THE CLIMAX

THE CLIMAX 

The Courtroom Becomes the Sanctuary 

John 17:1–5, 20–26  |  Focus: v. 3 

Series: The Covenant Signature — So That They Will Know  |  Week 15 

Introduction.  The Courtroom Was Never the Destination 

For fifteen weeks we have followed one sentence through Scripture. 

So that they will know. 

We heard it in Egypt. God judged Pharaoh so that Egypt would know He alone is Lord. We heard it in the wilderness. God fed His people so that Israel would know whose hand sustained them. We heard it through the prophets. God raised up pagan kings, tore down empires, restored ruins, and announced the future before it arrived — so that the nations would know. We came to the cross. Then you will know that I AM. We came to the upper room. So that you may know that you have eternal life. And last week Jesus looked at a weak, marginalized congregation in Philadelphia and promised that even those who opposed them would one day be made to know — I have loved you. 

Fifteen weeks. Exhibit after exhibit. Witness after witness. Egypt, the wilderness, Sinai, Jerusalem, Persia, the ruins, Zion, Calvary, the upper room, the indwelling Spirit, the conscience of the believer, the church at Philadelphia. 

The case has been made. 

But John 17 reveals something we could miss if we stop with the evidence. 

The courtroom was never the destination. 

God did not reveal Himself across history merely so that mankind would finally admit He exists. He was never after a confession extracted under pressure. The evidence was never the end. 

The Person was. 

The proof was given so that we might know the One being proven. 

And now, in the final hours before the cross, Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven and prays. Not to the crowd. Not to the disciples gathered around Him. To the Father. 

The courtroom opens into the Sanctuary. 

I.  The Hour Has Come 

John 17:1–2 

Jesus begins with words the disciples had been hearing for three years. 

“Father, the hour has come.” 

At Cana — my hour has not yet come. When His enemies tried to seize Him — His hour had not yet come. And now, in the upper room, with the cross hours away: 

The hour has come. 

And Jesus calls it glory. That ought to stop you cold. 

Men will mock Him. Strip Him. Beat Him. Drive nails through His hands and feet and lift Him up on a Roman cross outside the city. And Jesus looks toward that hour and says — glorify Your Son. 

Because what looks like defeat from earth is glory from heaven. 

At the cross, God’s holiness is displayed. God’s justice is displayed. God’s mercy is displayed. God’s covenant faithfulness is displayed. The obedience of the Son is displayed. Every Covenant Signature we have traced through fourteen weeks converges on one hill outside Jerusalem and finds its interpretation there. 

The cross is not a tragic interruption in the story. The cross is the center of the story. 

And then verse 2 — You have given Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. The One going to the cross is not a helpless victim of history. He has authority over all flesh. He is the King going willingly, carrying the gift of eternal life in His hands. 

The throne and salvation belong together. They always have. 

II.  This Is Eternal Life 

John 17:3 

Now we arrive at the climax of the series. 

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” 

There is our word one final time. 

Know. 

But stop and feel the difference. 

For fifteen weeks we have been talking about knowing that Yahweh is God. Knowing that the verdict is real. Knowing that eternal life is yours. All of that matters. All of it is true. 

But Jesus is talking about something deeper. 

There is a world of difference between knowing facts about someone and knowing the person. 

Pharaoh eventually knew that Yahweh had power. It was impossible to miss after ten plagues. But Pharaoh did not love Him. Demons know theological truth — James says they believe and tremble. You can know the doctrines, the vocabulary, the arguments, the hymns, when to stand and when to sit, the right answer to every question on the theological exam. 

And still miss the thing Jesus calls eternal life. 

Because eternal life is not merely knowing Christianity. 

Eternal life is knowing God. 

Eternal life is not defined first by how long it lasts, but by whom it is shared with. It is the life of the age to come already entering the present through Christ. Knowing the Father. Knowing the Son. Living in actual communion with the living God right now. 

That was the destination all along. That is where the whole series was going. 

III.  The Evidence Was an Introduction 

Now think back through everything we have covered. 

Why the plagues? Why the manna? Why the Temple? Why Cyrus? Why the restoration from exile? Why the signs of Christ? Why fulfilled prophecy? Why the empty tomb? Why the indwelling Spirit? Why the assurance of 1 John? 

All of it said the same thing. This is the One. 

The Signature was never an autograph God left behind so that we could admire His handwriting. The Signature identified the Person calling us to Himself. 

Christianity is not irrational. God acted in history. God spoke in history. Christ entered history. Christ died in history. Christ rose in history. The evidence is real and it is overwhelming. And the evidence carries us — all the way to communion. 

The evidence says — He is true.  He is Lord.  He is Savior.  Now know Him. 

If all you have after fifteen weeks is a stronger argument for Christianity, we stopped too soon. The goal is not that you can win a debate about the resurrection. The goal is that you know the God the resurrection revealed. 

Don’t stop at the evidence. Let the evidence introduce you to the Person. 

IV.  Christ Prays for His People 

John 17:20–21 

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.” 

That’s us. Jesus is praying for people who haven’t been born yet. The apostles will preach. Their word will spread. Churches will be planted. Families will be discipled. Nations will hear. And through the apostolic witness, generation after generation will come to faith. 

Jesus looks down that entire corridor of history — two thousand years of it and counting — and He prays for every person who will ever believe through the apostolic word. 

He prays for you. 

That they may all be one. Not everybody agreeing on everything. Not pretending truth doesn’t matter. Not acting like every real difference is unimportant. Jesus defines it — as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us. 

Covenantal unity. The Church is one because she shares one Christ. One Spirit. One faith. One Father. One Covenant Lord. 

The courtroom became family. And now the family is brought into communion with the triune God. Not absorbed into God — we remain creatures. But brought by grace into fellowship with Father, Son, and Spirit. 

That is the Sanctuary. That is where you have been brought. 

V.  So That the World May Know 

John 17:21–23 

But don’t stop at the fellowship. Jesus tells us what this communion is for. 

“So that the world may believe that You sent Me… so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.” 

There it is. The entire series in one prayer. 

Egypt will know.  Israel will know.  The nations will know.  You will know that I AM.  You may know that you have eternal life.  They will know that I have loved you.  And now — the world may know. 

That is the trajectory. That is where all fourteen weeks of evidence have been pointing. 

The Church is not called to retreat into the Sanctuary and close the door behind her. The Sanctuary sends witnesses back into the world. The Father sends the Son. The Son sends the apostles. The apostolic word gathers the Church. The Church displays the life of Christ. And the world is summoned to know. 

Church, Christ is not praying for the permanent failure of His gospel. He is praying toward recognition, toward belief, toward knowledge. He is praying that the nations will know. And the prayer of the Son does not fail. 

So we keep preaching. We keep baptizing. We keep teaching. We keep discipling. We keep building. We keep sending. We keep praying. 

Because the King reigns. The Signature stands. The gospel advances. So that the world may know. 

VI.  I Want Them With Me 

John 17:24 

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am.” 

After all of it — after the courtroom, the witnesses, the evidence, the verdict, the kingdoms, the nations, the Church, the mission — 

Christ tells us what He wants. He wants His people with Him. 

That is covenant. I will be their God. They will be My people. I will dwell among them. The entire arc of the dwelling of God that we traced from the Tabernacle to the Temple to Joel’s permanent residence to the indwelling Spirit — it is all moving toward this. Christ with His people. His people with Christ. Face to face. No more distance. No more curtain. No more shadow and type and promise. 

Jesus doesn’t merely want you acquitted. He wants you with Him. 

Justification is glorious — don’t minimize it. But justification serves communion. We are not forgiven so we can walk out of the courthouse free and go live our lives independently. We are forgiven so we can enter the Father’s house. The guilty are justified. The justified are adopted. The adopted are sanctified. And the sanctified will one day see the glory of Christ face to face. 

Stop living like a defendant when you have been received as a child. 

Confess sin. Pursue holiness. Take obedience seriously. But do it from inside the house — as a child who belongs there — not from outside it as a stranger still trying to earn the right to knock. 

VII.  The Name Made Known 

John 17:25–26 

Jesus closes the prayer. 

“I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known — so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” 

There is the Covenant Signature one final time. 

All through the Old Testament, Yahweh made His name known. Through plagues. Through manna. Through the Temple. Through Cyrus. Through restoration. Through fulfilled prophecy. 

Now Jesus says — I have made Your name known. 

And think about what that means. The name Jesus — Yeshua — means Yahweh saves. Every time someone called Him by name, they were speaking a sermon they may not have fully understood. The same God who declared His name from the burning bush, the same God who signed His name across Egypt and the wilderness and Jerusalem and Persia and the ruins of exile — showed up in Galilee with a name that announced His entire mission before He preached a single word. 

Not Yahweh helps.  Not Yahweh assists.  Not Yahweh offers options.  Yahweh saves. 

The name is the Covenant Signature. And Jesus carried it in the flesh. 

And why did He make that name known? What is the final purpose clause of the entire series? 

“So that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” 

That is where it lands. 

Not merely — they know God exists.  Not merely — they know God is sovereign.         — they know prophecy came true.  Not merely — they know they are forgiven.  Christ in them. The Father’s love in them. 

The Covenant Signature ends in communion. The courtroom opened into the Sanctuary because justice was fully accomplished at Calvary. The guilty verdict fell on the Son. The righteous verdict was credited to the sinner. And now there is nothing left between the believer and the Father but the love that sent the Son in the first place. 

So after fifteen weeks, the final call is the simplest one we have made. 

Know Him. 

Not merely know the argument — know Him. Not merely admire the sovereignty — know the Sovereign. Not merely defend justification — know the Christ whose righteousness is yours. Not merely study the Spirit — walk with the Spirit who lives in you. 

Don’t stop at the evidence. The evidence was an introduction. The Person is waiting. 

 The Close 

This is how the series ends — not with a verdict to be handed down, but with a Person to be known. 

For fifteen weeks we asked — how will they know? 

God answered — I will act.  I will speak.  I will judge.  I will save.  I will send My Son.  I will give My Spirit.  I will build My Church.  And through My people — the world will know. 

Now we know why. 

“That they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” 

The evidence led to the verdict. The verdict led to assurance. Assurance opened into communion. And communion becomes witness. 

The courtroom has become the Sanctuary. 

Now — know Him. 

And as we close this series, I want you to ask yourself one simple question: 

Do I know Him? 

Not, do I know about Him? Not, can I explain the evidence? Not, can I give the right answers? 

Do I know Him? 

Where am I with Christ? 

And if you can answer yes, then that leads us right into where we're going next. 

Next week we begin a new series called The Virtues of the Kingdom. 

We have been building toward this for a long time. From Psalm 110, we saw that Christ reigns. In In the Midst, we saw that the reigning Christ is with His people. And in The Covenant Signature, we have seen God write His name across history so that His people—and ultimately the world—will know Him. 

Now we're going to put boots on the ground. 

What does it actually look like to know the King? 

What kind of man does Christ make? What kind of woman does Christ make? What does knowing Him look like in our homes, our work, our church, and our community? 

We're going to look at wisdom, faith, courage, meekness, justice, patience, humility, mercy, purity, truthfulness, self-control, joy, and hope. 

And we're going to begin right as we prepare to go out into our own community and serve—because the people of the Kingdom aren't meant to be hidden. The King forms His people, and then He sends His people. 

So after fifteen weeks, I'm going to leave you with the same question: 

Do I know Him? 

If you do, then we're going to spend the coming weeks learning what it looks like to live like you know Him. 

And if you don't— 

come to Christ today. 

The Signature points to Him. 

The evidence points to Him. 

The whole story points to Him. 

Know Him. 

—pause— 

Stand with me, and we'll close in prayer. 

.  Application Points 

1. Make knowing God the great pursuit of your life. Eternal life is not merely something that begins when you die. In Christ it begins now — in actual fellowship with the Father through the Son. Pursue it like it matters, because it is the only thing that lasts. 

2. See the cross as both judgment and glory. At Calvary, God’s justice against sin and His covenant love toward His people meet in the obedient Son. Never separate what God joined there. 

3. Guard the unity Christ prayed for. Don’t confuse unity with uniformity — truth matters. But don’t treat division lightly either. Those joined to one Christ belong to one another. Handle that with care. 

4. Let communion produce mission. Jesus prayed that His people would be one so that the world would believe and know. Fellowship with God was never meant to stay private. It moves outward. Let it move you. 

5. Stop living like a defendant when you have been received as a child. Confess sin. Pursue holiness. But do it from inside the Father’s house, not from outside it as a stranger still earning the right to knock. 

6. Spend the rest of your life making His name known. This series ends. Its purpose does not. Teach your children. Disciple your neighbor. Strengthen the Church. Labor confidently for Christ’s Kingdom. Because the prayer of the Son will not fail — and the world He prayed for will know. 

Fairfield Baptist Church  ·  Dry Prong, Louisiana