JESUS PRAYS (WEEK 2 OF 4): YOUR NAME
John 17:6-12
#JesusPrays
INTRODUCTION
As we begin today, I want to jump right into the Scriptures.
READ JOHN 17:6-12 (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. 7 Now they know that everything that You have given Me is from You. 8 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. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 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. 12 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.
We are on week 2 of 4 in looking at the prayer of Jesus in John 17. As I was reading and re-reading this portion of Jesus’ prayer where He prays for His disciples, I noticed several phrases that keep repeating. When God repeats Himself, it is because it is important. We should always take note of the truths God finds important.
The first phrase which is repeated the most, which oddly is not what we will focus on today, is a phrase that is repeated 7 times in the prayer: “You gave Me” or “You have given Me.”
God gave a people group to the world defined by Him that produced Jesus.
God gave that people group a Savior named Jesus.
God gave Jesus Himself and He is God. Complicated and true.
God gave Jesus all authority and He is God. Which is also complicated and true.
God gave Jesus the wisdom and teaching and covenant to share and live out.
God gave Jesus twelve disciples to mold and shape and to be the foundation of the Church.
God gave Jesus His Name and He is God. Still complicated and true.
GOSPEL MESSAGE SIDE NOTE BEGIN
As a small important side note, God gave Jesus and Jesus died on the cross for you and for me to give us the opportunity to have our sins forgiven. Jesus Christ gives us the opportunity to have a life-giving relationship with the Almighty God. We can have God as our Father. We can have a clean soul. That only happens by way of Jesus Christ. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior… you are truly missing out on all that God has given.
GOSPEL MESSAGE SIDE NOTE END
So, seven times in this prayer Jesus reflects and speaks about what God has given. On the surface, we should be aware of the giving nature of God; Jesus certainly was. God is not a taker or a tyrant, but rather the gift-giving life-creating God of the Universe that gives and gives and gives some more. God gives good gifts. He often gives when we don’t deserve it.
Again, that repeated phrase is not the focus of our time, but rather another repeated phrase. Jesus speaks three times about the Name of God and how significant that is for Himself and for those that follow Him
Verse 6: “I have manifested Your Name to the people”
Verse 11: “Holy Father keep them in Your Name”
Verse 12: “I kept them in Your Name”
Your Name.
Your Name.
Your Name.
Jesus is saying something very significant in His prayer, but I would also say that anytime Jesus speaks it is significant! As Jesus is praying and reflecting on God and Himself and His disciples, He dwells on the truth that God’s Name is in Him and His Name is in them and the majority of them have kept in His Name.
What does that mean?
Why is that important?
To answer those questions, we need to go back into the Old Testament and sift through many passages which talk about God’s Name and find two passages which are significant because they speak about the Name in the same way Jesus is speaking about the Name.
First, Exodus 23.
Second, 1 Kings 8-9.
EXODUS 23: BEARING THE NAME MEANS PRESENCE
In Exodus 23, Israel is receiving the Law of God at Mount Sinai with Moses before they strike out for the Promised Land. In Exodus 24, the covenant is confirmed. Exodus 25-31 we see instructions about the Ark, the Tabernacle, Priests, and many other aspects of worship that will set Israel apart from the other nations and other people. Exodus 32, the people of God are impatient and make an idol. So those are the things going on around Exodus 23. In Exodus 23:20-24, God instructs Israel about how they will be getting to the Promised Land and how they are to act.
READ Exodus 23:20-24 (ESV)
20 “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for My Name is in him. 22 “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
23 “When My angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, 24 you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.
God promises that He will send an angel to guard them and show them the way to the land that was promised to Abraham. This is no ordinary spiritual being. The term used is ‘angel,’ but to be honest the word ‘angel’ is more of a job title than it is a description of what something is. This spiritual being has a distinctness that not all beings have… we see that at the end of verse 22. The end of verse 22 is why we came back here to understand John 17.
Verse 22 says very clearly… “My Name is in him.”
There is much complicated technical theological terminology here in the background, but in this passage this being will guard Israel and will show Israel the way as they conquer the Promised Land and beat back chaos. This being, that will lead them, is called the Angel of YHWH. This being bears the Name of God. That is hugely significant! Because this being bears the Name of God, the being therefore has the presence of God in him. Wow! God is in this angel and will go before Israel and protect and steer them in the right direction and give them victory in the years to come as they carve out God’s physical foothold on the earth.
This is no ordinary angel… if there is such a thing… for the presence of God is in this being. I want you to notice all the ramifications of bearing the Name of God for this being and for the people of Israel:
Verse 20: This angel will guard Israel
Verse 20: This angel will show Israel the way
Verse 21: Israel must pay careful attention
Verse 21: Israel must listen to his voice
Verse 21: Israel must not rebel
Verse 22: Israel’s obedience brings victory in battles to come because of God’s presence
SUMMARY
The point of this passage is that the God of the Israelites… the God of the burning bush… the God of the plagues on Egypt… the God Who parted the Red Sea… the God Who gives the Law… the God Who will provide water and manna… that All Powerful Creator has placed His Name in this angel and that means God’s presence is in Him.
The Name means presence.
1 KINGS 8-9: BEARING THE NAME MEANS PRESENCE
In 1 Kings 5-9, we find King Solomon building the temple of God and dedicating in to Him. There is passage after passage in the Old Testament that says that at some point God will settle the people of Israel and that even though He does not dwell in temples built by human hands (Acts 7:48, Acts 17:24) He will have a temple built for Himself so the people can have a central specific place to worship Him.
David establishes the Kingdom of Israel well. His son Solomon sees to the building of the Temple of God. In 1 Kings 8 and a little bit into 1 Kings 9, we see Solomon finishing the temple and dedicating it to the Lord.
READ 1 Kings 8:10-21 (ESV)
“And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. 12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that He would dwell in thick darkness. 13 I have indeed built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell in forever.” 14 Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 15 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with His hand has fulfilled what He promised with His mouth to David my father, saying, 16 ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that My Name might be there. But I chose David to be over My people Israel.’ 17 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19 Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for My Name.’ 20 Now the Lord has fulfilled His promise that He made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
We need to add a few more verses in 1 Kings 9 to round out our view of this passage.
READ 1 Kings 9:1-3 (ESV)
As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king's house and all that Solomon desired to build, 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before Me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting My Name there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.
There are many significant things happening in these passages.
One significant happening is that as soon as the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple and place it in the Holy of Holies, they have to exit. God fills the building with His presence. When I imagine God filling a place with His presence, I imagine bright light and lightning and thunder and shaking… that certainly describes God’s presence at times. When I imagine the presence of God, I imagine wind and fire and waves of power and constant praise surrounding Him. I imagine Him being awesomely unbearable to all of my senses.
This passage describes the presence of God a little differently as the Temple is dedicated. When God descended upon the Temple, He came in a thick dark cloud (verse 12). He had done that before. In Exodus 19:9, Exodus 20:21, and Leviticus 16:2, we see God’s presence among His people and He shields them from His presence by coming in a dark storm cloud. I imagine, and this is me, God coming in a huge rain cloud and filling every part of the Temple with His presence. I imagine it raining inside the Temple while outside everything was fine with the sun shining. God marks His Temple with holy rain from a holy dark storm cloud.
This entire episode is significant. Solomon turns to the people of Israel and rightly shares with them that God has kept His promises. God always keeps His promises. God is a promise making promise keeping God. In the same way that God is a giving God, we also see that God always keeps His Word and His promises. Solomon shares that and reflects on this truth.
We then have the beginning of 1 Kings 9 where God comes to Solomon and appears to him. God says that His dark storm cloud presence has made the temple holy and very significantly… in verse 3… God says He puts His Name in the Temple. Verse 3 is significant like verse 22 was significant in the last passage and is why we came back here to understand Jesus’ prayer in John 17.
The Temple is now completely filled with God’s presence. God’s presence makes the temple grounds now permanently holy ground. It is now a worthy place for sacrifices and worship because God has blessed it with His presence. This area is now a beacon of God’s light in the midst of a dark world. All of that is true because God places His Name there which means He has elected to be worshipped in this place.
SUMMARY
The point of this passage is that the God of the Israelites… the God of the burning bush… the God of the plagues on Egypt… the God Who parted the Red Sea… the God Who gives the Law… the God Who will provide water and manna… the God who conquered the Promised Land for Israel… that All Powerful Creator has placed His Name in this temple in Jerusalem and that means God’s presence is in that place.
The Name means presence.
TRANSITION
So we have two passages among many which describe that when God places His Name in something or in a being, this means that His presence is there. Now, let’s go back to John 17 so that we can fully understand what Jesus is praying about.
JOHN 17:6-12: WE BEAR THE NAME OF GOD IN US
RE-READ JOHN 17:6-12 (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. 7 Now they know that everything that You have given Me is from You. 8 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. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 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. 12 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.
Jesus Christ speaks three times about the Name of God and how significant that is for Himself and for those that follow Him.
Verse 6: “I have manifested Your Name to the people”
Verse 11: “Holy Father keep them in Your Name”
Verse 12: “I kept them in Your Name”
Your Name. Your Name. Your Name.
Jesus is letting us know in very specific terms that the disciples that followed Him and believed in Him bear the Name of God. Jesus is praying about Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Nathanael, and all of the others. Jesus prays that God’s Name is in them.
What did that mean in Exodus 23? God’s presence.
What did that mean in 1 Kings 8-9? God’s presence.
Jesus is praying for His disciples that they would remain in the Kingdom of God and bear God’s Name well. The truth for the disciples is the same truth for us.
We have God’s presence with us. He is in us. We are part of God’s Kingdom. We are part of the Kingdom of God in which God is not far off or unknown to us, but rather God is with us. We bear the Name of God and that is significant.
What does that look like? It looks like us abiding in Christ and centering our life on Him and bearing His Name and then His character spills out of us and gets all over everyone around us.
Love for people around us that tear us down and don’t deserve our love.
Joy from the Holy Spirit when we cannot see how things will work out.
Peace from Christ that He is in control and we are not.
Patience with those around us who act like non-Christians because they are non-Christians.
Kindness for no other reason than we know someone is hurting us out of pain.
Goodness for the sake of goodness.
Faithfulness when all we see around us is faithlessness.
Gentleness when our knee-jerk reaction is to be harsh or unfair.
Self-Control in times when self-centeredness feels right.
Keep in Step with the Spirit and bear the Name of God well.
Love your neighbor who keeps letting the animals get in their trash and it blows into your yard.
Joy expressed in a card sent in the mail to someone who is hurting.
Peace expressed in praying with someone in the grocery store you know is hurting.
Patience in deciding to talk again with someone about Christ who already rejected Him.
Kindness is helping someone even after they lost their temper.
Goodness is giving money when there is a good chance it will be wasted.
Faithfulness is making Sunday School and church more important than sports or camping.
Gentleness by seeking to understand someone who is angry without forcing your opinion.
Self-Control on Facebook and other social media.
Keep in Step with the Spirit and bear the Name of God well.
SUMMARY
I don’t exactly know where each of you are at spiritually.
It may be that you are in a good place on a mountain top and you feel very close to God.
It may be that you are in a bad place in a dry desert and you feel far from God.
It may be that you are somewhere in the middle.
Wherever you are at, the challenge for us today is to lean into bearing the Name of God. Deepen it not cheapen it.
Rest in Him and invest in Him.
Walk in step with the Spirit.
I want to encourage you to bear the Presence of God well.
I want to encourage you to bear the Name of God well.
CONCLUSION IN PRAYER [adapted from Jesus’ prayer]
Heavenly Father:
Jesus manifested Your Name to us and You gave us to Him. We are Yours and God You gave us to Him. Help us to keep Your word. We know and believe that everything that You have given Him is from You. He taught us the words that You gave Him, and we have received them and have come to know in truth about Your One and Only Son. We believe that You sent Him. We pray that You are glorified in us for Your sake. Lord, please keep us in Your Name. Lord please unite us together in Your presence with great purpose and with great witness. God please keep us in Your Name, which You have given us. God please guard us in Christ by way of the Spirit. God help us not to get lost in this world, but to bear Your Name.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
INVITATION
