PRAY LIKE CHRIST (JOHN 17)
Pastor H.B. Charles tells about a woman who showed up at his church with the same simple prayer. “O Lord, thank you Jesus,” week after week. The kids at church laughed each time she opened her mouth because they knew it would be the same prayer—”O Lord, thank you Jesus.”
Finally somebody asked her, “Why do you pray the same little prayer?” She said, “Well, I'm just combining the two prayers that I know. We live in a bad neighborhood and some nights there are bullets flying and I have to grab my daughter and hide on the floor, and in that desperate state all I know how to cry out is, 'O Lord.' But when I wake up in the morning and see that we're okay I say, 'Thank you Jesus.' When I got to take my baby to the bus stop and she gets on that bus and I don't know what's going to happen to her while she's away, I cry, 'O Lord.' And then when 3:00 P.M. comes and that bus arrives and my baby is safe, I say, 'Thank you Jesus.' Those are the only two prayers I know and when I get to church God has been so good I just put my two prayers together, “O Lord, thank you Jesus.”
John 17 is the longest and most passionate prayer of Christ. It is also known as the High Priestly Prayer, some know it as the Farewell Prayer or Discourse of Christ given after the conclusion of the Lord’s Supper. John MacArthur calls it the Lord’s Greatest Prayer. It is a magnificent, momentous and moving prayer the saved and the seekers, for the church and even the unsaved (v 20).
What are our priorities and what is our part in prayer? How does prayer affect our relationship with God and others? Why are believers not passive bystanders but active participants in God’s work in the world today?
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Share His Glory, Serve His Purpose
1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:”Father, the hour 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 know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. 6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. (John 17:1-9)
J.S. Bach headed his compositions: “J.J.” “Jesus Juva” which means “Jesus help me”and ended them “S.D.G.” “Soli Dei gratia” which means “To God alone the praise.”
The phrase “the glory of the Lord” appears 36 times in the Bible, more than the phrase “the righteousnes of the Lord,” “the mercy of the Lord” or any of His other attributes such as goodness, holiness or love. The best spectacle or show of His glory in the Old Testament is the heavens and the earth – the heavens declare the glory of God (Ps 19:1) the whole earth is filled with his glory or full of His glory (Num 14:21, Isa 6:3). In the New Testament, however,
Christ is the Lord of glory (1 Cor 2:8, James 2:1). His glory is now and for ever (2 Peter 3:18) and He will come in “great glory” (Matt 24:30, Luke 21:27)
Verses 1-8 is stated in a roundabout, circular or even triangular way twice, first stressing the relationship of the Father to the Son, next the Son to the world, and then the world with the Father. The first sequence begins with the verb “glorify” in the imperative mood, appealing for the Father to glorify the Son. The verb “glorify” in the imperative mood occurs five times throughout the Bible (John 12:28, 17:1, 5, 1 Cor 6:20, 1 Pet 4:16), of which not only one but two of the five imperatives are found in this chapter (vv 1, 5). The noun form is translated as worship (Luke 14:10), praise (John 9:24) and dignity (2 Peter 2:10). The Old Testament concept of glory is from the word “heavy,” or weighty, hefty or bulky, to be solid, susbstantial and strong, not superficial, superfluous or shaky. A song says, “To God be the Glory.” It is to revere God, render praise and return thanks fully, favorably and fittingly.
The Son, however, divides, distributes and directs His glory to the world (v 2, “that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him”). God’s glory, however, must be shared in the salvation of His children. Nothing pleases, delights and satisfies the Son more than sharing His glory with His creation and especially His children. His glory is not in His self-exaltation, self-experience or self-exercise, but found and bound in giving eternal life to His children, for those who know the Father through the Son. There is more mention of “eternal life” (John 3:15, 5:39, 6:54, 58, 10:28, 17:2) or “life eternal” (John 4:36, 12:25, 17:3) than all the other gospels put together. Eternal life is more than time, space or sphere; it is bound in the person of God and His Son, not in longevity but in quality. The purpose of the Son is for the world to know the Father.
The second cycle again begins with the Son’s relationship with the Father, then the Son with the word and finally the world with the Father:
Father to Son Son to Others Others and Father
4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. 6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.” 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
Salvation from the Lord Submission to the Lord Supplication of the Lord
Completion Continuation
Carekeeping
The last cycle (vv 4-8) has three independent “I” sentences. The first “I” begins with the first “I” - “I” and “you” relationship (v 4), then expanded to the second “I” - “I,’ “you” and “they” added to the relationship (v 6) and finally reversed to “I,” “them” and “you” (v 9) for a literary device. Here is a brief explanation:
V 4, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.” (The Son’s active, able and authoritative glorificaion of the Father). The result is salvation from the Lord.
V 6, “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.” (The verb “reveal” is translated as manifest (Mark 4:22), appear (Mark 16:12), show (John 21:1) and declare (2 Cor 3:3). To reval is to make evident - one of awareness, authenticated and acknowedged. The result is submission to the Lord.
V 9, I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. The result is supplication to the Lord.
There are five “they” - they have obeyed your word (v 6, abide), they know that everything you have given me comes from you (v 7, aware), they accepted them (v 8, accept), they knew with certainty that I came from you (v 8, aware), and they believed that you sent me (v 8, acknowldge).
Kept, v 6
(God’s Word) Know, v 7 Accepted, v 8 Knew, v 8 Believed, v 8
Retain Recognize Realize Recognize Receive surrender
Abiding Awareness Acceptance Awareness Acknowledgement
6
the men which thou gavest me
7 all things whatsoever thou hast given me
8 the words which thou gavest me 8 the words which thou gavest me 8 the words which thou gavest me
Sanctify His Church, Seek His Truth
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. 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 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. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (John 17:10-19)
Charles Spurgeon put it this way: “Too many think lightly of sin, and therefore think lightly of the Saviour.” We try to explain away sin in terms of a “bad day” or “that’s not what I meant” or “I did what my father always did to me” or “I wouldn’t have done this if you hadn’t don’t that.” All these statements minimize our evil and thereby minimize the greatness of God’s grace in atoning for our evil.
The noun “world” occurs a record-breaking 18 times in this one chapter, more than the 15 times the sum of the other three gospels altogether (Matthew 9x, Mark 3x, Luke 3x).
The more urgent prayer of Jesus is found in the imperative “protect/keep” (v 11), which is aso translated as observe (Matt 23:3), watch (Matt 27:36), preserve (1 Thess 5:23), reserve (1 Peter 1:4) and hold fast (Rev 3:3). It implies see, spot and safeguard. It implies to be the sentinel, the sanctuary, the stronghold, the security and salvation, which is contrasted with the threat of danger, disappearance, doom, death and destruction.
The word most associated with the word “world” is undobutedly “sin” (John 1:29, 16:8, Rom 5:12, 13, 1 John 2:2). The world does not mean the natural world or the physical world, but the material posessions, carnal passions and earthly power. The world includes the pollutions (2 Peter 2:20) and wickedness (1 John 5:19, v 15) - the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).
The phrase “not of the world” occurs four times (v 14 twice, v 16 twice). It means not belong or bound to the world, behave or become like the world, brainwashed or blemished by the world – the pitfalls of her prosperity, promiscuity and propaganda.
“Not” (vv 14 twice, 15, 16 twice) is negative, but “sanctify” in the imperative mood (v 17) is the antidote or remedy. Sanctify is not dodging, domesticating or or denying; it is to be set apart for God, to be Gods’ people, possession and priests.
Show His Unity, Spread His Love
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” (John 17:20-26)
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?” The man replied, “Oh, there was a church spilt.”
Thomas Jefferson said, “An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never existed.”
The word “one” is another key word in John 17. It appears in verses 11, twice in verses 21 and 22, and 23, three times in the context of the grand “hina subjunctive” purpose (vv 21, 22, 23 “THAT they may be one”). The unity of God’s church should reflect the unity of the Father and the Son (v 21, “as” thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee; v22, even “as” we are one; v 23 “as” thou hast loved me). Twice the greater purpose of the unity (“one”) has to to do with the world- “so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (v 21) and “the world will know that you sent me and have loved them” (v 23). Finally the prayer for Jesus is aways for the church, from glory that is “you loved me” before the creation of the world (v 24) to “the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.
Again, to be one is not the absence of differences, but the absence of divisions; it is unity, not uniformity. The church’s greatest damage is the open sore that festers and swells and spreads after a disagreement or a misunderstanding. Disunity weakens, scatters and muffles the church. No bandage or tape or glue can piece together a divided church. Some churches are split into two, some members form little cliques and many members withdraw into their shell. 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. It’s been said that the many churches were planted not by design but by default through church divisions, church splits and church fights.
Conclusion: 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 Lord or to the world? Do you bring unity, harmony and reconciliation or disunity, disharmony and discord to church and fellowship? Do speak and show of God’s glory in your life? Are you holy and humble for His use?
Victor Yap
Bible.ryl.hk (Grammar Bible)
Preachchrist.com (sermons)
