest barriers to effective evangelism according to the prayer of Jesus are not so much outdated methods, or inadequate presentations of the gospel, as realities like gossip, insensitivity, negative criticism, jealousy, backbiting, an unforgiving spirit, a ‘root of bitterness’, failure to appreciate others, self-preoccupation, greed, selfishness and every other form of lovelessness. These are the squalid enemies of effective evangelism which render the gospel fruitless and send countless thousands into eternity without a Saviour.
Milne, B. (1993). The message of John: here is your king!: with study guide (pp. 250–251). InterVarsity Press.
One pastor writes:
None of us who were present will ever forget—every detail is etched in my memory—the service of reconciliation between First Baptist and Metropolitan Baptist churches more than twenty years after an angry division.
Fellow believers, some of whom had not met together or spoken to one another in years, had come together to worship. And as we sang “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” that night four years ago and turned to greet one another in the crowded sanctuary, many people embraced and their tears of joy and gratitude were mingled.
Surely the angels sang at this defeat of the evil one. And the next day on the street people stopped some of us saying they had heard the “good news.” The message we proclaimed had become more credible.
Fredrikson, R. L., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1985). John (Vol. 27, p. 249). Thomas Nelson Inc.
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Isn’t that a beautiful picture of unity?
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But realistically… we know many churches and denominations have split over all sorts of things - big things (even doctrinal issues) to ridiculous issues. And many such fights and fusses have never been resolved.
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Look at all the denominations and nondenominations and differences of theologies the Church.
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A quote that is widely attributed to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is as follows:
“The most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning.”
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With this reality, is all this talk of unity mere “pie in the sky” dreaming?
In John 17:24 we find a third truth about the unity for which Jesus prayed for you and me.
3. The Perfection of our Unity, v. 24.
3. The Perfection of our Unity, v. 24.
This verse answers the question: “When will we experience perfect unity?”
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.
Jesus was anticipating at this time his glorification by the Father - his death on the Cross, his resurrection from the tomb, and his ascension back to Heaven to the right hand of the Father.
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus’ desire, however, is not merely that he enjoy the glories of Heaven with his Father, but that we might also enjoy the glory of the Father’s presence!
Someone has noted:
We see just a touch of humanity in this verse. Just as we invite our friends home to show them how hard we have worked to make it attractive and comfortable, so Jesus looked forward to the time when all his people would be in his Father’s house.
What a reminder that our Lord was always a pilgrim and stranger on earth. Now he prayed for guests to visit his eternal home. Notice also that heaven is heaven because of the presence of the Savior, not because of any other physical or material accoutrements.
Gangel, K. O. (2000). John (Vol. 4, p. 319). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
Unity in the Church does not be conformity. It does not mean compromise on doctrine or biblical standards. We find our unity in Jesus and the Father.
Truly, I believe there is a unity here on earth available to us as a local church and even the Church throughout the world that we have not truly experienced.
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But in a realistic sense, there are certain limitations to our unity. We are human. We are imperfect.
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One day, when we go to be with Jesus, all will be made whole and perfect. In Heaven, we will experience a unity together that we may never be able to fully understand here on earth.
In Heaven, with the tri-unity of the Godhead, we will be in perfect sync with our brothers and sisters in Christ as we live and serve for the glory of God throughout eternity!
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While we have explored a bit the realistic limitations of our unity here on earth, at the same time, I think we all realize we could live and work and serve with our fellow believers in a greater unity than we typically experience.
So, in the last two verses of Jesus’ prayer, we find…
4. The Practice of Unity, vv. 25-26.
4. The Practice of Unity, vv. 25-26.
“What happens when we are unified?”
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.”
As we live in unity with the Father and the Son… and one another, the love of the Father will be evident in us and Jesus will dwell in us.
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Think about what Jesus says in verse 26, as well as verse 23.
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.
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.”
Jesus’ prayer was that we experience the love of the Father that He experiences.
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As you picture in your mind the fellowship and community within the Godhead between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, wouldn’t you think the love of the Father and Son would be the most pure, the most holy, the most sacrifical, the most passionate, the most tender of loves that could ever be experienced?
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God is love.
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Jesus’ desire for us - his prayer for us - is not that we experience a little of God’s love or a shade of the reality of God’s love. Jesus wants us to know the love of the Father … that He himself knows!
But all those who accept the Son, who embrace him and the Father, will experience the ineffable love known only between Father and Son. We are loved by God with the love he holds for his Son! And our lives are transformed by the life of Jesus, who now takes residence within our own. These are the last words Jesus prays before his arrest: “that I may be in them.” His last desire is to love his followers and indwell them, to fill them with the glory and joy he has known, so that their knowledge of God will be unsurpassed and overwhelming.
Burge, G. M. (2000). John (p. 469). Zondervan Publishing House.
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Jesus wants us to know the kind of love that he and the Father enjoy!
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He wants us to experience such love… not only in a passive way, but actively. Jesus wants us to love God… and each otther… with the love that the Godhead loves!
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What an awesome privilege we are given… to love with God’s love! But what an awesome responsibility we also possess!
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Big Idea: Jesus' prayer for us is our unity as His Church.
Big Idea: Jesus' prayer for us is our unity as His Church.
As we have studied Jesus’ prayer for us, we have seen the pattern for our unity - the unity of God, the proclamation of our unity - the witness to the world of the Good News, the perfection of our unity that only Heaven will produce, and the practice of our unity - loving one other as the Father and the Son love one another… and us.
Someone has written:
Evangelism is a community act. It is the proclamation of the church’s relationships as well as its convictions. The preacher is only the spokesperson of the community. The gospel proclaimed from the pulpit is either confirmed, and hence immeasurably enhanced, or it is contradicted, and hence immeasurably weakened, by the quality of the relationships in the pews. In this sense every Christian is a witness. Every time we gather together we either strengthen or weaken the evangelistic appeal of our church by the quality of our relationships with our fellow church members.
Milne, B. (1993). The message of John: here is your king!: with study guide (pp. 250–251). InterVarsity Press.
The truth of our scripture reminds us… and emphasizes to us again… that the unity of the Church is a vital indication of God at work in us.
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As we attempt to understand and apply this scripture to our lives and to our church, it is challenging. Any divisive feelings, actions, thoughts, attitudes we might have are revealed. And we recognize it is past time to let any such thing go.
The call of God is clear: let us confess any sin of disunity. Let us renew our commitment to one another.
Let us ask God to fill us anew with his love for one another. Let us strive … for peace and unity in the Body.
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May God empower us to live and work and serve in unity… and provide a powerful testimony to the world that Jesus is alive. He is in us, with us, and for us as we are in the world, for a people who are lost and dying in sin!
