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John – From the Upper Room... (11 of 12)
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
John 17:6-19
John 17 is known as – Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer...
John 17:1 (ESV) –
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you...”
Jesus prays for His disciples; He prays for their protection as they will face inevitable conflict with the world. The world is in rebellion against God so followers of Jesus ought to expect opposition from it. All followers of Jesus ought to be filled with joy through considering the eternal safety that belongs to believers.
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.”
1. God has revealed Himself. Jesus is God’s supreme self-revelation.
John 17:6 (ESV) –
“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.”
John 1:14 (ESV) –
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:18 (ESV) –
“No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.”
We’re not stuck guessing about who God is. Jesus Christ who is God has made Him known.
The world is unbelieving humanity in rebellion against God and His rightful rule.
John 1:9-11 (ESV) –
“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”
John 17:6 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.”
John 6:37 (ESV) –
“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
John 6:44 (ESV) –
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”
We can’t desire to walk out of the darkness and into the light without God first working in our lives. Jesus is clear whoever desires to come to Him in faith will be received and we can’t desire to come to Him apart from God working in our hearts.
John 17:8 (ESV) –
“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.”
John 3:17 (ESV) –
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
1 Timothy 1:15 (ESV) –
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners...”
Think about how terrifying it would be to know there is a God but not know who He is.
Jesus Christ has perfectly revealed God to us – we’re not stuck making guesses about God.
John 17:9-12 (ESV) –
“I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 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. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”
2. Jesus prayed for His disciples’ protection. Living in the world is perilous.
Jesus prayed for those whom the Father had given to Him; He prayed for their protection in the world.
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.”
John 17:11 (ESV) –
“Holy Father, keep them in your name...”
John 17:12 (ESV) –
“While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them...”
John 17:11 (ESV) –
“...that they may be one, even as we are one.”
John 17:11 (ESV) –
“... even as we are one.”
God keeps those who belong to Him spiritually protected – this doesn’t depend on us and our failings but on Him.
John 10:28-30 (ESV) –
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”
Philippians 1:6 (ESV) –
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Romans 8:38-39 (ESV) –
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
John 13:18 (ESV) –
“I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’”
John 13:12 (ESV) –
“I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”
Jesus experienced the full range of human experience yet He was (and is) without sin. Jesus experienced betrayal by a friend, He knows what that feels like!
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 prays that His disciples will be protected from the evil one.
John 15:18-19 (ESV) –
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
Matthew 6:13 (ESV) –
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
1 Peter 5:8-9 (ESV) –
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him...”
We need to beware the snares of entangling sin, temptation is a constant threat. Jesus does not pray that His disciples would escape the world, He prays that they will be preserved.
John 17:13-19 (ESV) –
“But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 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. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 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.”
3. Jesus prayed for His disciples to be set apart for a purpose.
John 17:13 (ESV) –
“But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”
John 17:13 (ESV) –
“...these things I speak in the world...”
John 17:13 (ESV) –
“...they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”
When we find words that refer back to something, we need to ask – What do they refer back to?
John 14:2-3 (ESV) –
“In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
John 14:16-17 (ESV) –
“...I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth...”
John 16:7 (ESV) –
“...it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”
John 16:33 (ESV) –
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Think about the promises of heaven and of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit – there is incredible joy in reflecting on these promises.
We’re to be in the world but not of the world!
John 17:16 (ESV) –
“They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
We’re to be in the world but not of the world! Jesus’ followers ought to expect opposition. The world does not understand our convictions, priorities and values.
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.”
John 17:17 (ESV) –
“...your word is truth.”
Jesus prays that His followers will be sanctified, which means set apart.
Leviticus 11:44 (ESV) –
“For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.”
Old Testament Israel was set apart and Jesus set Himself apart for the mission the Father sent Him on.
John 17:18 (ESV) –
“As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”
Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV) –
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
• Jesus is God’s supreme revelation of Himself!
It’s popular to say – I like to view God as… but we don’t have that option open to us. Our view of God must be in accordance with His revelation of Himself.
• The protecting power of God should fill us with joy!
Philippians 1:6 (ESV) –
“...he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion...”
We ought to be filled with joy knowing there is eternal safety and security for all those who belong to Jesus.
• As followers of Jesus, we’ve been set apart.
We’ve been set apart for a purpose and we have work to. This world isn’t our ultimate home – We’re to be in the world but not of the world!