The High Priestly Prayer (Part Two) Series

The High Priestly Prayer (part two - John Part 55)

Text: John 17:6-20

Well, this morning we’re going to continue looking at the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus in John chapter 17. Last Sunday we saw Jesus pray for Himself. Specifically that The Father would glorify the Son, so that the Son could in turn glorify the Father.

Today we’re going to see Jesus praying for the disciples, and then next Sunday – Lord willing, we’ll see Him pray for the Church as a whole, down through history.

And isn’t that the pattern we see in Scripture? What I mean is, is that things kind of radiate out. This prayer begins with Jesus, then expands to include the disciples, and then expands again to include all the Church. It’s kind of like, “You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” And there’s also another principle of prayer here as well. Start with a prayer for yourself, then expand out to include your immediate family and friends… or maybe your church family, and then broaden it to all kinds of other needs.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with praying for yourself, or your own needs… where we tend to get messed up is when we do that in a selfish way. So maybe instead of praying something like, “God please bless me.” We instead pray, “God make me worthy of blessing. God turn my heart toward you in such a way, so that if You choose to bless, I will in turn use it for your glory, honor and praise.”

If you were here last Sunday, we saw Jesus say something similar to that. He didn’t have to pray, “Make me worthy of blessing…”. He already is and was worthy… but He does say, “Glorify Your Son that the Son may Glorify You.”

So let’s look at the second part of this prayer together, and see how Jesus prays for the disciples.

John 17:6-19 (READ).

Now keep in mind that even though it takes us several Sunday’s to unpack all of this… Jesus said all of this at one time. And so, it’s all part of the same context. And it kind of runs together and builds off of the previous verses. For example… What He says in verse 6 is building off of what He just said in verses 1 though 5.

Verse 6 He says, “I have manifested Your Name to the people whom You gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept your Word.”

In verse 2 Jesus said, The Father has given Him all authority, to give eternal life, to all whom the Father has given Him. Verse 4 He says, “I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work You gave Me to do…

So - - - I’ve accomplished the work… I’ve manifested Your Name. To whom? To all those You gave Me

Verses 7 & 8 kind of parallel verse 3… I’ve given them Your Word. They’ve received Your Word. They’ve come to know and believe.

All of this also ties right back in with John 15:16 which says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide…”.

And you might be scratching your head saying “Hold on a second Pastor Ken… If God gives them, then how is that Jesus chooses them.”

And I would remind you of John 10:30, where Jesus says, “The Father and I are One.” And Church… we’re going to see Him say pretty much the same thing next Sunday in verse 21where Jesus says, “The Father is in Me, and I am in Him.”

GOD IN THREE PERSONS --- BLESSED TRINITY!

Not three modes. Not three manifestations. Three distinct, unique persons, but one God. It’s the Doctrine of the Trinity. It’s Biblical. It’s essential. And people will say, “Well I just don’t. know if I can understand that.”

Well tell me this – Do you understand how God spoke and light came into being? Do you know how God parted the Red Sea in such a way that the Israelites walked across on dry ground? Do you know how God caused the sun to stand still and the universe didn’t blow apart?

God doesn’t explain everything to us, nor is He required to. He makes a statement and we are to believe it with the faith of a child.

Here’s the greatest example I can think of just off the top of my head. “In the beginning God…”.

He doesn’t go into some long instructive narrative about how He is the self-existent Creator. He just make the statement and we are to believe it, and accept it. He is the I AM.