PM Home Bible Study Group; March 26, 2014
John 17:20-26
Theme: In His ‘High-Priestly prayer’, Jesus prays for all those of us who will believe on Him.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
The 13th to the 17th chapters of John’s Gospel give us a record of the longest single discourse in the New Testament. And it closes in Chapter 17 with a prayer—the last words of Jesus’ final discourse with His disciples. Chapter 17 is a bit like the closing words of Chapter 12. If you were to go back to John 12:44-50, you’d find the last words Jesus spoke to the world before going to the cross. But here, we find the last words He spoke privately before His followers.
As we have seen in our previous studies from this prayer, Jesus began by praying to the Father about Himself (vv. 1-5). Then, He prayed for His original eleven disciples—Judas having already departed (vv. 6-19). And now, he prays for those who would hear the testimony that those disciples would bear to the world about Jesus—that is to say, He prays for us.
The passage we’re about to study is unique. There isn’t anything else like it. In these precious words, our Lord lets us know things about the Father’s love for us that we could not have known in any other way. In fact, they are things that we would hardly dare to believe could be true—except that they came to us, with the highest possible authority; from the lips of the Father’s own Son. They are words that speak of the depth of the eternal unity of the Father with the Son, and of the Father with us, and of the Son with us, and of us with one another. It shows how deeply dependent we are on a relationship of union with Jesus Himself; and how everything that God wants to give us comes about because of that unity. It is the ultimate description of the eternal bond of divine love; and and tells us almost more about that eternal love than our hearts can bear and our minds can grasp!
May God cause the words of our Lord’s prayer for us—and the truths they reveal—to take deep root in our hearts; and transform us as His people in this world!
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Note that Jesus prays . . .
I. FOR OUR UNITY WITH EACH OTHER IN THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL (vv. 20-21).
A. First, Jesus reveals who it is He was praying for in the last words of this prayer: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word . . .” (v. 20). He had been praying for His apostles, who would bear the testimony of Him into the world; but now, He prays for those who would believe that testimony. (You may not have ever thought before, brother or sister in Christ, about the fact that you are mentioned in the Bible; but here is where you are mentioned!) Jesus said earlier, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29).
B. And notice what it is that He prays; “that they all may be one . . .” (v. 21a). The great desire of our Lord for His people is that they be brought together in unity as one. He mentioned something of this earlier in John 10:16—most likely speaking of those who would believe on Him from the Gentile world—when He said, “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” However it may be that His people have been separated from one another or divided from each other, the ultimate design of the Son is that they will all be brought together in perfect unity. And that unity isn’t simply a sentimental one. It is a unity as deep in its bond as can possibly be imagined; because the measure of that unity is the bond that the Father and the Son share together. Jesus prayed that we would be one, “as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us . . .” (v. 21b). Note that the unity of Jesus’ followers will not be a unity that is, somehow, independent from the unity of the Father and the Son. As long as the Father and the Son are one (see John 10:30), the followers of Jesus will be one with each other in them!
C. And note that there is what we might call an ‘evangelistic purpose’ to this unity. Jesus prayed that we would be one in Him, “that the world may believe that You sent Me” (v. 21c). Near the very beginning of this wonderful final discourse, our Lord told His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). The world cannot see Jesus. They only know Him by seeing the effect He has on those who follow Him. If the world looks at professing followers of Jesus and see that they that we are divided from one another and hostile toward each other, the world—understandably!—would think that the Jesus we profess didn’t really exist. In speaking of the world’s evaluation of us—and how we are to stand out as distinct from this world—the early church father Terullian (in his Apologeticum, 39.7) wrote, “But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. ‘Look,’ they say, ‘how they love one another’ (for they themselves hate one another); ‘and how they are ready to die for each other’ (for they themselves are readier to kill each other).” If we would truly take this prayer of our Lord to heart, then we would do what the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 4:1-3; “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” We should do as Paul encouraged his readers to do in Philippians 2:2-4; and as he said, “fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in all lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” This would be what it means to live consistently with our unity in Christ. And after all, the world is watching!
II. FOR OUR RELATIONSHIP AS SHARERS TOGETHER OF HIS GLORY (vv. 22-23).
A. Jesus further prayed and affirmed something unspeakably wonderful about us. He said, “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them . . .” (v. 22a). Earlier in this prayer, our Lord said, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (vv. 4-5). Before Jesus came to this earth to do the work the Father gave Him to do—in fact, before the world itself was—the Son of God possessed inexpressible glory. He had laid that glory aside for a time in order to bring about our redemption. But now that He had finished the work, He was returning to the Father and taking that glory up again. But there’s something new in it all—something that wonderfully increases His glory! He now shares that glory with us! We do not yet have the full experience of that glory right now; but we will at the time of His return for us. The Bible says that, “when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Nevertheless, we are possessors of that glory even right now—one day to realize that glory in full experience. Think of the amazing words of 1 John 4:17—nine monosyllabic words that make the most remarkable declaration we could make; “as He is, so are we in this world.” We would never dare to think such a thing, unless the Lord Jesus Himself had affirmed that it is so!
B. And note why it is that Jesus said that He has shared His own glory with us. It’s “that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one . . .” (vv. 22b-23a). The reason Jesus has shared His glory with us is so that we would be able to enter into the full unity of love that is shared between the Father and the Son; and may be united with them in the joy of their relationship with each other. As mere creatures—and fallen ones at that!—we could never enter into such intimacy with the Father and the Son unless we were first glorified. And the Son has given us His own glory; so that just as He enjoys full intimacy with the Father, so can we! We, of course, need to be very careful how we understand this. Jesus was not saying that we would ever become “divine”, or that we would somehow become a part of the trinity. That would be a blasphemous thought. But what He is saying is that we are glorified so as to be brought into such intimacy of the union that is shared between the Father and the Son that we become “one” with them in the overflow of their love—sealed in that love by the Holy Spirit. In fact, it is so that we may be made ‘perfect in one’. Jesus enjoyed that intimacy on earth (John 14:10); and we are to enjoy that intimacy now (see John 15:4)—just as we will enjoy it to the fullest degree throughout eternity!
C. And finally, note why else Jesus has shared His glory with us. He added, “and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (v. 23b). He had already mentioned the fact that the world would know that we are His disciples by our love for one another. But here, He says that the world will know—by our unity with the Son and the Father—that the Father had sent the Son. We become the dwelling place of the Lord Jesus on earth. And more!—that the world will know that the Father loves us as much as He loves His own Son! Think of it! Let that sink in! We would never dare to say such a thing unless Jesus Himself had said it first; but having said it, we can believe it! The Father loves us as much—and not one bit less, but every bit as much—as He loves His own precious Son Jesus! What a marvelous thing it is!—this glory that Jesus has shared with us!
III. FOR OUR PRESENCE WITH HIM IN ADORATION OF HIS GLORY (v. 24).
A. Another remarkable thing our Lord prays for is something that ought to move our hearts with the deepest love for Him. He said, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am . . .” (v. 24a). First, note the remarkable statement that we were given to Him by the Father! If you have come to know and trust Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, do you realize that you were—first, from long ago—the Father’s gift to Him? He already said this of the apostles; “They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and I have kept them in Your word” (v. 6); and now, He lets us know that we too were given to Him by the Father. And His great desire is that those whom the Father gave Him would be with Him forever. In John 14:2-3, He said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Jesus—we might suppose—could have redeemed us and then have had nothing more to do with us. But far from it! He redeemed us because He wants everything to do with us—and forever!
B. And note why it is that He wants us to be with Him forever. He prayed, “that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (v. 24b). He has not only graciously shared His eternal glory with us, but wants us to be with Him so that we may behold His glory. It’s the glory that He enjoyed before the Father in eternity past; and that He now enjoys—and will enjoy throughout eternity future. But He will not enjoy it without us—we being sharers together with Him in it. And consider that His glory is a display of the Father’s love for us. Since His glory is an expression of the love of the Father, and since the Father loves us as much as He loves His Son, our beholding Jesus’ glory forever will endlessly show us how much the Father also loves us!
IV. FOR OUR MUTUAL LOVE IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE FATHER (vv. 25-26).
A. Jesus has swept us away into the heavenlies in revealing to us these glorious truths through His prayer. But now, having taken our thoughts up into the heavenly realms, He gently brings us back down to earth and prays for how we will live for Him in the here-and-now. He prayed, “O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me” (v. 25). We live in a world that does not know the Father—whom Jesus calls “righteous Father”. Far from ‘knowing’ the Father, it has rebelled against Him and against His righteousness. But as it says in John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” The Son knows the Father. And we who have come to know Him, and have entered into a glorious intimacy of love with Him by faith, now know Him as the one who has been sent to this earth by the Father. That means that while Jesus is away—and while we live on this earth in relationship with Him by faith as the sharers together with Him in His glory, and as those who are loved by the Father as much as the Father loves the Son, and as those who are destined to dwell forever with Him in the Father’s house—we are the closest that this world can come to knowing the Father! How important it is, then, that we live in unity with our Lord Jesus—and with one another in Him!
B. This world is not without a testimony of the Father. Jesus goes on to say—speaking of the apostles—”And I have declared to them Your name . . .” “Name” here refers to the identity of the Father in terms of the fullness of who He is and what He does. We are the ones to whom apostles have declared the name of the Father through their testimony of the Son. And when Jesus goes on to say, “and will declare it . . .”, we can understand that to be not only a declaration of the Father He makes to us but also through us. We now live on this earth as the bearers of the message of the Father’s love to this world; appealing as ambassadors for Christ—”as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). We share that message so that all whom the Father has given to the Son would believe on Him and be saved by Him; “that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (v. 26).
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What staggering truths are revealed to us in our Lord’s prayer for us! In all of this, may we remember that what our Lord Jesus prays will most surely be answered—and may we rejoice in it and live fully in the light of it! That is how we should say “Amen!” to our Lord’s prayer for us!