Jesus' Prayer for himself

What is the greatest prayer you have ever heard? What made it so great? Was it the words that were spoken? The person who was speaking it? What was the posture they had? What made it so great?

The next few weeks we are going to look at the true Lords prayer, this unlike the Lords prayer that we find in Matthew or Luke… In this prayer we get to see into the relationship the Son has with the father. Throughout the book of John you see this relationship seen. and in chapter 17 their relationship is seen in a beautiful way. ( This prayer is often referred to as the High priestly because....

and it starts with a prayer for Christ himself. Let us look at the text today....

If you are taking notes I have three truths that I want you to write down.

Jesus’ prayer is for glory

The chapter starts out by saying “ When Jesus had spoken these words” What words was this.... If you are familiar with the book of John chapters 14-16 teach the disciples what was about to happen when Jesus would return to the father… Just as a brief outline I want to mention some of those things to you. In the previous chapters He comforted them by saying he was going to prepare a place for them.

He told them about a counselor that was to come who would be the Holy Spirit the third person of the Trinity.

He tells them about the trouble that they are about to face. That they would face persecution in their lives.

However he would remind them despite all the trouble, this dark time that they would experience would turn into joy, because Jesus had overcome the world. The last verse in chapter 16 sets up chapter 17 so perfectly, it says, “ I have said these things to you, that in me you have peace. in the world you will have tribulation, But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

these are the words he said before he looked up to heaven. As he lifts up his eyes to heaven.. we see an action and this is incredible when you start to think about it. Jesus was surrounded by his disciples but his focus was strictly on heaven. and the words that followed are so important for Christians to hear..

He says Father the hour has come… ( he isn’t referring to a certain time of day, but to the time he was going to complete his work on earth… Similar language was used to describe his birth… In Galatians 4:4-5says, “ But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Just as their was an appointed time for his birth there would also be an appointed time for his death. ( God was in control this entire process )

It’s safe to say that many of us fear death, and rightfully so, but instead of panicking about his death he went to God the Father in prayer. He did so with recognizing that the hour had in fact came for him to die. The climax of his perfect life was about to happen. And the beauty of this is Jesus death would not be in vain. Recognizing that it was time for him to die he spoke this words to the Father, and notice what he asks from the father during this prayer.

He focuses on two things.. He says glorify your son, and the result of this is to glorify the father… These things are so important for every believer to understand. If we miss this we miss this we greatly diminish the work of Jesus Christ, and the glory of God the father. ( So we must unpack this)

How does the Son get glory? The Son ultimately gets glory through the cross.

It’s interesting that God would use the cross for this glory, because the cross was one of the the worst ways to die, it was often used to execute the worst of sinners. It was shameful to die on the cross. People would often die on the cross after suffocating after hours of pain and anguish. For those who did survive for longer periods they would often break the legs causing them to suffocate because it would not allow them to push up to breath..This death was awful yet it was the death that was necessary in order to achieve this glory.

See God used an instrument for shame and turned it around and used it for glory.

See the death of Jesus Christ actually brings glory, the Father is glorified by the death of Christ. God’s full display of glory was at the cross.

ONE commentator said it like this, “how does the death of Jesus glorify the father? the cross glorifies the Father because at the cross God keeps his word.

What is this word that he keeps? God must punish sinners.. Turn in in your bibles to Romans 5:12-21 this is powerful dont miss this…

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The result of sin is death, and in order to maintain the Holiness of God someone had to pay the price for that sin, and that someone was Christ. See Christs perfect life is the only thing that can satisfy the wrath of God, and glorify the father. because God is Holy and righteous, Christ death is the only thing that can purchase salvation for believers.

One commentator said this “Jesus does not satisfy the fathers wrath because he himself has violated the Father’s holiness, but because his people have. Jesus places himself under God’s displeasure against sin because he loves his people. Jesus does this not for himself but for others.”

the result of Christ glorifying the father is found in verse 2.

The Father gives Jesus authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom he given him.

Dont miss what I am about to say., Every person on earth will be judged based on if they had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He has all authority, we dont have the authority to grant eternal life, we dont have the capability to save ourselves. We are dependent on God for salvation. See only one who can save is Jesus Christ he can give eternal life because his death is the only thing that can pay the penalty for sin. ( God doesn’t get the glory in your salvation if you are the one saving yourself, but the reality is you cant save yourself, that is why Jesus had to come and die the way he did ) And because he died the way he did he has the authority to give salvation to all those who were given to him.

The beauty of the cross is that it just didn’t make salvation possible it saved all those throughout all of eternity that the father had given christ, Not one drop of the saviors blood was wasted. The brutal death of Christ on the Cross purchase the salvation for all believers throughout time.

Jesus’s Christ prayer was for glory.

Jesus prayer is that believers know about the one who gives eternal life.

What does Jesus Christ want us to know about him? well the short answer is everything, but the text today implies a few things…

Jesus went to the cross so his people would know God, and have eternal life in him.

1 John 5:20 says, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life” Eternal life is found in no one ones. See the work of the cross broke the barrier that we had with God. And Christ is praying that they know about eternal life.

This knowing him is not just knowing about him, its about having a personal relationship with him. The greek word here is implies the word to know as an intimate relationship. Anyone can know about God, but only believers really know God. This knowing him causes a radical change in our lives. You see it with the disciples and other believers . There is a change when God gets ahold of you. While this looks differently for everyone. No-one is truly the same once they have encountered a real relationship with Christ.

The change comes from the relationship that is built around the work of Christ. Just a few minutes ago we emphasized that glory that Christ has been given, and that was a result of the work he did on earth. While I mentioned the cross as an act of glory that wasn’t the only thing that glorified Christ on earth. See Christ had total obedience to the father.

Jesus had obeyed the father perfectly.. Christ did everything Adam could not do , and Christ did everything you and I could not do. Christ did not have one sin against God. and this is so important, because if he did he would not have glorified the Father perfectly on earth.

Christ obeyed every law in the bible. He perfectly upheld all Jewish moral standards. He obeyed all civil manners, and he perfectly preformed every ceremony without violating anything in the law. Not only did he do those things perfectly he went to the cross.

See every good act of Christ on earth would not have mattered if he never went to the cross. Sure we could have learned about his upright life, and the miracles he had done, but we wouldn't be able to be saved.

V4 includes everything he has done and will do. This includes his death, resurrection, and his exaltation. See God wasn’t just glorified by one singular act he was glorified by everything Christ has ever done.

The best thing about this is that Christ did all this work for his glory, and for all who would ever believe.

The book of John shows us much of this work. Including the purpose of it.

John 4:34 says, “ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

John 5:36 says, “ But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.”

John 19:30 says, “ When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. “

Jesus Christ did everything possible to glorify God on earth, doing everything the father asked him to do.

While Jesus Christ prayer was for glory this including praying that all believers would know him personally.

Jesus prayer is that he would share in the glory he had with the father for all eternity again

In this beautiful prayer Jesus Prays that he wants to return to the father, and share in the glory that he had with him again. This is pretty amazing, because prior to incarnation ( birth of Christ ) he existed throughout all eternity as the son, but without the human body. However during the birth of Christ the word actually became flesh. The word becoming flesh is not something that would temporarily happen, but would be transformed in a glorified body. When Jesus Christ was raised from the dead he didn't just return as a spirit, but he returned a man. Fully God and Fully man.

Listen to this. Jesus Christ who is and always was stepped out of heaven for a time to live amongst us. ( he left the riches of heaven) The one who created all things, the who held all things together, the one who lived with all riches of the universe came to live the life that you and I could never live, and he did so perfectly and as a result he would return to the Father again, The mission was accomplished, and he gets the glory. The difference between other religions and Christianity. Is other religions due their best to try to get to God, and fail but because we cant get to God he came to us..

These first five verse show us so much about Christianity. The give us insight the relationship of the Father and the Son. The work that the Son did on earth, and what that accomplished, we see eternal life is only in the son. We see the glory of God in salvation,, and heavenly places.

The beauty of this section of prayer is that our whole salvation belongs to the lord. Its his work, its his authority, its his life, and its his glory. If this is the case what are we to do?

Every Text demands a response from the people of God, and this demands that we believe.

John 20:30-31 says this, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

We are to believe that Jesus is the son of God. I couldn’t think of anything better if you are an unbeliever that the Lord would call you from death to life today. That he would so overwhelm you by his grace that he gives sinners that you would acknowledge him as lord and savior. That you would truly repent of your sins, and trust in Christ. Because its clear in this text that the only way you can be right with God is by a true relationship with Christ, and that true relationship only comes from repenting of your sins and trusting in Christ for salvation. This means turn away from that sin, and place it down at the foot of the cross.

If you are a believer today your response must be two-fold. One you must continue to trust in Christ for salvation. Continue to recognize the glory of God in salvation.. Remind yourself that because of Christ that I will never be lost. Remind yourself that its because of Christ that one day you to will share in the glory of Christ forever.

In addition to belief we are to be obedient in every thing God calls you to do. While we will never be perfect but God calls us to a life of righteousness. The gospel message is full of redemption and being a redeemed person means that you walk worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember Christ was obedient in every way, and you are called to do that very thing. I love what John Piper says, “ Christ died so you could be obedient to the scriptures “

What is God calling you to do today? Let us pray