Jesus' High Priestly Prayer (Part 1b) Series

JESUS’ HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER

(Part 1b: Jesus’ Prayer For Himself)

John 17:1-5

We are currently studying Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. On the eve of the Crucifixion Jesus spent His final hours giving some important instructions to His closest followers. At some point (likely just before they arrived at Gethsemane) Jesus transitioned from teaching the Disciples to praying for them. In this prayer Jesus prays for Himself, His Disciples and for His Church (including us). I would like to pick up where we left off when we last gathered and continue to examine:

JESUS’ PRAYER FOR HIMSELF

In verse 2 Jesus proclaims “You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.” The phrase “authority over all flesh” speaks to the fact that the Lord Jesus possesses absolute sovereign authority. Jesus is Lord which means that he is the supreme ruler, the ultimate authority in history.

Once again we see clear evidence of the divinity of Christ. There is no doubt that He is God. Though He came to earth as a man for a time, His humiliation was nearing its end. Soon His purpose would be fulfilled, His work would be complete and He would be exalted above all. (Philippians 2:9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.)

The proclamation that He possesses “authority over all flesh” (people) echoes what Jesus said in: John 5:26 “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.” In the Great Commission Jesus said to His Disciples "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). He also said in Matthew 11:27 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. Then in John 3:35-36 He said “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

During His earthly ministry Jesus performed countless miracles. The Gospels tell us that He gave sight to the blind, made the deaf hear, and enabled the mute to speak; He cleansed lepers and healed men who were lame and even paralyzed. He delivered many who were possessed by demons. On two separate occasions He fed multitudes with minimal resources. We are also told of three specific occasions where He raised people from the dead. These amazing miracles were possible because He possessed “authority over all flesh”.

John begins his Gospel account with the proclamation that God created the world through Christ and as a result He is the ruler of it. (John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.)

The authority that the Father gave the Son entitles Him to grant forgiveness and eternal life to “as many as (He has) given Him”. Notice v2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.

There is no denying the fact that even before the foundation of the world God chose a people to be “in Christ”. This truth is evident in countless scriptures. Some people get uncomfortable when they hear words like “elect”, “chosen” or “predestined”. But each of these words describes biblical doctrine and they are found throughout the New Testament.

John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

John 15:19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.