It's Biblical: John 17

Scripture

John 17 NIV

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Introduction: Make Ready

Make Ready....Preparation of all that is to come. This is the intimate last instructions. There is formation happening and last words of instruction.

Reading John’s Gospel is a bit like visiting that house. Many people read the first ten or a dozen chapters, and get a good sense of what’s going on. But then St John invites us further in, into the private quarters of the house as it were, as the public action stops and Jesus spends time talking to his close friends and explaining to them what’s about to happen. These chapters of John’s gospel – 13 to 16 – have been in front of <us for the last 5 weeks>, as we have tried to discern where we fit into the picture. But then, in today’s gospel reading from , we go as it were through the secret door, behind even those intimate discourses, and we find ourselves in the room which says, This is where this man, this Jesus, is truly himself. Spend time in this room and you will be able to find out everything about Jesus that you need to know.

NT Wright / The Glory and the Prayer

What did you find?

What did you find?

Look for themes

Can you break it apart into thematic sections?

Repetition, comparison, other literary devices?

What questions do you have about the passage?

Journal a couple of paragraphs....anyone want to share?

I found a repetition of “Father” with a petition of prayer 7 times (last one is implied prayer).

John 17:1 NIV

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.

John 17:5 NIV

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

John

John 17:11 NIV

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

John 17

John 17:17 NIV

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

John 17:

John 17:17

John 17:21 NIV

that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

John 17:24 NIV

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

John 17:25 NIV

“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.

J

Then major breaks with greek word “I pray” in 17:9; 17:20

ἐρωτάω

Then major breaks with greek word “I pray” ..... eroto

Write Chart on board.

Finishing the mission (17:1-8)

Glorification in Mission (1-3)

Return to glory (4-8)

Preparing the Disciples (17:9-19)

Prayer for protection (9-15)

Prayer for holiness (16-19)

Looking to the future (17:20-26)

Prayer for Unity (20-23)

Prayer for disciples to reach destiny (24)

Reality Prayer (25-26)

Ok what do you think about the passage. Let’s brainstorm. What is important? What do we need to take away from this passage?

I will open with D.A. Carson for commentary on the passage:

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to John D. The Prayer of Jesus (17:1–26)

What is unique about this prayer rests neither on form nor on literary associations but on him who offers it, and when. He is the incarnate Son of God, and he is returning to his Father by the route of a desperately shameful and painful death. He prays that the course on which he is embarked will bring glory to his Father, and that his followers, in consequence of his own death and exaltation, will be preserved from evil and for the priceless privilege of seeing Jesus’ glory, all the while imitating in their own relationship the reciprocity of love displayed by the Father and the Son.

In some respects the prayer is a summary of the entire Fourth Gospel to this point. Its principal themes include Jesus’ obedience to his Father, the glorification of his Father through his death/exaltation, the revelation of God in Christ Jesus, the choosing of the disciples out of the world, their mission to the world, their unity modelled on the unity of the Father and the Son, and their final destiny in the presence of the Father and the Son.

This prayer has often been called the “high priestly prayer” of Jesus. The reason for that is the foreshadowing of what is going to take place in his enthronement as he becomes the great high priest who intercedes on our behalf. We are drawn to this passage because of obvious reasons; namely our Lord is praying for us. Beyond this initial thrill of knowing the son of God cares for us, we also learn of practical desires of his heart for us. There is practicality that can be gleaned here and encouragement for the road to come. is all about preparing the disciples for immediate difficulty, for the mission that is ahead to spread the good news, and the long road to eternity. I would also argue that he is forming them with activities like eating together and washing feet, not simply giving instruction. However, in this prayer we get something special as we join the disciples in going behind the veil to listen to the heart of Jesus, we get a mysterious shot of the trinity, and we get to hear about God’s desire for us.

Quote

Finishing the Mission

There are three movements of the prayer that are signaled by the greek word ἐρωτάω in verse 9 and 20. The first section is about finishing his own mission. The first thing he says, raising his eyes to heaven....the hour is here. It is time. These words are heavy because time and time throughout the gospel, Jesus has indicated that it is not time yet. In the first half of the gospel, time and time again Jesus says the hour has not yet come: 2:4, 7:6, 7:8, 7:30, 8:20. Then in chapter 12 there is a shift and he says that the hour is impending. The five chapters leading up to this point is in light of the “hour” that is now here. The prayer he is about to pray is with full understanding of what lies before him. And what is the hour? The hour is the achievement of the mission of God. Glory is eternal life and salvation for the world.

Secondly, Jesus is praying to return to the right hand. He is praying for the ascension. One of the most potent theological understandings of our faith is found here in the ascension, present in this prayer, but the church has largely neglected the power of this perspective. Jesus is praying that the Father would make him King, would establish the reign, would seat him on the throne that has been promised in Isaiah, Ezekiel, and with other prophets…the mission that was always planned and patiently unfoiled is now before them near completion and victory.

“No, we cannot base our life on faith. Even the disciples do not live from their faith in that moment when they are battling anxiety and seasickness. They hardly remember that they are believers. There’s simply no time to think about it. That may be put very crudely, but that’s how it is nevertheless! At that moment the disciples do not live from the fact that God is in their thoughts (because he is not!), but they live because Jesus Christ is thinking of them, and the stillness that surrounds his conversation with the Father is filled with these thoughts about his own. Our faith’s grip on the Father may loosen. But he in whom we believe holds us fast in his grasp. Jesus’ high-priestly prayer does not stop even when we quit praying. Thus, there is really no such thing as “Psychology of Religion” because the decisive events between God and me do not happen in my psyche, my consciousness, at all; they occur in the heart of my Lord. Here (and only here) there is constancy and faithfulness; here there is a love that will not let me go, even though my fever chart fluctuates between faith and little faith, between trust and doubt, and no reliance can be placed on my defiant and despondent heart. I don’t need to tell you what a comfort it can be to know that, and how that knowledge can help me survive those times when my own faith is cold and empty and dead and a sealed heaven arches above me.”

The first thing he says, raising his eyes to heaven....the hour is here. It is time. This is the context of the prayer. and these words are heavy because time and time throughout the gospel Jesus has indicated that it is not time yet. I have shown you the graphic of the layout of John’s gospel. In the first half of the gospel, time and time again Jesus says the hour has not yet come: 2:4, 7:6, 7:8, 7:30, 8:20

Matthew Bates puts it this way:

Helmut Thielicke / Writings on John 17

Then in chapter 12 there is a shift and he says that the hour is impending. The five chapters leading up to this point is in light of the “hour” that is now here. The prayer he is about to pray is with full understanding of what lies before him. And what is the hour?

And what is the hour?

“Jesus’s reign is a nonnegotiable portion of the good news. First, when the gospel is presented today by a preacher or teacher, most of the time this “Jesus reigns” portion of the gospel is either entirely absent or mentioned as an aside. The cross and resurrection get central billing, but Jesus’s kingship is tucked away offstage. 29 We need to recover Jesus’s kingship as a central, nonnegotiable constituent of the gospel. Jesus’s reign as Lord of heaven and earth fundamentally determines the meaning of “faith” (pistis) as “allegiance” in relation to salvation. Jesus as king is the primary object toward which our saving “faith”—that is, our saving allegiance—is directed. Jesus reigns right now. Second, Jesus’s reign corresponds to the present epoch of world history that we find ourselves in now. The first six stages of the gospel refer to events in the past with respect to Jesus’s life story—for example, he has already taken on human flesh, died for our sins, and been raised from the dead. But if Jesus has been raised from the dead, then where is he now? And what is he doing? It shouldn’t surprise us if the answer proves to be fundamental to all aspects of Christian life today. Jesus is currently the enthroned king, Lord of heaven and earth, and he is actively ruling until, as Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians, “he has put all his enemies under his feet” (15: 25). He is also serving in heaven as the great high priest who has offered his own blood as a redemption for our sins, so he is busy interceding on our behalf (; ).”

Matthew Bates / Salvation by Allegiance alone

Preparing the Disciples

Next, Jesus prays for the disciples and their preparation. The theme of this section takes force in the prayer…make them ready. My acknowledging the hostile nature of the world he prepares them for the hard road ahead. In different places Jesus tells the disciples, “they hated me first,” or they persecuted me first, they will with you as well. Included in this petition are a couple aspects important to protection. First that they would go in the same power that Jesus has come in. Thinking about Luke’s conclusion telling them to go and wait for power to come. Maybe this is John’s version of the same invitation, which can be seen in verse 11—make them one. We are one in the Spirit and that is how we go in the power. Secondly, give them “the full measure of my joy within them” (13). It is fascinating that their protection is not like something external like a shield but it is something internal, joy. Not only joy as an emotion but the same joy he has in the Father, no doubt rooted in their relationship and intimacy with each other.

The next petition for preparation is that disciples (and us) would be sanctified. That they would be made holy. D.A. Carson talks about this....

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to John c. Jesus Prays that His Disciples May Be Sanctified (17:17–19)

Now he prays that God will sanctify (hagiazō) the disciples. In John’s Gospel, such ‘sanctification’ is always for mission. The mission of the disciples is spelled out in the next verse; the present verse focuses on the means of the sanctification: ‘Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.’

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to John c. Jesus Prays that His Disciples May Be Sanctified (17:17–19)

In practical terms, no-one can be ‘sanctified’ or set apart for the Lord’s use without learning to think God’s thoughts after him, without learning to live in conformity with the ‘word’ he has graciously given. By contrast, the heart of ‘worldliness’, of what makes the world the world (1:9), is fundamental suppression or denial of the truth, profound rejection of God’s gracious ‘word’, his self-disclosure in Christ.

God give them right mind and thinking so that they can make decisions with wisdom and according to your will. Paul talks about it as the transformation of our minds. Jesus says I have sanctified myself…namely, I have conformed myself to you think only what you think and going only where you send.

John

John 5:19–21 NIV

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

This is the challenge to continue the pursuit of intimacy, not to earn anything but to live in the petition of Jesus. This means to take hold of what is already guaranteed because it exists in the desire of the second person of the trinity.

Looking to the Future

If modern day disciples are implied in the previous prayers, we are overtly carried up into these petitions as Jesus casts his attention to the future. Jesus reminds us again that the mission was first born in the heart of God long before it makes it to our attention. Additionally, we do not simply jump on the mission already begun but find ourselves sent in the same way that Jesus is sent.

Our relationship is based in the power and intimacy of the trinitarian God AND it is with the trinitarian God as he prays that we would be one. Why is this distinction important? It is as if he says, “When the world sees the church in harmony with God and with each other, the point of Jesus petition may be realized, namely, that the world may believe you sent me.”

When we are one....then they believe in the sent one.

Verse 24 is the petition that we all would have the strength to run the race reminding us that at the end of it is glory with the Son, the king in glory. Our race, even in trial, heart ache and difficulty, as hard as it might be, has an end. This is critical for the laborer and it is critical for the one who believes the race has no meaning or end.

Finally, the reality prayer that is implied in the closing verses....

The statement is: the world does not know you, but I know you, and they know me. This is reality…they will on know you, Father, if the world actually sees me in you.

John 13:34–35 NIV

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Application: How does this change my tomorrow?

My dear friend shared with me yesterday after she learned of a scary diagnosis:

“I have to figure out how to talk to God again. I feel like I’ve lost Him. I just have given up, I think. I don’t know. I need to find myself in Him again.”

No, we cannot base our life on faith. Even the disciples do not live from their faith in that moment when they are battling anxiety and seasickness. They hardly remember that they are believers. There’s simply no time to think about it. That may be put very crudely, but that’s how it is nevertheless! At that moment the disciples do not live from the fact that God is in their thoughts (because he is not!), but they live because Jesus Christ is thinking of them, and the stillness that surrounds his conversation with the Father is filled with these thoughts about his own. Our faith’s grip on the Father may loosen. But he in whom we believe holds us fast in his grasp. Jesus’ high-priestly prayer does not stop even when we quit praying. Thus, there is really no such thing as “Psychology of Religion” because the decisive events between God and me do not happen in my psyche, my consciousness, at all; they occur in the heart of my Lord. Here (and only here) there is constancy and faithfulness; here there is a love that will not let me go, even though my fever chart fluctuates between faith and little faith, between trust and doubt, and no reliance can be placed on my defiant and despondent heart. I don’t need to tell you what a comfort it can be to know that, and how that knowledge can help me survive those times when my own faith is cold and empty and dead and a sealed heaven arches above me.”

Helmut Thielicke / Writings on

To know that the enthroned Christ has prayed these things ensures that they are possible in Him. Jesus is King and he provides protection for the difficult road that is in front of us. God is always working in those who are trusting in Him. Building you up into who you were created to be. We are headed for glory already sealed by faith in the king…our citizenship is in heaven. The world has an opportunity to know that by how we are sanctified, united, and out in the world.

Homework

Our homework is .

Look for themes

Can you break it apart into thematic sections?

Repetition, comparison, other literary devices?

What questions do you have about the passage?

Journal a couple of paragraphs....anyone want to share?