The Priestly Prayer
Jesus Prays for Himself
17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6 “I have revealed youa to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 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. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 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. 12 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. 13 “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. 14 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. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctifyb them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 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. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “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. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 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.” John 17:1-26 (NIV)[1]
1. This is the written record of a spoken prayer.
It was meant to be heard.
The prayer that we read from John 17 has become known as the “High Priestly Prayer” of Christ.
Jesus is our High Priest, our advocate. I love that notion that we have such a priest. I remember my father-in-law in school advocating that part of a husband’s role in the family is that of “priest”, the person responsible to minister first to his own family.
I had a friend in Moncton, a Frederictonian, Baptist, Woodside who married a French Catholic lady from Tracadie. One of the nicest people that you could ever meet. Nicer than many people that I have met who call themselves Christians. It’s amazing how some people carry their faith. Some labor at it and it makes them so serious that they are ineffective in their efforts to communicate their faith to others. Even worse, their demeanor, their countenance is counterproductive to their witness. People run from such sour representations. And they do it all in the name of devout-ness. You see, if you believe that you are the fulcrum, the hinge point and that the eternal destiny of others rests squarely on your shoulders, you will take yourself far too seriously. You can’t carry that load. Only God can.
Lee was talking to his then 8-yr. old son Corey about me. He said, “Corey, you know that Karl is a pastor don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”, Corey replied.
“You know what a pastor is as well?” Lee asked.
“Oh yes, a pastor is a fake priest.”
Christ is the real number and this beautiful prayer is a wonderful picture of the priestly role of Christ.
It was uttered at some point following the Last Supper and prior to the “private prayer” that he prayed in the garden. It could have been offered in the Upper Room or on the after supper walk to the Garden of Gethsemane.
It is significant for numbers of reasons but perhaps more so than any other is that John preserves it so carefully as though it frames something incredibly significant to the Christian. Its presence brings greater significance to the events that follow.
It helps us to see that Christ was not a victim of an intolerant religious system but a deliberate sacrifice offered up for the disciples that heard this prayer and those of us who read it today. You were on His mind as He prayed. He saw you as much as he saw the 12 disciples.
It was a prayer that was meant to communicate great truths immediately and over the centuries and into time yet to come. It was a prayer that was meant to be heard by both God and man.
Because it was meant to be heard and preserved, it was spoken aloud in an unforgettable manner. It made a lasting impression on John the Beloved, etched deeply in his young mind and stored for the day when God’s Spirit began to move his pen to write his account of the person and ministry of Christ.
I know that many of you have a difficult time praying out loud and a person can pray without praying aloud. But it is a beautiful thing to have someone pray out loud for you.
Mark this, that you must always speak the Amen firmly. Never doubt that God in his mercy will surely hear you and say "yes" to your prayers. Never think that you are kneeling or standing alone; rather, think that the whole of Christendom, all devout Christians, are standing there beside you, and you are standing among them in a common, united petition, which God cannot disdain. Do not leave your prayer without having said or thought, "Very well, God has heard my prayer; this I know as a certainty and a truth." That is what Amen means.
-- Martin Luther, from "A Simple Way to Pray" (1535) in "Martin Luther--Later Years and Legacy," Christian History, no. 39.
Do you know what a blessing it is to have someone pray for you - I mean “really” pray for you?
I went into the hospital on Friday afternoon to visit one of our senior ladies from St. Anne’s Ct. Her name is Zoe Brown. Zoe means “life”. She was still in the emergency room and I found my way through the maze of curtains to bed #4. I had to wake her up and then prayed with her. When I was done she squinted at me and asked if she could pray for me. She prayed the most beautiful words over me and I was touched.
I was blessed by this dear lady more than I can tell you today and I shook my head just slightly as I left Emergency that day feeling that I was the one who was ministered to.
We are reconfiguring our prayer ministry at 1st. It is not feasible for us to reduce prayer meeting to one option a week, that being Wednesday at 7:00pm. There are many people who attend weekly small group meetings and there is the danger of “death by meeting” especially for well meaning, earnest followers of Christ who want to squeeze as much as possible out of the Christian walk. Add to that choir people, musicians, people who lead or assist in midweek programming for our children and it is clear that we can easily assist people in a natural tendency to over commit themselves.
I think that when we allow ourselves to be swept along in life’s rapids, the current, the swirling eddies of life’s relentless rush we lose something of what God intends for us to be. If you spend life “in a hurry” it is a tragic thing.
When I am in a hurry, I forget things, I miss things, I offend people, the quality of my work suffers. The frame of mind is crucial to a person’s approach to life and their response to the unexpected.
So we are trying to allow for our folks to live balanced lives. We want people to know that we realize that their lives can constitute valid ministry whether or not they are involved in a particular ministry. It is possible to be a person of prayer without being in a designated meeting each week for that purpose. Because pastors are human we want to be able to measure our success and so we count numbers of people who show up for prayer meeting and subtract this number from the totals on a Sunday morning. And we try to measure what God is doing with numbers.
I think that numbers are ways that we try to measure our own strength or success whether it’s a bank account or an army or a pension plan or whatever and the greater the numbers the greater our self-sufficiency. I read this past week about David’s desire to number his armies and his failure to follow God’s direction that was to the contrary. I think perhaps that this might be the reason.
I do however want to be a people of prayer however we approach it – substantively. When I say this I want our folks to inwardly say “Amen” because they know that this is true.
In our prayer meeting we pray to be heard and so we pray out loud. It gives me a wonderful sense of joy to say to people that each request is prayed for “out loud” each week. Their name and their request is “spoken” before God.
Beyond the written record of a “Spoken Prayer” John 17 was something else.
2. It was a request for Sovereign Protection.
It was meant to be heard by God.
It was time to go, time to “face the music”. When it’s time to go people always think of those they leave behind. The time was right although the disciples never understood that at the time. Most of us struggle to move beyond the good chapters of life. We want to stay where things are good and often we because of this we miss something better. The future holds God’s greatest blessings. This is always true. In order for them to be realized we have to be willing to move forward.
Look with me at the rehearsal in this intimate conversation that Jesus holds with the Father. He celebrates that ground that has been gained.
· 6 “I have revealed youa to those whom you gave me out of the world.” – (first hand encounter)
· “they have obeyed your word.” - (response of obedience)
· “Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.” – (further understanding)
· “I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.” – (active faith and trust)
· “They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.” – (mature faith grounded in knowledge)
· “glory has come to me through them.” – (fruitfulness)
This is a picture of faith development.
“The end is not here, however, so far as others are concerned; for this unity, when consummated, is to bring about a yet further result on this earth, and in order that the world may come to know (γινώσκῃ) that thou didst send me, and lovedst them as thou lovedst me. Our Lord has advanced upon the assertion of ver. 21, (1) by discriminating between “believing” and “coming to know” by personal experiences, overwhelming conviction, and processes which lead to invincible assent. Faith in its highest form melts into knowledge, full assurance, complete certitude. (2) There is superadded to the conviction concerning the Divine mission of the Christ yet another, viz. a conviction of the wonderful love which thou hast shown to them in thus lifting them out of the world into the unity of the spiritual life, into the fellowship of the Son of God.” [2]
We know much of the disciples’ weaknesses and sometimes we see ourselves as somehow superior to them but Christ was verbally affirming them as He talked with the Father. They were ready for the next step of the faith journey.
And what was His request?
· A prayer for protection.
“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. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.”
Most of us have little to no awareness of just how much God protects us from the Enemy. So much so that I forget at times that I have an enemy who hates me as much as God loves me. He is as consumed with my damnation as God is with my salvation. He is as accusing as God is forgiving. He’ll give me the world to gain my soul. God asks me to walk away from it if I would keep it. He is the complete antithesis of God the spirit of the “Anti-Christ”.
Not only are we oblivious to the Enemy, we walk ignorant of the battle that rages all around us for the eternal souls of people that we rub shoulders with each day. And you know what, there are many eternal casualties in this battle.
· A prayer for unity.
“so that they may be one as we are one.”
There is safety in the crowd. Often the devil will divide before he conquers. The Bible says that he prowls like a hungry lion looking for prey. Predators single their prey out of the herd. They look for the ones that leave the safety of the larger body and then they become vulnerable.
Often people leave the safety of the “fold” because there is division and they decide to face the enemy alone and unprotected.
· A prayer for their “joy”.
“I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.”
God’s plan is that you should know His joy. God’s joy is an abiding thing. It allows us to search for meaning in tragedy and adversity. It allows us hope when others have none. It helps us to bend our knees to stand taller.
· A prayer for their “sanctification”.
“17 Sanctifyb them by the truth; your word is truth.”
To be sanctified means to be set apart and surrendered for God’s purposes. It is a work of God that is ongoing through this life and it begins with the will of man. Are we willing to make our lives a living offering to God or will we seek our own good first and foremost?
3. It was a reminder of Spiritual Principles.
It was meant to be heard by the disciples.
I used to wonder about the prayers that I heard that seemed to be half addressed to God and half addressed to men. The more I think about it, I realize that we can gain valuable spiritual insight through the prayers of people.
This prayer of Christ was meant to be heard by the disciples as well and it was meant to instruct, to reinforce some primary truths that would become bedrock in the church they were to build.
Let’s consider some of those spiritual principles as we come to a conclusion today.
· Christ was as concerned that His disciples would remain in the world as He was that they would be protected from it.
What the world identifies as “adult,” we recognize as perversion. What the world praises as “success,” we often must label failure. What the world views as the highest of values—material success, popularity, and so on—we recognize as emptiness. There is a deep and abiding antagonism between the society of unredeemed man and the community of Jesus’ own.
Because this antagonism always exists, there are two great dangers the Christian continually faces. The first danger is conformity: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold” (Rom. 12:2, ph). And John added this warning in his first epistle: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:15–16). The world’s basic approach to life is twisted and perverted. We are to love the people of the world but decisively reject (and fear) the attitudes and values of the world.
The second danger for the Christian is withdrawal. If we do not recognize the world system for what it is, we may unknowingly adopt its lifestyle. When we do recognize the world system for what it is, we may be so repelled that we seek to escape it. This, of course, is the route taken by early monastics; it is the way of the Essenes in Old Testament times, and the way of the Qumran community. It is also the way of a distorted kind of separatism practiced by believers in many churches today. When Christians attempt to protect themselves from the practices of others, they frequently build a wall that rejects people and refuses relationships with those “outside.”
The New Testament picture of the world challenges us with important questions. How do we relate to the society in which we live? Should we withdraw? Are there any other options? How do we relate to non-Christians who have only seen worldly values? How can we construct the new community within the ruins of man’s society … or are we even supposed to try?[3]
· One-ness is primary to the effective witness of the church and the spiritual well-being of believers. Unity is not uniformity. It does not mean that we refuse to step ahead until we have total agreement. It doesn’t mean that you are going to like everyone who goes to your church. It doesn’t mean that everyone is going to like you. One-ness is about shared relationship with Christ. It’s about what we have in common in Him.
· It is truth that sanctifies us, that sets us apart from others. Not Wesleyan truth – not Baptist truth – not Anglican truth or Catholic truth. And whether or not we choose to admit it, I am sure that on some points we are off. It is about the “truth” that Christ gave his disciples. Like them we will be hated for the truth we have received because it is incompatible with partial truth or eclectic philosophy and earthly wisdom. It’s a stand alone body of enduring truth that will outlast its most stellar critics. Not one “jot or tittle” will pass from it. Don’t expect that truth will ever endear you to others. The living truth intrinsic and embodied in your being is irresistible. This is what keeps us “in and not of” the world.
God
Grant me to be
silent before you--
that I may hear you;
at rest in you--
that you may work in me;
open to you--
that you may enter;
empty before you--
that you may fill me.
Let me be still
And know you are my God.
Amen.
-- Sir Paul Reeves in a prayer at the WCC Seventh Assembly in Canberra, Australia. Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no. 11.
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a Greek your name; also in verse 26
b Greek hagiazo (set apart for sacred use or make holy); also in verse 19
[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
a Greek your name; also in verse 26
[2]The Pulpit Commentary: St.John Vol. II. 2004 (H. D. M. Spence-Jones, Ed.) (Page 351). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
b Greek hagiazo (set apart for sacred use or make holy); also in verse 19
[3]Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The teacher's commentary. Includes index. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.