John 17:20-26
Quite often the lectionary sets before us a reading of Holy
Scripture that turns out to be hauntingly applicable to current events in the
news of the day. I suppose it should not
surprise us, for God’s Word is always relevant.
But it struck me this week as I studied our Gospel reading from John 17
and heard about yet another school shooting in our own state of Texas.
What’s the connection?
Prayer. Even as Christians we may
disagree about what the best solution is for school gun violence (or if there
is any practical solution at all), what we can all agree on is prayer. Prayer for the victims and their
families. Prayer for the parents who
will be grieving the loss of dear children.
Prayer that God would work through this senseless violence to bring
about good, as he promises to do for those who love him. We can even pray for our enemies, and that
God would turn the hearts of those who seek violence toward peace. And so forth…
If you follow some of the conversation about this on social
media, however, and we’ve seen this play out before – there always seems to be
a few hecklers who instead mock us for offering up prayers. “As if prayer can do anything. You foolish Christians, keep calling on your
made-up grandpa in the sky, while the rest of us get about fixing these
problems with real solutions!” But as
this broken record plays over and over, both of violent tragedy and the angst
and conflict that follows in public discourse – it can all seem rather
discouraging.
But as Jesus says, take heart! He has overcome the world. He has overcome the violence and death of
this world. He has overcome the mockery
and persecution of this world. He has
even overcome the prince of this world.
And take further heart, in this, dear Christians. Jesus prays for you. Jesus prays for us all.
That’s a big takeaway from today’s Gospel reading. John 17 is called the “Great High Priestly
Prayer” of our Lord. Jesus is, of course, praying for his apostles – for they
will face incredible challenges from the world.
A world which hates Christ will also hate his disciples. Most of them will die for the faith. All of them will suffer.
But Jesus also prays for those who will come to believe
through the Apostle’s teaching of his word.
And that means us. The future
church. Jesus knew, of course, that this
message of good news would grow and take root even to the ends of the
earth. The Gospel preached to all
nations. That many would come to believe
in him. And so he prays for them, for
us.
Now, friends, this is no small thing that Jesus prays for
you. Scripture tells us the prayer of a
righteous man has great power as it is working.
How much more the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ? How much more, the prayer of the Son to the
Father on our behalf?
So we might ask, for what does Jesus pray? What does he ask the Father on our behalf?
From John 17 we can see several themes. I’ll highlight 4 key ideas today. Jesus prays for our unity. He prays that we
would be with him in glory. He prays that his love would be in us. And he
prays that the world would know him through us, as we proclaim his name.
First let’s take his prayer for unity. Unity with one another – and unity with
Christ which brings us unity with the Father.
Just as the Father, Son and Spirit are one – three persons united in one
God – so he prays that we, his people, would share in that same unity.
We might observe that unity is hard to come by in our
day. Sin separates and divides people –
nation against nation, tribe against tribe, church against church, even,
Christian against Christian. Even the
members of a family can be at enmity with one another. But the worst of it is
our own alienation from God because of sin.
Jesus, of course, has come to deal with sin. And one of the benefits of his saving work at
the cross, when sin is destroyed – unity is fostered. We are reconciled to God in Christ
Jesus. And only in him. And only in him can we be truly reconciled to
one another – made one, united.
The unity of Christians that Jesus prays for and gives – is
no mere outward unity. Outwardly, we see
much division in the church today.
Though inwardly, we recognize an invisible church is united in faith –
all who believe in Christ are one body – the body of Christ. It’s sort of like the sinner-saint paradox,
isn’t it? We are united, but also
divided. And Jesus prayer for perfect
unity among his people is only fully answered when we reach the glory he is
preparing for us.
That’s the second idea embedded in Jesus’ prayer, here. Glory.
Now, Jesus states that the Father has given him glory – and here he
speaks of his human nature receiving glory – because his divine nature had all
glory from eternity. He alludes to that,
too, and the love he shared with the Father from before the world began.
But what belongs to Jesus, he wants us to have, too. And so he prays we would have a share in that
glory. He even gives it to us. He tells us earlier in John that he is
preparing a place for us to be with him in the mansions of heaven. Here Jesus speaks of our eternal destiny –
glory in heaven with him and the Father.
You get a picture of that today in Revelation 22 – the heavenly city
with the river of life and the tree of life, no more night or curse. But there’s even more in store for us: A glorified body, resurrected, incorruptible,
never subject to sin and death again.
Like Jesus’ own resurrected body, death has no more power over him. So what Jesus has, he prays for us – and he
provides for us. A glorious
resurrection.
The third request, or key word in his prayer, is love. And what a powerful love it is. The love that the Father has for Jesus, Jesus
prays would be also for us. This love
that goes right along with the unity we share in Christ, that it would also
abound among us and between us. Love is
the sum and summary of the law – love God and love your neighbor. But we only love because of his love, shown
especially at the cross. For greater
love has no one than that he lay down his life for his friends.
Which brings us to the fourth theme of Jesus’ prayer, making
known Jesus’ name. This love that we
have received, that it would flow from us even to the unbelieving world, so
that many more would believe in his name. His name, of course, means more than
just the moniker “Jesus”. His name means
everything about who he is and what he does for us, his people.
Making known his name means first of all believing on his
name. Trusting in him for full and free
salvation. Ever coming to the cross,
where Jesus shed his holy precious blood for us, and won for us forgiveness of
sins, life, and salvation.
Making known his name assumes we know his name well. That we never stop hearing his word. That we always hear, and ever grow in our
appreciation of all he does for us. This
word creates the unity he desires. This
word proclaims the love he has for us.
This word promises the glory that is to come. The word, the word, the word! So important.
And it is only then by his word that the world has any hope
at all. Only the Holy Spirit creates
faith by gospel – faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of
Christ. Only the word of God can quench
the thirsty soul. Only the word can show
us how to live, and forgive us when we fail.
Only the word can defeat the old evil foe – in fact when it’s God’s
word, even one little word can fell him.
And so the church fulfills Jesus’ prayer as we make his name
known. Here in our own backyard, and
even to the ends of the earth. We make
him known to a world that does not know him, when we are called to witness to
the hope within us. We make him known as
we support the preaching of his name near and far, and support the work of the
gospel. From the early Jewish pilgrims
on Pentecost, to the Man from Macedonia, to Lydia and her family, to the palace
of the Roman Emperor to the shores of the Missisippi to the people who go to
church on Whitley road. The apostles’
teaching, the word of God, the name of Jesus have gone forth. Jesus’ prayer is answered, and continues to
be answered.
These words of Jesus are so important. This “Great High Priestly Prayer” is really
worthy of our deep and enduring meditation.
For Jesus is indeed our great High Priest. He prays to the Father for us. Not only did
he, as is recorded here by John, but now, even now, our ascended and glorified
Christ continues his powerful prayers for us, his people. Even now, he intercedes for his church.
And he is the priest who offered up the once and for all
sacrifice of his own self. The Lamb of
God, without spot or blemish. He was
given into death that we might not die eternally, and just as he is risen from
the dead, so shall we rise.
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