The Priestly Prayer of Christ

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The High Priestly Prayer of Christ

John 17:20–26 NASB95PARA

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

One could preach for weeks on this section of John. This is known as the High Priestly prayer.

John MacArthur points out two things about this prayer that you may not have noticed.

It is almost a summary of the entire Gospel of John. If you had to reduce this Gospel to a few words, this would be it. I don’t refer to the few verses in front of you, but all of John 17, from verse 1 to 26.

This section marks the turning point of Christ’s ministry. He has gone from the miracles, cleansings and teachings we know so much about in the Gospels to the High Priestly role He performs to this day.

The epistle of Paul to the Hebrews sums up the entire High Priestly role of Christ in several ways.

The laws of God cannot save - we talked about that very briefly last week. The sacrifices of the law could remove sin, but could not truly save.

When I sinned under the Old Covenant, it was required I bring a sin offering. It atoned, or covered for that one sin alone.

this is where we have to spend a minute or two - just that, no more - on Hamartiology, the study of sin.

Under the law of God, if you have not loved God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength at every minute, you have already sinned.

That’s just one sin. Requiring one sacrifice.

If, on the way to offer your sacrifice, you did not give God the devotion and honor to which He is due, you have sinned. That requires another sacrifice.

One sin - let’s just take original sin - requires an eternity in hell. One more sin would require a never-ending eternity in hell. There will be nobody in eternal torment who can truthfully claim that they are innocent. As R. C. Sproul Jr. once said, being consigned to the lake of fire does not remove the sins. If they hate God in life, they will hate God forever in Hell.

Jonathan Edwards said in his famous “Sinners in the hands of an angry God” sermon that “They were always exposed to destruction. As one stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall.”

Edwards also says, “the reason why they are not fallen now is only that God’s appointed time is not come.”

Those words should chill the blood of everyone who hears it. God has sometimes taken vengeance immediately for sin. He has sometimes judged both the Godly and unGodly alike as in Korah, Uzzah and Ananias and Sepphira. Others are shown mercy, allowed to go their entire life before they are required to enter into either torment, or eternal happiness before God.

Everyone sins. Not everyone is punished before death. Not everyone’s time is cut off before the natural course of life.

God has decreed what He has decreed. We are shown incredible grace, that even one of our sins are put aside. That Jesus Christ was given us, and has saved us and will give us to the Father is amazing.

The term saved is used far too loosely. God chooses not only to save us, but to glorify us, to reward us, to love us, to boast about us, to sing over us.

God is love.

In this church are persons whom God has elected, chosen, saved, redeemed, glorified. we have the imputed righteousness of Christ given to us.

In that church of the elect, there may or may be times where we get stubborn over our little pity party, or our turf, or it should be my time to do this, or my ministry, or my praise moment, or my prayer. or my...

…and you may get a little annoyed at them. It’s okay, it’s going to happen. Put that aside. Overlook it. Remember when you got annoyed it was your turn and everyone didn’t congratulate or shower you with confetti and praise.

We all have our moments when we’re looking down at our toes and not up to Christ.

Be unified. We all have the same confession of faith, but not all the same gifts. Everyone in the church is required to contribute in our own little ways. We should not be divided. There’s nothing more unGodly than cliques. Unfortunately, this side of heaven, cliques happen. Try not to be offended. More than four people talking and someone gets interrupted.

There is one thing I do have to mention.

There are tares. Goats. False converts. And some false converts become false teachers.

The Bible is very specific. We are to separate from error. We must pray for false converts, that they may be real ones. Will they be? Let me just say that we have no way of knowing how someone will turn out until they die. False coverts tend to join for a while, then fall away. Not always, but there you go. We are to identify and separate from false teachers.

When Christ prays we are to be one, remember that He is not including the reprobate. Pray for and separate from the sinner. We are also required to separate from those who are under church discipline until they repent. I only mention these things because there are some who try to stretch this prayer out to include everyone who names the name of Christ.

Christ in this passage is speaking not of those He has not called. Christ here speaks only to those who are the called. The time for miracles, cleansings, teachings, debates, is all over. Now remains only the trial and death of Christ, and His ressurection.

But before this, He stops to pray specifically for His apostles - but more than that, He prays for us, as the context makes clear. His desire is that we see God’s love for Christ and Christ’s love for God. It sounds incredibly comforting, and as the prayer explains it also in some ways extends to us. We are invited into this incredible love.

Just fifteen hours after this, Christ will breathe His last for three days. And in that dying, He secured that same undying love for us, that we may not only witness but partake. God loves us.

Let us pray.

Lord, we ask you to search our hearts. Purify anything within us that is unpure. Help us while we’re weak. Strengthen us to avoid the sin that so easily besets us, to resist it and walk closer to you at all times. Father, your name and your love is great. Please let us love you as you love us. clean us, make us holy, that we may glorify you in this coming week. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Numbers 6:24–26 NASB95PARA

The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’