JESUS PRAYS (WEEK 3 OF 4): IN THE WORLD
John 17:13-19
#JesusPrays
RAFT STORY PART 1
Come listen to my story about a young man named Jed. Jed wanted to set off on his own and wanted to see what kind of man he was going to be because he was about to move out of his parent’s house and he wanted to know what he was made of. He wanted to test himself. He wanted to see if he had grit and perseverance and all the other things people always say you need for life. He was going out into the wide wide world and make something of himself.
Jed bought a boat.
Well, it wasn’t really a boat. It was more of a canoe that you would rent on a lake and paddle around. In fact, he bought it off the canoe rental place where he went to Boy Scout Camp. It wasn’t new, but it did float. Jed also decided he would not pack anything for his journey. He would just set out down river and just live off the land and off the river. He didn’t really know how, but he figured if he got hungry enough he’d figure something out. He could fish. Catch a rabbit. He could find a spring and drink water. How hard could it be?
It was going to be an exciting adventure.
TRANSITION
The passage of Scripture we are going to look at today is in John 17.
CONTEXT OF JOHN 17
This is our 3rd week (of 4) in John 17 and I’d like to remind us of John 17 and the context behind the passage. When reading Scripture, context is important. In John 13, we find Jesus in the Upper Room with His disciples before He is arrested. He washes their feet. He foretells of Peter’s denial. In John 14, Jesus talks to the disciples about Him being the way, the truth, and the life. He promises them the presence of the Holy Spirit. In John 15, Jesus teaches about how He is the vine and believers must abide in Him as branches. John 16, Jesus continues to teach the disciples about the work of the Holy Spirit and is reflecting about the hardships He would soon endure.
Then we have John 17… the passage we are looking at… where Jesus prays for Himself, the disciples, and then even those who would believe after the disciples. So, in John 17, Jesus is with His disciples in the Upper Room and is preparing Himself and them for events to come. John 18 records for us the betrayal and arrest of Jesus… which were the events He was preparing for.
John 17 is a prayer of Jesus. The prayer can be divided into three parts as I mentioned a moment ago:
Verses 1-5 Jesus prays for Himself
Verses 6-19 Jesus prays for His disciples
Verses 20-26 Jesus prays for all believers
We are going to look at John 17:13-19 where Jesus is continuing to pray for His disciples. We looked last week in verses 6-12 at how Jesus prays that they would bear the Name of God well and abide faithfully in the Kingdom of God. He prays for their faithfulness in keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. Jesus continues to pray for His disciples in verses 13-19.
READ 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. 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 ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
RAFT STORY PART 2
Jed set out on his exciting adventure and knew that he was ready, willing, and able to meet any challenge he faced. He was ready. He had his trusty canoe, his paddle, and a willingness to put it all on the line!
He had been paddling for about a half an hour when he realized he should have eaten breakfast before he left. He was hungry. He steered his canoe to the edge of the river and jumped out. Water sloshed all around. Some got in the boat. No big deal. He found some bushes with berries and picked them and ate until his hunger went away. He decided that he would be hungry later, so he pulled up a whole bush and threw it in the canoe. There was room. He jumped back in the canoe and water sloshed all around. Some got in the boat. No big deal.
He had gone another half an hour downstream and felt a little chilly from the water. He realized that whenever he would eventually stop, he’d need a fire. He spotted a pile of wood that would do nicely for a fire and it was literally sitting on the bank of the river. He paddled himself over to the side of the river and grabbed the wood. There was room. He added the wood to his canoe and set it next to the berry bush.
Jed and his canoe sank a little bit in the water.
BASICS OF THE PASSAGE
John 17 is a prayer from Jesus and in this section of the prayer, He has in mind the disciples that He has been teaching for three years. They are important to Him. He is important to them. Jesus reflects on their lives after He departs and knows that they will be in the world without Him.
Jesus uses the word “world” many times in this section of His prayer. When Jesus talks about the “world,” He means the general world out there that really doesn’t have much to do with God or even Jesus’ own teachings. The “world” is the domain of the evil one He mentions in verse 15.
The world has a set of values tied to darkness from which Jesus the Light came to save us.
The world has the wide path to which Jesus came to give us the narrow alternative.
The world offers being tied down to our fleshly nature and Jesus came to offer us freedom.
The world satisfies itself with self and Jesus offers satisfaction in denying self and seeking God.
Notice the basic truths of the passage as it relates to the disciples and the world:
In verse 13, Jesus prays that the disciples will have joy because of Him as they live in the world.
In verse 14, Jesus knows that the world hates disciples of Jesus because they are not if it.
In verse 14, Jesus says He does not belong to the world.
In verse 15, Jesus does not pray for the disciples to be taken out of the world, they are in it.
In verse 16, Jesus repeats that the disciples do not belong to the world, but they are in it.
In verse 16, Jesus repeats that He does not belong to the world.
In verse 18, Jesus reflects that God sent Him into the world.
In verse 18, Jesus reflects that just like God sent Him, He is sending the disciples into the world.
The overall picture we get is that Jesus is sending the disciples He has been teaching for three years into a world that does not want what they will offer, does not necessarily understand what Jesus came to do, and that this world will hate them for their faith in Him. He is reflecting that they will be offering Truth (with a capital ‘T’) and not everyone will want to hear or receive that is being offered. In fact, there will be conflict for the disciples because the values of the world and the values He teaches are opposite. No matter what Paula Abdul says, opposites do not always attract… opposites cause conflict. Jesus knew the conflict would happen and He is praying for His disciples because they will encounter persecution and conflict because they follow Him.
RAFT STORY PART 3
Jed lazily drifted down river and realized after a while that the berries in his canoe were not going to get him very far. He took one of the longer pieces of wood and scraped it on the lip of the canoe into a point. He thought maybe he could spear some fish for later. Everyone knows real men spearfish.
He stood up in the canoe. He immediately realized that standing in the canoe was hazardous because the canoe tipped and a water sloshed into the boat. The berry bush flopped out and the stack of wood toppled everywhere. After a few minutes of stumbling around in the canoe, Jed had managed to get the berry bush back into the boat along with more water. No big deal. He then stood up again and this time had a wide stance and raised his homemade spear to catch his dinner. One fish swam by. He struck out with his spear and the canoe tipped a little and water got into the boat. Another fish swam by. He struck out with his spear and the canoe tipped a little and more water got into the boat. Every single time he tried to spear a fish…and he did this often… a little more water sloshed into his canoe.
He sat down in the canoe exhausted from spear fishing. Jed concluded that real men might spear fish, but real men also go hungry and have a refrigerator with leftovers in it. Jed decided that he needed to find a suitable camping site for the night because it was getting into the evening. As he paddled, he noticed that his feet were wet because there was a good deal of water in the bottom of the canoe. Not only that, he noticed that the weight of the water and the weight of the wood and the weight of the bush and his weight meant the lip of his canoe was pretty close to water level.
As he went along downriver, his canoe sank a little bit more.
OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES
There are other Bible passages that directly relate to what Jesus is praying about in John 17. They teach us the same truths because the Bible does not contradict itself, but rather presents one message with complimentary views. There are other passages that address this situation of believers being in the world, but not being part of the world. Believers live here, but we are also citizens of the Kingdom of God and have a destiny in Heaven. That creates friction in us and around us because we live in this world. Like I said, other Bible passages address this truth.
READ 1 JOHN 2:15-17 (ESV)
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
The Apostle John warns us in these verses that loving the world and loving God are two opposing loves in our lives. We cannot love both. We might think that we can, but in truth, it is we either love one or love the other. There is the way of the flesh and the way of the Spirit and we must choose which is our way. Each of those loves and paths have different goals and ultimate destinations for us.
READ ROMANS 12:1-2 (ESV)
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The Apostle Paul commands the Christians in Rome to be transformed and renewed towards holiness apart from this world and to follow the will of God. The will of God and the will of this world are never the same thing. Never. Never. Never. They are opposites. We should be those that seek the holy, the things acceptable to God, the good, and the morally perfect. It is indeed a mercy of God that you and I have the freedom to pursue Him and to even transform ourselves by the power of the Holy Spirit out of the world. It is a gift of God to be able to be good and acceptable and perfect… it is the gift of Christ.
READ JAMES 1:26-27 (ESV)
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James comments to us that this world stains us. We are meant to think about our life as a white robe. There are passages in the Bible that use this imagery in this same way. James is saying that our effort and goal is to abide in God and to keep the stains of this world from setting into our hearts and lives. Sin stains us. Specifically, in context of this passage, the words we use stain us. Selfishness stains us. Our own hearts and desires stain us. James sends us a worthy warning.
RAFT STORY PART 4
Jed arrives at what he thinks is a good campsite. He paddles his canoe slowly to the side of the river and hops up in the canoe to get out of the canoe. Even more water sloshes into the boat. Jed is standing in his boat and the canoe begins to sink underneath him. There is a great gurgling sound.
Bubbles float up everywhere as his canoe sinks to the bottom of the river. The berry bush he had faithfully transported all these miles floated away. The wood he had stacked and paddled all this time just floated away. Even his pointy stick for spear fishing slowly meandered downriver.
Come listen to my story about a young man named Jed. Jed wanted to set off on his own and wanted to see what kind of man he was going to be because he was about to move out of his parent’s house and he wanted to know what he was made of. He wanted to test himself. He wanted to see if he had grit and perseverance and all the other things people always say you need for life. He was going out into the wide wide world and make something of himself.
Jed bought a canoe.
Jed sunk his canoe.
Jed was now standing in his canoe as it lay on the bottom of the river.
SPECIFICS OF THE PASSAGE
RE-READ 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. 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 ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
What is Jesus praying about in this passage?
What is the message to us?
WARNING AND A CHALLENGE
WARNING: WATCH THE COMPROMISES
It is highly possible that as we navigate life, that we make compromises with the culture we are in and we let in water into our canoe. Every single compromise you and I make with our culture and with the enemy in this world draws us away from God. Satan and his agenda are the enemy.
We watch some TV shows we shouldn’t and we let some water in.
We date a guy or gal we know we shouldn’t, water sloshes in our canoe.
We compromise by volunteering to work on Sundays and add some wood into our boat.
We compromise by thinking we don’t really need to pray and add a berry bush to our canoe.
We try to re-read the Bible to agree with our life and perspective and slosh water in.
We combine Jesus and politics and think our version of Jesus is the right one. Water in the boat.
We rationalize our sin and think it’s not so bad because others are worse than us. Slosh.
We are silent about national sin when we should be loud. Water in the canoe.
We are loud about unnecessary things when we should be silent. Water in the canoe.
We live with someone before we are married. Toss wood into the canoe.
We trust in the world and its ways over our Lord and Savior. We are standing on the river bottom.
This world we live in and this culture we are a part of is planned on purpose by its designer to draw us way from God. Compromise is the agenda for those that are believers. Satan wants us to compromise and compromise and then compromise again to the point that we sink. We must watch our compromises. We must be discerning. We must be in the Scriptures and make sure we know what is True.
Following Christ may feel like we are insulating ourselves from normal things.
Following Christ may feel like we are boating upstream.
Following Christ may make us feel peculiar.
Listen: I just don’t want you to sink.
CHALLENGE: LIVE IN TRUTH
In verse 17, Jesus prays, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”
Our challenge in these days of compromise and fake news and false paths and twisted teaching… is to be centered on the Truth. Like Pilate talking to Jesus (John 18:38), I will ask, “What is truth?” Truth is found in the infallible Word of God. You and I can know Truth and that Truth allows us to navigate this world and steer around those things that would sink our faith and draw us to the bottom of the world. The Bible teaches us much about Truth and how our minds and hearts and spirits need to be anchored in Truth.
Truth is not swayed by appearances but is anchored in God (Matthew 22:16)
Truth is found in God the Father (John 1:14)
Truth is found in Jesus the Son (John 1:17, 14:6)
Truth is found in the Holy Spirit (John 4:23, 14:17, 15:26, 16:13)
Truth is found in abiding in the words of Jesus (John 8:31)
Truth is freedom (John 8:32)
Truth is the opposite of lies (John 8:44)
Truth listens to the voice of Jesus Christ and follows Him to abide in Him (John 18:37)
SUMMARY
What is Jesus praying about in this passage?
What is the message to us?
By way of summarizing thoughts this morning, Jesus prays for His disciples who will be going out into the world with the Gospel and the World will not always accept them. There will be conflict. There will be the opportunity for compromise. There will be the opportunity for faithlessness. Jesus prays that they will be in the world, but not of the world.
By extension of Jesus’ prayer, we are warned about compromises.
By extension of Jesus’ prayer, we are challenged to live in the Truth.
CLOSE IN PRAYER
INVITATION
I would like to invite you to come forward this morning if you realize on this day in this hour that Jesus Christ is not your Lord and Savior. Maybe you feel like you are in life all by yourself and water just sloshes into your boat constantly and you are sinking. The old hymn Love Lifted Me (1866) says: “I was sinking deep in sin, Far from the peaceful shore, Very deeply stained within, Sinking to rise no more, But the Master of the sea, Heard my despairing cry, From the waters lifted me, Now safe am I” (hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1070). The love of Christ lifts us and forgives us and when nothing else helps or saves… Jesus can and will and does.
Accept Him today.
