John 17 Sermon 1

John 17

June 22, 2025

John 17:1-5

Have you ever walked up or been in a situation where you heard a conversation that did not necessarily include you? In my old job, I traveled a lot. Many times in a hotel, you hear things that may or may not be the greatest. I have been in the room next door as families fight, argue, and have conversations that I have no desire to hear.

However, on the rare occasion, you come into a situation where the conversation that is not directed to you is about you and to your benefit. As a kid, I snuck up the stairs and listened to my mom and dad talk about Christmas and the surprise Disneyland trip. It was fun listening to their conversations while I was hiding on the stairs just out of view. What brought me joy about listening in on my parents’ conversation was the love and camaraderie between them.

Today’s message is the reason why I am here. Yes, this chapter we are about to cover is the reason I became a pastor. It has done more to shape my life, my view on salvation, and my ministry than any other text in all of God’s Word. This one chapter is the fulcrum that the entire Bible hinges on. If you were to draw a wheel on a piece of paper, the center axle is this passage. If you were to be lost on a deserted island and knew nothing of God and His plan of salvation, this one chapter would be all that you need.

There is no other richer, more complete, and comprehensive explanation of the entire human history, God’s plan of redemption of His children, than John chapter 17. You may be saying, pastor, you are overselling this. Yeah, no matter how hard I try, no matter how many analogies I can throw at this, it is a feeble attempt at getting the magnitude of this passage that we are about to unpack. Even with all of that, I pray that I can do it some level of justice.

Just as I cautiously snuck to the base of the stairs to listen to my loving parents talk about me, let us, with shoes off, carefully approach the most intimate prayer ever recorded in human history.

READ ENTIRE CHAPTER

Carefully, I want us to understand the gravity of what we just read. The best way to know a person’s heart is to hear them pray. In all four Gospels, we have a record of Jesus going away to pray. The writer’s record, “and Jesus prayed” or “Jesus went away to pray.” But, nowhere does it record in detail the volume of His prayers like this. We know that He spent days, hours in concentrated prayer. But this is the window into the heart of the second Person of the Triune God.

Over the next several weeks, we will look at the love that was shared between the Father and the Son and how revealing it is. We will see how it causes those called by Christ to move into knowing God more intimately, and cause us ourselves to reveal this God to others.

Specifically for this week, though, we start at the beginning. It is the first step to understanding the prayer of the LORD. This week, we will look at the thrust of verses 1-5, the eternal life of knowing God through Christ. Now, before I hear the eye roll and “Yeah, I know that pastor,” I would challenge each of us on our struggle. We have a hard time prioritizing the things of God every day. So, I would ask you, who knows eternal life, to engage through this passage and ask yourself, how can I better value the things of God daily?

Let’s turn to our passage and see. Vs 1: “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[1]”

1. The time has come.

Have you ever wondered why we bow our heads when we pray? Is it because your mom and dad would smack you if you didn’t? I understand the need to show humility and respect to God. I honor that, but when we turn our eyes to heaven, there is a difference in what Jesus is doing here. When He spoke these words (meaning all of John 16), HE lifted up His eyes to heaven.

I notice when people are pouring out their hearts to heaven in desperation, with eyes full of tears, they look up. In desperation and utter helplessness, they look to the heavens. When Jesus does this, He starts His prayer with, Father, the hour has come. This prayer is called the “High Priestly Prayer.” Not the Lord's prayer. If you repeat the Lord’s prayer back in Matthew 6:9 you will get to 12 and see, there is no way that Jesus would or could seriously pray this prayer for Himself. Verse 12 asks for forgiveness, Jesus needed none. The Lord’s prayer is for us. The high priestly prayer in John 17 is for Him.

All throughout John, Jesus had been saying, My time has not come, my hour is not here and starting in chapter 13, Jesus shifts to the “hour has come.” All of human history past to all of human history future points to this hour. Like I said earlier, this is the axle of the wheel, the pivotal fulcrum, the axiom of history, the pinpoint of time, the center of the timeline, the tipping point of it all. People from Adam and Eve, to the last baby born before His earthly return, look to this hour.

It is no wonder that He repetitively speaks of His hour. No less than 17 times did He directly refer to this moment in history. From chapter 1 to 12, He speaks of His hour 11 times as it has yet to come. Then in chapter 13, when speaking to His 11 in an intimate setting, Jesus clearly tells them, It’s time.

No event in your life or mine could you say you have looked forward to or looked back on with more anticipation than this hour. You can say, man, I can’t wait to get married, have my first child, and subsequent children. I in no way want to diminish these events, but your wedding, your child’s birth, is not like this hour. Christ’s hour changed all of human history from eternity past to eternity future.

Jesus’ coming to earth was not a chance event. It was a perfectly planned and executed event that changed the course of the human heart eternally. His arrival and departure is what all of time centered on. Now He has come to this hour.

2. Christ has come.

Vs 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.[2]

I’ll get to verses 2 and 3 in a minute. But look closely at verses 4 and 5. These words should sound very familiar! John 1:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made[3]

Who is the word?

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.[4]

By inspiration of the HS, there is perfect continuity of John’s writing. No one could unify a point like this unless guided and inspired by the Spirit of Truth. As John records the intimate exchange from the Eternal Son to the Eternal Father, we see what John was talking about back in his first chapter.

The eternality of the Son is as clear as day. These two passages prove that Jesus Christ, the Christ, the Son, was there from the beginning. All things come from Him and are for Him. HE has all authority over creation, flesh, life, and death.

He is without beginning, middle or end. He is without any change or variation. He was always and will always be. His existence was purposed when the foundations of the world were set. His triumph over sin was pre-planned and pre-executed. He existed above and outside of time and then in the perfect “time” He stepped into human history for this hour, to accomplish what was planned from the start.

Now let’s go back and grab verse 2: “2 since you have given him authority over all flesh[5]

Who has true authority? Even the president does not have unchecked authority. Anyone else you can think of? Do you have 100% authority over your life? Just ask your wife, fellas. No, no one has 100% authority. Look at the authority Christ has. Over ALL FLESH. As He is praying, His time as the suffering servant is coming to a close. Never again will He come into this world mild, meek and a servant. Instead, our Lord comes with ALL Authority over all flesh.

This includes those who believe and those who do not. He has at His disposal the authority to save, and the authority to not. His right to rule is given Him by His Father. Matthew 28:18 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.[6]

His unmatched authority is GIVEN to Him by the author of all authority. He is given all the power to accomplish what He wants when He wants it and over whomever He wants. When God gives this kind of authority, it comes with a purpose, His Glory.

3. The Glory has come.

It is a wonderful word, Glory. But could you honestly define it? The word GLORY: “the elevation and exclusive acknowledgment of the God head.” There is only One who can claim this title, and that is God. If we add all of His attributes together like a math equation: Love + Justice+Mercy+Holiness= His right to Glory.

Some would ask, “Why does God expect to be glorified?" The answer is to look at those attributes. When we add them together, the natural result is His Glory. There are not enough English words to describe the exclusive elevation of Him. Transcendence, lifted up, elevated, exclusive, set apart, Hallowed. It’s like us trying to find words to define the undefinable.

God is Glory and functions for His Glory. Why does He have to have it?

Isaiah 42:8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. [7]

The technical definition of “Glory”: “The state of elevation or honor received by an individual or item for being greater than or unique in comparison to others.”

Why is His Glory so important? Why do all this for His Glory? We have a tendency to make this a mechanical or technical function of God. This is more than a mental exercise; it is a personal, uniquely important concept of God.

Man’s access to the God Head, provided by the Son, is to His Glory! It’s a personal action by the Father, through the Son, by the HS for His Glory to our salvation. God is a personal being who deserves His Glory in His action of providing His Son. My goal is that you see this as God sees His Glory, not our perceived ideas of the technical definition only. Rather, the personal Glory of the Father.

This is a glory that is eternal by the children of God. We see the Glory of God through creation and even the fall. We see God’s glory in His righteous judgment through the flood as He saved 8 souls. We see God’s glory as He called Abraham from the masses, Joseph in slavery, Moses through the exodus, all of the judges, David in His sin and adultery, and hundreds of years of patience before righteously judging His rebellious people and sending them into exile.

People could look at all this history and say, What’s the point? The point is John 17! It all points to this hour and His glory being displayed for you and me! And Jesus says: “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.[8]”

If the JWs come to your door, John 1:1-3;14 and John 17:5 is where you go! Jesus is NOT a created being. He has eternally been and will eternally be. In His eternality, He has retained His Glory except when He stepped out of Glory to walk among men. Jesus Christ coexisted and coeternally ruled and is ruling alongside the God Head in His glory and is advocating as our High Priest to the Father. This is why this prayer is called “The High Priestly Prayer.”

Church, this is important for you and me! This is a personal God, doing a personal work in the hearts of His personally called children. Is this the reason to give Him Glory? YES! Because of who He is, what He did and what He is doing for our salvation is a reason for you and I to lift our eyes to heaven with tears of thanksgiving! We should all be too willing to give Him all the glory we can!

4. Examine the eternal life in you!

Unbeliever: Stage one or step one, are you a possessor of Eternal life? Do you know this Christ? Verse 3 is the salvation message. “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, AND Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

I want to make sure we all get this. It is not enough to just know that God is God. There is a critical next part, “AND Jesus Christ.” Any doctrine, any “salvation message,” any message that does not have those two parts of the equation or add to that equation is a damnable message. Any variation that is contrary to that message is from Hell.

In short, Christ Jesus is the way to eternal salvation. You want to know God, know His Son. God the Father sent Christ for this hour, born perfect, living a perfect life, dying at the perfect time in human history as the perfect payment of the sin in our lives. In a perfect atonement and payment, God the Father makes us who are unjust to be just by the payment of His Son’s perfect blood.

Can you see the reason to give Him Glory? If in Christ, we have a wonderful opportunity! We are glory carriers or glory revealers. We ourselves are not the source of glory, but we point to HIS Glory! Just as Christ reveals the Glory of the Father, we as His children have the opportunity to do the same.

This isn’t an invitation to believe (I am assuming each of you have believed), this is an invitation to walk the path of the believer. I am inviting each of you to walk in unity with your Savior as representatives. We are to look different, be separate from the world and at times, stand at odds to the world. Our kingdom is not of this world, but of heaven. We are to be a testimony of that heavenly kingdom in our daily lives.

But, pastor, how? How can I do this? Being Christ’s representative to the world will be obvious in our time, talent, and treasure. We are gladly sent into the world to tell others of this amazing salvation. We use our Time, Talent, and Treasure to make sure that others can hear of the Glory of God through Christ Jesus.

I have said this over and over. There is no such thing as sideline Christians. If we are Christ followers, we don’t have the luxury to pick and choose how we follow. We follow Him as He went.

Vs 3: 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.[9]”

What is the last word in that verse? SENT: (apostellō). vb. to send. To send someone to do something; to send a message.[10] It is a verb (action).

May I ask you, what good is a messenger that does not deliver the message? Proverbs says that A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a faithful envoy brings healing[11]

Can you honestly say, God, I recognize the message you graciously have given me to deliver and I can genuinely say that everywhere you have sent me, I have delivered on this command to give it’s contents to the world around me? If you can’t say amen, say ouch (Voddie B). Even as your pastor I will admit, I have fallen short at times. But, by God’s great grace, He keeps sending me.

As Christ was sent by the Father, you and I are being sent. As Christ glorifies the Father, we are to go and glorify the Father. We are to show what He is doing in and for you. Our message is of a life to come in salvation, a life abundant here on Earth, and a life that is intimately connected to the Father.

Conclusion:

Brothers and sisters, I am calling you to examine your eternal life, which you say you have. Are you actively being sent, and are you going? Or, are you just content with sneaking to the bottom of the stairs and listening to the Father and Son talk about what they are doing? I fear that many of us act like I did when I snuck up the stairs to eavesdrop on mom and dad and then run off to my room.

As Christ followers, He is calling us up those stairs to sit and hear the plan. The plan is to send you and me into this world and share of this amazing plan of salvation! He is calling us and sending us into this world, now we must go! Examine your salvation and your calling, and then get going.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[9] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[10] Simmons, William A. 2014. “Calling or Commission.” In Lexham Theological Wordbook, edited by Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, and Rebekah Hurst. Lexham Bible Reference Series. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

[11] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.