The Lord’s Prayer: To God
be the Glory!
John 17:1-5
Introduction: If I were to ask you the
Lord’s prayer most of you could recite it. In some traditions its referred to
as the “Our Father,” as it begins with those words in the English language.
"In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your
name. 10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done On earth as it is in
heaven. 11 Give us this day
our daily bread. 12 And
forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into
temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the
power and the glory forever. Amen. (Matthew
6:9-13).
But there Jesus was teaching his
disciples to pray. The most extensive example of a prayer of Jesus himself is
found here, in John 17. Some commentators from the past have made a point of
the depth, eloquence, and beauty of this chapter. On the surface it is a kind
of transitional chapter, as it echoes some of the themes Jesus has been
teaching his disciples in the preceding discourse, and also anticipates the
unfolding story of His betrayal, passion, and resurrection to follow.
·
John Knox
said, “The 17th chapter of the Gospel of John, is, without doubt, the most
remarkable portion of the most remarkable book in the world…”
·
Melanchthon,
the reformer said: “There is no voice which has ever been heard, either in
heaven or in earth, more exalted, more holy, , more fruitful, more sublime,
than this prayer offered up by the Son of God himself.”
·
J.C. Ryle
said, “The chapter we have now begun is the most remarkable in the Bible. It stands alone, and there is nothing like
it.”
We’ll take three weeks to look at this
chapter as we see Jesus praying for himself (and his mission and the Father’s
glory), for his disciples, and for all subsequent believers (including us!).
Some people have such intimate fellowship with the Father, aren't you
just blessed to pray with them? I've had
several such acquaintances through the years. What a profound privilege it is
to listen in, as the Lord Jesus Christ himself prays to the Father. What a convicting thought to consider that
Jesus found prayer necessary yet we so easily see it as something that we can
fall back on as a last resort when there is nothing else we can do. Have you ever said, “well I can’t really do
anything, at least I can pray!” That is the foundation that should under gird every choice, every action of our Christian life. First and most importantly we
should pray, and then God will often allow us to be part of the answer as we
put feet on our prayers to act.
The Big Idea: Jesus prayed to the Father, submitting to His will
and seeking His glory. Because of Him, we who are in Christ can and should do
the same.
I.
JESUS SET AN EXAMPLE OF PRAYER
(17:1). We’ve seen several times in this section of John Jesus inviting his
disciples to pray, and assuring them that the Father would hear and answer. Now
He teaches by example…
Think of it, Jesus
prayed: “Jesus spoke these words, lifted
up His eyes to heaven…” We have examples throughout the gospels of exactly
this same truth: Jesus, during his earthly ministry, regularly and consistently
spent time in prayer. He prayed before every key event and action of his life. Often we are simply told that he prayed, this is one prayer that is reported in some detail,
but it is exactly that kind of intimate, personal, communion with the Father
that Jesus experienced. The obvious question for us: if it was important for
Jesus to pray, how much more important and necessary is it for us to pray?
Secondly, notice that Jesus
prayed to the Father: “…lifted his eyes toward heaven, and said,
‘Father’…” When Jesus taught His
disciples to pray, He also instructed them to pray to the Father: “Our Father
in Heaven…” John in his Gospel presupposes
a right understanding of God: Father, Son, and Spirit. We sing it most weeks in
the Doxology: “Praise God from whom all blessing flow, praise Him all creatures
here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts, praise Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost.” It is important to remember
that Jesus never speaks of His relationship with the Father as being the same
as that of his followers to the Father. He is uniquely “THE SON,” not
merely a son or a child of God in the same sense that we are.
Jesus prayed that the
Father’s plan would be accomplished in His life in the Father’s time: “Father, the hour has come…” Repeatedly in John we’ve been reminded that
the clock was ticking, “it was not yet His hour” but “the hour was approaching.”
God had a plan that had to be fulfilled. It was necessary. It included the
Cross. Remember in the disciples’ prayer
Jesus said we should pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as
it is in heaven…” The hour has been
approaching as the cross draws nearer. A
key transitional verse was John 13:1 “Now before the feast of the Passover, when
Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world
to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved…” Jesus was
fully submitted to and committed to the Father’s plan.
Jesus prayed that God
might be glorified in Him and through Him “…glorify
Your Son that Your Son may glorify You…” For Jesus to be “glorified” in
John, He would be lifted up – “As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up…” John repeatedly echoes that
paradoxical truth, the double entendre of
the “lifting up” of the Son. It anticipates his physical “lifting up” on the
cross but also views that act as His exaltation, as the Scriptures are
fulfilled and the unfolding events vindicate his claim to be the Messiah.
Now remember the context: Jesus has
spoken to his disciples about the hatred of the world that would inevitably
come, and the certainty of trouble and tribulation that would surely be
experienced. He was going to the cross, but even as He called his disciples He
cautioned them to consider the cost: “If anyone would be my disciple, let him
deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me…”
The Father is glorified
as Jesus exercises His authority to save: “…your
Son also may glorify you…” As the Father’s plan is carried out in human
history, He will be glorified. Some of the manuscripts end the “disciples’
prayer” with the doxology, “Yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory,
forever, Amen.” Jesus prayed to the Father submitting to His will and
seeking His glory. Because of Him, we who are in Christ can and should do the
same.
II. THOUGH
HE HAS ALL AUTHORITY, JESUS PRAYED: “… even
as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him,
He may give eternal life” (17:2). Jesus will say to his disciples after the
resurrection, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, go
therefore and make disciples…” Think about this context, He has all authority
and we are called on to pray in Jesus name! That truth was stated prophetically
in Psalm 2:8 were the Lord said to the anointed: “Ask of
Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of
the earth for Your possession.” Also
remember, He has all authority, and we are invited to ask in His
name:
Jn 14:13-14 "And whatever you ask in My name, that I
will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ‘If you ask anything in
My name, I will do it.”
Jn 15:7-8 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide
in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 "By this My Father is
glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Jn 15:16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you
and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in
My name He may give you.
Jn 16:23-24 Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask
the Father in My name He will give you. 24
"Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will
receive, that your joy may be full.
If praying means asking the
Father in the name of Jesus, the one who has all authority in Heaven and on
Earth, one truth Jesus is urging on His disciples (and on us!) is to pray! This
is not an invitation to look at God as an Amazon.com gift card with an
inexhaustible balance. Prayer is
related to God’s mission, and God’s mission is about people and ultimately the
glory of God. As His
mission is carried out the gospel is preached, the elect believe, disciples are
built up, and God receives the Glory. And if
Jesus prayed to the Father submitting to
His will and seeking His glory how much
more should we? And because of Him we
who are in Christ can and should do
the same.
III.
JESUS PRAYED, AND OFFERS US A LIVING RELATIONSHIP THAT WILL GIVE US IMMEDIATE ACCESS
TO THE FATHER: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (17:3).
The language here is clear: the heart of the
life that God has offered us through faith in Christ is an authentic, personal,
relationship with God. Knowing the Father, through the Son. In Portuguese I had trouble at first
distinguishing two different verbs that were used to translate the English word
“to know.” One had the sense of knowing the facts about something, the other
was more about “knowing personally, intimately.” That is what this context is
referring to. Not just knowing the facts about God, but knowing Him personally,
being in a real relationship with Him.
Knowing
the Father, and the Son are connected once again. “That they may know you, and Jesus Christ,
who you have sent…” The word choice here translated “sent” is the verb, apostello, “sent (with a mission).”
Jesus came not simply to visit us, but He had a mission to accomplish. Another
reminder that the pinnacle of that mission was at hand as His hour, the hour of
His lifting up, was at hand. This is the
Jesus who prayed to the Father, submitting to His will and seeking His glory.
Because of Him, we who are in Christ can and should do the same.
IV.
JESUS PRAYED, AND HE DID THE WORK THAT WILL ALLOW US TO APPROACH THE THRONE: “I glorified
You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do”
(17:4). Some work was still future.
But an unalterable chain of events had already been set in motion. Judas had
gone out, betrayal, arrest, a mockery of a trial, injustice, and yes,
substitution and redemption would soon follow.
From the Cross He would finally say, “It is finished…” TETELESTAI – the word which was stamped
on receipts and contracts when a debt had been paid in full and an obligation
satisfied. That part was still future, but it was an assured fact. Jesus had
been faithful, sinless, revealing truth and grace, and because of Him, we too
can approach the throne. Not because of what I am, but because of what you’ve
done, not because of what I’ve done, but because of who you are. Its all about
Him and what He has done. This is the Jesus
who prayed to the Father, submitting to His will and seeking His glory. Because
of Him, we who are in Christ can and should do the same.
V.
THOUGH HE SHARED THE FATHER’S GLORY, JESUS PRAYED: “Now, Father, glorify Me together with
Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (17:5).
This speaks to the
unique identity of Jesus, and his eternal relationship with the Father. The
reader of the Gospel encountered this truth before even hearing the name of
Jesus: John 1:1-2 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. 2
He was in the beginning with God.” Eternal God, God the Son, became a human and dwelt for awhile among us. The One who spoke and created the universe humbled himself, taking the form of a servant and being made in the likeness of men. And he prayed. Will you?
What is God saying to me in this passage? Jesus prayed to the
Father, submitting to His will and seeking His glory. Because of Him, we who
are in Christ can and should do the same.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Pray… In this world of trouble, we come to the Father, in the Name of the
Son, submitting to His will, seeking His glory.
- We are to pray for those in authority.
- We are to pray for God’s mission to be carried out in the world.
- We are to pray for the mission field to which we are sent, those in our sphere of influence. Have you identified some people around you, family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors, for whom you can pray? Commit to praying for them daily, and ask God to give you an opportunity to give a reason for the hope that is in you.
- Consider hosting a “viewing party” for the Bible mini-series event on the History Channel on Sunday evenings in the month of March. Free party hosting kits are available at www.bibleparties.com
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