“Jesus Prays for His Immediate Disciples” John 17: 6-19
In John 17, the disciples have the privilege of listening to the Lord of Glory, the soon to be Crucified Lord pray only hours, perhaps minutes before He is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Last week we heard Jesus’ prayer concerning Himself, and today in John 17: 6-19 Jesus prays for His immediate disciples.
Jesus gives the Grounds for His Prayers
John 17:6 "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. 7 Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. 9 I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.
Jesus gives the Grounds for His Prayers in verses 6-11a. Jesus makes it very clear that the Disciples were chosen by God and given to the Son. (6-11) The language that Jesus uses concerning predestination (or God’s choosing or election) is even stronger than before. It is clear that the disciples were CALLED BY GOD out of the rest of the unbelieving world.
When Jesus says that “they have kept your word” He is saying that the disciples have continued to follow Jesus, which is an indication of true faith. “Keeping the Word” is equal to growing in relationship with Jesus. It is characteristic of those who have been given the gift of faith.
In this section, Jesus clearly makes the point for human responsibility in God’s Election (or predestination) of those who will be saved. In Jesus’ prayer for His disciples, He prays for those who have “known, received, and believed.” There is the aspect of assent to the knowledge of all that Jesus claims to be and all that Jesus proclaims. In believing that Jesus “came from the Father”, the disciples accepted the deity of Jesus. Only those who RECEIVE the Word and BELIEVE the object of their faith, and continue to follow are those who indeed have been saved. You cannot reject any of Jesus’ Word and say you “believe in God”.
The doctrine (or teaching) of “Definite Redemption” (or Limited atonement” is taught in verses 9 & 10; Jesus said: “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.” For whom is Jesus praying? Verse 9 says, “I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.” For the most part, “the world” rejects Jesus as the Anointed of God. Jesus said in JOHN 10:14-15: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep.” And in verse 27: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Jesus’ death would be sufficient for the whole world if the whole world would know, believe, receive and follow Him as their Savior and Shepherd, but they don’t and they won’t. Jesus’ death is only EFFICIENT for those who hear and follow. Jesus’ purpose in dying is for the ELECT, not the whole world.
It is the Elect, those chosen by God to believe and be saved, the Elect will bring glory to God. That is why verse 10 reads: “And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.” Rejection of Jesus does not bring glory to Him-knowing, receiving, accepting, believing, and following brings Glory and Honor to the One who is deserving of our worship. For believers, even the most mundane and simplest of acts in our lives can bring glory to our blessed God and Savior; 1 Corinthians 10:31 says: ”Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Jesus requests the Gifts and Grace of God’s Protection. (11b-19)
Jesus offers requests to the Father on behalf of His disciples, that they would receive gracious gifts and protection after Jesus was gone in verses 11b-19.
11b “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 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. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
“Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” What an amazing Prayer for Unity- “that they may be one as We are.” The very nature of God makes it impossible for Him to change, to become diminished, to weaken. We saw how the Father and Son have been eternally One in all ways. They are eternally secure because they are immutable. Jesus prays that the disciples would be eternally secure and experience the unity with each other and with the Father and Son.
He prays that the Father would “keep” them “through Your name”. We have seen that when Jesus refers to “His Name” or “His Father’s Name” He is talking about ALL characteristics which would be attributed to “THE NAME”. Jesus is requesting that the disciples would be kept and guarded by the Almighty, and in so doing they would be preserved for salvation. That is the glory of Grace: We are saved by grace and we continue in grace. We are thankful for the grace that saved us but we are also trusting in “FUTURE GRACE”, grace that HOLDS US and PRESERVES US.
Future grace is seen in verse 13: “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” Joy in fullness is realized as Jesus completes His abiding Work in us and His working in us is part of His Peace which He spoke of in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
The Unity of the Father and Son is certainly a great part of the “joy fulfilled” and the “peace of God” which guards our hearts but also empowers us with His peace; but obedience and following Jesus is also a great part. Remember what John15:10 taught us? ”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.” Obedience cultivates “joy fulfilled”. Jesus’ obedience to the Will of the Father was constant and not only is OUR joy made full in obedience but we bring glory and JOY to Jesus as we abide as well. Jesus prayed that His disciples would be ONE as the Father and Son are One, that they would be KEPT in His name…preserved in the salvation of our God.
Notice that again Jesus teaches Two distinct groups of people: There are those who are of world and will continually and as we saw in John, quite intentionally and willfully exercise the hardness of their hearts in unbelief, and there are those who believe, receive and follow Jesus. (You can see John 3:16-21 for Jesus’ clear example to Nicodemus on this point.) In the Lord’s pattern for Prayer“ He taught His disciples: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” It is the believer’s constant desire to be kept from sin and the power of satan which would lead us to judgment. We are not of the world but have been called out of the world. We are children of the Light and should walk as children of the Light. John makes the distinction of Light being those who believe, and Darkness being those who do not. A person is either a child of God or a child of the devil.
Those who are NOT OF THE WORLD, just as Jesus is NOT OF THE WORLD (according to verses 17-19) are those who are being SANCTIFIED in Christ; they are set apart for service to God. How are they being sanctified? “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” Truth is basic to Godliness and Godliness is the means by which holiness is attained. We learn of Godliness from God’s Word.
I was out for a few days seeing some of God’s Handiwork in the Creation. The Creation points to the fact that there must be a Creator, someone who created everything we see, but the Creation does not teach us about Godliness which will lead to Holiness. Only God’s Word will do that. Read, study, and PRAY God’s Word because His Word, both Old and New Testament, is authoritative and testifies to God’s Holy character. God’s righteousness is gifted to all who believe and we are to be “set apart” for Holy service to this Holy God.
Jesus sanctified Himself to lead us to the Father; He denied His own Glory and set Himself apart for His earthly task at hand, namely TO DIE FOR THOSE WHOM GOD HAD CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WORLD. As our supreme example, we are to be sanctified, set aside to the mission of obedience to God in the task to honor Him and bear witness of this saving Christ. We do not know whom God has chosen: We only obey Him as we are used as ambassadors of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:20 declares: “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.” God uses His Elect to proclaim the message of the Gospel ON CHRIST’S BEHALF. Do you get that? Jesus ascended back to Heaven and we stand in His place on this Earth and proclaim to a dark world the message of Light and Life in Christ by faith in Him. What a marvelous calling, responsibility, and privilege belongs to us as “disciples”. This is what Jesus wanted His first disciples to know through His prayer to the Father.
Jesus concludes this part of His prayer in verse 19: “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” Jesus, being inherently and supremely Holy, did not need to improve morally or any other way…but we do! Hebrews 12:1-2 tell struggling Christians to do this: 1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 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.
Holy God, may we surrender ourselves wholly to you for the sake of the Gospel and for those who are still lost in darkness and bondage to sin in this world. May we be Light-bearers, forsaking everything which would hinder us as Ambassadors of the Gospel, always looking to Jesus as our example, and may we persevere and endure knowing that Jesus blazed the trail, but there is a heaven full of witnesses who have also gone before us. We know that this is your will for us, O God, in Jesus’ name. AMEN and Amen.
OUTLINE
I. Jesus gives the Grounds for His Prayers: The Disciples were chosen by God and given to the Son. (6-11)
A. The language concerning predestination is stronger than before.
B. “Keeping the Word” is equal to growing in relationship with Jesus.
C. The “human responsibility” in predestination is revealed in Jesus’ prayers for those who have “known, received, and believed.”
D. The doctrine of “Definite Redemption” is taught. (vs 9&10)
1.Jesus’ purpose in dying is for the ELECT, not the whole world.
2.The Elect bring Glory to God. (10 and 1 Cor. 10:31)
II.Jesus requests the Gifts and Grace of God’s Protection. (11-19)
A. Prayer for Unity (oneness) with the Father and Son. (11b)
B. Keeping and Guarding (vs. 12-16) in His Name=preserved for salvation.
1.Joy in fullness (the completion of Jesus’ work) is part of His Peace (14:27) and Love (15:10). (Vs 13)
2.Two distinct groups of people: Those who are of world and those who believe in Jesus. (“Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from the evil one.”)
C. Being SANCTIFIED=set apart for service to God. (17-19)
1. Truth is basic to Godliness and is the means by which holiness is attained.(17)
2. God’s Written Word is authoritative (Old and New T.)
3. Jesus sanctified Himself to lead us to the Father and for the task at hand; we are to be sanctified to the mission of obedience to God in the task to bear witness of Christ.
4.Jesus, being inherently and supremely Holy, does not need to improve morally or any other way…but we do! Look to the Cross!
