Sermons from Lone
Rock Bible Church Listening In: Jesus’ Prayer In contrast to many of the petitions
we address to heaven, Jesus’ prayer to His Father is immediately deep, maybe even
over our heads! What great themes do we cover? 1. Victory We are intrigued, sometimes
fascinated, when we encounter individuals of high profile, people who are famous. We
admire leaders like Generals Patton and Clark, who would get with the troops. “Chesty”
Puller did that. They loved him. He was a great man; he
mingled among “us folks.” I admire the stores of President
Lincoln, whose office door was always open to his sons. They could come in any time. I think about what we see in the
Bible. We get audiences with kings in the pages of Scripture. Joseph is raised from the
rags and squalor of prison to an audience with Pharaoh, and we are there with him. In the
Word, Daniel is ushered into the courtroom of Nebuchadnezzar, the great king of the
Babylonian Empire and we are there with him. Later on, the apostle Paul requests an
audience with Caesar himself. They put him in a ship and send him to Rome. All that is
fascinating to ponder, but there is no greater audience available than an audience with
the God of the universe. The privilege of entering that throne room, of listening in on
what goes on in that realm -- that is what is impressive. John 17 ranks up there with perhaps
the most lofty discourse uttered by our Lord Jesus. It constitutes some of His last words.
He is betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and His earthly life is rapidly brought to a
close. In John 17, some of His last words are spoken in prayer to His Father, deliberately
so, in the hearing of His disciples. He wanted them to listen in. He wanted them to join
Him in the throne room, if you will. He had things to say to His Father that those men
needed to hear. So do we. The prayer is not long, only 26
verses. It is roughly divided into three parts. The first five verses are Jesus talking to
the Father about Himself, kind of a family discussion. Then through about the 19th
verse, Jesus talks regarding His disciples, the fellows gathered around Him, minus one.
Then the prayer wraps up with Jesus talking to the Father about you and me. It is a loaded
prayer. I have spent a lot of time in it already and have only just begun, I am personally
intimidated by what is in here. It is overwhelming. It is not every day we get to hear God
the Son talk to God the Father about us. If I had to entitle the prayer in
chapter 17, I would call it “What Jesus Wants.” I have counted six things He
wants. Today we are going to look at the first five verses. In these five verses, Jesus
introduces some lofty themes. He will elaborate on them through the rest of the prayer. We need to do what we can to enter in
where He is here and to engage the truth as it is before us. It is huge. It should change
our lives. John 17 1. Victory I am reading from a New American
Standard translation. The editors of this translation have chosen, when there are prayers
in the text, to revert to what we call King James English just as a way of literarily
distinguishing the prayer from the rest of the text. That is why the prayer sounds a
little bit like Shakespeare, but I think we get the idea of the first truth to which Jesus
introduces us -- the notion of victory. I get that from the last verse of chapter 16. John
16:33 says, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the
world.” Probably the darkest time in the
recent history of Great Britain had to have been the summer of 1940 when the Nazi war
machine had rumbled its way from east to west across Europe. France had fallen, leaving
only Great Britain to stand up to Adolph Hitler. Hitler’s airplanes and troops
outnumbered those of Great Britain three to one. The free world looked on, wondering what
would happen. Neville Chamberlain stepped aside, essentially handing the reins of
leadership to Winston Churchill who became prime minister. I have for a long time felt
that Winston Churchill is arguably the most significant individual in the 20th
century, civilized world. Churchill had his work cut out for
him. The first goal he really undertook was to instill in the British people confidence.
He said it, orchestrated it, arranged it, spent for it. “We will win.” His
pilots were the best. His aircraft were superior. His navy was second to none. And even as
the Nazi airplanes and bombers were hitting London and all the major population centers of
England, Churchill would go out, mix among the people, encourage them, and prop them up.
It is there that the ”V” became not a sign for peace, but the “V” for
Victory. They believed in him and he believed in their cause. As they say, the rest is
history. These were dark times for the
disciples of Jesus. They had cast their entire lot with this Rabbi. They had listened to
Him. They had traveled with Him, eaten with Him, and shared the same campsites for years.
Now, in Jerusalem, He had made very clear that He is leaving. He is going to be betrayed, delivered over to the
hands of godless men, crucified, railroad-sized spikes driven in the wrists and ankles,
and be suspended on a cross to die a slow, agonizing, asphyxiation death. He is leaving
like the way of a criminal, the way of the cursed. Where He is going; he told them, they
could not come right now. They could follow Him later. In the light of that news, I think we
can understand the dismay, discouragement, doubt, fear, anxiety, perhaps the confusion on
the part of the disciples and so Jesus said, “Wait a minute. Be of good cheer. I have
overcome the world.” That is an interesting expression. There is only One who could
say it and mean it -- God. He uses a very special verb, obviously very deliberately used,
the effect of which kind of goes like this: This is a done deal. It is accomplished and
its effects will go on and on and on into the future. I have overcome. It’s done! I think, wait a minute. He is still in
the upper room. He has not gone to the garden. He has not prayed the prayer, sweat the
blood, been betrayed, gone to the cross. None of this has happened, let alone the
resurrection and ascension. Or has it? The themes of John’s gospel are somewhat
simplistic. How could this be? It could only be
true from the perspective of God; that is, from the perspective of heaven. Think of this.
Not too long before this, He is dialoguing with the Pharisees and telling them that
Abraham -- whom they claim as the cornerstone of their religious heritage -- rejoiced to
see my day.” He saw it and was glad. They said to Him, you are not yet 50 years old
and you have seen Abraham? What is His reply? “I say to you, before Abraham was, I
am,” establishing Himself as God the Son, an eternal being. They grasped it
immediately. They understood exactly what He was saying. Does it boggle our minds? It
should. “I am timeless.” He used the name God gave to Moses many years before.
The eternally existing and ever present One. “That’s Me,” said Jesus. How else could Isaiah 53 be
understood? It goes back hundreds of years before Jesus and yet it clearly talks about a
suffering Messiah, who has born our sins, who has carried our grief, who has paid our
debt. Only in God’s perspective because what God says is done is done. If you ever can’t sleep at night
and you want something to chew on, open your Bibles to Revelation 13, verse 8, where the
text discusses people, who are redeemed, with their names written in the Book of Life of
the Lamb, who was slain before the foundation of the world. God does not have to guess or
wonder or wait. Jesus said I have overcome. There is no doubt. This is a prayer of the
victorious. If we are His, it is for us as well. The Cross is a done deal. Jesus was
certain. This is not a maybe or a “I hope I can overcome the world,” or “If
all goes well I will overcome the world,” or “ If you guys just do your part I
will overcome the world”. It is not even, “Well, it didn’t work with Adam
or Noah or Abraham. Then the Old Testament. . . Boy, I hope plan D works.” We do not
see anything of that. He was certain. What does that mean -- “I have
overcome the world”? That means that atonement is handled. Sins are paid for. The
debt is expunged, taken care of. Sins are forgiven. Saints are redeemed, bought back. Paid
to have a new life is applied. Glory is guaranteed. So Paul can say, “If God be for
us, who can be against us?” Romans 8 ends with resounding victory, no doubt, no sense
of hesitation. God’s economy, God’s kingdom is what lasts forever. If He says it
is done, then it is done! I appreciate so much that there is no
doubt in the mind of Jesus. This is not a possibility. It is done! 2. Home and Family It is a prayer also about home and
family. It is most interesting what He does in this verse. It says “. . . lifting
up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come;“ This is an indication that the individual writing
the words is seeing it happen and recording it as it happened. He recalls his Savior,
Jesus, lifting his eyes to heaven. It is a deliberate and powerful word picture. Why?
Because for one, Jesus is looking toward home. He knows where He is going. He understands
it is a done deal. It is kind of like in Daniel 6, where
the mean guys are trying to trap Daniel. They know they cannot get him on issues of
integrity, but they can get him with religion because they know he loves God and he prays
every day with his windows open toward Jerusalem because that is his home. It’s sort
of like that with Jesus. He is looking toward home. Everywhere I look in John’s
gospel I see references like this, but I’ll just share a few. John 1:1 “The Word was with God.” God
is in heaven. That’s home. John 1:14 He left home for here, for a little
while. And then the most natural thing in the world is -- He is going to go home. That’s
where He belongs. That’s where He lives. That’s where He is from. In John 3, Nicodemus puts his finger
on it when he says: John 3:2 We know you come from God because you
do God stuff, miracles and such. John 3:13 - Jesus said of himself: "No
one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. You want to know about heaven, Jesus
said, I’m from there. I can tell you all about it. John 5:36 John 6:46 I’ve been there, lived with Him,
before the world was. John 6:62 “How can you handle it,” He
said to His followers, “to see me actually go home?” Interestingly, one day they
will. He is standing with his disciples
(John 17) and He is beginning His prayer in their company by gazing up into heaven with a
gesture including the disciples in His heavenly plan. He told them in John 14:3, “I
am going to prepare a place for you. I am going to come back and take you with me that
where I am you may be also. We are all going home, to My house.” He lifts His eyes toward heaven and
addresses His Father. Please note, He said,”Father, the hour has come.” He does
not say Mr. Father, Sir Father, our dear heavenly Father. He does not use a title. This is
not like Matthew 6 where he says “Let me teach you how to pray.” He is not
teaching them anything. He is not giving them instruction in theology. He is simple
talking to His Father. I just love the simplicity of that. Jesus lifts his eyes to heaven and
says, “Father, Dad, it’s time.” Time for what? Only two know the answer --
Jesus and His Father. They share that. Here is intimacy, familiarity, passion, honesty.
Here is family and there is something monumental transpiring between the Son and the
Father right here. The disciples are eyewitness to that. They are beginning to see the
point of this prayer, where they’re going. They can see it visually and they are
hearing the word, “Father.” It is not earthly. It is not about this world. It is
not about our agenda. It is not about our recent past. It is not even about our immediate
well being. Whatever it is, they understand it to be two things. Heavenly, other worldly,
and they know it to be relational. This business of being a Christian is
the same thing. Our Christianity is much more than a belief system or a church with which
we identify. Our Christianity is a relationship first with the living Savior, who paid for
our sins on the cross and sent His Spirit to live inside. It is fundamentally a
relationship and it is patently heavenly, just as this prayer begins. 3. Glory 1Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He
said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify You, Jesus moves from home and family to
glory. “Father, it’s time. Glorify
Your Son so that Your Son may glorify You.” We pause for a word. It is this word
“glory.” It is a full, rich, weighty word. In the Old Testament, where the word
first began to be used, it means weighty, heavy, having heft and gravity. If you get hit
with a pillow, that may not be a big deal. If you get hit with a pillow with a bowling
ball in it, you have just experienced a weighty thing and the impact is going to be
remembered. The glory of God has to do with His
density, His weight, His size, His impressive nature, His importance. The word takes on a
number of interesting meanings and they all come around to one thing. It also means a
shining, unmistakable display of God’s weighty presence. That is why in the
tabernacle and later in the temple in the Old Testament, the evidence of God’s
presence is the Shekinah glory of God there in that place.You can’t miss it.
Unmistakable evidence of His presence, of His weighty important presence, but it means
more than that. It has also to do with character, with
“what you see is what you get,” with integrity and with honor. That is why the
God of glory is a God who makes His promises and keeps them and looks good because of His
sincerity and integrity of character. He will do what He says He will do. If He will make
a promise; He will keep a promise. If He says He will be on time; He will be on time.
Glory means weighty and shining and honorable and visible. Here is how I summarize it just for
me. It is when God looks good. God is being glorified when He looks good as He deserves to
look. We say, “I want to glorify God in this.” When I say that, my first concern
is that God look good in the situation. How I look is at least secondary. “Glorify Your Son,” He says.
“Make Me look good, Father, by bringing me full circle in this plan that we are carrying out. Lord, Father, make Me
look good. I have lived a perfect life. I have kept your word. I have done what you asked
me to do. I am headed for a sacrificial death as a culmination of that perfect life. I am
going to be the perfect sacrifice. Beyond
that, I will be raised from the dead because I am God and God is the author of life. It is
impossible for Him to be held in the grip of death, so I am coming back. Make Me look
good, Father. I have told these people what is coming. Make Me look good. Make Me hold
true to My word so that I will be glorified. Glorify Your Son, Father. Bring Me
back to be with You. Exalt me once again to your right hand. Bring this enterprise full
circle as we have said it would be. He is praying, as that happens, your Son glorifies
You. What an interesting dynamic between a
Father and Son. The Bible says in John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time.”
If it were not for Jesus, we would not know what He looks like. The only begotten God, who
is from the bosom of the Father (John 1:18), He has thoroughly explained Him. So as Jesus
thoroughly explains the Father, the Father looks real good because Jesus looks real good. He does exactly what He says He will do and He
shines the whole while in divine perfection, which He only is capable of. Jesus is saying, “I will put your
perfect character on public display that the Son may glorify You.” We will shine,
Father, in glory, for the eyes of all to see, those on earth and let us not forget, the
hosts in heaven and all creation.. This is wonderful. This is what Jesus
wants. This is where it is going. Here is an interesting connection. A successful student,
whether in playing piano or in martial arts or in academic pursuits, always makes the
teacher look good. Where would the student be without the teacher? The master looks good
too, when there is success on the part of the student. Jesus is saying we shall both
shine. The key to this whole understanding as
we wind down, this plan, this business of glorifying and being glorified, the players, it
is the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit whom He would send. Jesus is talking in-house now.
This is family stuff. The plan, the players, the execution, literally the execution of
Jesus! His submission to the Father, His death on the cross, the wrath of God being poured
out against the sin of the world as the Son hangs there on our behalf -- all of this, the
empty tomb, the resurrection, the ascension, is primarily, fundamentally, about God. His
glory is what is in view here. Nothing less. It is not about people. It is so easy, so automatic, so
natural for us to say, “OK, God I am in this for you but really for me.” There
is no mention here of the Father glorifying the people. The people in the Bible, which
include you and me, don’t come out looking real good at all. How do we enter in? By
grace. He graciously includes us in what He is doing, but it is primarily for Him. I think about this first hand, for me.
My conversion, when I became a Christian, when I meet with God every day and pray, shouldn’t
be because I need that, though I do. It really should be because He deserves it. If He
went to the trouble to design and to create and to keep me going and then to buy my way
out of hell and into heaven -- if He went to all that trouble and made all that
investment, He deserves me. He paid it, I didn’t. He does it. I don’t. So I need
to get way out of the way when it is time for Him to get glory and say, “Yes, Lord,
it is all about You.” When I come to faith, it is not because I am suddenly a good
person and I deserve some sort of salvation from God. No, I come to faith because He
deserves my soul. He paid for it on the cross. He bought it. So even conversion is about
Him. My growth as a Christian, when I step
out in faith, is that really just so that I am a better Christian? Shouldn’t it
really be because He deserves to look good through me? It is not about me; it’s about
Him. When I resist temptation, is it just so that I can look better as a Christian, feel
better as a Christian, live better as a Christian? All those things are true, but it is
fundamentally so that His power is evident in me and He looks good. He says I’ll
change your life and when He changes my life, then He should get the credit for it. We send missionaries or we need help with Awana, why? Because all these little kids deserve it? No, the One who died on the cross, for their sins, deserves to have His story told. He deserves that they know, whether it is Awana or foreign missionaries or wherever we want to go in between, it is He who deserves it. Do I sense God’s glory in what I do? We have to start thinking differently. The prayer of John 17 will help us as we explore what Jesus wants. The chapter, the prayer, will say a lot about God’s people and we’re glad it does. He graciously includes us. First of all, what Jesus wants is that God look good because He deserves it. "Scripture
taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Jim Carlson 2005, Lone Rock Bible Church, Stevensville Montana, USA |