The High Priestly Prayer (part one - John Part 54)
Text: John 17:1-5
If you will, please take your Bibles and open them up to John chapter 17.
This morning we’re going to be looking at what is commonly called “The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus”…
Some folks have said that this is the “ACTUAL” Lord’s Prayer… because what we commonly call the Lord’s Prayer – we say it every Sunday morning… which we find in Matthew 6 and in Luke 11… is a prayer that Jesus didn’t actually pray. The Lord’s Prayer, (the one that we say every Sunday) was given to the disciples by Jesus as an example of HOW they (and we) OUGHT to pray. We know Jesus didn’t pray the exact “Lord’s Prayer” because Jesus never had to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses…”. He never sinned! So, it’s a model for us, and example for us…
But here in John 17, we see Jesus praying. This whole chapter is a prayer from the Lord.
And it breaks down into three parts.
First Jesus prays for Himself… that’s what we’ll be looking at today.
Next, He prays for the disciples. That’s verses 6-19. And lastly, He prays for the Church throughout history, and we see that in verses 20-26.
And if you ever want to do an interesting study, you should read through the prayers of Jesus that we have recorded in Scripture. We know He prayed a lot, but we don’t have the content of each and every one of His prayers. Sometimes the Bible just tells us that the Lord prayed, and most of what we do. Have recorded for us in Scripture are brief prayers… like in the Garden of Gethsemane, “O Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless, not My will but Thy will be done.” He prayed briefly at the tomb of Lazarus before He raised him from the dead. But we know Jesus prayed longer prayers as well. He prayed all night before beginning the selection of the 12 disciples.
So Jesus gave Himself to prayer. He prayed often. Sometimes short prayers, sometimes, all night long. But He was always in prayer.
The Bible says that we are to pray without ceasing. That means we are to live a lifestyle of prayer. Be in prayer throughout the days and weeks, and months, throughout our lives… but it also means when you’re praying, don’t let your mind wander off. In our ADHD world, this is becoming harder and harder for people to do… they can’t focus their minds on God… they start praying and find themselves drifting into other thoughts and ideas. So, we have to work at it… be diligent in prayer and zeroed in when we pray.
Ok? Now let’s look at our text, and let’s see Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer… John 17:1-5 (READ).
“Father the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify You.” Now what is Jesus praying there? What is He asking for? Well, remember the context.
Remember the language John uses throughout his Gospel account. Every time Jesus talks about “The Hour”… sometimes He says, “My hour has not yet come.” Sometimes He speaks of “the hour to come.” And here He says, “The hour HAS come.” Every time He uses that phrase – He’s talking about His death on the cross.
So, in our modern, Oklahoma laymen’s terms we would say, “The time has come for Jesus to die on the cross.” The appointed time. The foreordained time has come.
So, Jesus says, “The time has come for Me to die on the cross – GLORIFY YOUR SON!”.
Now that word “Glorify” means to magnify – to make much of – to invest with majesty – to lift up like a banner, to praise and laud. But in our modern thinking, we don’t usually use that word in conjunction with death. When we think of being glorified, it’s for some great achievement, usually in a sports context. Or we think of some hero, who defeated the bad guys, overcomes the odds, gets the girl, and rides off into the sunset.
But the thing is – that’s our modern understanding…. That’s what our modern sensibilities demand.
We’ve forgotten that Beowulf dies at the end… or that King Arthur dies brutally and tragically at the end. We want the Disney version… but that’s not the reality.
Jesus is talking about His death on the cross.
Jesus is talking about His soon coming death and what His death will achieve and accomplish.
And make no mistake about it – In death, He does win the victory! In His death, He crushes the head of the enemy under His feet. He wins the war against Satan, Sin, Death, Hell, and the Grave. He does what He was sent to do. He atones for sin… HE WINS!
And so, as amazing as the virgin birth is – and as amazing as the life and miracles of Jesus are… it’s His death that secures the victory for us! It’s His death that pays the price for our sin. It’s His death that makes forgiveness not only a concept or a hope, but a reality for the believer. It’s by His death on the cross that He wins… And it’s the resurrection that proves He did it.
That’s why Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, “For I delivered to you as of FIRST IMPORTANCE, what I also received; that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with Scriptures.”
So, His death pays for our sin – His resurrection is the verification of that. If His death doesn’t pay for our sin, He isn’t resurrected… And if He isn’t resurrected, we are still in our sins and without hope.
When we see it more clearly – we absolutely give glory to Jesus! He is worthy of all praise!
But notice here, Church… Jesus says, “Glorify Your Son, SO THAT the Son may glorify You!”
The Father gives glory to the Son, the Son gives to the Father. And keep in mind Isaiah 48:11 where the Lord says, “My glory I will not give to another!”
Now look at verse 2… “Since you have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him.”
So, Jesus’ prayer is that God the Father will glorify Him (the Son) who is about to accomplish the atoning mission that the Father has sent Him on… And I want you to notice the three parts of verse 2?
PART ONE: Jesus has all authority.
PART TWO: Because He has all authority, He grants eternal life.
PART THREE: He gives eternal life to all whom the Father has given Him.
Rember John 6:37? “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me, I will never cast out!”
So what does Jesus give? ETERNAL LIFE! And He tells us what that is… look at our text…. Verse 3
And this is eternal life – that you know God, and you know Jesus Christ, whom God sent.
John began his Gospel account by saying, “In Him (in Jesus) was life.
The only way to have eternal life is to know God, and Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!
Last Sunday I asked – “How deep is your knowledge of God?” Do y’all remember? There are a whole lot of folks in this world who know things about God. They believe unto a point. They have ideas and notions of God… who He is… what He’s like. But it isn’t informed by Scripture. It’s a “god” of their own design and imagination.
DO YOU KNOW THE GOD OF THE BIBLE?
That’s what Jesus says, “This is eternal life – that they know God, and Jesus Christ.”
That word “know” is the Greek word “ginosko”. Here’s what it literally means… “To know and understand and have full assurance of someone in a relational way.” Which is revealed to us by Jesus. Matthew 11:27, we looked at it last week as well… Jesus says there, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
Or John 1:18, which we also looked at last week, where John writes, “No one has ever seen God; the only God who is at the Father’s side – He has made Him known.”
So, it’s not about gaining some secret knowledge, or advancing in levels of knowledge – that’s what the cults teach… Right!?! It’s not about having a PhD. Or a massive library. Those things aren’t bad in and of themselves… but a person can be an educated idiot. I happen to know some of those folks.
When we get right down to it, IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS!
It’s about knowing Jesus. If you know the Son, He reveals the Father.
Alright, let’s look at it so far – Jesus lifts His eyes up to heaven and starts to pray, and He says, “Father, the time has come for Me to go to the cross and finish the mission You’ve sent Me to do. Glorify the Son in this atoning work, so that I can bring glory to you for your sending Me to do it. And as You have given Me authority to give eternal life to all of those You have given to Me.”
And this is what it means – to know God, to know Jesus, and have full assurance in them, in a relational way.
Now look at verse 4 (READ).
What work did God give Jesus to do while on earth? Well, for starters, He was to fulfill all the righteous requirements of the Law. He was to do, what Adam failed to do in the Garden. Overcome temptation and sin, and meet God’s holy and righteous requirements. Jesus did that. Secondly, His last thing, was to die on the cross FOR our sin. And here’s why that matters, and what that does for us.
Jesus keeps the Law! Jesus fulfills the Law. He never sins! But then He goes to the cross. He takes our sin upon Himself, and dies in our place. The wrath of God is poured out upon Him while He’s on the cross… So He takes our punishment. He’s buried, and three days later, He’s resurrected because we have now been justified before God (that’s Romans 4:25 BTW).
And so, when we are saved by the good grace of God, born again, and made a new creation in Christ, ALL of His righteousness becomes ours. He bore all our sin, and we become bearers of His righteousness.
How does God do such a thing?
By Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone.
Turn quickly with me to Romans 3:21-26 (READ).
I mean, I feel like we could drop the mic right there. JESUS DID IT! HE DID IT ALL!
And that’s what He says in our text, “I have accomplished all the work that You gave Me to do.”
You want to know one of the coolest things about Jesus? He NEVER fails… He never has, and He never will.
And so, He finished up the first part of this High Priestly Prayer by saying, “Now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.”
Again, do you remember how John starts this Gospel account? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.”
So what do we learn from this? What’s the application? Well… let me just pray, and we’ll see if you pick it up…
“Heavenly Father, O gracious God almighty! We praise You! And I pray Father, that you will prepare us, each of us, for when our hour comes, and that each of us would bring glory to You in the time between now and then, and on that day. But Lord, until that day, You have called us to different things, You have made us fellow workers with You, so let us be found faithful. Strengthen us with Your grace and mighty power that we might accomplish what You would have us do, so that we might bring glory to You and Your Name. And on that day, I pray, when we kneel before the throne that our hearts, our minds, and our mouths will be filled with Your praise, for You alone are worthy of all praise, honor, and glory – forever! Amen!”
CLOSING
