That They May Be One (Part 2)
High Priestly Prayer • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
The work of the preacher is to interpret the Scripture and apply it for the building up of the Church in the truth.
This often requires us to spend a great deal of effort teasing apart the historical and biblical context of each passage so that we present applications that are universal (true at all times and in all places).
Sometimes this is quite difficult…but not so much today.
In this passage, Jesus is speaking about and praying for us directly…you who are listening to my voice right now, you are the subject of Jesus’s prayer.
R. Kent Hughes:
If you are a Christian, you may be excited to realize that on the night of his arrest, Jesus prayed specifically for your blessing as a member of His church.
We rightly appropriate the eternal promises of God for ourselves because He intends for us to. But how sweet it is to know that there is Scriptural evidence that Jesus actually thinks about me personally and not just in the abstract.
Jesus Prays for the Unity of a Universal Church (John 17:20-23)
Jesus Prays for the Unity of a Universal Church (John 17:20-23)
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
21 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.
22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
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 has been praying for His disciples (i.e. the Twelve) in vv. 9-19.
As we saw last week, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t application that can be made for us.
But now, Jesus will turn His heart towards us, those who will believe in Him on account of the apostles’ testimony.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, cares about all his flock.
16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
He does not have just the children of Israel in view, but also those of His from among the Gentiles.
These both come together as one flock under the one shepherd—The Church (Big-C).
Who belongs to the Church (Big-C)?
Those who have believed the Word of God.
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
Jesus is sending His disciples into the world as the Father sent Him.
His Word will create an unworldly community and testimony in His disciples.
Their testimony will create unworldliness in us as well—This is the Apostolic Deposit of Faith. The testimony about Jesus Christ in Scripture
They preached the gospel in all the world.
They wrote it down and exposed its doctrines.
And so the Church is built up and grows by the preaching and teaching of God’s Word even until today.
23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
What does Jesus pray for us? Well, the same thing He prays for His disciples then: Unity, oneness, agreement.
21 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.
Jesus already established the need for mutual love in the church, and how it binds His disciples together toward a common mission.
He also foresees that many more will become believers, bringing great diversity to the body.
Temperaments, backgrounds, and interests.
Diversity can be a good thing, but it can also lead to disintegration if not properly addressed.
Historically, unchecked diversification can actually introduce structural weakness and lead to societal collapse.
For example, great empires throughout history have been weakened and ultimately destroyed due to such shifts.
The Roman, Mongol, and British Empires were the most dominant world powers of their age, and all succumbed to the stresses of trying to assimilate the many diverse peoples that they came into contact with.
They all ultimately dissolved because they failed to effectively incorporate those peoples into a cohesive whole.
Jesus’s vision of a global, universal church means that we too will continue to faces these cultural tensions. The question is how can we continue to grow and strengthen the church? What kind of unity will endure to the end.
Unity is a matter of much discussion today: I have spoken before about the modern obsession with Ecumenism.
Ecumenism is the effort to create worldwide unity among Christians (sometimes even broader than that).
The phrase from passage “that they may all be one” is often adopted as a mission statement for this movement.
This is an admirable aim under the right circumstances. But we must rightly understand what Christian unity is and how it is properly grounded.
Pursuing Christian unity requires defining it biblically.
Because we often assume outward, physical, organizational unity (the world’s definition)
This is the essence of the argument of the Roman Catholic Church—Oneness means submission to the institutional and bureaucratic authority of Rome.
But, some of the darkest periods in Church history have been those wehre the church has been most organizationally unified.
During the Middle Ages, the church was united in one ecclesiastical body ruled by the Popes. But this came at a cost; it was not a golden age but a dark age.
James Montgomery Boice:
Was this a great age? Was there a deep unity of faith? Did men and women find themselves increasingly drawn to this faith and come to confess Jesus Christ to be their Savior and Lord?
No, the gospel was subsumed within the mysterious and unknowable liturgy of the Church. Obedience and not faith was the focus of the Magisterium.
Christian unity is an organic, mystical unity.
It is patterned after the unity of the Godhead (17:21).
Mystical, because it transcends our understanding.
The eternal depth of the doctrine of the Trinity.
Organic, because it takes the form of a body and a family.
Body: Paul says to the church at Corinth:
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
There is mutual dependence on one another.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
There is a shared experience of eternal life in the body.
26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
Family:
5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ,
There is a mutual commitment to one another, a deep affection for one another, and a common cause which motivates us.
Christian unity is a spiritual union.
Not based in an institution, it’s personal.
Through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit we are made one in Christ as He is in the Father.
Such a unity cannot be legislated or brought about by human effort or organization.
It is oneness supernaturally created in us by the Holy Spirit.
It’s a unity of nature. We are born again (regenerated) and given a new nature; one we share with each other.
Christian unity is unity in the truth.
You can’t build unity by setting aside the truth (as the Ecumenist movement often resorts to).
True doctrine cant be set aside, because the work of the Holy Spirit in us is to guide us into the truth.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
Our shared confession of the faith (the truth about Jesus Christ ) is the only basis for the true and lasting unity of the Church. Unity without truth is something other than Christian unity.
John 17:22 (ESV)
22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
(United in the glory of Christ) What is the “glory” that the Father had given Jesus?
The Son has the unique distinction of being eternally generated of the Father.
From all eternity He receives His divine nature and identity from the Father
This is what it means that Jesus is the “only begotten of the Father.”
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.
18 No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
There is no one like Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And the expression of His glory is most clearly seen in the justice and mercy of God the Father on display as Jesus goes to the cross.
What does it mean for Jesus to give us His glory?
(We are united in His glory) His glory is applied to us through the work of the Holy Spirit He sent to indwell the church.
The work of the Holy Spirit in redemption is illustrated in the last chapter of John when Jesus promises to send Him.
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Jesus reveals the glory of the Father—He is literally truth personified.
He transforms our concepts of justice and morality (what is right and what is wrong).
When the Spirit comes, He causes us to come to agreement with God about what is right.
We confess our sin because by the Spirit, we come to agree with God about how serious our sin is.
The revelation of the glory of God in Jesus Christ redefines the way we understand holiness.
We come to see just how deserving we are of the justified wrath of a holy God against our sin.
Finally, the work of the Spirit in us revolutionizes our understanding of mercy, forgiveness, and salvation.
When we understand how holy God is, how unholy we are, we come to understand how amazing the grace of God is in Jesus Christ.
That is the wonderful vision that grips us! While we were yet sinners a perfect spotless Lamb offered His life for the forgiveness of our sins and gave us the great gift of eternal life!
There is an evangelistic purpose to the unity Jesus gives us through the Spirit.
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.
Through the Spirit-produced unity Jesus has given us, the whole world has a testimony of the amazing fact of God’s infinite love for them.
God loves us just as He loves Jesus! Perfect self-giving love! Such love is bound to be transformational (changing us from the inside out). This transformation is naturally evangelistic (it stands out to a fallen world). And ultimately, this testimony demonstrated by our love for one another is convincing (it draws people to Christ).
As we draw closer to Jesus, we naturally grow closer to one another.
3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
Unity is not optional for the church. We must actively pursue and protect our unity in Christ.
Because it is God’s blessing to us and our glory in this world.
The incarnation of God’s character and blessing to the world in us.
It is the demonstration of the eternal life we have in Him.
A life of joy, peace, and love experienced through faith in Jesus Christ.
So, we should dread that grievances, preferences, or any human agendas would enter in and begin to detract from the life that we have together with God in Jesus Christ.
It would be a diminishment of our experience of eternal life (a little death).
For the sake of His peoples’ witness.
The succession of our gospel mission relies on our unity in the faith.
The world’s pursuit of unity (through ecumenism or utopianism) is ultimately futile.
Real unity is supernatural, the work of God that points to God.
In seeking unity, we must be careful to remember that it is Christs work and prayer that achieves it.
Unity is a blessing from Christ for us to cherish.
Enjoyed through humble service to one another.
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
By faith we will enjoy our oneness.
Jesus prayed for it.
The Father is faithful to send the Holy Spirit to the Church.
The Spirit indwells all who believe.
He becomes the cause of our praise to Christ.
He provides the experience of spiritual unity.
R. Kent Hughes:
We are never closer to one another than when our hearts are genuinely focused on God.
It will not happen automatically or easily, it requires us to work at it.
Requires shared commitments.
To pursuing God, the source of unity.
To the apostolic faith, the revelation that grounds our unity.
To humble, loving service of one another, the expression of our unity.
Jesus Prays for Us to See Glory (John 17:24-26)
Jesus Prays for Us to See Glory (John 17:24-26)
24 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.
25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
26 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.”
This final section is a prayer for the realization of the promise in John 14:1-3
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Though He will endure the unimaginable suffering of the cross, the rejection of His people, the abandonment of His friends, and the wrath of His Father, His desire is that we would be with Him and experience glory with Him and the perfect love of the Father that He has enjoyed from all eternity. What kind of love is this!?
He wants us to enjoy the glory that He is returning to with Him.
We glimpse this glory whenever we apprehend something in the world is good, or true, or beautiful; then our hearts recognize the signature of the divine nature; the goodness of the Creator who is infinitely greater and more lovely.
The glory of God in Christ is the supreme example of this revelation. The consummation of all God’s good promises.
Jesus is the full display of His character (excellence), the outshining of His radiance (perfection), and the perfect manifestation of His self-giving love.
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
His final prayer for us is that we would keep on beholding His glory, now and forever.
To see His infinite perfection with all its manifold facets.
A Beauty great enough to captivate us forever.
1 John 3:2 anticipates this:
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
26 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.”
This is the only place where Jesus refers to the Father as “Righteous”
Because the righteousness of God grounds this whole prayer.
He will vindicate the Son by glorifying Him, demonstrating that He is just and the justifier of the one who believes in Jesus.
26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Jesus concludes with a vow and a promise.
He vows to the Father that He will continue to make the Father’s name known.
He does this by continuing to manifest the Father’s love in the Church, pouring out His love in grace and mercy to generation after generation of the Church until the Bride is prepared for glory.
A promise to us for the same.
That He will never leave or forsake the Church in any generation, but will continue to make the Father’s love known to them in grace and mercy.
He is our Great High Priest, who has ascended to the throne of heaven. He is still at work today to fulfill all that He has promised to His beloved.
Our Savior is faithful.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Jesus reminds us in the High Priestly Prayer that the Triune God is working to bless the Church with sanctity, unity, and glory
Jesus’s prayer is seeking it for us before the Father.
This is the work He is doing even now as He intercedes for us before the Father.
The apostles sought to help accomplish it though what they wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
This is what the Father will use the Word to do by the power of the Holy Spirit in us.
He will unify us with Himself and with one another.
He will sanctify us, setting us apart for righteousness and good works in His name.
He will show us His glory as he brings us ever more into His presence from the day we first believed and into eternity.
He is the sovereign God; He will do it. As the prophet Isaiah recorded.
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
The Father is able, that is for sure. The question for us is, Are the faithful willing?
Are we actively putting ourselves in the position of humility where we are shaped by God’s Word?
Are we demonstrating God’s self-giving love toward one another and doing all to contribute to the unity of the church?
Are we careful to maintain our agreement to the purpose of Christ which we share with one another as the body?
Our unity in Christ is eternal. We are standing in a stream flowing down through time. Its headwaters are at the foot of the cross and its termination is in eternity when we all åare brought faithfully to the infinite glory at the foot throne of the risen Christ.
As we enter into this Holy Week, let us remember that in His darkest hour, our Lord and Savior was not despairing but hopeful and triumphant in His prayer to His Father.
He knew the victories that He was to achieve and what it would accomplish for us, the ones He loves.
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
