Jesus' High Priestly Prayer
Notes
Transcript
John 17 has been called “the Lord’s high-priestly prayer. He knows that He will soon be taken from the disciples. He has been teaching them in preparation for this, and now he prays – for Himself, for those with Him in the upper room, and for all believers.
Jesus prayed for Himself
Scripture John 17:1-5 p. 1132
John 17:1–5 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time 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 may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing 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.
That He would be glorified – He was glorified by His death, resurrection and ascension
So He can glorify His Father – He continues to bring glory to God the Father
By bestowing eternal life to those God gave Him which reveals God’s love and compassion
Glorify - to positively acknowledge, recognize, or esteem one’s character, nature, or attributes.
Has already brought glory to God by completing the work He was given to do – revealing God to people
Had glory with the Father before the world began
As disciples of Jesus this is our goal as well
1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Jesus prays for His disciples
Scripture John 17:6-19 p. 1132
John 17:6–19 “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.
He does not pray for the rest of the world
God gave them to Jesus
They accepted and obeyed God’s word
They believed God had sent Jesus
Protect them
So they may be one – in purpose and mission
May they have the full measure of Christ’s joy
Not take them out of the world but protect from the evil one
Sanctify them
Disciples are those whom the Father gave to the Son, who have accepted and believed God’s word, and who believe in Jesus as the one sent by God.
As disciples of Jesus we are also given God’s word. We are called to be in the world but not of it. God will preserve us through the trials and His truth will set us apart.
Jesus prays for all who believe
Jesus prays for all who believe
Scripture John 17:20-26 p. 1132
“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. 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. “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.”
That they may be one
That they may be one
He was praying for a unity of love, a unity of obedience to God and His Word, and a united commitment to His will. This comes from being united with Jesus Christ by the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit
As the Father and the Son are one – close relationship
So they world may believe God sent Jesus
So they would know that God loves them
That they may be where Christ is
That they may be where Christ is
To see His glory
This is possible because Christ is in us
As disciples of Jesus we are brought together into the Body of Christ, united with Him. Because of this we are called to love one another, to bear with one another, to support one another.
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.