John 17 Verses 20 to 26 Jesus Prays for Us November 13, 2022
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· 12 viewsOur Shared faith in Christ is the glue that bonds us together.
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John 17 Verses 20 to 26 Jesus Prays for Us November 13, 2022
Class Presentation Notes AAAA
Background Scripture: Ephesians 4:2-6, John 17:1-19
Main Idea: Our shared faith in Christ is the glue that bonds us together.
Quick Read: Jesus prayed that we would keep the unity of the Spirit, be with Him to see His Glory, and be filled with His love.
Create Interest:
· As the Son is one with the Father, Christ desires that the saints be united. The disciples struggled with unity. They exhibited strife, conflict, competition, and selfishness. What really makes an impression on this world is the way Christians love each other and live in harmony. Squabbles, strife, selfishness, and stubbornness turns off the world and other Christians.
· What unsaved people see in Christians is many times what they will believe about God. When they see our love and concern for one another, they may tend to believe that God is love. When they see hatred, division, fighting, and gossip, many of them conclude “I don’t need more of that in my life,” and they reject the Gospel. If anyone should have harmony, it should be Christians! We all have the same Savior, the same Spirit, the same example of holiness, and the same message of the Scriptures. As we love people and serve Christ in harmony, we grow in the Lord and Christ is glorified.
· God desires that believers demonstrate their oneness in Christ before unbelievers. Christ makes possible this unity of spirit. This oneness is a testimony before the world that the gospel is true. Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is a powerful encouragement for today’s Christians to pray for others and to work toward unity (not uniformity) of God’s people.[1]
· “The hour has come.” This is not simply the hour Jesus has been preparing for. It’s the hour the entire world has been anticipating. It’s the fulfillment of a promise made in the garden that God would send a Rescuer to save humanity from sin. It’s the moment when everything will change—when sinful creatures can once again enjoy fellowship with their Creator, when spiritual life triumphs over spiritual death. At the climax of the story, Jesus stops to pray. He pauses at the doorway to the cross to take a moment and cry out for the Father’s help.[2] Let’s lean in and listen to His message😊.
Lesson in Historical Context:
· Every classic movie adds music to heighten the suspense of the story. Even if you don’t know what’s happening, you can tell by the crescendo of the soundtrack you’ve reached the climax. We’re getting close to the climax of the Gospel of John. The music is starting to crescendo. In 17:1 Jesus announces, “The hour has come.” For the past three years, the disciples have followed Jesus on an expedition. The journey has covered rocky terrain. At times it’s been hazardous. Now they’re cresting the final rise and stretched out before them is the summit. Back in chapter 2, when Jesus performed his first miracle, he indicated his hour had not yet come (2:4). In chapters 7 and 8he twice reiterated his hour had not yet come (7:30; 8:20). Finally, in chapter 12, he indicated the hour was coming (12:27). Here in chapter 17everything has taken place that’s necessary for the hour to come. The hour has finally arrived.
· We now come to the closing of Christ’s wonderful prayer in John 17. Jesus will soon be betrayed, tried, crucified on a cross, and buried. He will not speak to His disciples again before He dies. The last words of His prayer are not words of despair, but words of glory.[3]
· As noted in the previous chapter of this volume, the unity Christ prayed for is not an outward, organizational unity, but the inward, spiritual unity based on believers’ life in Christ. Because of their union with Jesus Christ—since “the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17)—all believers are one with each other as well (Gal. 3:28).
· How does that spiritual unity manifest itself in practice? In Philippians 2:2Paul listed four marks of the unity that characterizes the true church.
o First, unity results in believers “being of the same mind.”That does not mean that they share all the same likes and dislikes. Nor does it entail complete agreement on all the secondary doctrinal issues that godly men differ over. Rather, it signifies that true believers are controlled by a deep knowledge of the Word of Christ that is energized in them by the power of the Spirit (cf. Col. 3:16). Because they walk in the Spirit, they maintain the same spiritual attitude.
o Second, unity results in believers “maintaining the same love”; that is, they love each other equally. That does not mean that they have the same emotional commitment to everyone, which is impossible. The love in view here is agapē love, the love not of emotional attraction, but of will and choice. It is expressed when believers are “devoted to one another in brotherly love; [and] give preference to one another in honor” (Rom. 12:10). It has been “poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5).
o Third, unity results in believers being “united in spirit.” The Greek word literally means “one-souled.” It refers to a passionate, common commitment to the same spiritual goals. By definition it excludes such divisive attitudes as personal ambition, selfishness, hatred, envy, jealousy, and the countless other manifestations of the evil fruit of self-love.
o Fourth, unity results in believers being “intent on one purpose.”Because they are of the same mind, love each other, and are united in spirit they have the same goal—advancing the kingdom of God. But believers can interrupt their spiritual unity by fleshly behavior and need to be exhorted to have “one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27).
· As He concluded His magnificent High Priestly Prayer, the unity of His followers was very much on the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. Having prayed for His glory (vv. 1–5) and for His disciples (vv. 6–19),the Savior expanded His prayer to include all future believers—those who would come to Him through the power of the Word (v. 17), the witness of the disciples (v. 18), and the sacrifice of the cross (v. 19).
· The Lord made two requests on their behalf: that they would be united in the truth, and that they would be reunited with Him in eternal glory.
o The first of those requests is the subject of this chapter.[4]
Bible Study:
John 17:20 (NASB)
20 "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
· Jesus prayed for future believers, for all those who would believe the message of the early disciples. This includes you and me…. all of us who believe today.
o for the weakest as well as for the strongest
o for the diseased as well as for the healthy
o for the orphan as well as for the children of the family
o for the widow and widower as well as for the couple
o for the prisoner as well as for the free
o for the believer in the darkest jungle as well as for the believer in the limelight
§ There is no thought any more precious than the thought that Jesus prayed for us all—every one of us who believe today.
· Note: this verse gives the three essentialsfor men to become believers.
o There is the messenger of God, the disciple of Christ, the person who proclaims the Word so that men can believe on the name of Jesus. There has to be a messenger to carry and proclaim the message.
§ Romans 10:14 (NASB)
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
§ 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (NASB)
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
o There is God’s Word. The messenger is God’s messenger, His ambassador. Therefore, the Word he takes to the world is God’s Word. Note the references to God’s Word in this chapter alone.
§ John 17:6 (NASB)
6 "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
§ John 17:14 (NASB)
14 "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
§ John 17:17 (NASB)
17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
o There is belief.We must believe the Word. We are the Lord’s disciples today because we believe the Word.
§ John 5:24 (NASB)
24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
§ John 6:62-63 (NASB)
62 "What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?
63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
§ John 8:51 (NASB)
51 "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death."
John 17:21-22 (NASB) Unity
21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
· Jesus goes beyond the earlier passages (10:16 and 11:52) in two ways.
o The first is that he grounds the unity of all believers in the unity of the Father and the Son, as the preceding discourse might have led us to expect (see 14:20, “In that day, you will come to know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you”). Here his use of direct address, almost redundantly (“just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you”) accents the intimacy between Father and Son.
o The second is that he adds an additional object and purpose to his prayer—perhaps its ultimate purpose: “so that the world might believe that you sent me” (v. 21b). This abrupt enlargement of the scope of the prayer (going beyond v. 11 as well) qualifies the earlier disclaimer that “I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you have given me” (v. 9).
§ Even though Jesus’ prayer is not for the world, the whole world is within his horizons. He views the unity of the disciples and their mission to the world as inseparable.
§ His vision is that their unity with one another will send a message to the world that will bring people to faith in him and in the Father. He builds here on 13:35 (“By this they all will come to know that you are my disciples, if you have love for each other”), implying that the unity of which he speaks must be something visible to the outside world, visible, for example, in love shown to each other.
§ God’s plan for the world will come to realization not through Jesus during his limited time on earth, but through the band of disciples he has gathered around him. His intent is only that the world might believe, or recognize, that he was sent from God, whom he calls Father.
· Jesus’ petition thus holds out hope for the world, but nothing approaching certainty. It is not a prophecy of what must happen, but simply a generalized expression of divine intent comparable to 3:17 (“For God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through him”) or 12:47 (“I did not come to judge the world but to save the world”).
o In any event, the focus is not on the question of whether or not “the world” will be saved, but on the disciples themselves, and on the nature of their unity in the Father and the Son.
o The point is that it must be a visible unity, a “sign” to the world, testifying not only to their relationships with each other but to their relationship with Jesus and to the Father[5]
Thoughts to Soak on:
· Keep in mind that it was after talking about truth in verse 14 that Jesus prays His people might be one here in verse 21. Ephesians 4:15 says we are to speak the truth in love because love without truth is hypocrisy, while truth without love is brutality. You see, if I speak the truth without love, it’s like a fire without warmth. Who wants to be in a room on a cold night with light but no warmth? If I speak love without truth, however, it’s like a blaze without light. And who wants to be in the dark? The idea is to have light and warmth. Unity is based upon telling the truth in love—not always easy, but absolutely necessary.
· “I have given them the glory,” Jesus said, speaking of the chabod, the substance, the reality of holiness.
o Jesus gave the glory to His disciples, to men who would deny Him and abandon Him. Yes. And that same glory has been given to you, for whom He justified, He glorified (Romans 8:30). Listen carefully, saint: The Father looks at you and says, “You are not only elected and predestined, called and justified, but you are already glorified.” I’m so glad the Father doesn’t see me in my frailty and my flesh, my carnality and stupidity. I’m so thankful He sees me glorified in His Son.
o Wouldn’t it be radical if you looked at your sons and daughters, husband or wife in their glorified state? Think about the person who bugs you the most. Now, ask the Lord to show you how He views him. You see, it’s not that love is blind. It’s that love sees more. And because love sees more, it is willing to see less. Filled with glory, the eyes of love don’t have room for shortcomings and failure.[6]
· Believers must be one. Note exactly what Jesus said.
o The standard for unity is the oneness between Jesus and His Father. Believers are to be one just as the Father and Jesus are one. The very same kind of unity they have is to be the unity existing between us.
o The purpose for unity is that the world may believe that the Father sent Jesus.
o Listen to what God’s Word says………………
§ John 7:29 (NASB)
29 "I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me."
§ John 8:42 (NASB)
42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.
§ John 6:38 (NASB)
38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
§ John 10:36 (NASB)
36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
· Jesus came that men might have life and have it more abundantly.
§ John 5:24 (NASB)
24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
§ John 10:10 (NASB)
10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have itabundantly.
· A divided witness confuses the issue and cannot stand, just as a divided house and kingdom cannot stand (see Mt. 12:25). There are not many messages nor many ways to God. There is only one message and one way.
§ John 3:16 (NASB)
16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 3:18.
§ John 14:6 (NASB)
6 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 8:6, Heb. 9:5, 9:24, Heb. 12:24, 1 John 2:1.
· Another approach to what Jesus is saying is this. Believers must be one: be unified, of one spirit and mind in proclaiming the central message of the gospel.
o There is only one central message: that God sent Jesus “out of” heaven into the world.
o There is only one request of men: to believe that God did send Jesus into the world.
· There is only one mission: that men be one (unified) in proclaiming the message of the glorious gospel.
o The source of unity is God’s glory, the very glory which Jesus Himself possessed. It is the glory of God given to believers that unites believers and makes them one with Jesus and His Father and one with each other.
§ When believers experiencethe glory of God, they become one in being, character, and purpose. Their lives are given to each other to help one another ……………………………..
📷 to be the new creature God has made them
📷 to live as new creatures should, holy and righteous and pure
📷 to proclaim the glorious message that God has sent His Son into the world.[7]
John 17:23 (NASB)
23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
· May be made perfect in one/unity. What does Jesus mean by the word “perfect” (The word “perfect” is from the Greek word teleioo {tel-i-o’-o}.
o The word means “accomplish, carry through completely, to add what is missing in order to make a thing full; to bring to completion.” God wants us to be complete in Christ. Everything He wants us to have He wants us to acquire so that we miss out on nothing. It is God’s will for us that we be perfect or complete in Him.
o Maturity develops by relying on Christ and surrendering our will to Him, not upon others. To have unquestioning reliance upon a pastor or other spiritual leader can lead to embarrassment, disappointment, and even bitter disillusionment. Our perfect role model is Jesus, not men or women that are not perfect and can fail at times.[8]
· That their union may be complete. That there may be no jars, discords, or contentions. A machine is perfect or complete when it has all its parts and is in good order—when there is no portion of it wanting.
o So, the union of Christians, for which the Savior prayed, would be complete or perfect if there were no controversies, no envying’s, no contentions, and no heart-burnings and jealousies.
o It is worthy of remark here how entirely the union of his people occupied the mind of Jesus as he drew near to death.
§ He saw the danger of arguments and contentions in the church.
§ He knew the imperfections of even the best of men.
§ He saw how prone they would be to passion and ambition; how ready to mistake love of sect or party for zeal for pure religion; how selfish and worldly men in the church might divide his followers and produce unholy feeling and contention; and he saw, also, how much this would do to dishonor religion.
§ Hence he took occasion, when he was about to die, to impress the importance of union on his disciples.
o By solemn admonition, and by most tender and affecting appeals to God in supplication, he showed his sense of the value of this union. He used the most sublime and impressive illustration; he adverted to the eternal union between the Father and himself; he reminded them of His love, and of the effect that their union would have on the world, to fix it more deeply in their hearts.
o The effect has shown the infinite wisdom of the Savior. The contentions and conflict/trouble of Christians have shown His knowledge in foreseeing it.
o The world still lies in wickedness; and the friends of Jesus, bound by the cords of eternal love, should advance together against the common enemy, and spread the triumphs of the gospel around the globe.
o All that is needful now, under the blessing of God, to convince the world that God sent the Lord Jesus, is that very union among all Christians for which he prayed;and when that union of feeling, and purpose, and action shall take place, the task of sending the gospel to all nations will be soon accomplished, and the morning of the millennial glory will dawn upon the world.[9]
§ John 14:20 (NASB)
20 "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
§ John 14:22-23 (NASB)
22 Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?"
23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
§ Galatians 2:19-20 (NASB)
19 "For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.
20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Thoughts to Soak On:
· The purpose for a perfected unity is that the world may know that God sent Jesus into the world to save it. Now note a significant point: there is a difference each time Jesus prays for unity in this chapter. And each difference or point proclaims a strong message to the believer.
· There is...for our collective understanding………….
o the unity of God's name, of calling upon God's name to keep believers from a divided world and its divisive influence (John 17:11).
o the unity of God's protective power, of calling upon God's power to deliver believers from the evil of the world and the devil (John 17:15).
o the unity of witness, that the world may believe that God sent Christ John 3:32-34; They will believe through a unified witness (John 17:21).
o the unity of love, that the world may know that God sent Christ. They will know through a unified love (John 17:23).
· There is a world of difference between a unity of witness and a unity of love. The world may come to believe the gospel by a unified witness for Christ, but the only way the world can ever know the gospel is by a unified love among believers. Note two things.
o What the world needs more than anything else is love, a great demonstration of love from a massive multitude of people. (See 1 Co. 13:4–7for the behavior and acts of love and think about the enormous impact we could make upon the world if we really were unified in love.)
o The love needed among believers is a different love from the so-called love of the world.
§ The love needed is a sacrificial love that will give all it is and has to minister to a world that is reeling under the weight of starving, diseased, and dying masses of people.[10]
John 17:24 (NASB)
24 "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
· The word pater (“Father”) again initiates Jesus’ heart longing (thelō, “I want”). That longing is for the disciples, those the Father gave him, to witness firsthand the ultimate reality of who Jesus is.
o To do that, the disciples would also have to reach their ultimate destiny of being where Jesus would be and now is since the resurrection.
§ That destiny, which was described elsewhere in the Farewell Cycle at John 14:2 as the Father’s house, is the destiny Jesus is said to be preparing for his followers.
· Although it is here referred to as a place where Jesus is (eimi egō), the focus of this verse is actually on the experience of seeing the glory of Jesus.Unlike the post resurrection Paul, who could at least glimpse a little of the reality of this ultimate destiny as in a dim reflective mirror (cf. 1 Cor 13:12), the disciples in this Farewell Cycle were in a fog.
o As a result, they debated with Jesus where he was going and how he was related to the Father (John 14:5–8).
o But when he penned this petition, John recognized that the fogginess would lift after the resurrection, and he understood that the followers of Jesus would one day see him in his divine glory (not the veiled glory of the incarnation, cf. 1:14).
o The birth pangs of the Messiah (cf. 16:21) would then have given way to a very different reality, and the disciples would behold him in his full glory.[11]
§ John 14:2-3 (NASB)
2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3 "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, thereyou may be also.
§ 2 Corinthians 5:1-2 (NASB)
1 For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 For indeed in this housewe groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,
§ Colossians 1:5-6 (NASB)
5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel
6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;
John 17:25-26 (NASB)
25 "O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;
26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
· Jesus concluded his prayer by focusing upon his relationship with the Father: Righteous Fatheralthough the world has not known You, yet I have known You. He addressed God as ‘Righteous Father’. This is the only place in the N.T. where God is addressed or spoken of in this way, although on three occasions Jesus himself is referred to as ‘the Righteous One’ (Acts 7:52; 22:14; 1 John 2:1). Nevertheless, God is frequently described as righteous/just in his person (1 John 2:29; 3:7), his ways (Rev. 15:3), his judgments (2 Thess. 1:5–6; Rev. 16:5, 7; 19:2) and forgiveness (1 John 1:9).
· In saying ‘the world does not know you’ Jesus was reflecting the fact that, despite protestations to the contrary, the world (‘the Jews’) did not know God.
o The evidence for this was that they did not accept the one sent by God (John 8:42).
o Jesus, however, does know God, and, referring to his disciples, he added, and they know that you have sent me.
o The disciples distinguished themselves from the world by recognizing that Jesus was sent by God. Of them, Jesus said, I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known. Literally rendered, the first clause would read, ‘I have made your name known to them’.
§ To make known a person’s name is to make known the person, so the niv’s translation/interpretation is appropriate. Earlier in his prayer Jesus said, ‘I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world’ (6). This he did through his person (14:9), his teaching and his miracles (14:10–11).
§ In 17:26Jesus said he would continue to make the Father known to his disciples. Given he spoke on the eve of his betrayal and crucifixion, this future revelation of the Father would take place either through the very events of the passion itself, or the coming of the Spirit after his exaltation, or both.
· Jesus said the purpose of the revelation of the Father to his disciples , “so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
· When Jesus reveals the Father to those who accept him as Messiah, He introduces them at the same time to the love of the Father.
· One of the things Jesus taught his disciples in the Last Supper discourses was that the Father himself loved them, and therefore they could bring their prayers directly to Him (16:26–27).
· Also, He taught them that He Himself would dwell with/in those who accepted His teaching and obeyed Him (14:23). The ongoing presence of Jesus among his people (‘I myself may be in/among them’) is the unique feature of the Christian community (cf. Matt. 18:20; 1 Cor. 14:24–25).[12]
Thoughts to Soak on:
· The word “these” suggests that the main thought now returns to the eleven apostles. No doubt the title “righteous Father” is used so as to present a contrast with the world in its ignorance and unbelief, and hence in its unrighteousness. Several different kinds of knowledge appear in these two verses:
o “I have known thee”—the eternal and ever-present knowledge of the Father by the Son, a knowledge passed on to men by revelation (Matt 11:27).
§ “The world hath not known thee”; in fact, any “natural” knowledge that men may have of God tends to degrade downwards to idolatry (Rom 1:20–23).
o The apostles knew the Father’s Name since the Son had declared it, and they also knew that the Son had been sent by the Father. The declaration would also be made in the future; no doubt 20:17 was in mind.
· The object of such knowledge was that divine love should be in the apostles, and that the Son should be in them. The relationship of love between divine Persons is not something hidden in heaven; it should be seen as reflected in His people.
· These last words of the Son in prayer must have riveted themselves upon the heart of John, the apostle whom Jesus loved. For divine love, together with love in His people, have a prominent place in John’s first epistle (1 John 4:7–21). “If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (v. 11).[13]
· “I have declared thy Name,” said Jesus. Unlike manifesting God’s Name, which involves living it out (verse 6), declaring His Name refers to speaking it out. “I AM the Bread of life,” Jesus declared. “I AM the Door. I AM the Way. I AM the Vine. I AM the Truth. I AM the Light. I not only showed people illustratively, but I declared Your Name verbally.”
· Christian family, as we treat people as though they are already glorified, as we speak the truth in love that we might be unified, as we keep those the Lord has given to us on our hearts through intercession, as we manifest as well as declare the nature of the Father, as we give people the exact word, and share with them the Scriptures, as we finish the work He gives us to do, we will be doing the very things Jesus said our lives should be about.
o But as you who are students of management know, this measurement of success is radically contrary to what is propagated in our American culture. It doesn’t chart well in popularity polls, on financial fact sheets, or resumes. It won’t produce trophies in your case or plaques on your wall—only a voice in your ear, saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”[14]
As we conclude our study, let’s look at the testimonies shared here.
· There is the testimony of the world. The world has not known God. Jesus was the revelation of God; therefore, all who saw Jesus saw God. Yet the world rejected Him, refusing to know Him.
o Romans 10:3 (NASB)
3 For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
o Ephesians 4:18 (NASB)
18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
o Jeremiah 5:4 (NASB)
4 Then I said, "They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the ordinance of their God.
o Micah 4:12 (NASB)
12 "But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, And they do not understand His purpose; For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
· There was the testimony of Jesus. He knew God. He was eternal and had always existed with God. He was the Son of God Himself.
o “Matthew 11:27 (NASB)
27 "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
o John 7:29 (NASB)
29 "I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me."
o John 8:55 (NASB)
55 and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word.
o John 10:15 (NASB)
15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
o John 17:25 (NASB)
25 "O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;
· There is the testimony of believers down through the centuries. Believers know that God sent Christ.
§ John 7:29 (NASB)
29 "I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me."
§ John 8:42 (NASB)
42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.
§ John 10:35-36 (NASB)
35 "If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
§ John 17:21 (NASB)
21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
· There is the testimony of the faithfulness of Jesus.
§ He declared and revealed God.
§ His purpose was that men might know the love of God and have the love of God dwelling “in” them.
📷 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).
📷 “But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Ro. 5:8).
📷 “And this is his commandment, “that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment” (1 Jn. 3:23).[15]
· In John 17:25–26, there are no petitions. Jesus simply reported to His Father about the ministry in the world, and He made several declarations that are important to us. He declared that the world does not know the Father, but that we believers know Him because the Son has revealed the Father to us. The world certainly has many opportunities to get to know the Father, but it prefers to go on in blindness and hardness of heart.
· Our task as Christians is to bear witness to the lost world and share God’s saving message.
· John also declares the importance of truth and love in the church. Believers know God’s name (nature) and even share in that divine nature. Jesus makes it clear that truth and love must go together (see Eph. 4:15).
o It has well been said that truth without love is brutality but love without truth is hypocrisy. The mind grows by taking in truth, but the heart grows by giving out in love.
o Note: Knowledge alone can lead to pride (1 Cor. 8:1) and love alone can lead to wrong decisions (see Phil. 1:9–10). Christian love must not be blind!
· As you review this prayer, you see the spiritual priorities that were in the Savior’s heart: the glory of God; the sanctity of God’s people; the unity of the church; the ministry of sharing the Gospel with a lost world.
o We today would be wise to focus on these same priorities.
· One day, each of us will have to give an account of his or her ministry. It is a solemn thought that we shall stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and give our “final report.”
o I trust that we will be able to say, “I have glorified You on the earth; I have finished the work which You gave me to do” (John 17:4).[16]
Spiritual Transformations
· How do you feel when someone says, “I’m praying for you”? This should encourage us. How much more encouraging to know that Jesus prayed for us and in heaven still prays for us! John 17 shows us what He asks God to do for us.
· Focus on the four basic petitions of this prayer, for they apply to believers today.
o Security: Jesus prayed that the Lord would guard, keep, or protect believers from the power and clutches of the Evil One. For our part, this calls on us to entrust ourselves into His care and keeping and to rely on His strength to overcome temptations.
o Holiness: The Lord wants us to live in the way that God has set us apart to live. Jesus prayed that believers might be in but not of the world.
o Mission: We are called to live holy lives in order to have a basis for bold witnessing to unbelievers. He sends us into the world as the Father sent Him into the world.
o Oneness: In every way possible, Jesus wants believers to express the oneness that all true believers have in Jesus Christ. Such unity is a gift from God, but one in which we are expected to do our part.
· In what ways has the Lord’s protecting hand been on you?
· How well are you living in but not of the world?
· How are you on mission for the Lord to an unbelieving world?
· In what ways do you express your oneness in Christ with other believers?
Prayer of Commitment: Lord, protect us, set us apart to live for You, empower us for mission, and help us express our oneness in You. Amen.[17]
[1]Robert J. Dean, Family Bible Study, Spring 2002, Herschel Hobbs Commentary (LifeWay Christian Resources, 2002), 36.
[2] Matt Carter and Josh Wredberg, Exalting Jesus in John (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2017), Jn 17:1–19.
[3] Rod Mattoon, Treasures from John, vol. 2, Treasures from Scripture Series (Springfield, IL: Rod Mattoon, 2006), 243.
[4] John F. MacArthur Jr., John 12–21, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2008), 285–287.
[5] J. Ramsey Michaels, The Gospel of John, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), 875–876.
[6] Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 576.
[7]Leadership Ministries Worldwide, The Gospel according to John, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2004), 350.
[8] Rod Mattoon, Treasures from John, vol. 2, Treasures from Scripture Series (Springfield, IL: Rod Mattoon, 2006), 246.
[9]Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Luke & John, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 358–359.
[10]Leadership Ministries Worldwide, The Gospel according to John, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2004), 352.
[11]Gerald L. Borchert, John 12–21, vol. 25B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002), 208–209.
[12]Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 4, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 342–343.
[13]John Heading, John, What the Bible Teaches (John Ritchie Ltd., 2000), 284.
[14] Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 576.
[15]Leadership Ministries Worldwide, The Gospel according to John, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2004), 352–353.
[16]Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 371–372.
[17] Robert J. Dean, Family Bible Study, Spring 2002, Herschel Hobbs Commentary (LifeWay Christian Resources, 2002), 44.