Pastor Chris Royce
Sermon Text: John 17:11b-19
Sunday, May 16, 2021
Jesus prays for us. If I could summarize this whole lesson for today, this whole chapter John 17, into one sentence…Jesus prays for us.
Over the past 5 or 6 weeks we’ve done this “He Lives” series here at Messiah and we’ve talked about what Jesus, our Risen Savior, lives to do day after day. Jesus calms our fears. I bet there have been countless times throughout your life where a passage from God in Scripture gave you peace of mind, heart and soul – when life had you hurting, worried, or afraid. We talked also about how The Living Vine gives us blessings – you could name any number of blessings that this faith, this hope, this community gives to you. Last week we talked about Jesus the Good Shepherd – with pictures and art we hang on our walls we’re constantly reminded of the love Jesus has for us, the sheep. I think we can fairly easily relate to these pictures. Jesus the fear-calmer, blessing-giver, friend of sinners, the Good Shepherd. But do you find it a bit challenging to wrap your mind around this sentence? Jesus prays for us.
You might wonder: Well, wait…aren’t we the ones who pray to Jesus? Yet…in reality, you’re saying that it’s also the other way around? You might also be doing some mental gymnastics with this, too. So Jesus is God…and yet he prays to the Father…who’s also God…so God prays to God? It’s a mystery, that’s for sure. But the Bible teaches us that it’s true. In 1 John 2, John teaches us this: If anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 8 – one of the most comforting chapters of the whole Bible – Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. The book of Hebrews, similar thought – Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. This past week the Christian church celebrated the Ascension of Jesus, Jesus ascended back up to heaven 40 days after Easter. Biblical truth teaches us that he sits at the right hand of God the Father, yet, he is actively speaking to the Father in our defense. Yes, it can be alot to wrap a feeble human mind around!
What takes place in the realms of heaven – what human can comprehend the great acts of God? Perhaps in heaven all of this mystery will be made clear to us. But what I have the privilege of sharing here this morning is the beautiful truth that John 17 gives to us. Jesus pleads for me above. In John 17, he prayed for his disciples, but also for us, too. In this prayer, we see what Christ’s hope and will is for our life and faith. And all our days, Jesus, our Ascended Lord, continues to defend us, vouch for us, plead for us, speak on our behalf.
John 17, Jesus’s high priestly prayer is a fascinating prayer for a couple of reasons. First, the act itself – Jesus praying. Jesus demonstrates throughout the gospels that speaking to God in prayer is a vital act – not just for regular people like us but also for the Son of God himself! Jesus prayed at his Baptism, he prayed before he walked on the water, he prayed at other intervals throughout his intense ministry. Most notably – he was filled with prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Prayer wasn’t just something Jesus taught us to do – he modeled it himself. And often, too! He shows us just how vital communication with above is!
This John 17 prayer is also fascinating because of the subject matter. Jesus prayed this particular prayer on Maundy Thursday right before leaving the Upper Room, heading off to be arrested. Most of this chapter 17 is Jesus praying for his disciples and for us – I find that astonishing. If it were your last hours on earth – if you knew that you were going to die tomorrow, not to mention a death of utmost pain and agony – who would you be most concerned about? Self and self alone, right? Yet what we’re going to discover today is that as Jesus’s earthly hours wound down, you were on his mind. Jesus prayed for those who would come to know him. Long before you or I were born, and on the night before he died – Jesus prayed for you. Jesus had wishes for you, his dear child in the faith. Just like how we talked about last week that the Good Shepherd cares all and only about his sheep – you see that play out so beautifully here.
Starting at verse 20, Jesus prays for “all believers”, but inside of 11-19 he is especially concerned for his disciples. One of his utmost concerns in this prayer is that they are protected and kept safe, physically and spiritually, from the evil one – Satan. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. Holy Week-end would be difficult on the disciples. Satan would plant upon their hearts plenty of reasons for them to give into fear and despair. Remember, at this point the disciples still didn’t fully understand Jesus’s words and ways. That would be revealed to them on Easter Sunday. But then as you think further along the Bible timeline – after Jesus’s ascension, the disciples were to continue the mission as Christ’s witnesses and ambassadors. They would face hardships, persecutions, imprisonments, threats, trials left and right. Satan’s forces would surround them at every step.
Yet, you see that Jesus’s wish isn’t that they avoid danger altogether. But rather, that God would protect them through it. This might seem strange to our ears. If Jesus knows that the evil one, Satan, is going to be lurking, shouldn’t the prayer just be to remove them from the threat altogether? But Jesus wants his disciples to remain because they have a mission! They have good news to deliver to new lands! In order for that good news to spread, they need to stay here on earth and be God’s ambassadors.
Jesus also wishes that his disciples would become sanctified. This might be the most well-known Bible memory verse from this whole prayer. Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth. This is one of those big Bible words = sanctify. Sanctified. Sanctification. What does this word mean? To sanctify means to “make holy”. Father, make them holy by the truth, your word is truth. But we might want to break this down even further. What does it mean to be holy? I was asked that question in a Bible class a few weeks ago and it got me thinking. Holy is a word we use basically every Sunday. To be holy means to be sacred, special, or set apart. God is holy – so among all the lowercase g gods in the universe, he is the one true God. In this section, Jesus’s wish is that his followers be set apart and separate from the rest of creation. Now, practically – we’ll always be surrounded by non-believers, we’ll always be physically present on this planet. But Jesus repeatedly reminds us in this prayer that since we follow him, we truly are not of this world – because heaven is our home. As a result, Jesus’s people think differently, live differently, speak differently, act differently than everyone else. How did we get to be this way? Or how does one become like this? That short line gives us the answer. Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth. The Word changes our hearts, the truth sets us free. The truth, the good news of Jesus that we cling to – it separates us from everyone else. It gives us hope, perspective, and ultimately, lasting life.
So like I said earlier, this prayer is specifically addressed on behalf of the disciples. But if you stop and think about it, aren’t these same wishes that Jesus makes for his disciples his will for us as well? Jesus wants us too to be protected from Satan’s power, because he is powerful and he can do significant spiritual damage. Jesus wants us to have a Word filled life, not a world-filled life. He wants our roots to be not on temporary soil but rather, built on the Rock.
If you’ve ever wondered what Jesus’s will is for your life, just flip open to John 17 and study this prayer. This is his will for our lives. When we pray, we pray for all kinds of things, right? Things we want, things we need. Jesus does the same. Jesus wants this for us.
I find all of this similar to how a parent wishes certain things for their kids. Parents have prayers, preferences, wishes and hopes for their kids. For the parents in the room, I can just about guarantee that you want your kids to remain in Christ forever. Or, depending on the situation you want them to return to this, to taste and see anew that the Lord is good. Parents also have wishes when it comes to who their kids hang out with, befriend, date, and marry. Parents have preferences when it comes to what the kids watch on TV or play for videogames. Parents wish their kids would spend their time doing less of this and more of that. Some parents want their kids to follow in their footsteps, other parents want their kids to do their own thing and blaze their own trail.
Yet, just as kids can go the opposite direction of their parent’s wishes, we too approach Christ with a “not your will, but my will be done” attitude. Jesus wants us to be protected from Satan. But we so often don’t listen. Since we’re sinful creatures, we like to play with fire and see how far we can stray off of God’s commands and yet still be on the “safe side” come Judgment Day. We sometimes put ourselves in situations that tempt us to sin against God. We give the enemy help instead of resisting him and recognizing his danger! Also, our words, actions, attitudes, thoughts, and behavior aren’t always of the “sanctified, set apart from the world” variety. Often, we blend too far in with the world around us. Since we have not perfectly lived according to this prayer and the will of our Savior, we stand before God guilty.
Way back at the start of this message, I reminded us all that Jesus is our advocate, and our ally and our friend before God. It doesn’t seem to make sense, does it? Shouldn’t Jesus be our accuser? Shouldn’t he be the one shoving damning evidence in our face? But as our Ascended Lord, Jesus is our sure defense. Jesus speaks to the father in defense of us! Jesus is on our side. He prays for you. He pleads for you. Jesus is for you!
Talking about things that don’t seem to make sense – how can this be? Why would Jesus stand between us and God and defend sinners? Well, once upon a time – Jesus stood between us and God not in the heavenly realms, but on a lonely hill just outside of Jerusalem. On the cross, Jesus the great high priest – was the great, once-for-all sacrifice. He bore the wrath of our sin. He reconciled us to God. And since Jesus was willing to go to the greatest length for us and die – he will go to every length imaginable in his ascended life and glory now – to assure the Father and us that we are at peace with one another. So may this peace that we enjoy with God, won by Christ, given to us in the word, ours forever, which passes all understanding – may this peace guard and keep you in this true faith until life everlasting. Amen.
