A Tour Through John, Lesson 29

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.The entire chapter is a prayer. This falls into three parts:Prayer for himself (vv.1-5).Prayer for his disciples (vv.6-19).Prayer for the world -- future believers (vv.20-26).The order is crucial:Jesus' training of his disciples would have been a failure had he not given top priority to his own spirituality.Getting the message out to the world is impossible unless the messengers remain holy. They must continue to live in obedience to the Word.Then and only then will the world hear. The goal is not only conversion, but unity (vv.22-23).17:1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. The hour has come (v.1).Throughout the Gospel of John it has been on the way (2:4; 7:6,8,30; 8:20), and now it is here (12:23,27-28,31-32; 13:1,31).It will culminate with Jesus' final words "It is finished" (19:30).3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.Jesus prays for himself (vv.1-5).His purpose -- the goal -- is that God may be glorified; this takes place when we finish the work he is given us to do (v.4). See 4:34.This work is to make eternal life (knowledge of God) accessible to as many as possible (vv.2-3).Now he looks forward to rejoining the Father in the eternal glory enjoyed before the incarnation (v.5). This is another verse indicating not only Jesus' preexistence but his divinity.In Part I of the prayer, Jesus has prayed for himself. It is not wrong to pray for our own needs; to pray to be strong and loyal and loving. 6 “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. Jesus has revealed God's name to his disciples (v.6). This refers to the holy nature of God.He has made God's name (his nature--see Exodus 34:5-7) known to this followers. This is what we are also called to do, in our evangelism, and in fact any time we teach about God.He returns to this theme at the end of the prayer (v.26).9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them in your name thatyou have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost,so that the scripture might be fulfilled. We can be protected by God's name:Not as by a lucky charm, saint's medal, or magical prophylactic, butBy sharing in God's holiness, appreciating his nature, and being conformed to the image of Christ.Note: "The one destined to be lost" (v.12) is literally "the son of perdition." What does this mean? In Semitic speech, "son of" has four different meanings:Being literally the son of a father or mother.Being a member of a group, as in a "son of the prophets," as in 2 Kings 9:1 ("And Elisha the prophet hath called to one of the sons of the prophets..." YLT, "The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets..." NIV). This doesn't mean that one's father was a prophet. Another familiar example is Psalm 8:4, where "son of man" simply means a mortal; it has no different meaning then "man."Having a certain character, as in Psalm 57:4: "My soul is among lions; I must lie among those who breathe forth fire, Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword" NAS.Marked for a certain destiny, as in 2 Samuel 12:5 ("And the anger of David burneth against the man exceedingly, and he saith unto Nathan, 'Jehovah liveth, surely a son of death {is} the man who is doing this" YLT; 2 Thessalonians 2:3 ("let not any one deceive you in any manner, because -- if the falling away may not come first, and the man of sin be revealed -- the son of the destruction" YLT).13 But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.Jesus prays for his followers (vv.6-19):Not to be worldly.To be protected from the evil one.To have joy.To follow his Word, to be sanctified (made holy) by it (v.17).In Part II of the prayer, Jesus has prayed for his immediate circle -- those whom he is mentoring.We should do the same.Who is in our circle of influence?Are we being intentional?20 “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one -- 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.Jesus prays for future believers (vv.20-26).He has no doubt that his church will be built. His first prayer is for their unity, for that itself is a powerful testimony to the world.His wish is that they will know the Father.Notice the love within the Trinity in time eternal (v.24).25 “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”The "name" in verse 26 is not God's name (Yahweh or Jesus Christ or any other phrase), but God's true nature and character.In Part III of his prayer, Jesus has prayed for the world -- for those who will be reached by the apostles' message.Our concern, too, should ripple out in ever-larger circles. "Think globally, act locally."Notice about this prayer:All three areas of 15:1-17 are covered -- producing, learning, loving.The prayer is roughly Trinitarian: relationship with Father, effect of friendship with the Son on the apostles, power of the Spirit working through them to build and unify a people of God.The next verse after this chapter (18:1) shows us that after this prayer Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley (walking east) and entered Gethsemane. (Nothing is said about the Gethsemane prayer which features in the synoptic accounts.)Thought questions:Do I strive to bring glory to God by finishing the work he has given me to do?Do I pray for my own spirituality, for those I am helping spiritually, and for the evangelization of the world?Am I trying to be sanctified apart from the Word, or do I realize that God's Word is the sanctifying truth? Does my devotion to it reflect this conviction?