Jesus the Great High Priest

Jesus begins with prayer for Himself:

John 17:1–5 ESV

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, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Father, the hour has come:

Christ would face the cross. This prayer takes place before Jesus would be arrested , beaten, mocked, and then hung on the Cross and slain.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

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.

The theme of these verse Jn 17:1-5 is that Jesus has finished the work of Salvation- “I have glorified you on the earth” Jesus looked at the cross as away of glorifying God

Christ was going to Glorify God even in the midst of suffering

Job 13:15 ESV

Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.

Christ’s Prayer here is “Father be glorified through my suffering.”

Christ is preparing to return to His rightfully place that He left for this

John Focused on the Joy before Him

Here, in the upper room, on the night of His betrayal, Jesus was staring at the cross. The hour was no longer remote; it was looming right in front of Him. The moment planned by the Trinity from all eternity was at hand.

Philippians 2:5–8 ESV

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 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.

Jesus reveal who God is:

His Character

His plan of redemption

His love for the through the cross

His Grace

Jesus as the great High Priest would make the sacrifice for sin. The Priest was responsible for the sacrifice of atonement which came through a lamb.

The Priest would pray over the sacrifice and then would make the sacrifice- the Lam was a substitute foe the people who had sinned

John says of Jesus in John 1:29, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

Here Jesus prays over the sacrifice- Himself

John 17:6–19 ESV

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Jesus prays for His disciples- the ones who had spent time with Christ, and would remain in this world after His death.

Jesus here prays for those who are His own and their protection and their unity.

The work of the cross is sufficient for all. There never needs to be another sacrifice, yet there are some who don’t experience the work of the cross in their lives.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Believing and confessing is the key, and here Jesus is praying for those who have believed, confessed and would go out into the

John 3:14 ESV

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

Jesus says (Jn 17:19) “for their sake I consecrate myself, that they may be sanctified in truth.”

To be consecrate is to be set apart for a certain task- For Christ that purpose was the Cross, and through His body being broken and His blood being spilled, believers can be “sanctified”

Sanctification- A progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and more like Christ in our actual lives

Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine (p. 1253). e.

His Blood was Spilt for us who believe.

Isaiah 53:4–5 ESV

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

We become more like Christ through truth

What is truth? John 17:17 “Your word is truth”

We have truth- God’s Word

How do we become more like Christ- we spend time in the truth of His word

This is Jesus’ prayer for us- Those who would believe

John 17:20–26 ESV

“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.”

Jesus before going to the cross prayer for us that we would be one with Him- This is what the work of the cross does for us:

Romans 5:6–8 ESV

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It is because of the Jesus’ sacrifice that you and I find forgiveness, find healing, find peace even is a world that is full of hurt, pain, sin, anger.

Today Christ wants you to understand the power of the cross

Christ came to seek and save the lost

Are you Lost? Look to the one who was raised up on the cross so that you could be made whole, find peace, and find forgiveness

Christ came so that you could find new life

Are you broken and hurt? Look to the cross where Christ bore your sorrows, and shame and find New Life with a hope that extends far beyond this world

Christ came so you could have hope

Have you been struggling trying to make it through life, carrying the baggage of hurts, guilt and shame? Christ came so that there would be no more condemnation for you in Christ Jesus.

Christ came so you could have eternal life

John 17:3 ESV

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.