Christ Jesus' Special Prayer

In the closing words of His discourse Christ Jesus had made it clear that His disciples would be scattered, leaving Him alone. But He would not be alone, because He lives in constant communion with His Father. And His disciples would not be lost permanently. Christ Jesus will have victory over the world, which they would share with Him, and they would return to be a continuing community of witness through whom Christ Jesus would be glorified.

So between His teaching and His death, Christ Jesus prays. He enters into holy work, offering Himself to His Father with all His people, those present and those to come, that glory may come to His Father. This chapter is a prayer, it is the Lord's prayer, the Lord Christ Jesus' prayer. While we normally call the prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 “The Lord's Prayer,” it was the Lord's Prayer in that He taught us how to pray. But it was not a prayer He needed to pray for Himself, Christ Jesus had no reason to pray for the forgiveness of sin.

This prayer starting in verse 1 of Chapter 17; however was properly and particularly His, and suited Him only as mankind's Mediator. And it is a sample of His intercession, of use to us both for instruction and encouragement in prayer.

A church had been going through one of those “flat” times in their church life—no major crisis, but a time of dullness and spiritual apathy, it seemed. So after some weeks of pondering their situation and a bit of conversation with the chairman of the Deacons, the pastor sent out a pastoral letter inviting about seventy or eighty of their people to come together for a time of prayer and open conversation. He made the invitation as gentle as possible so that no one would feel guilty if they were not able to come. People were asked to come at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday, not the usual time for prayer in their church.

As the pastor drove down to the church that snowy morning, a quiet spirit of anticipation came over him. “There may be only a handful because of the snow and the early hour,” he thought, “but we’ll have a good time together.” But as he drove into the parking lot there were more cars on hand than he had expected.

There was a good deal of laughter and friendly banter going on about the time and the snow as the pastor walked into Fellowship Hall. Eventually, fifty-six people showed up, almost all of them on time. It was obvious they were eager for something. So after a few minutes of coffee and rolls they settled down for their meeting, which turned out to be a surprising affair. The pastor shared with these dear people his burden for the church. They were not in a noticeable crisis, but they seemed to be in a time of spiritual sluggishness and indecisiveness, spending too much time on peripheral, institutional matters. Surely the Lord had something deeper and better for them.

A hush seemed to come over the group as they turned to John 17 to spend a few moments with Christ Jesus’ prayer for Himself and His church. Following this there was some further discussion and another time of free, open prayer. And when it was all done people left with shining faces, drawn together in the love of the Father and the Son.

John 17:1-12
17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
"Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
6 "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 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. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 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. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

Let's start this morning by looking at the circumstances of this prayer.

1. The Circumstances of the Prayer - Many times we read of Christ Jesus praying or going off to pray (sometimes He continued all night in prayer), but none of His prayers are recorded so fully as this one.

At the time Christ Jesus prayed this prayer: He was just hours from the cross. A final evening of instruction began in the upper room at mealtime, and Christ Jesus had explained to His disciples all the matters recorded in chapters 13-16 of this Gospel.

Foremost among the themes of the evening was the coming of the Holy Spirit and the continuing relationship the disciples would have with their Lord, even though He would be in heaven while they would extend His work on earth.

It was a prayer after the sacrament; after Christ Jesus and His disciples had eaten the Passover; now known as the Lord's Supper. He had explained what was going to happen, and now He closed with this prayer. Christ Jesus prayed that God would preserve them. He not only prayed for their preservation in a hostile world, He prayed for yours as well.

It was a prayer that was a preface to Christ Jesus' sacrifice which He was now about to offer on earth. He prayed specifically for the favors and blessings designed to be purchased by His death for those that were His. Christ prayed as a priest offering a sacrifice. A sacrifice of Himself.

It was a prayer that was an illustration of Christ Jesus' intercession, which He still make today for you and all believers from His throne at the right hand of God the Father. But He only does so if you are one of His, bought and paid for by His blood. Why not give into your pride or arrogance, or what ever and let Christ Jesus have control of your life today?

Throughout this entire prayer Christ Jesus made only two requests for Himself. “The deepest passion of the heart of Jesus was not the saving of men, but the glory of God; and then the saving of men, because that is for the glory of God.” - G. Campbell Morgan

2. Christ's Prayer for Himself (vs. 1-5)

Our Lord prayed as a man, and as the Mediator of His people; yet He spoke with majesty and authority, as one with and equal to the Father. When Christ Jesus lifted His eyes upward toward “home” to commune with the One who sent Him, He uses a tender family greeting, “Father” (v. 1). The whole prayer is spoken out of that living union which He has had with the Father throughout eternity. 

In this final hour, an hour which has been anticipated all through Christ Jesus’ ministry, He would do it in the glory of the Father. That glory is always initiated from above. It moves from the Father through the obedience and love of the Son to those who believe in Him, so that it may return back to the Father. All through Christ Jesus’ earthly ministry men had seen the glory of God. God's glory has been (fah'ee-no) or revealed as the incarnation; through His teaching and signs.

In His Incarnation the Son of God has been given authority over all flesh. So He had touched and transformed the common and the earthy—water has been turned into wine, a stormy sea has been quieted, the eyes of a blind man have been opened, and Lazarus has been raised from the dead. Through these signs, these acts of power in which the majesty of God had been (fah'ee-no), the disciples had come to know and trust the only true God and Christ Jesus whom He had sent. 

In verse 3 is a simple definition of faith in the midst of prayer. It is those who know that Christ Jesus has come from God who receive eternal life. They are a gift from the Father to the Son. Eternal life can not be given to believers, unless Christ Jesus both glorifies the Father, and is glorified of Him.

Again this is the sinner's way to eternal life, and when this knowledge is made perfect, holiness and happiness will be fully enjoyed. The holiness and happiness of the redeemed, are especially the glory of Christ Jesus, and of His Father, and is the joy set before Him. This is why Christ Jesus endured the cross and the shame; this glory; the redemption of mankind was the end of the sorrow of His soul, and in obtaining it He was fully satisfied.

So now Christ Jesus made a simple request—that the glory which He has had with the Father throughout all eternity would now be revealed in Him directly and openly. That through His death on the cross and being raised from the dead, the majesty and splendor of His Father has shine forth in power, not through signs, but in the reality of Christ Jesus, man/God! 

And get this, this request was not made for His own sake, but so that He might share this glory with His Father and manifest it among His disciples both past and present. He made this request for you. Won't you call on the name of the incarnate God today? Won't you call on the name of Christ Jesus and be saved from the death that sin brings?
 

Now the disciples who are with Christ Jesus are drawn into His prayer. They are affirmed and blessed as a people in whom Christ Jesus is glorified. The Father has called them out of the world and given them to the Son. As Christ Jesus had received and kept them, He had given them the Father’s name and revealed to them the nature of God.

3. His Prayer for His Disciples (vs. 6-12)

Christ Jesus prays for those that are His. “You gave them to me, as sheep to the shepherd, to be kept; as a patient to the physician, to be cured; as children to a tutor, to be taught.”

It should be a great satisfaction to you, in your reliance on Christ Jesus, that He…all He is and has, all He said and did, all He is doing and will do, are of God. Christ Jesus offered this prayer for His people, for believers; not for the world at large. He prayed for these eleven men He was leaving, not for the world. He loves the world and came to save it (John 3:16) and neither His love nor His purpose has changed, even though the world has turned away and rejected Him. As these men faithfully manifest Christ Jesus' glory and love, the world would be confronted and called to believe.

However no one who desires to come to the Father, and is conscious that he or she is unworthy to come in their own name, should be discouraged by the Saviour's declaration. Christ Jesus is both able and willing to save all that would come to God by Him. Again ALL who would come to God by Him can and will be saved. 

Christ Jesus had held nothing back. All the things His Father had given Him, the Son has shared with the disciples. As they had received His word and knew it is from God, they had believed He was sent by God. As they had come to know Christ Jesus as “Bread from heaven,” “the Light of the world,” the “Water which springs everlasting” and “the Resurrection and the Life,” they had been given His name, “I AM,” Yahweh, the Lord Himself!

Conclusion: In this high priestly prayer Christ Jesus has held nothing back from you, and He is asking the same of you. Don't hold back any longer, don't hold on to past sins, or past hurts, or past pride, or the past at all. Give it all to Christ Jesus today, let go and let Christ Jesus in.