John 17 is the conclusion of the time in the upper room. The events happening in the upper room are leading and pointing directly to the cross. Jesus knows what is to come and he said as much many times he knows where he will be before this night is finished. He’s preparing himself, he’s preparing the disciples. He’s telling them the things they need to know,
not because they’re going to understand it, but because when it happens they’ll remember it and when it happens they’ll understand what he has been telling them and they’ll know that he is who he claims to be. Chapter 17 is one of the highlights in my opinion, of all of the gospels because it is one of the few examples that we have where Jesus prays and we have the prayer given,
but more especially, it’s the only example where Jesus prays and we have this much of that prayer recorded and so it stands incredibly unique in scripture as this prayer, which is the entire chapter. This prayer Before he goes to the garden. At the end of the prayer, they will depart from the upper room and they will head to get Semini and there they will be until he is betrayed and taken before the high priest chapter 17 begins.
Jesus spoke these words lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, This was a kind of a, a rabbit to chase for a moment. But Is there a mandated by scripture posture for prayer? No. As a matter of fact, in scripture, you see recordings of people with their heads as Jesus. Here looking up, you read of people with their heads looking down.
You read of people kneeling, you read of people standing, you of people falling with their face flat on on the ground, All of which are read about in exceptable postures of prayer and acceptable examples of prayer. What’s one of the most recognized examples of incorrect posture in prayer? The Pharisee who prays when Jesus gives the example of the sinner who prayed and the and the Pharisee who prayed and Jesus gives an example of posture.
But here’s a question. Is it really the posture that he’s talking about is one of the things that he says is that the Pharisee raises his hands and he prays for everyone to hear. But if you go over to Timothy, Paul says that he would, that men pray everywhere lifting up Holy hands. No. What’s the real posture of the Pharisee that Jesus is talking about?
Is it his outward or his inward posture, his inward posture, his posture of pride, and that is the posture that is condemned when praying. The one that says, God, I’m righteous and I don’t need you. And so it is important that we teach respect in prayer. Absolutely. Reverence in prayer. Absolutely. Humility and prayer. Absolutely. And I even find it incredibly valuable to teach children,
to bow their heads with their hands together because it teaches them to be still and to be quiet and to listen. But there also comes a time, and I’ll use an illustration from my days growing up doing martial arts in martial arts, one of the things that they will teach you as you first begin is, is they will teach you moves that are great big sweeping actions.
Would you ever, if you ever did in real life trying to defend yourself, you’d be defeated immediately, but they teach you the big sweeping action to begin training you to do the small action that’s very precise, to understand the small things by first training you to do the big things. We do the same thing with children. We teach them and they exaggerated form that begins to train them certain ideas And perspectives and slowly over time because they can’t grasp the more particulars.
We teach them in broad strokes when they’re young and as time goes on, we get finer detail, finer detail, finer detail to where they fully grasp the full picture. Cool. Christ has done that with the disciples. You remember he said in chapter 16 there were things you weren’t ready to hear yet. There were things I didn’t tell you at the beginning.
I’m telling you now because you’re able to bear them now Because you didn’t need them before, but now you do. And so all of this has been a progression. There are things you read about in Matthew five six and seven at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry that lay the foundation and they’re completely accurate. I’m not talking about one thing’s kind of accurate and then he gets more,
no, I’m talking. They’re completely accurate, but they’re not specific. They’re broad strokes, not fine details. And here in chapter 13 1415 1617 Jesus is getting to the heart of the matter with the disciples about what’s coming and how it’s coming and when it’s coming. And so he concludes all of this with a prayer to the father. There’s a passage where Jesus teaches that if you’re going to pray,
you ought to go into the closet and pray in secret and what you’re you pray for in secret, the Lord will reward you openly. Does that passage mean that every prayer ought to be in secret? No, because Jesus here doesn’t pray in secret. He prays in front of individual individuals and I adventure to say, Hey, not only prays in front of them,
he prays so they can hear what he’s praying Because he’s teaching them something while he’s praying. So anytime you come to a passage of scripture, Like for instance, pray in secret, it’s important to keep it in its context and to not take something that is said in a specific context and apply it broadly beyond its context in a way that violates other passages.
So those are just some details off the off the rabbit trail. Back to the prayer chapter 17 verse one Jesus says, father, the hour has come glorify your son. That son also may glorify you as you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. And this is eternal life,
that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. If you read the book of first John, you will find so many points in the book of first John coming from Jesus’s statement or statements in John 1314 1516 and 17 when John speaks of knowing the father in first John, he, he leading you right back here.
He’s deriving those ideas straight from here. Jesus says that this is eternal life. To know the father and him who he sent. There is a sense in which you can not know the father and know the son unless you are first willing to follow and obey the father and the son. What did Jesus say concerning the world when he said the world would hate his,
his disciples? Because it hated him, but why would the world hate his disciples? Why did he say the world hated him? Because he was from the father and because the world does not know him, knowing the father is not just knowing about him. I know a lot of things about Abraham Lincoln, but I don’t know him. I can know many details about someone and not know them and so can be the same for us today.
We can read scripture and we can learn scripture. We memorize scripture and we can even apply aspects of scripture to our lives, but never submit ourselves to him And Jesus says, if you don’t submit yourself to him, you don’t love him, and if you don’t love him, you don’t know him. If you don’t know him and you don’t love him,
Take the rest of the scripture in context. You’re his enemy. You’re fighting against them because you’re serving one of two masters and if it’s not God, if it’s not righteousness, Then who is it? It’s not God, not righteousness. Who is it? Satan. That’s a very unpopular idea. In our world, our world doesn’t like black and white that they don’t like.
You know, one of two options. You choose one or the other. They always want a middle road. They always want the gray area. They always want to be able to say, well, I understand that’s what the way some people are, but those are extremes. No, not when it comes to this. If you turn over Romans chapter six Paul will say,
you can serve sin or you can serve righteousness. You turn it over to Matthew six and Jesus will say, you can serve God or you can serve mammon money, but you can’t serve both. This is eternal life that you may know or excuse me, this is eternal life that they may know you, they remember he’s speaking and they’re listening and he might be praying,
but he’s still teaching. This is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. Some people are really good at keeping to do lists and tasks and and the people who are are usually people who just are giddy about being able to go done.
There’s something about putting it on a list and then being able to Mark it off. It’s done. Jesus says, I’ve finished it. Now we understand that at on the cross that that last statement it is finished will be the full culmination, but everything set in order. It would be like saying in in this type of situation, someone sets up a cascade of dominoes And starts the first one and says,
it’s done. Well, it is. Unless you do something to stop it in the middle, it’s done. It’s finished. Once you start it, it’s going to go and isn’t it interesting that they’re in the garden just a few hours from now, maybe not even that Much. For the first prayer, Jesus is going to say, what? Let this cup pass from me.
Not my will but thine be done. What that tells you, using the illustration of the dominoes that tells you that Jesus had the power to lift up a domino in the middle. Jesus tells pilot I could call legions of angels. He had the ability to, but he chose not to. I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do and now father,
glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before. The world was so many times in the book of John. John emphasizes that Jesus Christ is not a man that Jesus Christ existed before Abraham, the Jesus Christ created everything that Jesus Christ was with God before the world was here. Jesus says, I was. I hadn’t glory with you before the world existed.
If you go back to verse two you also read you the father have given him him is Christ. He’s speaking of himself in the third person have given him authority over all flesh. W we oftentimes come to Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20 after the death and after the resurrection and before the Ascension and saying, now Christ has all authority. John 17 says he already had it.
He’s got it right now. There’s a work to be finished, But he’s God. He’s the son of God and he had authority. But notice this, verse six he says, I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world. He’s going to spend verses six through 19 talking about the disciples, talking to the father about the disciples doing it,
where they’re hearing him talk about them. Have you ever been in the Pew? When someone was praying and you didn’t know where they were headed with this, someone starts praying for something and you’re going, uh, um, what’s he, where does he go? Sometimes that happens. Can you imagine being at that table? And he begins, I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world.
They were yours. You gave them to me and they have kept your word. As you go through this chapter, and as you read Jesus’s prayer, keep track of the father, the son, the disciples, and the word. Those four ideas and those four things are intertangled, but they’re intertangled in a way, as we read through this, that you’ll see a logical progression by the time we get to the end,
from the father to the disciples to the word, okay? He says, you have them to begin with. Who were many of them disciples of before they were disciples of Christ, John the Baptist. The indication is all of them were obedient to the father before they were disciples of Jesus Christ. He didn’t go get them out of The the, the sin and teach them.
Initially, they were already those who had heard the good news. They had heard about the coming of the Lord. They had heard the preaching of John and they were either already those who were faithful, having been taught as Jews growing up or they were those who had repented, but notice he says they already were yours. You gave them to me and they have kept your word where they perfect.
Were they flawless? No, they were obedient and then he says, now they have have known that all things which you have given me are from you. For I have given to them the words which you have given given me, and they have received them and I have known Shirley that I came forth from you and they have believed that you sent me Before John’s finished.
In this book, John will make it clear. If you read this book and you read what’s written here, you have enough to believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, but Jesus emphasizes in this prayer I gave them what miraculous power I gave them. The Holy, Nope. He didn’t say either one of those things. He says, I gave them your words And they believed He will repeatedly rebuke the Jews for wanting a sign for wanting a miracle to make,
for making their belief dependent upon the miraculous instead of believing the words which he spoke, but here he will praise the apostles because they had believed the words that he had given them from the father. Notice he says, I pray for them. One more point on that before I leave that when Jesus in John chapter six I think it is says to the crowd that if they do not eat of his flesh and drink of his blood,
they will not have a part in the kingdom. They will not have eternal life and many of them depart and turn their back and walk with him no more, and Jesus turns to the disciples and says, will you depart? Also, what was Peter’s response?<inaudible> To whom shall we go for? You have the words of life. They didn’t say,
well, there’s not another, there’s not another teacher who can do miracles. Where, where, why would we leave? I didn’t say that. It wasn’t the miracles that kept him there. It was the miracles that were the reason the people left because that was all that was keeping them there. Jesus perceived that they were there for food. But Peter said,
we’re here for your words and not for your miracles. Yeah. I think because sometimes, you know, when we talk about script would be all sufficient. We’d make up once we have the completed scripture, but even then, that word would have been all sufficient even though that they still were piecing it, but got it. Even as it was coming from the Holy spirit to the apostles,
those were still at that point, all sufficient for what they needed until they had it. Absolutely. There’s a, there’s a validity to this idea that even though you find in, in Peter’s writing in first Peter, that the scripture is all, is sufficient to provide everything necessary for, uh, for love and good works through the knowledge of him. The reality is that was always true.<inaudible> Hebrews chapter one says that God at sundry times and diverse manners spake unto the fathers by the prophets.
And he hath in these last days spoken us to unto us by his son. But here’s the point. That’s true. No matter what age you’re talking about, the age of the fathers, the patriarchs, the age of the profits in, in the, uh, old Testament times in, in the time of Israel or in the time of Christ, God always revealed enough for people to obey him because God always judges you based upon what he’s revealed to you.
So then notice All are and all mine are yours. Well, actually let me go back to verse nine. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me for, they are yours. When he says the world here and he’s, he’s not talking about, I’m not praying for humanity. He’s talking about the world,
the world that opposes him, the world in opposition, the world of which there is a ruler, chapter 16 a ruler of the world, that that’s the world he’s talking about. That’s the world in the context of chapter 1415 and 16 the world of the disobedient people who disobeyed God. He’s not praying for the world. He’s praying for those who are obedient.
He’s praying for the ones who belong to his father. The world stands in contrast with those who belong to God. Okay? That’s the context here, Okay? He says, I pray. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me for they are yours and all mine are yours and yours are mine and I am glorified in them.
Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world and I come to you, Holy father, keep them or keep through your name, those whom you have given me that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name, those whom you gave me I have kept and none of them is lost except the son of perdition that the scripture may be fulfilled,
but now I come to you and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word and the world has hated them. You got, you’ve got a little bit of both contexts. You’ve got the world, this physical existence. They’re there in the world. He’s going to say, but they’re not of the world and they don’t belong to this life.
They don’t belong to these people. They’re separate because they belong to you. Notice he says the world has hated them. The physical world. The globe doesn’t hate anybody But the servants of Satan do So he says, I have given them your word. Verse 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world.
What separated them from being like the world They knew God had provided for them, but what did he give them? What? What did he give them that they received that separated them from the world? The word of the father. You see this? Here’s God and God, the father and God, the son who are unified, they’re one. They have a unity together and God or Christ says,
these belong to you. They belong to you because I gave them your word. They don’t belong to the world because I gave them your word. They’re not like the world because I gave them your word. They belong to you and what belongs to me belongs to you, and what belongs to you belongs to me. They’re yours because I gave them your word.
Are you getting the connection? I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but they, you should keep them from the evil one. The ultimate protection from Satan is the end of this life. Once, once this life is over for a person who is faithful to God, you’re out of his reach. Now, Satan can’t touch you,
But Christ is not praying that you take them that far out of his reach, but instead that you keep them. Some would suggest those who believe in once saved, always saved, that an individual who has saved could not be lost. That it is impossible. They have a real problem with Judas, don’t they? Because he indicates that he was the fathers,
but that he went into perdition. That’s a change and if once saved, always saved is true, that can’t happen. But in addition, you have, if once saved, always saved is true, a ridiculous request from Christ. How could someone who belongs to the father have to be kept from the evil one If they can’t possibly fall from grace? It doesn’t make any sense.
But then he says this, he says they are not of the world. Just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. Jesus says in John chapter eight verse 32 you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. But it’s interesting. Turn over to chapter eight real quick. Yeah. That,
that phrase which we hear quoted so often, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Begins with the word and not the beginning of the thought. If you abide in my word, you are my disciples in deed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. What comes before the being made free? What comes before the abiding in it it or excuse me,
the knowing, the truth, abiding in the word, Being his disciple. Wow. Being willing to submit because the context is the Israelites who were on willing to submit, and so they were in slave to their father around verse 41 I think it is the father of lies. They said, we’ve never been enslaved. How can you say we’re going to be made free?
We’ve never been enslaved to anyone. He says, Oh, yes you have. You’re enslaved to him right now Because you’re the children of your father, the devil. He says, sanctify them. Set them apart. Make them Holy. That’s the same root word. Yeah. When you Sanctified something for sacrifice for an offering, you set it apart. You made you made it Holy.
You didn’t leave it with what was common. You sanctified it. It was cleanse, it was washed. It was prepared for the master’s use. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth you, and excuse me, as you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. So watch this. I finished your work that you sent me to do.
You’ve given me those who belong to you. I’ve sent them. You gave me your word. I’ve given them your word notice and for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified by the truth. You said, well, wait a minute. Wait, wait, Whoa. Christ doesn’t have any sin, so how can he be sanctified?
As we just pointed out, sanctified doesn’t always mean sins taken away to sanctify something was to set it apart for a purpose And what was he being set apart for The cross. He was set apart for a purpose and nobody could take his place, but he was saying to five that they might be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone,
okay? He prayed for them but not for the world. He had delivered them, his word, the word of the father, the word that he received from the father, but he says, I’m not just praying for them and praying for somebody else too. He says, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word That they all may be one as you father are in me and I in you,
that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that you sent me. Right here Is God’s stamp of approval On the authority of the scripture. If you watch it, it begins with the father. It’s given from the father to the son. If you take in the context 15 and 16 where Jesus said, I’m sending the helper to you to guide you into all truth,
to reveal things that I’ve not yet had the opportunity to tell you and to remind you of everything I’ve taught you. Then the Holy spirit, though he’s not mentioned in this chapter, is right there in the middle, Right in between Christ and the disciples. From the moment Christ ascends, the Holy spirit is in the middle doing the work. Remember Jesus said,
the Holy spirit won’t speak of himself, but whatever he’s given, he will speak. So the Holy Spirit’s in the middle. God, the father gave it to the son. The son gave it to the Holy spirit. The Holy spirit gave it to the disciples and who can take what the disciples taught And hear it, believe it, obey it, and become one with the father.
Everyone who hears and believes the words that they spoke, well, let me ask if they wrote it down, can you still do it? So the prayer here in John 17 quite literally is a prayer for every individual who will be obedient to the word of the new Testament. From that day all the way till he turned. It comes Every person who falls under the category of those who will believe in me through their word.
So every person who you ever sit down and you read acts chapter two to them and you teach them what they did in acts chapter two and how they became a Christian and what they taught and how Peter said that this individual who was hung on that cross was the Christ, the Messiah, and that person hears that word and reads that word and believes that word.
They’re part of this prayer, But not only are they part of this prayer, that’s the only authorized way to become one with the father. You remember John chapter 14 I am the way, the truth and the life he’s talked about the word, the truth, sanctify them by thy word I word is truth. This is the way. Yeah, And didn’t he begin with the life.
This is eternal life that they may know you as I have known you, verse 20 excuse me, verse 22 and the glory which you gave me, I have given them that they may be one just we are one I in them and you and me, that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.
Father, I desire that they also are, excuse me. Yes, they also whom you gave me maybe with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which you have given me for you loved me before the foundation of the world by the way. Um, the passage on love, verse 23, that’s first John, chapter four, Verse 24 that they might be with me,
that they might see me as I am. That’s first John chapter three. I’m telling you first, John’s all over here. Verse 25 Oh righteous father, the world has not known you, but I have known you and these have known that you sent me, and I have declared to them your name and will declare it, that the love with which you loved me may be in them.
And I in them. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the Brook Kidron where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered And so ends the time in the upper room. Question one.