THE CHURCH’S ONE FOUNDATION (JOHN 17:1-26)
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My wife Doris had three sisters and a brother and all their kids are overseas now. Her nephew was the last to leave Hong Kong and lived us two years in the 1990s when he went over for college. The first major split in the Family chat group was on the eleventh day of Chinese New Year (February 4, 2020) over the nurses’ boycott during local epidemic.
A nurse relative my age said, “Very angry with HK hospital staff strike, to demand closure of China Border. Below a columnist express exactly my view: ‘
Close border demand merely a death trap set by those yelling for ‘HK leaving China.’”
Later the person sent another: “Give some idea what service affected. One main hospital operation theater force closure. Schedule surgery canceled, emergency operation need to divert. Neonatal ICU nurse severe absence. My friend, a nurse, works from 0800-2200 to cover shortage. (Normal is 0800-1630.) Same amount of patient care, they suffer with absence of 4000+ nurses, 360 doctors. Where is Professional ethics!”
After the second text, I decided to leave the group. Eleven days later, my brother-in-law texted me his latest on his glaucoma surgery and ended by saying, “Oh, by the way, do want to rejoin the Family group?” I replied, “Can add me back. Coast is clear?” He answered, “Yes.” I commented, “Think so. Nurse protest is over.”
Four months later, the last of us three relatives left in Hong Kong had a quiet birthday dinner for the nephew’s father. Doris’ sister was the first to arrive and I asked her in our chit chat: “Anything special happened after I quit the group?” She said, “Waa. You left. Nephew also left after saying his piece. Then the older nurse relative left! Eye-surgery relative had to call one by one back. Sigh!”
This prayer in John 17 is commonly called "The High-priestly Prayer," “The Intercessory Prayer,” “The Farewell Prayer” and “The Eschatological Prayer of Jesus.” It is a stirring prayer made to Father (John 17:5, 21, 24) as well as "Holy Father" (v. 11) and "Righteous Father" (v. 25).
What can we pray for in troubled times? How can we do our part to lessen the tension? Why is it ok to disagree but not ok to disrespect?
Unveil the Splendor of the Son: The Divine Factor
17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Here are some quotes on what “glory” means:
“The end of the creation is that the creation might glorify [God]. Now what is glorifying God, but a rejoicing at that glory he has displayed?” Jonathan Edwards
“It means to live in such a way that that when people see us they think, Thank God for God!” (Dallas Willard)
“Glorify means nothing other than praising and lifting high, making majestic and manifest so that all the world knows it and can sing and tell of it.” Martin Luther
Long life, good health, and personal fulfillment were not high on Jesus’ prayer list when he knew he was about to leave the world and the disciples. The verb “glorify” occurs 14 times altogether in the first three gospels, but 23 times in John’s gospel, with the most in John 13 and John 17 (vv 1 twice, 4, 5, 10). The imperative “glorify,” however, occurs twice in the passage (vv 1, 5). The imperative “glorify” here (v 1) is doubly important with a purpose clause (hina) of the same verb (glorify). Glorify is also translated as honor (John 8:54) and magnify (Rom 11:13).
In contrast to Luke’s gospel that mentions the most about “glorifying” God – eight times (Luke 2:20, 5:25, 26, 7:16, 13:13, 17:15, 18:43, 23:47), John’s gospel ascribes “glorifying” the Son double the times (John 7:39, 8:54 twice, , 11:4, 12:16, 23, 13:31, 32 twice, 14:13, 16:14, 17:1, 5 twice, 10).
John 17:1 Father, the hour is come; glorify (what) thy Son (who), that thy Son also may glorify thee (purpose)
John 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth (where): I have finished the work (how: participle) which thou gavest me to do.
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was (when)
John 17:1 Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee (purpose)
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was (when)
John 17:10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
We exist for the glory of God
We evangelize for the glory of God
We educate for the glory of God
We encourage for the glory of God
We endeavor for the glory of God
We exhale for the glory of God (old)
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
Do you serve in church to relax, for the benefits, easy job, work from home? Our church must be, first and foremost, God-centered, Christ-centered.
Why and how? Because all we have is given, verb 17x in the text – most in any chapter of the Bible:
John 17:2 thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life
John 17:4 the work which thou gavest me to do.
John 17:6 the men wh???????4???????????6
ich thou gavest me out of the world (vv 9, 11, 12,24)
John 17:7 all things whatsoever thou hast given me
John 17:8 the words which thou gavest me (v 14)
John 17:22 the glory which thou gavest me I have given them
Uphold the Solidarity of the Church.
9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name — the name you gave me — so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
There was a story of some rescuers who found a man alone on a deserted island. But his rescuers were confused by something they saw. They saw three huts. So they asked the man about the three huts. He explained, “One was for me to live in. And I’m a religious man, so I built a church.”
The rescuers, who were still confused why there should be a third hut, then asked, “Well, what about the third hut? (Who lives there?)” The man replied, “Oh, (nobody in particular) there was a church spilt.”
The word “one” is another key word in John 17. It appears in verses 11, twice in verses 21 and 22, and 23. The unity of God’s church should reflect the unity of the Father and the Son (v 22). Verse 23 reveals to us the nature of this unity. The Son is obedient to the Father and the Father loves the Son (v 23). Obey and love is of husband and wife relationship too. We are many members, but one body (Rom 12:4-5, Col 3:15). That they may be one (v 11, 21, 22) both are hina subjunctive
-John 17:11 that they may be one, as we are.
John 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us:
John 17:22 that they may be one, even as we are one:
John 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that t???????????????????
they may be made perfect in one;
Again, to be one is not the absence of opinions but the absence of offense, not the absence of struggles but the absence of spitefulness, and not the absence of disagreements but the absence of divisions. The church’s greatest damage is the open sore that swells, spreads and stricken after a disagreement or a misunderstanding. Disunity diminishes, demoralizes and defeats the church. The biggest church in the world cannot survive bitterness, blame and back-biting. Anger, animosity and arguments are church and fellowship killers.
No bandage, tape or glue can piece together a divided church. Some churches split into two, some members form little cliques, and many members withdraw from fellowship. People from both sides of an argument or an issue claim that they are in the right, that God is on their side, and that the other group started it first.
The key is I am glorified in them (v10). There’ll be more joy (v 13) in the suffering.
Undergo the Sanctification of the Saints
14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:14-17)
My wife, Ruth…was one of those who could lighten heavy hearts, especially mine. I will never forget when she announced what she wanted engraved on her gravestone, and for those who have so respectfully visited her gravesite at the Billy Graham Library, they have noticed that what she planned for was carried out to the letter. Long before she became bedridden, she was driving along a highway through a construction site.
Carefully following the detours and mile-by-mile cautionary signs, she came to the last one that said, “End of Construction. Thank you for your patience.” She arrived home, chuckling and telling the family about the posting. “When I die,” she said, “I want that engraved on my stone.” She was lighthearted but serious about her request. She even wrote it out so that we wouldn’t forget.
(Billy Graham, Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well, Thomas Nelson, 2011, p.94).
“Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me; sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me.” Oswald Chambers
“Sanctification is glory begun. Glory is sanctification completed.” F. F. Bruce
“Sanctification is not a work of nature, but a work of grace. It is a transformation of character effected not by moral influences, but supernaturally by the Holy Spirit.” Charles Hodge
Sanctification is not about living a clean or perfect life, but an obedient life. The attraction of the world, the weakness of the flesh, and the onslaught of the devil are daily battles. Slowly and surely God chips away all the hard surfaces, rough edges and jagged fragments - our selfishness, self-conceit and self-reliance and makes us more dependent on him.
Sanctification is not about avoiding or escaping the world but yielding and surrendering to God. The word “world” is very prominent in Jesus’ prayer. It occurs an astonishing 20 times in John 17 – more than any chapter in the Bible. We are in the world but not of the world.
Our weapons against the world’s beliefs, values, or attitudes are prayer to God (v 9), and obedience to the word of God (vv 6, 8, 14), and the power of His name (v 11).
V 11 I am no more in the world, but these are in (ev) the world
V 14 16 they are not
???????????????? of (ek) the world, even as I am not of (ek) the world
V 18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into (eis) the world.
Contrasts
Joy (v 13)?
Hate (v 14)
Take from the world (v 15)
Keep from the Evil One (v 15)
Not of the???
world (v 16)
I am not from the world (v 16)
John 17:13 not that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
John 17:15 that thou shouldest take them out of the world,
John 17:15 that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
John 17:19 that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Sanctify only time imperative besides Lord’s Prayer
Contrasts
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself,
that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me
I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them
, as thou hast loved me.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am;
that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee:
but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me
KJV
(that the love wherewith thou hast loved me) may be in them, and I in them.
There are three inescapable things; hate, Evil one, the world
John 17:13 not that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
John 17:15 that thou shouldest take them out of the world,
John 17:15 that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
John 17:19 that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
The three contrast are Holy Father, the word
In God’s truth we have the power to overcome and conquer Satan, sin, and selfishness. The word of God is the sword and the shield, the armor and the ammunition, our guard and guide.
Conclusion: May the Lord help His church to be holy to God, healthy in church fellowship and be honored in our lives. Life is an audition, a screening, and a draft for the big stage in heaven. Do you know what today, tomorrow and eternity holds for you? Don’t put off or put down God’s offer of salvation on Jesus Christ. For believers, do your heart, mind, and body belong to the world? Do you bring unity, harmony, and reconciliation to church and fellowship?
