John 17:20-26 Jesus Heart for All Believers REVIEW: We are in the last 24 hours of Jesus life The last supper is behind Him The cross is before Him He has given His final, crucial instructions to His disciples knowing what is ahead He will address them no more. Now He speaks to the Father (John 17) This is truly The Lord s Prayer V:1-5 Jesus prays that the Father & the Son be glorified together V:6-19 Jesus prays for His Apostles, for their preservation and unity V:20-26 Jesus prays for all who would eventually come to faith through the Apostle s work Jesus prays for the future church, that they would be ONE (V:21-22) Unity of faith! o This is a huge priority to our Savior o That s why Satan is always trying to divide the church (Accuser of the brethren) Jesus prays for the churches effectiveness for the sake of world evangelism. (V:23) Page 1 of 5
Jesus prays that WE who trust in Him as Savior and follow Him as Lord will be with Him in glory. (V:24) Jesus prays that the love of God will be in us. READ John 17:20-26 & PRAY V:20 Jesus went to the cross willingly knowing that His death would not be for nothing It would be well worth it! looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. Hebrews 12:2, 3, NKJV. V:21 Jesus prayed that we would be ONE! A unity of love and faith among all true believers We cannot be ONE with each other if we are not ONE with Him I believe that to the degree we are truly connected to Jesus & one with Him, we will be connected to and one with each other (EXPLAIN) Not that denominations are wrong They can serve a purpose for those who have various preferences in worship styles and minor variations in belief in practice Denominations can serve a good purpose as long as we all realize that in Christ we are ONE There will be no denominations in heaven Page 2 of 5
In heaven it will be high treason to call yourself by any other name other than Christ! (Luther / Calvin) o That s why I m starting now o I am Christian! NOTICE V:21b That the world may believe V:22-23 (ESVSB Notes) Glory probably refers to the manifestation of the excellence of God's entire character in Jesus' life. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14, NKJV. Jesus has given this to all believers (V:20): his entire life revealed the glory of God and therefore he imparted it to his followers, and Christians now reflect God's excellency in their own lives, in imitation of Christ. (Humility & obedience) V:23 Jesus is indicating here that the effectiveness of our witness to the world is dependent upon our unity with The Father, The Son and each other! If you want to ruin your witness for Christ to the world, bite & devour your brother & sister in Christ The stakes of the unity Jesus prayed for are high. The spiritual unity of Christians is linked to the way the church represents Jesus to the world. - Guzik V:24 Jesus now prays that we might behold His glory in heaven and be with Him forever! NOTICE that the church is categorized as, Page 3 of 5
Those whom You have given me (24b) Eph 1:3-7 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace Ephesians 1:3-7 I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. John 17:6 NOTICE also, the focus of heaven is NOT YOU but HIM That they may behold MY glory (V:24c) NOTICE the preexistence & deity of Christ is clear You loved me before the foundation of the world. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:1-3, NKJV. Before anything else existed, there was Christ, with God. He has always been alive and is himself God. He created everything there is- - nothing exists that he didn't make (John 1:1-3 LB) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: John 1:10-12, NKJV. V:25 Another powerful truth The only way to know the Father is through the Son. Page 4 of 5
All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Matthew 11:27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. John 16:27 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12, NKJV. V:26a Jesus came in the authority of the Father and, in a deeper sense, represented the entire character of the Father (HIS NAME in an OT sense represented all that was true about him) Jesus truly came in the Father s Name & declared (revealed) it BTW JESUS = "Jehovah is salvation" V:26b NLTSB All who accept the Son and embrace the Father will experience the kind of love known only between the Father and the Son. And I in them - Jesus wants to love his followers and indwell them with glory and joy unmatched by anything in the world. Orthodox Study Bible - The ultimate goal of Christ's prayer, and indeed of life itself, is for the love of the Father to dwell in each person. END Page 5 of 5