John 17:1-11 -- The Prayer of Jesus

John 17:1-11: “Jesus Prayed For Us”

One of the most powerful promises of Scripture is that Jesus Christ, our Lord, has ascended to the right hand of the Father, and is there, interceding on our behalf, praying for us [Rom. 8:34]. When we say the words of the creed, “Seated on the right hand of God the Father Almighty,” we know that Jesus is there, praying for us.

But what is He praying? What if we could hear Jesus pray? What would it tell us about God…about our calling in life?

Today’s text in the Gospel of John is greatest prayer ever recorded: It is part of the high priestly prayer of Jesus, the intercessory prayer that He prayed before He ascended into heaven. In this prayer Jesus gives the keys to eternity: Jesus reveals what it means [for Him] to be called Son of God, and what it means [for us] to be called children of God.

What does it mean for Jesus to be called Son of God? The first part of His prayer reveals relation to the Father.
Verse 2: Jesus is granted authority over all people, to give eternal life.
Verse 3: Those who know Jesus know eternal life: “This is eternal life, to know the Son.”
Verse 4: Jesus has completed the work the Father gave Him to do.
Verse 5: Jesus prays to return to the glory that He had before the world began.

Four principles: Authority > Eternal Life > Completed Work > Return to Glory!

The prayer reveals spiritual mysteries. Jesus shows His nature: He is the eternal Son, One with the Father before the world began. There was never a time where He was not the Son. To see Him is to see the Father; to share in His glory is to share in the glory of God, the Father.

Who is Jesus? He is the Eternal Son, the One who brokers the eternal life of the Father. The first part of Jesus’ prayer reveals His nature, His relation to Abba.

The second part of His prayer reveals His relation to us. What does it mean for us to be called children of God?

Key, verse 8: “For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.”

Nature of children: 1. accept the words of Jesus as the words of God, and 2. believe that Jesus is sent by God, the Son of God.

Do you want to know if you are a child? Ask, “Do I accept the words of Jesus as the words of God?” “Do I believe in Jesus, the Son of God?”

It is for these children, the ones who accept His word and believe in Him, that Jesus prays! And oh, what a prayer it is!

But in order to catch the great power of this prayer, we have to step back, see it in context: The setting of this prayer is the work of the Father, Son and Spirit, in us, as children, where the Father is the patron of infinite, spiritual gifts, the Son is the broker of these gifts, and we, the children, are the clients, receiving infinite gifts, spiritual life. [2]

But catch this incredible twist!

As Jesus ascends into heaven, He grants us, through the Spirit, the role of brokering Him to others. He has given great gifts to us, gifts for this task: eternal life [v. 2], word [v. 8], and a share of glory [v. 22]. We who believe become sharers in His glory, clients of His Name…then called as fellow brokers of eternal life.

And it is to this end He prays for us!

It is no small prayer that Christ prays for us. He does not pray so we can use the infinite gifts on ourselves. No! He prays that we will be one, even as He and the Father are one, so that just as He showed forth the Father, so we can show forth the Son, in the power of the Spirit, and bring great gifts back to God: the souls of fellow humans.

Jesus is not praying that believers would somehow have enough strength just to limp to church on Sunday. He is not praying that we can somehow drag ourselves over the finish line, saving ourselves but unsure of our friends and family! He is not praying that we can somehow ‘just get by’ in a terrible world against His name. No!

He is praying that we would be one in Him, just as He and the Father are one: That we would live into the heavenly task of brokering the Son to others.

If we are not living a lifestyle of sharing Christ, we are living less than His prayer.

Jim Rutz, in his recent book MegaShift, tells of a lady in a rural Chinese town, Mrs. Chang. For 21 years she had lain in bed, unable to move her arms and legs. Finally, the pain got to be too much, and she asked her eldest son to take her to the hospital, some 40 miles away. The doctors decided that some of her organs were shutting down, so they advised the son to take her home to die.
But before she left, a Christian nurse came by her bed and slipped her a copy of the Gospel of Mark. “Read this when you get home,” she whispered. So when Mrs. Chang got home, she asked her son to read from the booklet. The son opened to page one and read, “This is the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…” That is how the Gospel of Mark begins, “This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…” But before her son could read any further than these words, “This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…” Mrs. Chang felt warmth in her bones, and within moments, sat up…healed. She immediately gave her life to the Lord.
The next day she went to the village well to draw water, walking like the rest of the women for the first time in 21 years. They began to ask, “Aren’t you Mrs. Chang?” “What doctor healed you? We want to use him too!”
Mrs. Chang invited the women to her simple home, and began speaking, “This is the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…”
In only four weeks, the village of 600 people decided to follow Jesus!
But that is only the beginning…when the news got around, the police force came to stamp out this “new sect.” They beat the villagers, shot their animals and burned their crops, and left, thinking it would be the last they would hear about this Jesus Christ.
But they had no idea. Within four years, from that small village of 600, now 70,000 people in that region have turned to Jesus Christ. [2]

What are we talking about? One nurse, one real person, being faithful…one in Christ! This is happening in our world, this decade. God is at move. We need to get on board.

What can happen when we live into this prayer of Christ, through the Holy Spirit?

Our human response: But how can I share this life? It isn’t natural for me to share…how can I?

He has prayed for us.

His prayer is far beyond ‘anything we could ask or imagine.’ Just as He is one with the Father, so we would be one with the Son…just as He showed forth the glory of the Father, so we show forth the glory of the Son!

Verses 9-11: I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 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.

He has prayed for us: in the power of the Spirit, we become brokers of the Son, eternal life…

Parkview, this is our destiny, our present reality, and future hope!

Amen.


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[1] James Rutz, MegaShift: The Best News since Year One (Colorado Springs: Empowerment Press, 2005), 5.
[2] Cf. Brian Stoffregan, Exegetical Notes on John.