Grace and
Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and
Savior sanctify you in the truth; for His word is truth. Amen
Seventh Sunday
of Easter (2010)
Jesus’ Prayer
for Us
John 17:20-26 (ESV)
"I do
not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their
word, [21] that they may all be one,
just 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 have sent me. [22] The glory that you have given me I have
given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, [23] I in them and you in me, that they may
become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved
them even as you loved me. [24] Father,
I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to
see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation
of the world. [25] O righteous Father,
even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you
have sent me. [26] I made known to them
your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you
have loved me may be in them, and I in them."
In the closing words of our
Lord’s High-Priestly prayer, the foreknowledge of Jesus sweeps down through the
ages and beholds multitudes coming to faith in Him through the Word of the
Apostles. The Word of the Apostles, that Word given to them by the Holy Spirit
and recorded in Holy Scripture, is the inspired Word of God, which is, “breathed
out by God” and is, “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16 ESV). It is
the very Word which God promises will not return to Him void; instead, it will
accomplish the purpose for which it was sent. It is the very power of God for
salvation. It produces and preserves faith. This Word, preached by the Apostles
and proclaimed by believers of all time brings souls into the God’s Kingdom so
they are no longer foreigners or strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God. Through this Word multitudes will believe in Jesus
as their Savior and confess that Jesus Christ as Lord and it is these
multitudes that our Lord Jesus presses to His heart and includes in His High-Priestly
prayer. In that vast throng of believers, in this communion of saints, in this
invisible Church, He sees you and me, who by His grace now rejoice in His
salvation. His prayer is of vital interest to us, for it embraces us. May God
in His grace remove all distracting thoughts and cares from our hearts, and
open them to hear, as we draw near and listen to our Lord as He, Prays for us.
Of all the believers for
whom Jesus prays, no two are the same. Each is unique and different and our
Lord’s love embraces and touches the hearts of all people of every sort and
condition from every race and nation. His prayer is that all who are brought to
faith may be one just as He and the Father are one. Therefore, the divine
essential unity of the Father and Son is to be the pattern for our unity in
Him. We are to be one; spiritually. Though our numbers are vast we are to be only
one unit, one body, one spiritual entity. However, this is contrary to our
individualistic character. Man is communal by nature, but at the same time, man
desires to be an individual; separate from the crowd. Thus, how does our Lord
expect us to be one with Him and the Father?
This blessed, spiritual, unity
is accomplished as believes are brought to faith by the saving Word of God; the
Gospel. This is the Word which was
proclaimed by the apostles and today is proclaimed by pastors of the apostolic
church. The apostle Paul makes this very point when he tell us how the
household of God is, “built on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20 (ESV).
Thus, this
foundation is none other than the saving, powerful Word that proclaims Jesus
Christ as the Son of God who willingly gave His life as a ransom for the sins
of the world, justifying all mankind before God. It is this saving Word,
through the working of the Holy Spirit that makes all believers members of the
body of Christ.
Furthermore, in bringing
about this unity with Him, our Lord Jesus gives us His glory. That glory is the indwelling of Jesus in our hearts, making us
partakers of His divine nature.
This unity, according to our
Lord’s High-Priestly prayer, is to be a perfect unity. His petition displays His
Will for growth in His Word, for just as faith is produced by His Saving Word,
so, too, the unity of faith is produced by His Word. As we grow in the Word, we
grow in the knowledge of the truth. As we grow in the truth, we are made into a
more perfect body, for the truth defends against errors that disrupt His
Church. This then is a prayer of protection against every deviation from the
Word of God. It is a prayer against every form of disruption in the Church. It
is a request that God will protect His Church against all false teaching and
uncharitable living. Jesus prays that we will cling closely to His Word and that
we will teach and practice in full accord with every precept of His Word, that
we will add nothing to, nor take anything from His all-sufficient, Saving Word.
He prays that we will bring every thought, every word, and every deed into full
harmony with His Word because, the more we are in harmony with His Word; the
more complete will be our unity with Him and with one another.
The Savior prays for true
unity in His Church so that the world might know that the Father has sent Him
into the world to be the Savior of all mankind (v. 23). He prays that all
mankind will come to truly know that God loves them as much as He loves His Son
and out of that love He sent His Son to save all mankind from their sin. Thus,
with the foreknowledge of God, Jesus sees into the future and He beholds Satan
misleading the followers of Christ through false prophets; agents of Satan who
seduce the faithful through a perversion of His Word. Through this perversion
these wolves in sheep’s clothing are able to sow the seeds of discord and
disunity, dividing the Church, disrupting the very unity our Lord prays for. He
sees Satan working in the hearts of the children of disobedience, pointing them
to this disunity in order to take advantage of the confusion and discord they
sow. Moreover, He sees unbelievers taking offense at the differences and
controversies in the Church, an offense that keeps them enslaved to the world.
The Savior also knows that the errors of believers will give unbelievers
occasion to doubt and ridicule the truth of God. This is the reason He prays
for unity in the Church, true unity based solely on His Word. Such genuine
oneness will not only remove the cause for offense, it will also be a powerful
witness to the world of the truth of the Gospel. Our Lord, Jesus knows that the
witness of His followers will be much more effective if all Christians would speak
with a united voice; the true voice of the apostles and the prophets. Because,
with such a united testimony, the words of each Christian will substantiate the
word of every other Christian, instead of confusing people by presenting conflicting
testimonies and doctrine.
The desire of our Lord Jesus
to unite all mankind unto Him is clear. Listen to His Word, “I
have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they
will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16
ESV). Therefore, it is obvious; our Lord wants all
people to believe in Him as their Savior and to receive Him as their Lord. He
wants all people to be drawn out of the world and into His loving arms where
salvation and peace await. This is why our Lord prays for unity in the Church.
On another note, our Savior
prays for unity because He wants believers to love each other just as the
Father loves the Son. Our Lord knows the world lacks love. He knows the world
is torn by discord and strife on every hand. Thus, He wants the world to know
that there is a divinely selected group in the world where true love exists and
is practiced. Moreover, our Lord wants the world to know that this love is a
rare gift and that the people ruled by such love are a most unusual group of
people. Curious about this gift, the world will be attracted by such love, and they
will be moved to inquire about it. To these inquires then Christians can
lovingly answer; “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19 (ESV). And, “See
what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children
of God” (1 John 3:1 ESV). And again, “We, ‘have tasted that the Lord
is good’ (1 Peter 2:3 ESV). We know Him as our loving Father, who
forgives all our sins and saves us by the merit of His one and only Son, Jesus
Christ. He has given us faith to believe and He has filled our hearts with His
love. This is why we are happy in faith and why we love Him and each other. Thus,
the Savior prays for unity, so that the Church might be more perfectly one, and
that the members of the Church might bear a more powerful witness to the love
of God in Christ Jesus and for His Church.
The mere fact that our
Savior on that dark and woeful night, when so many things were lying heavy on
His heart, felt the need to plead with His Father for true unity in the Church
ought to impress us the importance of such unity. Can we not see how sinful in
His sight the disunity, the strife, the discord, and the splits are in the
Church? Can we not see how it displeases Him when those who bear His name
deviate from His Word and thus hurt the cause of His Church by giving
unbelievers occasion to ridicule the divisions in the Church? How important
then is it that we grow in the knowledge of the truth, that we cling to His
Word, that we avoid every false way, and that we work for true unity in the Church?
It is for this that Jesus prays.
In His prayer for the
Church, Jesus also prays that all whom the Father has, “given me, may be with me where I
am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the
foundation of the world” (v. 24). Jesus knows His time has come and His
deep humiliation will soon be over and that He will be exalted to heaven’s
glory. Therefore, He prays that all believers might be lifted from the
lowliness of earth to exaltation in heaven. This
truth He revealed to the apostle John when He said, “The one who conquers, I will
grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my
Father on his throne” (Rev. 3:21 ESV). Thus, for this cause He is ready
to lay down His life on the altar of the Cross and therefore, He prays for the
glorification of those whom the Father will give to Him. That He might see the
fruit of His suffering, death, and resurrection, He asks the Father to preserve
believers in the faith until they would finally be taken to eternal glory.
When our Lord prays that all may see His glory, He
states that this is His will; He wants all those who have been given to Him by
the Father to be with Him. This prayer request is in accord with the Father’s
will, who wants, “all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1
Tim. 2:4 ESV). Thus, there is a perfect unison between the Father and
the Son and the will of one is the will of the other. Moreover, because of His
perfect obedience to the Father and because of the great love they share with
each other, our Lord is certain that His petition for our glorification will be
accomplished.
Our Lord’s High-Priestly prayer reaches back into all
eternity, encompassing the eternal love of God, and it includes all men from
the beginning of time while it also looks forward to the Last Day, to the
blessedness which shall be ours on that day. But, until that time, our Lord
prays that the love of the Father for the Son and the love of the Son for the
Father will be our love as we are in Him and He is in us. Thus, we pray that
all that our Lord prays for us will
come to fruition and we shall be among those who are united in Him and united
with each other in His holy and precious Word for all eternity. Amen
May the Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.