Wednesday, October 8, 2003
Title: The Time Has Come... to Pray #2
Text: John 17:1
Introduction
1. Jesus has just spent a very busy week...
the week leading up to His death on the cross...
and it is during this pivotal time in the life of Christ...
that we have the wonderful opportunity to stand with the Disciples...
and watch...and listen...as Jesus prays to His Father....
And as we watch....
and as we listen...
and as we study this prayer...
we will find that this prayer will have a powerful effect on us...
Body
1. "Jesus looked toward heaven and prayed...’Father’..."
A. First of all, notice the ease with which Jesus addresses His Father...
Jesus uses the term "Father" liberally throughout this chapter.
"Father, the time has come" verse 1
"Father, glorify Me" verse 5
"Father, protect them" verse 11
"Father, make them one" verse 21
"Father, I want My people to be with Me" verse 24
"Father, the world does not know you" verse 25
The "Father" found in verse 11 has the added description "Holy Father"
And the "Father" found in verse 25 has the added description "Righteous Father".
What does that "ease of access" (as Beacon BC calls it p. 189 of Vol 7) signify?
In other words, as we look upon Christ as He is praying to His Father...
Why does it seem so natural for Him?
Why does it seem so easy for Him?
Why is He so confident?
1) For one thing...it signifies time spent with His Father...
If He hadn’t been in the habit of going to His Father in prayer...
If He only turned to Him because He was about to go through a difficult trial...
If He hadn’t been in regular...constant...intimate communion with His Father...
If prayer hadn’t been His natural habit...
Perhaps we wouldn’t see that familiarity...
we wouldn’t have seen the natural conversation...
the ease of communication.
I’ve got a good friend in Indiana named Mark...
When I go on vacation to Indiana (about once every 1-2 years)...
I make it a point to see my friend.
For some reason, we don’t keep in regular contact during the intervening time...
perhaps just a phone call a couple times a year...
when I do see him, I try to spend a few days with him...
when we first see each other...
there is a time of catching up...
there is a time of visiting...
But during those first hours, we don’t just jump in to a deep heart-felt conversation about weighty personal things...
But by the time the few days is over, we are much more open...
much more willing to share deeply from the heart...
the relationship is just more real...
and more meaningful...
because of that time that we spend together.
When we lived near each other, we were talking regularly...
seeing each other several times a week...
and we certainly didn’t need that "catching up" time...
we were always in a constant state of being "caught up".
That’s the kind of relationship that Jesus had with His Father...
and that’s the kind of relationship that WE need to STRIVE for with OUR Heavenly Father...
and that close relationship only comes through regular...habitual... time spent in prayer...
2) For another thing...that "ease of access" signifies the closeness of the relationship...
To Jesus, God wasn’t just a "business associate"...
He wasn’t a passing acquaintance...
He wasn’t some distant cousin that He didn’t know too well...
God was His Father...
and it is obvious that their relationship was very close...
Some people don’t have a good relationship with their Dad....
Some people have a great relationship with their Dad...
And the same is true with our Heavenly Father...
are we "close" to our heavenly Father?
Or are we estranged?
Is it a tense relationship?
Do you feel intimidated?
Loved?
Judged?
Unlike our relationship with our earthly father...
our relationship with our Heavenly Father is completely dependent upon us...
because God greatly desires to have a personal relationship with His children...
a relationship that is deep...
real...
loving...
devoted...
special...
But all God’s children don’t reciprocate His desire...
some people are unwilling to spend the time required to have that kind of relationship...
They don’t desire to have that close relationship...
they are too busy with other relationships...
and other interests...
so they put God on the back burner...
But for Jesus...we can tell He had a close relationship to His Dad....
And we can too!
And the way that we have a close relationship to God...
is through regular...habitual...intimate...time spent in prayer with God.
2. Jesus goes on and says, "Father...the time has come, Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You."
A. There is a lot communicated in this short sentence...
First of all, on the surface, this prayer is similar to what all martyrs would be inclined to pray during those moments before they know they are going to die.
It is as if Jesus is saying, "I know what I have to do...
I know what it coming...
it isn’t going to be easy...
in fact, this will be the hardest thing that I have ever faced in My life...
Father...I just want to glorify You...
but in order for Me to glorify You...
I’m going to need You to give Me strength...
help Me to remain strong....
help Me to have the courage to face what I must certainly face...
help Me to be faithful to the very end"
B. On a deeper level, Jesus is indicating that the time has come.
In the Old Testament, the glory of God was present with the Children of Israel in a visible way in the Tent of the Meeting
Exodus 40:34-35 says, "Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
So the glory of the Lord VISIBLY filled the Temple...
In John 1:14, it says, "The Word (speaking about Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
That word translated as "made His dwelling" is from the root word meaning "tent".
So John was saying that Jesus settled down upon us...
just like God did to our early forefathers in the Tent of the Meeting
and we have seen His glory...
we have seen His miracles...
we have seen His power..."
And then we come to this verse in our text...
that is referring to a glory yet to come...
in John 7:37-39, Jesus says, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, (big S) whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (NIV)
So, on one hand, the Disciples had seen the glory of God through Christ and the miracles that He performed...
but on the other hand, there was a glory yet to come.
So when Jesus says, "Father...the time has come, Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You."
He is saying that it was time for Him to die...
and by His death...
He would bring glory to God
so that, once again...only this time...with finality...
the glory of God could settle down upon His people by virtue of the Presence of the Holy Spirit.
C. And finally, one last thought that is communicated in this short sentence.
Jesus said, "Father...the time has come, Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You."
Jesus does NOT desire to receive glory for His own sake...
He does NOT desire to bring honor and glory upon Himself...
He desires to receive glory from God...
so that He can in turn, glorify God.
This ought to be the attitude and prayer of every Christian...
"Lord, I pray that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon me...
Not so that I become more important...
Not because I selfishly want to receive more of Your Spirit for my own sake...
but, Lord, I want you to glorify me...
so that other people can see that there is something different about me...
and I will have the opportunity to tell them about You...
Lord, glorify me...so that I may bring glory to You..."
Conclusion
1. Well, I certainly intended to cover more verses in our study tonight...
but there is just so much contained here...
and I wanted to give it the attention that it deserves...
The time has come...to pray...
the time has come...for all Christians to stop selfishly seeking after spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing for our own sake...
the time has come for all Christians to seek Christ with the proper humility...
and the proper motive...
so that we can bring glory to God...
That’s all Christ wanted...
to bring glory to God...
that should be our deepest desire as well.
