John 17:1-3 | "Glorify Your Son"
[John 17] He Said, "Father" • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 34:05
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· 311 viewsSunday, December 5, 2021. John 17:1-3 | "Glorify Your Son" If we want to learn why Jesus came, we must listen to what Jesus prayed! This sermon is the first installment of a preaching series through John 17. Moving from incarnation to intercession, we experience the completion of the Christmas story to the glory of God - "Glory in the Highest!" This message preaches from John 17:1-3. It is part of a preaching series through John 17, "He Said, 'Father'" The title of this sermon is "Glorify Your Son."
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I. The Reading
I. The Reading
[ Pray ]
A reading from John 17:1-3 — This is God’s Word.
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
This is God’s Word, Amen.
[Scripture Reading ~less than 1 minute ]
II. The Exhortation
II. The Exhortation
The word “advent” means “arrival,” “appearing”, or “coming.”
It is during this season of Advent that we, the Church, experience feelings of anticipation and expectation for the coming of Christmas, which is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
If you have children or grandchildren in your home, you feel anticipation as those children watch and wait for presents to appear under the tree, counting down the days and hours until they get to open them!
Advent tests our patience!
When Christ first came, he came at an appointed time and place - to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, when Caesar Augustus had issued a decree that all the world should be registered, during the time Quirinius was governor of Syria.
The timing of Christ’s first coming was not accidental. It was providential.
It was prepared and planned for and directed by the sovereign God for the right time - for the right hour. It was God’s time, to fulfill God’s purpose and God’s plan.
This Advent season exhorts us all to wait on God and to trust Him.
Are you waiting on God to act in some way? Does it seem like God is silent, absent, or even late?
Be patient. Have faith in God. Endure! These are the lessons of Advent— for in the right time, Christ came. In the right time, God acts. In the right time, Christ is coming again, Church!
Jesus understood God’s timing.
It might surprise you to know that Jesus understood the expectation of the Advent season too. Jesus knew what it was like to live with anticipation for the hour of God. Jesus knew what it was like to wait on God’s timing.
And when the time came for which Jesus had long awaited, the time for his passion, the time for his cross, the time for his glory, Jesus stepped into that hour not in panic, but in prayer.
The Prayers of CHRISTmas.
The Prayers of CHRISTmas are the prayers of Christ that reveal the reason for His first advent.
The prayers of Christ here at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry in John 17 are not isolated from the Christmas story. This is the Christmas story, in its more complete form.
The prayers preceeding Christ’s cross are intimately connected to the purpose of Christ’s coming.
If we want to learn why Jesus came, we must listen to what Jesus prayed.
This Advent season exhorts us all to listen. To move from Christ’s incarnation to His intercession.
To listen as Jesus communes with His Father in Heaven through prayer.
To listen as Jesus exposes His heart, His will, His desires, His anticipations - and to live with those same anticipations in our own heart too.
It’s not enough just to await Christ’s birth. We must wait with anticipation for the purposes of His birth.
If I were to ask you,
“Why did Jesus come into the world?”
— What would you say? How would you answer that question?
Would you say “Jesus came into the world to save sinners, such as me?”
If so, understand that Jesus did come into the world to save sinners such as me. But there’s more — so much more!
Sitting in this Sanctuary right now, or listening to this message right now, someone has settled for a simplistic Christmas.
Not a simple Christmas, but a simplistic Christmas.
“Simple” is a good word. It means something is easy to understand. “Simplistic” is a bad word. It means something complex is being treated simpler than what it really is.
Someone has settled for a simplistic Christmas, treating the coming of Christ as a means of your salvation and nothing more.
Someone has reduced Christ to an escape from judgment and the fires of Hell and nothing more.
Someone has a testimony of attending a meeting, walking an aisle, saying a prayer and serving a church, and nothing more.
Someone, in one hour of life, had some kind of experience with Jesus, and believed that was all that was needful, that was all the reason for Jesus’s coming, and then treated Jesus like an Elf on the Shelf by setting him aside, and hiding him away where he has been for 50 years!
That’s not Jesus. That’s not salvation. That’s not eternal life. That’s not the reason for Christmas.
Let us listen together to the prayers of Christ which are The Prayers of CHRISTmas, and learn who Jesus is and the fullness of what Christmas is about.
In these first 3 verses of John 17,
Jesus prays about —
His glory, His gift, and His God.
His glory (v.1), His gift (v.2), and His God (v.3).
III. The Teaching
III. The Teaching
Look with me at verse 1 —
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
“When Jesus had spoken these words.”
THIS IS THE CONTEXT OF CHRIST’S PRAYER.
THIS IS THE CONTEXT OF CHRIST’S PRAYER.
Prayers have a context. Meaning, prayers are not offered in a void, have you noticed? We pray in response to circumstances. We are to pray in response to all things!
The words of 1 Thessalonians 5.17 instruct us to —
17 pray without ceasing,
What words had Jesus spoken?
He had finished speaking what is called his “final discourse.” His final message to his disciples before he turned his face to the cross.
The last words of his final discourse are recorded in John 16.33 —
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
What an encouragement for us all on this “peace” Sunday of Advent!
Jesus desires for all of us to have peace at the hearing of His word.
Yes - we are still in the world.
Yes — we will have tribulation in the world.
But we may have peace in the world through Christ and His word!
We may take heart (that is, to take courage, to have confidence) because Christ - even before His cross, has already overcome the world.
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
“he lifted up his eyes to heaven”
THIS IS THE POSTURE OF CHRIST’S PRAYER.
THIS IS THE POSTURE OF CHRIST’S PRAYER.
Christmas directs our eyes to earth as heaven comes to earth - God becoming a real man, the donkey, the manger, the stable.
But the Christmas star, the angelic hosts appearing to the shepherds and this prayer, balance our gaze back to heaven! Completing the circuit of the Christmas story.
Jesus in his humanity recognized where he came from, and where his help comes from!
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
We are accustomed to bowing our heads in prayer. Why did Jesus lift up his eyes to heaven?
Because that is where His Father is.
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
“and said, “Father.”
THIS IS THE ADDRESS OF CHRIST’S PRAYER.
THIS IS THE ADDRESS OF CHRIST’S PRAYER.
Jesus does not pray to Himself.
Jesus does not pray to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus addresses his prayer to His Father.
As we think about his incarnation - the Christmas story - much is said about Jesus’ mother, but as it relates to Joseph, what is said about Joseph makes it clear that:
Joseph is not Jesus’ father.
Hear with me Luke 1:26-35 —
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
The child to be born will not be called “the son of Joseph” but will be called holy - the Son of God!
For the Father of this Child is the “holy Father,” the “righteous Father,” the Heavenly Father! God the Father!
We must not overlook this one purpose of Christ’s coming into the world, so that God the Father might be our Father too.
John, having preserved for us through the Spirit the context of Christ’s prayer, the posture of Christ’s prayer, and the address of Christ’s prayer (all three of which are important for us as we pray too) now preserves for us:
THE CONTENT OF CHRIST’S PRAYER
THE CONTENT OF CHRIST’S PRAYER
This is what Jesus prays.
This is the first Prayer of CHRISTmas. This is the preeminent reason for why Jesus came:
17.1
17.1
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
It is no accident that Jesus first prays for:
A. His Glory [17.1b]
A. His Glory [17.1b]
Jesus’s first petition is “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son...”
To glorify means simply, “to make great” or to “raise up high” (LN).
Jesus desires the greatness of the hour that has come. And it’s not an hour to make much of Himself.
It’s an hour that through his glory, through his obedience, His Father will be glorified.
Notice WHY Jesus prays for the Father to glorify the Son:
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
It is all for the Father’s glory!
1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Jesus is looking forward to the cross. The glory of the cross! The display of the steadfast love and faithfulness of the Father.
Jesus knows that through his submission and obedience to His Father’s will, His Father will be made great in the eyes of all people.
Luke tells us this about Christ’s birth:
10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
The entirety of Jesus’ life, from the day of His birth, was to bring His Father the highest glory.
So in praying “glorify Your Son” Jesus is praying that His Father’s will be done.
42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
Church, how do we begin our prayers? How should we begin our prayers?
With the glory of God.
May all that is done bring glory to God! May all that is done make God great in the eyes of people.
Are you suffering? Are you hurting? Are you oppressed? Are you attacked? Are you depressed?
Do you think God can’t be made great through that?
Do you forget that Jesus was about to go to the cross?
Do you forget the agony, the sweat like great drops of blood? The whip, the thorns, the nails? The forsaking of His Father?
Jesus knew these things were about to happen. Jesus knew the manner of his death. But these things did not discourage Jesus from praying. Quite the contrary! These things encouraged Jesus to pray!
Jesus took on the cross through prayer!
Jesus eagerly anticipated the cross, because it was through the cross that the Father would be glorified.
This is the preeminent petition of Jesus’ prayer:
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
Next, in verse 2, Jesus prays for —
B. His Gift [17.2]
B. His Gift [17.2]
Notice the repeated use of the word “given” and “give” as Jesus reveals His Gift to the world.
17.2
17.2
2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
The Father has given the Son authority over all flesh.
The Father has given the Son authority over all flesh.
Jesus is rehearsing what God has done in His prayers.
When Jesus asks for something, he asks on the basis of what God has already done.
The Father has already given the Son authority over all flesh.
This is the Great Commission authority of Matthew 28 —
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
This has already taken place. Jesus has authority over all the world. But —
The Father has given the Son people (of flesh).
The Father has given the Son people (of flesh).
The Father has given the Son people out of the world.
2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
Authority requires submission.
Not everyone in the world submits to God through Christ, and not everyone will submit to God through Christ.
Not everyone gathering with the church submits to Christ either. It’s a submission problem. It’s a pride problem. It’s a sin problem.
Sin opposes submission to God’s authority.
Not everyone belongs to God through Christ because not everyone will submit to the authority given to Christ.
And only those who God has given to Christ, will receive Christ’s gift.
The Scripture says — “to all whom you have given him.”
God’s sovereignty is in view here.
Do you have a problem with God’s sovereignty? Does it make you uncomfortable that God the Father is revealed as a giver of people to the Son?
If you have a problem with this language, then you have a submission problem.
We cannot pray without submission to God through Christ’s authority. This is what it means when we pray “in Jesus’ name.”
We make a mockery of prayer when we act, then pray to ask God to bless our actions.
We make a mockery of prayer when we pray to submit God’s will to our own.
That’s not what Jesus is doing here. Instead, Jesus appeals to what God has already said and done, and rehearses that through prayer.
The Father has given the Son authority over all flesh.
The Father has given the Son people (of flesh).
And —
The Son gives eternal life to those people.
The Son gives eternal life to those people.
This is His gift. Jesus’ gift. Eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus is given authority to give eternal life to who the Father has given to Him.
Do you desire to have eternal life? Then believe in the Son God has given to the world, and you will have eternal life!
Jesus prays for His Glory - so that His Father would be glorified.
Jesus prays for His Gift - so that people in the world might have eternal life.
And lastly, Jesus prays for knowledge of —
C. His God [17.3]
C. His God [17.3]
What is meant by “His God?”
It is the answer to why eternal life is such a gift.
Eternal life is not about eternal life itself, just as Christmas is not about Christ’s birth itself. There is a an end in view.
Don Carson says this:
“Eternal life is not so much everlasting life as personal knowledge of the Everlasting One.”
Look with me at verse 3. This is a definition, a confession of what eternal life is —
17.3
17.3
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
There are many gods.
We humans make for ourselves many gods. False gods. Idols.
For some, the season of Christmas becomes an idol. Presents become an idol. Decorations become an idol. Traditions become an idol.
We foolishly worship these things that will all burn up in the last day! We foolishly worship things that won’t last. They may give us happiness but they cannot give us life.
But Jesus prays that for those who the Father has given Him, to whom the Son has given eternal life — that they might know God.
This knowledge is not information in our brains. This knowledge is a relationship. An experiential knowing. As a Father knows His Son.
Jesus desires that we enter into the same relationship that He has with His Father.
Eternal life is knowing the Father.
Eternal life is knowing the Father.
Eternal life is not living a good life. It is not serving a church. It is a relationship of knowing the Father.
And who is the Father?
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
“the only true God.”
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
There is only one true God. And there is only one way to know the true God.
He must be revealed to us.
And this brings us to:
IV. The [Christ] Conclusion
IV. The [Christ] Conclusion
Jesus came into the world, so that He might reveal to us His Father, the only true God. So that we might know, in relationship, God as our Father.
But to know God as our Father, we must know the Son.
Eternal life is knowing the Son.
Eternal life is knowing the Son.
Jesus is God’s Son.
The Prayers of CHRISTmas lead us to Christ, and Christ leads us to God.
Do you know the Christ of Christmas? Do you know the one true God?
Do we desire that our lives be lived in a way that brings glory to our Father?
This text ends with a missional statement.
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
The Father sent Jesus into the world - YES, to save sinners such as me. BUT ALSO, that in our salvation, we might be brought into right relationship with our Heavenly Father and live, and pray, for His glory.
The hour has come and is coming, when Christ will return. As we anticipate the celebration of Christ’s birth, may this hour be the hour of your new birth.
May this hour be the hour, we join with the angelic host in praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Amen.
[ 3,497 words (29 minutes) ]