I remember a few years ago I was invited to portray Christ in a church's portrayal of the Passion Week. I declined the opportunity, because at the time I weighed nearly 300 lbs! I couldn't see me hanging on a cross with just a loincloth and having anyone think that it was supposed to be Jesus! A few years ago I visited BJU. While there I toured their museum of religious art. In the museum I found many portraits of Christ. And each one was different…because no one really knows what Christ looked like during His earthly ministry; each artist painted Christ as they thought He would have been. What do you think He looked like? If He were here this morning, do you think you would be able to recognize Him? We do not have any accurate portraits of Christ on canvas, but we do have a perfect picture of Him revealed to us through the Scriptures. Over the last few weeks we have been looking into the Gospel of John to see Christ revealed to us. In every chapter of John's Gospel we have seen a portrait of Christ.
This morning we come to John 17 and there we find yet another picture of Christ. Here He is seen as our great intercessor. After encouraging His disciples with the assurance of His peace, Jesus begins to pray.
I. Christ Prayed for Himself (v1-5)
A. "…Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee…"
B. Jesus' desire was to glory of God, and this glory would be realized in His finished work on the cross.
C. The word glory is used five times in these verses.
1. To glorify is to esteem, honor, and magnify.
2. Jesus glorified the Father in His miracles, but He brought the greatest glory to the Father through His sufferings and death on Calvary.
3. From our point of view, the events of the cross were horrible…but not from God's.
D. Jesus finished the work God had given Him to do.
1. This "work" included His messages and miracles on earth, the training of the disciples for future service, but most of all, His sacrifice on the cross.
2. It is on the basis of this "finished work" that we as believers have the gift of eternal life.
3. Here we see exactly what eternal life is all about
a. The basis of eternal life is knowing the only true God and His Son.
b. I know that you have heard it before, but I must continue to declare over and over that there is only One Way to eternal life.
c. That is through the finished work of Jesus on Calvary!
d. There is no other option…no other choice…no other way!
II. Christ Prayed for His Disciples (6-19)
A. Consider the Power of His Name: v6-10
1. Christ has given His own eternal life (John 17:2), but He has also given them the revelation of the Father's name.
2. The Old Testament Jew knew his God as "Jehovah," the great I AM (Ex. 3:11-14).
3. Jesus took this sacred name "I AM" and made it meaningful to His disciples:
a. "I am the Bread of Life"
b. "I am the Light of the world"
c. "I am the Good Shepherd"
d. "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"
4. In other words, Jesus revealed the Father's gracious name by showing His disciples that He was everything they needed.
5. In His messages to the Jews, Jesus made it clear that the Father sent Him, that He was equal to the Father, and that His words and works came from the Father.
6. It was a clear claim to Deity, but the majority of the Jews refused to believe.
B. Consider the Promise of His Protection. v11-12
1. God keeps His own.
2. Our safety depends on the nature of God, not our own character or conduct.
3. When He was on earth, Jesus kept His disciples and they could depend on Him.
4. If the Savior could keep His own while He was on earth, it shouldn't surprise us that He is able to keep us now that He is glorified in heaven.
5. He and the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, are certainly able to guard and secure God's people!
6. So as a believer, we are secure in Christ because of the very nature of God, the nature of salvation, the glory of God, and the intercessory ministry of Christ.
C. Consider the Power of His Word: v13-19
1. The Word of God is the gift of God to us.
a. The Father gave the words to His Son
b. The Son gave them to His disciples who, in turn, have passed them along to us as the Spirit inspired them.
c. The Word is divine in origin, a precious gift from heaven.
2. The Word of God enables us to overcome the world.
a. It gives us an inward joy which us the strength to overcome.
"... for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Neh 8:10b)
b. The believer does not find his joy in the world but in the Word.
"Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts." (Jer 15:16)
3. The Word not only imparts the joy of the Lord, but it also assures us of His love. v14
a. The world hates us, but we are able to confront this hatred with God's own love, a love imparted to us by the Spirit through the Word.
b. The world hates us because we do not belong to its system and will not be conformed to its practices and standards.
c. The Word reveals to us what the world is really like; the Word exposes the world's deceptions and dangerous devices.
4. The Word of God not only brings us God's joy and love, but it also imparts God's power for holy living. v15-17
a. We are in the world but not of the world, and we must not live like the world.
b. True sanctification (being set apart for God) comes through the ministry of the Word of God.
"Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." (John 15:3)
c. When we are saved, we are set apart for God.
d. As we grow in our faith, we are more and more experiencing sanctification.
e. We love sin less and we love God more.
f. We want to serve Him and be a blessing to others.
g. All of this comes through the Word.
5. The Word gives us what we need to serve Him as witnesses in this world. v18-19
a. Sanctification is not for the purpose of selfish enjoyment or boasting; it is so that we might represent Christ in this world and win others to Him.
b. Jesus set Himself apart for us, and now He has set us apart for Him.
c. The Father sent Him into the world, and now He sends us into the world.
d. We are people "under orders" and we had better obey!
III. Christ Prayed for You and Me. v20-26
A. "…For them also which shall believe…"
1. Do you realize that Jesus was praying for you and me that night as well?
2. Not in application or interpretation but clearly this verse teaches us that we were on His mind.
3. I don't know what that means to you, but it thrills my heart to know that He cares for us.
B. What did He pray for us?
1. He has already prayed about security and sanctity; now the burden of His prayer is unity.
2. He is concerned that we experience a spiritual unity that is like the oneness of the Father and the Son.
3. One of the things that make the greatest impact on the world is when Christians love each other and live together in harmony.
4. It is this witness that our Lord wants in the world "that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me" v21.
5. The lost world cannot see God, but they can see Christians; and what they see in us is what they will believe about God.
a. Christian, we are but a reflection of Christ to those around us…
b. What do they see?
c. Jesus' prayer was that they would be able to see the love and compassion that God has for them.
6. Jesus prayed that all who would believe on Him would be able to be with Him in heaven.
a. It is not self-righteous presumption when I declare that all believers will spend eternity with Jesus in heaven.
b. Jesus makes it clear that we can be assured of a home in heaven.
c. Because of the price that Jesus paid
(1 Th 5:9-10) For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, {10} Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
d. Because of the promise that Jesus made.
(John 14:3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
e. And because of the prayer that Jesus prayed
(John 17:24) Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Jesus is our Great Intercessor. He prays for you and for me. If you are without Christ this morning, it is His prayer that you might come to Him by faith accepting His finished work on Calvary as the payment for your sins. Will you trust Him today? Will you come to Him right now?
Christian, His prayer for us today is that we might love one another. That we might reflect His love for us to the world around us. When the world looks at us, do they see Jesus? In what we say…and in what we do?
Come this morning. Let God have His way in your heart and life today. Whatever the need might be, will you come?