JOHN CHAPTER 17. The High Priestly Prayer

Transcription

1 JOHN CHAPTER 17 The High Priestly Prayer

2 2017: 500 Year Anniversary of the Reformation Philip Melanchthon, co-reformer with Martin Luther, said this of John 17: "There is no voice which has ever been heard, either in heaven or in earth, more exalted, more holy, more fruitful, more sublime, than the prayer offered up by the Son of God himself." - Quoted in Arthur W. Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John X 2

3 The Prayer s Occasion Jesus and His disciples have just celebrated the Passover Meal together Scholars are not in agreement about where He prayed this prayer Still in the Upper Room? In the Kidron Valley on the way to Gethsemane? Either way, it is a part of Jesus sharing His heart with them Chapter 15: I am the Vine Chapter 16: His teaching about the coming Holy Spirit X 3

4 Chapter 17: An Unusual Prayer The prayer is to His Father, interceding for them and for the world But He prays for Himself first Then He prays for His disciples And He follows these with a prayer for all of His believers to come These are all founded on His ultimate encouragement in John These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. X 4

5 Christ s Priorities in His Prayer Warren Wiersbe suggests Christ showed the following priorities First wanting God to have the glory Second the well being and success of His followers Sanctity of His followers Unity of His church The success for the ministry of sharing the gospel with a lost world X 5

6 Jesus Praying for Himself (vss 1-5) This may seem strange, but consider what early Moody Church pastor R.A. Torrey said about this A prayer for self is not by any means necessarily a selfish prayer How else can a servant of God achieve the resources and skills needed to bring about God s glory? X 6

7 Jesus Praying for Himself (cont d) We must also note the intent of Jesus praying for Himself "glorify" and "glory" occur five times in these opening verses Human definition of glory. to make great Jesus was focusing instead on revealing God s character Glory is about seeing and understanding God more clearly; being able to grasp more accurately and deeply who He really is" - Paterson, A. Opening Up John s Gospel X 7

8 Verse 1 Jesus Praying for Himself (cont d) Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You Jesus knows that the time of His sacrifices for mankind, as planned by the Father, has arrived X 8

9 Verse 1 Jesus Praying for Himself (cont d) Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You Jesus knows that the time of His sacrifices for mankind, as planned by the Father, has arrived He is asking the Father to sustain Him in this, and to accept His sacrifice for our sins X 9

10 Verse 1 Jesus Praying for Himself (cont d) Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You Jesus knows that the time of His sacrifices for mankind, as planned by the Father, has arrived He is asking the Father to sustain Him in this, and to accept His sacrifice for our sins His complete obedience to the Father s plan of salvation glorifies the Father, and He prays that His full glory be restored as He returns to Heaven X 10

11 Jesus Praying for Himself (cont d) Verse 3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God. Jesus accomplishments on the cross: Redeemed people from their sins Made it possible to accept His sacrifice and be eternally in Heaven with Him Made it possible to actually KNOW God Greek ginosko "2 to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of. Strong, J., Enhanced Strong s Lexicon X 11

12 Jesus Praying for Himself (cont d) Verse 4 "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Jesus revealed the Father's glory and character by how He acted, what He said, and what He did Led a pure life Used gracious, wise words to teach, correct Showed loving care for others Did miracles to heal, feed, illustrate God John 1.14: "...we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father..." X 12

13 Jesus Praying for Himself (cont d) Verse 4 (cont d) But how can all this coming torture, bloodiness, agony and death glorify God? The Cross is a perfect demonstration of God's character and glory It shows how seriously God regards sin It shows His infinite grace and mercy that is available to the penitent sinner It shows that His will was being accomplished Jesus was praying that this character of God would be seen through His life and this final action X 13

14 Jesus Praying for Himself (cont d) Verse 5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. When Jesus became incarnate as a man, the glory He had with the Father became veiled But surrounding the time of the Crucifixion we see two instances of His glory restored Temporarily at the Transfiguration Matt 17.2 Fully at His Ascension Mark We see Him later in Revelation as the Perfect Man/God Rev X 14

15 Prayers for His Followers Jesus now addresses His disciples, and those believers who will follow in Vs 18: He indicates that they are to carry the Gospel message out into the world Note that Jesus is praying for the success of all who carry the Gospel message, as well as their safety in doing this Careful study shows that these messengers must have essential characteristics to carry out the mission X 15

16 Essential Marks of a Gospel Messenger: OBEDIENCE TO THE TRUTH Note His emphasis on truth vs 6 - I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. vs 8 - for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me vs 14 - I have given them Your word... vs 17 - "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth" X 16

17 Essential Marks of a Gospel Messenger: OBEDIENCE TO THE TRUTH (cont d) Why does He emphasize adhering to the truth? Vs 13 But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. "made full" > Gk pleroo 1 to make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full. 1A to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally. 2 to render full, i.e. to complete. 2A to fill to the top: so that nothing shall be wanting to full measure, fill to the brim. - Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong s Lexicon X 17

18 Essential Marks of a Gospel Messenger: OBEDIENCE TO THE TRUTH (cont d) Jesus had emphasized this aspect of truth to them earlier John If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father s commandments and abide in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. X 18

19 Essential Marks of a Gospel Messenger: OBEDIENCE TO THE TRUTH (cont d) Why is this joy for the messenger crucial to spreading the Gospel message? Jesus prayed that His followers would follow God s commands The joy comes from obeying God s commands The answer lies in realizing how unbelieving listeners regard those who are promoting the Gospel to them If those sharing it are obeying God's commands, AND they enjoy life joyfully while doing it, unbelievers will see that the Gospel has credence and is desirable for living Jesus prayed to the Father to give His followers the ability to do this > His Word, His Holy Spirit X 19

20 Essential Marks of a Gospel Messenger: COURAGE TO WITNESS BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH John : Jesus prays for believers to present and live the Gospel in spite of the world challenges Note that Jesus asks two things of the Father Don't take individuals out of the world when they become believers Protect them from Satan as they live obedient lives and witness the Gospel for Him "Here s the terrible irony: the people who bring to the world the most glorious and liberating message of grace are the most persecuted religious group in the whole world." Paterson, A.. Opening Up John s Gospel X 20

21 Essential Marks of a Gospel Messenger: COURAGE TO WITNESS BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH (cont d) Jesus has a high expectancy of His followers! We are to remain in the fight to convey truth to unbelievers and allow the Holy Spirit to convert them to true believers We are to rely on encouragement, guidance, and protection from God to do this X 21

22 Essential Marks of a Gospel Messenger: COURAGE TO WITNESS BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH (cont d) Actually, Jesus asks for specific enablement for followers to meet the challenge John I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me A person's "name" (i.e. reputation) reflects his character, what he is really like God s Name reflects His absolute power His sovereignty and supremacy His infinite wisdom in how to apply it His infinite love for His disciples in fighting forward as His ambassadors, enabling and protecting them X 22

23 Essential Marks of a Gospel Messenger: COURAGE TO WITNESS BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH (cont d) Jesus not only prays for His witnessing believer s enablement from God, but He also prays for their safety in doing so John I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth." X 23

24 John Essential Marks of a Gospel Messenger: UNITY IN THE TRUTH 20 I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 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 What unity is Jesus praying for?? Jesus was praying for all believers to be united as the living church organism It is about being united by the Holy Spirit in us as intimately as it is among the Father, Son and Holy Spirit X 24

25 Essential Marks of a Gospel Messenger: UNITY IN THE TRUTH (cont d) Jesus is also praying for all believers to be united in love John 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. Believers differ widely throughout the world Jesus was praying that such diversity of believers would be united through the same love that exists among the Persons of the Godhead X 25

26 Essential Marks of a Gospel Messenger: UNITY IN THE TRUTH (cont d) The goal of this unity is twofold "...that the world may know that You sent Me..." > Christ's divine mission "...loved them, even as You have loved Me..." > The world will see that God loves believers as deeply and as intimately as He loves Jesus "It is not the future glory of the heavenly state, but the secret of that present unity ; the glory, therefore, of the indwelling Spirit of Christ; the glory of an accepted state, of a holy character, of every grace." Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible X 26

27 Essential Marks of a Gospel Messenger: UNITY IN THE TRUTH (cont d) "Where else in the world can you find such diversity unified by such love? That s why the Christian family is such an important and remarkable expression of the gospel." Paterson, A., Opening Up John s Gospel X 27

28 CONCLUSION John 17 is The High Priestly Prayer In it, Jesus Assures that the Father s and His glory are foremost in our efforts to promote the Gospel to others Prayed that we believers would show three characteristics to achieve successful evangelism Obedience to the truth as evidence it is the only worthwhile truth Courage to witness because we have the truth Unity to apply all of our God-given resources to showing the truth X 28

29 Resources New American Standard Bible: 1995 update Opening Up John s Gospel, Andrew Paterson The Bible Exposition Commentary, Warren Wiersbe Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, David Brown Enhanced Strong s Lexicon, James Strong The Bible Knowledge Commentary, John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary Holman Concise Bible Commentary, David S. Dockery The Teachers Bible Commentary, Herschel Hobbs, H. Franklin Paschall 29