The Last Prayer of Jesus

Scripture Passage

John 17:20–23 CSB

“I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

I heard a true story about a man’s grandfather who was pastor of a small church in a farming community in rural Oklahoma many years ago. Apparently, half the church got upset with him and decided to split off from the church. The problem is, they did not leave the church.

That’s right, it was the church split that would not split. Instead of leaving and starting their own church down the street, they decided to stay after realizing they had helped pay for half the building, and neither side wanted to give the other “their investment.” The church was built with the traditional center aisle and a set of pews on either side and every Sunday the group that was mad at the pastor would sit on one side and the group that liked him would sit on the other.

When it came time for sharing testimonies, each side would try to shout louder and tell better stories than the other. If one side spoke in tongues, the other side would try to speak better and longer. Neither side would leave the church for the sake of some peace and quiet. Finally, Greg’s grandfather left and let them have the building.

I am sure this breaks the Lord’s heart. God isn’t pleased when the church is divided; God is pleased when the church is unified.

Here in our passage this morning we have the true “Lord’s prayer.” This is the last lengthy prayer recorded for us in the final hours of Jesus’ life.

Background: Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane - He is about to be betrayed (picture)

I’d like for us to notice 5 divisions of this passage:

1. The Future Prayer of Unity (vv. 20)

John 17:20 CSB

“I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word.

Jesus here is offering a prayer for each and every one of us.

“Pray not for these” - I am not just praying for the disciples; the previous part of this prayer Jesus was praying fervently for the disciples.

“but also for all those who believe in Me through their message”

“Believe” - Those who will commit, put their trust in

“through their message” - the message/ account that the disciples passed down to us.

Literally Christ is praying for us! He literally prayed for those of us whom He already knew would believe. We are close to His heart. The Bible says our names have been written since the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:8 CSB

All those who live on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.

Think about how important this thought of unity must be to Christ. He is getting ready to be betrayed and nailed to a cross, and yet His mind is on us. His mind is on the church in the future. And what is His desire? That they would be completely unified.

Have you ever thought that maybe in Jesus’ mind that night MSBC passed across his mind? He saw us sitting here today. He prayed for our specific unity.

Have you ever thought how full of confidence Jesus as in this prayer? He knows what is coming. He knows the disciples are getting ready to run away from Him; and yet, He is confident that their upcoming failure would only be temporary. He knows they will come back and that they will go out and reach the world. He knows that 2000 years later we would still be proclaiming that same message that the Apostles proclaimed.

The gospel would prevail, despite the apostles’ weakness, the world’s hatred, and Satan’s opposition.

I just honestly think it is amazing to think that in that garden, with so much on his mind, Christ was praying for us.

I think as Christ is praying He has Revelation 7:9-10 on his mind.

Revelation 7:9–10 HCSB

After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

2. The Perfect Example of Unity (vv. 21)

John 17:21a CSB

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

Christ then in His prayer gives us a perfect example of what unity looks like.

If we want to truly be unified, look now further than the Trinity.

Three independent Persons and yet one God. The closest illustration is an egg which doesn’t even come close.

TRINITY PICTURE - EXPLANATION

3. The Grand Purpose of Unity (vv. 21)

John 17:21b CSB

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

When we are one it will be a message to the world. They will believe Jesus when they see us unified.

Jesus essentially gave the world permission to judge the validity of His ministry based on the unity of His people.

When the prophet Nathan rebuked David for his sin with Bathsheba, he declared “For you have given the enemies of the Lord great cause to blaspheme.” Do you know why the world blasphemes Christ? Because they look at us. Sometimes we are a poor representation.

4. The Shared Glory of Unity (vv. 22)

John 17:22 CSB

I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.

What glory do we share? Many theologians have wrestled with this statement.

We get to share the glory of unity because Christ now dwells inside of us. His glory becomes one with us.

2 Thess. 2:14 - We get to share this gory with Christ when we get saved.

2 Thessalonians 2:14 CSB

He called you to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You see our Christian unity is not based on the distinctions of our OUTSIDE, but on what is inside (the glory of God)

As a Christian we already possess Christ’s glory within and one day we will see His glory in heaven. (A few of the disciples got to see a display of His glory @ the Transfiguration- also Moses “Let me see your glory”)

As we grow in the Lord, the glory begins to grow as well. And as people see God’s glory in us, they don’t glorify us, they glorify the Father in heaven.

5. The Repeated Importance of Unity (vv. 23)

John 17:23 CSB

I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

For Jesus to say something once is enough, but when He says something a second time we should really take notice.

Jesus says again that the world will know Jesus is Lord if we show them unity.

Why would Jesus say this? Because He knew what type of disunity would exist in the world. We should be able to show them something that is vastly different.

Closing Illustration:

In 1765 John Fawcett was called to pastor a very small congregation at Wainsgate, England. He labored there diligently for 7 years, but his salary was so meager that he and his wife could scarcely obtain the necessities of life. Though the people were poor, they compensated for this lack by their faithfulness and warm fellowship.

Then Dr. Fawcett received a call from a much larger church in London, and after lengthy consideration decided to accept the invitation. As his few possessions were being placed in a wagon for moving, many of his parishioners came to say good-bye. Once again they pleaded with him to reconsider.

Touched by this great outpouring of love, he and his wife began to weep. Finally Mrs. Fawcett exclaimed, “O John, I just can’t bear this. They need us so badly here.” “God has spoken to my heart, too!” he said. “Tell them to unload the wagon! We cannot break these wonderful ties of fellowship.”

This experience inspired Fawcett to write a hymn. “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love! The fellowship of kindred mind is like to that above.”

Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 440.