Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture

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

John 17

John 17:

John 17:17

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:

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.