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Introduction
If we want to know why Jesus came, we must look at what Jesus prayed.
Prayer exposes the heart, the desires, the will of a person in communion with God.
But prayer is more than just words spoken to God or spoken about God.
It’s not enough that a person prays, but that a person both PRAYS and OBEYS the will of the Father in Heaven.
No one was more obedient to the Father than Jesus.
No one prayed more according to the will of the Father than Jesus!
In John 17, Jesus prays for Himself, but He also prays for us!
Jesus prays for you!
And in so doing, Jesus invites us into this prayer that He prays as His people, who bear His name, and obey His Word.
This Advent season and beyond, we are completing the circuit of the Christmas story.
We are moving from Incarnation (Heaven coming down to Earth) to Intercession ( Earth coming up to Heaven) through the only person who made that journey both ways — Jesus.
We are listening to the Prayers of CHRISTmas which are the prayers of Christ.
The first and second prayer of Christ have been heard.
The third prayer of Christ will come in the next pericope, next Sunday, but the basis for the prayer to come is prepared for in the text that is before us today.
This is a reading from John 17.
To hear the prayer in context, I will begin again at verse 1.
Prayer
Let us pray as we prepare to receive God’s Word.
Pray
I. Reading of Scripture
John 17:11a (ESV)
11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.
This is God’s Word, if you receive it as such, would you say Amen?
AMEN.
[Scripture Reading ~ 2 min]
II.
The Exhortation
The title of this message is taken from the opening words of verse 7:
John 17:7 (ESV)
7 Now they know ...
Jesus said of His disciples in prayer, “Now They Know.”
Now they know, what at one time they did not know.
“Now They Know.”
When someone’s knowledge finally catches up with their experience, we say the words: “Now They Know.”
Now they understand.
Now they comprehend.
In the school my daughter attends, the school does not provide her a meal card for food.
It’s all handled digitally with an account, but there is no card to represent that account.
It is a real disservice to our children, because there is no exchange that occurs when she gets food.
She simply walks into the cafeteria at lunchtime, picks up her meal, and thinks nothing about the cost.
To her, it is free.
This becomes an even bigger problem, when she walks by the display of attractive looking snacks, candies, and “extras.”
Addison did not know that those extras cost money.
Addison’s parents did not know, that she was buying the extras.
Until one day we logged in to her school account where we had deposited a small amount of money meant to last her a semester, and noticed that in a matter of days that account had been depleted!
We asked - Addison!
What are you buying at school?
She did not know.
She was paying for the extras she was enjoying, without knowing that she was paying for them.
So I had a sit-down with Addison.
I pulled out my wallet, a credit card, and some cash and set them on the table.
We talked about where money comes from.
How money is earned through work.
I made sure to tell her that all the money we have comes from God and belongs to Him, and that we are to manage it well.
We talked about giving the first portion of our earnings back to God as a tithe.
We talked about how to spend money, and what happens when goods are exchanged.
We talked about value, and how we shouldn’t always buy something just because we can.
We worked out an arrangement: Addison would perform chores in the home, she would work, in exchange for one dollar earned each week.
She could do whatever she wanted with that dollar.
And any time she wanted to purchase an extra at school, she had to do it with her earned money, and pay for it in cash!
That next day, I’m sure to the surprise of the lunch workers, Addison showed up to get her extras with cash in hand, and as a proud Father she asked for change and a receipt!
Her knowledge caught up with her experience, and now she knows.
Church — There are things God gives us to know.
Things God wills for us to know.
God does not want us to be ignorant, deceived, misguided or uninformed!
One of those gifts God wants us to know, is the most important and costly gift of eternal life.
Jesus prayed, earlier in this prayer,
God desires us all to have a “Now I Know” moment.
Do you have a “Now I Know” moment with God?
It’s called a testimony.
Your story.
Your journey of faith that includes repenting of sin, turning from your evil ways, and being made new to follow Jesus.
Do you have such a story of experiencing and knowing God in relationship with Him? Have your eyes been opened so that you have said “Now I Know”?
Jesus offers that knowledge today, the knowledge of His Father through the proclamation and prayer of His Word.
In fact, this is one of the reasons why Jesus came into the world, as we celebrate this Christmas, so that we might know our Heavenly Father and live in relationship with Him!
After praying for His Father to be glorified through His life, work and soon return to Heaven, Jesus now begins a new theme for His prayer.
Jesus now prays for a special group of people: His disciples, His followers.
Between Incarnation and Intercession there was Illumination.
Knowledge of God.
Jesus prays about four things this special group of people now knows.
Now They Know...
Your Name (v.6-7)
Your Words (v.8)
Your People (v.9-10)
Your Loss (v.11a)
Jesus, through His past and present works, brings knowledge of the Father’s Name, the Father’s Words, the Father’s People, and the Father’s Loss.
III.
The Teaching
Let’s listen together to this prayer, and begin where Jesus begins this section in verse 6.
Now They Know...
A. Your Name (v.6-7)
17.6
Jesus manifested, or revealed, or has made clear the Father’s name.
The name represents the person.
The name represents the character of that person.
To know the name means to know the person and his/her character.
What is God’s name?
This is an old question asked in the second book of the Bible, the book of Exodus.
As God was calling Moses His servant, to lead Israel out of Egypt where they had been enslaved for centuries, Moses found Himself with questions for God.
Do you have questions for God? It’s okay if you have questions for God.
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