THE PRAYER OF JESUS – PART 3.
John 17:20-26
JOHN 17:20. In order that His disciples might be sanctified, Jesus gave them the Word (cf. John 17:14). This Word was to be the means of bringing others to the faith. So, Jesus prayed for those who would hear the gospel from them - including their contemporaries, and those who inherit their legacy through the writings of the New Testament.
It is not inappropriate to pray for our children, and our grandchildren, and those who are bound with us in the covenant of God’s love. We may also pray for those that are afar off, remote from the Gospel because of geography or circumstance (cf. Acts 2:39). We may even pray for generations yet unborn.
JOHN 17:21. Jesus prayed that the eleven Apostles would be “kept” in the type of unity which reflects the oneness of the Godhead (cf. John 17:11). He prayed similarly for unity amongst those who would follow them. We cannot, however, expect to be “kept” in our Christian faith if we deny the truth of the Word of God; nor may we base our unity on anything that compromises its teaching.
Despite all appearances to the contrary, we need not doubt that this prayer has been answered. There is an organic unity between Christians, from every culture, denomination, and walk of life. This is reflected in the fellowship and hospitality which born-again believers find amongst those of the same faith wherever they may go in the world.
There is an evangelical unity which needs to be manifested in our lives “that the world may believe.” Ecclesiastical disharmony lends an excuse to those who choose to reject the gospel - and so does uniformity without love. We need to nurture our love, one for the other (cf. John 13:34-35), to bear a credible testimony to those around us.
JOHN 17:22. Jesus says that He has given us His glory. Is He speaking in the prophetic future, as He did earlier in this chapter (cf. John 17:4; John 17:11; John 17:13)? Certainly, we find ourselves being changed “from glory into glory” by the Spirit of the Lord (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:18). The “Spirit of glory” (cf. 1 Peter 4:14) is the same Spirit who makes possible our endeavours to keep the unity in the bond of peace (cf. Ephesians 4:3).
JOHN 17:23. There is a community of the Father and the Son within the Godhead: we are drawn by the Spirit into that Oneness. We have no relationship with the Father without the Son, because “there is no other name under heaven given among men by whom we must be saved” (cf. Acts 4:12). As each is perfected in love, so our unity is there for all to see.
JOHN 17:24. When Jesus prayed for Himself in Gethsemane, He prayed “Not my will but yours” (cf. Luke 22:42) - but He is not afraid to express HIS will when praying for us. He sees Himself in glory - and us with Him - dwelling in the love which His Father had for Him before the foundation of the world. The Holy Spirit is given as the “pledge” of our inheritance (cf. Ephesians 1:14).
JOHN 17:25. It is the tragedy of mankind that the world remains ignorant of the “righteous Father.” This echoes earlier chapters, where the Lord came to His own creation but was rejected (cf. John 1:10-11), and men chose darkness rather than light (cf. John 3:19). The only begotten Son has known the Father, and has revealed Him (cf. John 1:18), and we know Him as the “sent one” of God (cf. Hebrews 3:1).
JOHN 17:26. Jesus declares - and goes on declaring - His Father’s name, displaying His attributes in His Own Person. Jesus prays that we might feel the love with which the Father has loved Him in His ongoing love towards us. He is “Christ in us, the hope of glory” (cf. Colossians 1:27).
