[Transcript represents full sermon's text]

       Our arrival today brings us to likely one of favorite parts of the New Testament, and assuredly when considering John’s Gospel as a whole. Commonly, the prayer has come to be known as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. The words come to us at the climax of Jesus’ time spent on the earth, and really, at the end of the day, represents the transition from Jesus’ earthly ministry for the Jewish people to the sacrifice he is making for the whole world, for all the people around the entirety of the earth. God is going to make it possible for anyone, anywhere to believe for the forgiveness of sins, and to live forever with him, to be restored in right relationship with him. That problem which began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve is about to rectified, a pathway will be made for anyone to come to God, no matter what their background. Indeed, the people of the world had originally turned against God, and now God is about to give them a second chance. Do you believe in second chances? That’s really what the world is being given here as their offer. Jesus is going to talk about the disciples, and the fact that they are going to share this message, and at the same time, the need protected from Satan while doing that. There’s so much that can be discussed, and without further ado, let’s go ahead and dive right into it.

       John chapter 17, starting in verse 1: “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (ESV).

       At the beginning of the prayer, Jesus notes “the hour has come.” For sure, the event of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was something that God had pre-fixed to happen at this point, and it certainly was going to happen. It wasn’t open to possibly happening by this point in time. Indeed, the Apostle Paul will later tell us that God had this whole plan in place before the foundation of the world. And this plan is now coming to pass. Of course, it didn’t have to be this way. Adam and Eve didn’t have to sin in the Garden of Eden. The world didn’t have to continually choose wrong. The Israelites of old didn’t have to go on the path that they have found themselves collectively as a whole. But this is what it has all come down to—down to the Son of God dying on a cross to pay for the sins of the whole human race, past, present, and future. Even for those who have not and will not end up in personal relationship with the Jewish God. This sacrifice of Jesus will make it possible for anyone who decides it to come to God through Jesus Christ. The whole thing of Jesus dying on the cross in our place glorifies God. It glorifies God because it is what he wanted Jesus to do. It glories God because it shows that God is righteous, and full of love. It fulfills the earlier verse of “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV). It shows that God is the One who has provided a way for individuals to get out of their mess. No other god has done that. Satan hasn’t done that. Only the Jewish God has done this.

       Jesus’ authority encompasses “all flesh” so that anyone can be saved, can be saved. Again, and this has already be stated, it wasn’t that Jesus was dying for a certain exclusive group of persons. It wasn’t only for those called ‘elect.’ That is, God doesn’t elect only certain people to become saved, as if people had no free-choice in the matter. Otherwise, Jesus’ death wouldn’t glorify him, because, after all, Jesus would have no choice himself but to go to the cross. Rather, the choice is being made to freely go to the cross so that anyone can choose freely to believe in God, and have forgiveness for their sins. Anyone who therefore comes to Christ, Christ in turn has the ability to give them eternal life, to even secure it for them. It’s not a wishy-washy thing, wherein individuals who come to Christ don’t know for sure whether or not they are going to obtain that eternal life. One doesn’t have to live in fear that they might ‘lose it,’ that is, lose their salvation. Jesus just said, “you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.” That means once a person believes, the guarantee of salvation comes from him, and not from the person who has believed. It’s a terrific setup. It takes fear out of the equation and gives us full assurance of faith for the future that we will be saved, that we will spend all of eternity with God forever in the next life.

       Specifically, what is this eternal life? What is Jesus talking about? The definition is presented right in the text. He says, “that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Thus, the core foundation of eternal life is simply knowing God, knowing God. It’s that simple. Nothing complex about it. Listen to other ways, other religions, and the pathway might seem to get complex. Consider false Christian sects, like Mormonism, and pathway can get very complex. Actually, though, it comes down to the fact that the sole reason for our existence as human beings is to be in relationship with God. That’s it. That’s the sole reason. Great searches are made, people contemplate, and they try to figure it. What is life’s meaning? What is life about? are common questions. Well, in our text today, that question receives its answer. No further pondering about it needs to take place in the mind of man. It’s right in the text.

       Verse 4: “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (ESV).

       Demonstrated for us is how one glorifies God in their life. We just learned that we now have life in God—eternal life—to be with God forever. Now Jesus is discussing God being glorified. Sure, Jesus’ death on the cross is going to glorify God. But it’s not just that. Everything God the Son has done up and to this point, all of his obedience, has brought glory to God. That’s how God was shown to be right, shown to be the correct God, shown to be full of grace and truth, shown to be the One, loving, True God. The beautiful thing is, is that we ourselves get to participate in the very same thing in our lives. We are called ourselves to glorify God as Jesus himself did. Perhaps not in the same steps, or even with an excruciating death, but we glorify God in our lives by doing good, by doing works, in God’s name. There’s nothing fanciful we have to do. It’s not that we have to appear to be religious. It’s not that we have to go through a series of church observances, or do a mission here, or mission there, or gain enough brownie points that everyone thinks great things about us. It’s simply doing what Jesus told us to do: love God and love others. It’s that simple. When we do that as a Christian we glorify God, even though a lot of us probably aren’t even self-aware or self-conscious of this on a daily basis. We are probably looking at the big things, thinking to ourselves, ‘What big things have I done for God?’ And some are thinking, “Wow. I haven’t done anything big for God.” Well, the good news today is that you actually already have done big things for God. We do big things in God’s eyes, we glorify him, when we show love how we should show love. Again, it’s that simple. Nothing complex here.

       The verse from Hebrews has undoubtedly come to our minds, which says as pertains to Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (ESV). This was Jesus’ attitude when facing all that he was about to face. He peered toward that happiness that would be his afterward, and didn’t set his focus on the current tribulation of it all. The writer of Hebrews informs us he “endured the cross, despising the shame.” That means the whole thing wasn’t easy. It wasn’t an easy cup to accept. Yet, he fixed his eyes on what would come afterward. That was his way through the whole thing. That was his way of escape, as Paul talked about with the Corinthians, that he was able to endure the whole thing. Jesus knew that after it was all over, the blessings were going to be billions upon billions, trillions upon trillions. He knew that many individuals would choose to believe. Many Jewish person had already believed, and it was only a mathematical certainty that many more would believe, and as God promised Abraham, many Gentiles would believe as well. He understood that he would be seated again at God’s right hand as God. He knew the he was going to get to design places for each of his disciples, and design a whole new world which was to come in the future. A time would be coming where the whole world would be made sin-free. First, in the Millennial Kingdom where he would have the opportunity to reign as King (that thing which Satan originally tried to give him in exchange for his Godship), and that after that he would be in the New Heaven and New Earth, a whole new world, a whole new Universe. Incredible stuff to look forward to, and stuff of which we ourselves now look forward to.

       Verse 6: “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me” (ESV).

       If we recall, we discussed this whole concept of the way the setup was originally under the Jewish Law to what they were now becoming under the New Convent. To refresh our memories, under the Jewish Law, people obviously went to God directly. That’s how they came to know him. So, when Jesus speaks as pertains to God giving those who were his to him, that’s what he’s referring to. It can be easy to misunderstand these verses to be speaking of some kind of pre-election, as if there were certain individuals who were chosen by the Father and then brought into relationship with Jesus. But that’s not what’s going on. What’s going on is a noting of the transition that is taking place. It’s the same as the fact that all authority is soon going to be granted to Jesus. The phrase regarding the disciples when Jesus says “they have kept your word” is likely referring to the old system, the Jewish Law. Right after that, he says “Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.” This would represent the new things Jesus has been talking about—those of which are going to be part of the New Covenant. He follows that by saying, “For I have given them the words that you gave me.” Everything Jesus spoke was from the Father, for he and the Father were One, and are One. To transition from the old system to the new system, the disciples had to believe Jesus was the Christ, and that they did. They have embraced that truth. And so they are going to experience all the good that is to come.

       Verse 9: “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one” (ESV).

       Let us call to our attention, first, that Jesus is not praying for the world. Now, why would he say that? What would his meaning be behind that? It could be easy to assume that he is against the world, or doesn’t love them, or has given up on them. The real reasons seems to be that for this moment in time, for this prayer of intercession we might call it, his focus is specifically on the disciples. That’s who he wants to focus on, and give his attention to. He knows they are about to undergo tremendous temptation, and it’s going to be a psychological rollercoaster for them. No doubt exists regarding that. In fact, we know later he will pray for the unbelievers surrounding him, as that will be one of his last words spoken near his death. Kind of startling it is, second, to note that Jesus says “I am glorified in them,” that is, in the disciples. To think that our lives have the purpose to cause Jesus to be glorified. Sure, we hear that, but when we really stop and consider what that means, it’s a profound thing. To actually cause the Son of God to have glory depends on us, depends on the actions we take, depends on what we do and what we don’t do. To bring God glory. It doesn’t seem a lot of us ever make that connection, or realize the importance of living an honoring and praiseworthy life. We should want Christ to be more and more glorified by our behavior. That, in turns, means we don’t want to do anything then that would cause the opposite, that would cause Christ to be dishonored.

       Jesus points out, “I am no longer in the world.” This appears to refer to the fact that his earthly ministry has officially ended. It’s over. The Jews have had pretty much all the direct opportunity they are going to get from God himself in order to believe. God was so very kind to give them that face-to-face opportunity, and certainly, some people took him up on it. But a lot of people didn’t. There’s unquestionably a great number of individuals on the side who didn’t. That’s unfortunate. And it’s also unfortunate that a lot of persons still make the wrong choice today. They deliberately choose not to believe when faced with the truth. For the love of their sin they don’t want to give it up, in whatever manifestation that sin is making itself apparent. Perhaps they want to be loved by everyone in the world. Whatever it is, they don’t give up their sin. Nevertheless, the disciples will be left to live out their callings, their lives, among, at least some persons who don’t want them there. They don’t want them around, and don’t want them to be doing what they will be doing. Jesus knows that. That’s why he’s praying for them. He desires for them to have as smooth of a time as possible, and hopefully the prayer will tone it down a little bit. The truth is, though, that suffering is going to come, and a lot of the suffering from their own people, the Israelites. They are going to come against them just as they have come against Jesus. It’s only common sense that they will. It’s an easy mathematical equation.

       The prayer then shifts to the request for the disciples that God will keep them himself, and that they will be one, as he and the Father are One. This is tuff, this is tuff, and surely it’s something that Satan himself has focused a great deal of his attention on over the years—probably more so past the Biblically recorded times. During the time of the original Apostles, there were some individuals who were coming into the church trying to bring in heresy to divide the people of God. We know those individuals as the pre-Gnostic folks (we talked about this a bit during the Colossians series). Those folks, particularly, sought to remove the God-ness, if you will, from Jesus Christ. They tried to say he hadn’t come in human flesh because a god would never dwell in something corruptible like human flesh. We remember that. It looks like as time went on, over the centuries and centuries, that Satan gained further and further traction through dividing up the church through the introduction of false doctrines. Probably chief in our minds is what happened in 1054 A.D. when the Roman Catholic Church emerged and the Eastern Orthodox Christians went a separate way. Then, we understand that circumstances got more and more out of hand and God used Martin Luther in the latter 1500s to stir things up. And out of that came a rebound, if you will, and many protestant ways were formed. Those ways have led to a vasty variety of Christian sects, all the way up the current Evangelical church in America.

       In modern times, say, in the last 20 years or so, there has been more of a move to centralize Christianity around the world. And that’s likely come from the opposition brought forth with certain social issues, which, are not just American issues obviously, but affect most parts of the Western World, and even some parts of the Eastern. They are worldwide really. The move toward a more collective picture of the church appears more in line with what Jesus originally desired, and that which is recorded here for us today in John 17. God himself is ecumenical, and the more and more specific a church feels their beliefs to be the exclusive, correct beliefs, the more and more further it seems that that group of believers has fallen into pride. That goes for any church. It appears the more ecumenical in mind a group of believers are, the closer to God’s heart they are. We discussed in studying John chapter 2 that one of Jesus’ pet-peeves looks to be legalistic religion, and he sought to go against those rules. In the last 20 years or so, with the emergence of the seeker churches as they have come to be called, that appears to be the ‘thought process’ if you will, that God wants believers to have. He doesn’t want exclusive, “My way is the correct way” church denominations. Having specific beliefs obviously isn’t bad (for the speaker himself has specific beliefs and so do many of you); it only becomes bad when we say those specific beliefs are actually the real, correct beliefs. One can always tell where a teacher or minister stands by how he or she speaks, how they phrase their own beliefs. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

       Verse 12: “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves” (ESV).

       While Jesus was on the earth, he guarded his disciples, and a lot of this ‘guarding’ probably came through the form of prayer. Ah, the importance of prayer. Remember, Jesus told his disciples to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13, ESV). Prayer can keep Satan and his demons at bay. It can have an effect on the plans they wish to carry out against us. And then comes the great debate regarding Judas Iscariot. The debate goes, ‘Was Judas saved or wasn’t he saved? Did he lose his salvation?’ Coming to mind was this discussion way back, way back in the early days of being a Christian. It seems it may have even been asked of a close Bible teacher at that time. Some persons think Judas never was saved, and that he was just a person like whom the Apostle John would later speak of, when he said, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19, ESV). The problem there is that we know he, Judas, cast out demons and performed healings, as Matthew chapter 10 tells us. Yet, perhaps that’s not a problem because maybe one doesn’t really need to be saved in order to do that, as Jesus may have suggested on another occasion. Anyway, the Armenians would say, “Yes, of course he was saved, but he lost his salvation.” That would be another view. Actually, though, the preferred answer appears to be, and this one is the most satisfying in the speaker’s opinion, is that we are looking at a different dispensation during this time. That is, during this time, before the cross, a person could in effect believe, be part of the group, and then not be. It was before the individual sealing of the believer by the Holy Spirit, which ensures our salvation.

       Jesus mentions that the loss of Judas was “that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” This can draw concern among folks that Judas therefore was predestined to be lost, that God does indeed choose who will be saved and who will be lost, and that this verse in fact is evidence to that. Really, it would seem better to see it as there was an Old Testament Scripture that perhaps pointed to this event around the cross, and that Judas happened to be the one who fulfilled it. The actual verse from the Old Testament, in Psalm 109, does not say anything about it being the specific person Judas Iscariot. Surely, had Judas not done what he did, someone else would have. Many disciples followed Jesus, not just the Twelve, and so it would have been a mathematical certainty that the Pharisees would have been able to deceive someone to do this wicked deed. Remember, behind it all was Satan anyway with supernatural power, and he would have used his supernatural power to work against someone, to try to get them on his side. Again, it’s best to see it that Judas wasn’t forced to do what he did because of some Old Testament writing, but rather he happened to be the one who did what God said somebody was going to do.

       Regardless, Jesus is saying all these things to the disciples before it all happens—before the giving of the Holy Spirit—so that they will be encouraged. He wants them to have joy, as John records Jesus speaking in his prayer. The disciples therefore by trusting in Christ’s words, have that option. We know, though, like we often do ourselves, that they aren’t going to take it. A spirit of upset will set in due to what is about to happen, and they will stay upset for a while. No understanding is present regarding what is happening even though Jesus has given them every opportunity to understand it. Peter, along with the rest of them, are going to abandon Jesus.

       Our final verses for today. Verse 14: “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (ESV).

       When the disciples of Jesus didn’t follow the crowd, didn’t follow what the unbelieving Jews were doing (in coming against Jesus), those unbelieving Jews didn’t like them. They didn’t like Jesus, and Jesus notes that they don’t like them either, the disciples. Whether the disciples realize this at this point is uncertain, but probably not. Yet, within verse 14, we see the famous line, “they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” That’s the mindset we always want to keep, as believers, in that we are not too attached to this world. That can be an easy thing to do, especially for us as twenty-first century Americans. It’s not wrong to enjoy the world, but we really need to be in the world, but not of it. It’s important to have that mindset, to have all things surrendered. Jesus doesn’t pray that the Father Rapture the disciples out of the world, for he could have, and the verse seems to imply that. It appears to give a nod to the Rapture that will occur one day. Rather, he prays instead that the Father keep them in the world, and that he protect them from Satan and his demons. Just as he himself had done, and just as he mentioned in his own prayer for the disciples that we just brought up a minute ago. The truth is, when we become a Christian, when we make that free-choice, we become part of God’s family, and we are no longer counted as citizens with the people of the world, those individuals who are still ruled by the sin-nature. We come out of that so that we now of the choice to live a righteous life before God on the earth. We are aware, experientially, that this is true, and we can see it in our fellow believers, that they are different, that they aren’t like everyone else anymore.

- Daniel Litton