Christ the intercessor

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,

In the midst of the climax of the story- Jesus stops to Pray. He knows that the cross and the agony He is about to endure is now upon him, and so he takes a moment to cry out to God the father for Help.

Jesus says “Father the Hour has come”

This is not simply the hour Jesus has known would come. It’s the hour all of creation has been anticipating.

It’s the fulfillment of a promise made in genesis 3that God would send a Rescuer to Redeem humanity from sin.

it’s the moment when mankind will no longer be separated from God because of their sin.

It’s the moment when spiritual life will triumph over spiritual death.

Know that the hour all creation has been anticipating is upon him Jesus stops to pray.

This morning I want us to look at Jesus’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane the night he was betrayed, arrested, and accused.

look with me at verse 1-5

John 17:1–5 (ESV)

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,

since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Jesus Prays for himself

He begins with a simple prayer

Glorify Me so that I will glorify You

This was not a prayer for deliverance from pain, or for the strength to endure the cross, but rather it was a prayer that the Father would be glorified in His death.

Jesus said “glorify me so that I can bring you glory.”

Jesus understood that his sacrificial death was the means whereby God and humans would be reconciled.

Paul speaks of this reconciliation through Christ in 2 Cor. 5:19

2 Corinthians 5:19 (ESV)

that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Jesus desires to be glorified so he can bring glory to the Father.

in John chapter one Jesus is identified at the Word of God

John 1:1–2 (ESV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

Jesus is the Word, the revelation of God’s goodness towards mankind.

Jesus said i n Luke 19:10 “ I came to seek and save the lost.

Understand Jesus Entire mission was to bring God’s goodness of redemption to mankind.

Look again at verse 2-3

John 17:2–3 (ESV)

since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

To know God is to know His goodness, and to know His goodness means that You have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior.

Jesus sacrifice on the cross is what secures God’s goodness of eternal life for all those who belong to Him.

Jesus brings the father glory by displaying the goodness of God and bringing rebellious creatures into an eternal relationship with God the Father.

Jesus prays for God’s glory to be revealed in Him because he knows that The moment He will most reveal God’s Goodness towards mankind will be on the cross.

Hanging on that Tree the world will see the greatest display of God’s perfect Justice and God’s perfect love powerfully together.

The cross was a necessity for the world to understand how glorious God is. .

Because of the cross we now can understand his holiness and Hatred of sin, we can now understand his eternal wrath and his unconditional love, and because of the cross we can know experience his justice and forgiveness.

When Jesus Hangs on that Cross The Father will glorify the Son, and the Son will reveal the unparalleled goodness of the Father towards the world.

Jesus opens up his prayer “ Father the time has finally come for the world’s broken relationship with you to be restored.

The time has come for reconciliation, Lift me us as the redeemer so that through My death on the cross, the world will be restored back to You which will bring you glory.

And ends his prayer for him selfby saying father “Glorify me in your presence”.

Jesus is simply saying My Work is finished I am coming home.

Transition: Jesus continues in His prayer and Now prays for the 11 disciples. Look with me at verses 6-8

Jesus prays for the disciples

John 17:6–8 (ESV)

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

Note that Three times in these verses Jesus describes the disciples as “those you have given me.”

Meaning that their ability to follow and obey Jesus was Only through the power of God at work in them.

God gave these men as disciples to jesus. He drew them to himself, He opened their eyes to the truth.

Jesus uses the verb “have given,” which is in the perfect tense. That means an action happened in the past and has results that continue in the present.

In the past God gave Jesus a specific group of people that are his and continue to be his. God chose people, not based on any merit of their own, and gave them as a gift to his Son in eternity past. The apostle Paul told the believers in Ephesus they were chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4). Prior to salvation we were cold, dead sinners. By nature and choice we were rebels against God. The only way we could ever come to him is if he did a work in our hearts, drawing us to himself. When God does that work, we respond. We see, here in chapter 17, the disciples responded to the work of God.

• They kept the Father’s word (v. 6)

• They received it through the teaching of Jesus (v. 8).

• They came to understand and believe what God said (v. 8).

The disciples were responsible to believe, but even their ability to believe was the result of what God said and did.

God does the work of calling sinners to salvation. Our responsibility is to respond to what God does.

The disciples were saved by the power of God working in their lives.

He called them out of the world, He revealed Christ to them, He convicted them of their sinfulness and He gave them the ability to believe in Jesus for their Salvation

The point Jesus makes in these verses and through all of scripture is that our salvation is all about God and what He has done and nothing about what we can do.

For the disciples, they were Choses by God before creation as a gift to Jesus to be his followers who would take his gospel message to the world.

and Now Jesus simply prays that that same power of God that saved them will now keep them for the rest of their lives.

Jesus Prays for the disciple's Security

John 17:11 ESV

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

Jesus is focused on the disciples’ spiritual security.

Up to this point Jesus has been protecting them by the Father’s name.

For three Years Jesus has been teaching these men about the character and person of God. He has been been pointing their attention towards Him, and they have come to know God Personally through walking with Jesus.

He has been with them, guarding them from falling away from the truths of God.

And if they are going to continue the mission of taking the gospel to the world they can not turn away from this truth.

Jesus, knowing that He will no longer be with them asks the Father to keep them secure, to preserve their faith, to keep them faithful to His word and faithful to His mission that they may be one. (11)

Transition: The discipels are going to face real danger in their lives. They are about to become the target of the worlds hatred towards Jesus. and they are going to face the devil who will do everything He can in his power to keep their message of Hope form reaching the world. And So Jesus prays for their deliverance

Jesus Prays for the Disciple’s Deliverance

John 17:14–15 (ESV)

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

Jesus says Father “don’t take them out of the world ,but keep them from the evil one (15)

“Father protect my disciples against the attacks of Satan in their lives.

Remember Satan hates God, He hates Jesus, he hates grace, and He hates the Followers of Jesus. and he will do what ever he can to destroy the truth in your life.

Jesus knows the power Satan has in this world, and He knows that his entire mission is to destroy the gospel of Jesus and so he prays a hedge of protection over his disciples

Transition: Jesus goes on in verse 17-19 to Pray for the sanctification of the Disciples.

Jesus Prays for the Disciple’s Sanctification.

John 17:17–19 (ESV)

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

To Sanctify Means” To be Set apart for a special purpose.

Jesus asks the Father to set these 11 men apart for the special purpose of sharing the truth with the world and establishing Christ church on earth.

Jesus prayed “ as You Set me apart for a special purpose and sent me to this world to bring salvation so now set them apart for the special purpose of sharing Salvation to the world.

These men are the foundation of the church, they were set aside by God to speak the Truths of Jesus and build up His church.

section Wrap up Jesus knew that the task set aside for these men was going to be hard. And Just like He depended on the Father’s faithfulness in His ministry here on earth, He knew that these men needed God’s strength and faithfulness as well.

and so He prayed that God would secure the truth in their lives for all eternity

He prayed that God would deliver them from the evil oNe

and He prayed for God to use them as His sanctified messenger to the world.

Transition: after praying for the 11 disciples Jesus prays for you , He prays for the church.

This is pretty cool- did you know that right before jesus died He prayed for you?

Jesus prays for the church

Listen to Jesus’s High Priestly Prayer for you as His follower.

John 17:20–24 ESV

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just 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 have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Jesus makes two specific Request

For the church to be United IN HIM &

for the Church to Be Reunited With HIM

Trans: Jesus first prays for the church to be One in Him.

Jesus Prays For the church to be United IN HIM

Jesus is not praying for unity based on our own human preferences and Opinions, but unity based on who we are in Christ.

The unity of the church is not based on our love for the same Hymns or the same Bible version, Our unity is in Christ

We are unified by our belief that we are saved by grace alone through Faith Alone, In Christ Alone, according to the scriptures alone, for the glory of God alone.

Every Sunday morning we come to church to worship together as One body in Christ.

As I look around this morning I see teachers, Doctors, Construction workers, students, hotel workers, business owners, Dock installers, Nurses, Factory workers, and retirees, I see moms and dads, husbands and wives, Kids and parents.

There’s no reason for any of you to sit in the same room listening to me unless I am teaching the truth about Jesus revealed in his Word.

What makes us one as the redeemed church of God is that All of us know and understand we’re sinners deserving of God’s punishment. But instead of receiving that punishment We have received God’s grace because we believed on Jesus through the word of the Apostles.

We share something more powerful than any other bond in this world..

We share Christ. We are one in Christ We have an eternal bond with one another because of Christ.

Speaking to the church Paul says in PHil 2

Philippians 2:2–4 (ESV)

complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Christ knew that when a bunch of sinners become redeemed the world is going to notice. and so he prayed for believers to be unified so that the world we see Him through the church.

There is no other place where the world can see the love of Christ put on display and lived out in peoples lives other than the church.

When we are selfish as a church Jesus is hidden from the world, When we are arguing and disagreeing as a church jesus is hidden from the world, But when we love one another the way that Christ loved us, the world will See Him through our unity and will come to know jesus as their own.

Finally Jesus prays

Jesus Prays For the church to be Reunited with HIM

John 17:24 ESV

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

as Christians we have a unique union and fellowship with Jesus right now, but it’s only a shadow of what we will experience for all eternity in his presence.

When he returns and we are reunited with Christ we will see his glory (v. 24).

We will experience the fullness of his goodness.

Right now We only have a taste—through his Word and by his indwelling Spirit—but in the future we will experience the full delight and joy of unhindered fellowship with our Savior.

Jesus simply prays Father I cant wait until my church is reunited with me so that they can experience me and my glory in its fullest.

Bring it home

Jesus wraps up His prayer in vs 25 - 26 speaking of his disciples once again He says

John 17:25–26 ESV

O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Jesus’s number one priority was to bring glory to the Father.

and His prayer was for God to equip his followers so that they would bring God all the glory from their lives

IF God’s glory was the priority for Jesus what does that mean for us as his followers today?

It means than that the glory of God must be our top priority too..

Everything we do should reveal the glory of God to the world around us . Every detail of our lives should point people to the goodness of God.

your life as a redeemed sinner should point people to the salvation that brought you freedom from Sin, so that the one who freed you is glorified

We are called to Make and equip followers of Jesus Christ in this community. Why? Because this is what Brings God the father Glory.

and the way that this mission is accomplished is by being unified in Christ as the church, with one mission, and one love, because we proclaim one Savior.

As the church We should rejoice in the goodness of God, so that others see Christ in us and rejoice.

Church family We worship One God, are redeemed by One savior, , are indwelt by one Spirit, have been given one purpose and share one Gospel.