March 26, 2023

Jesus Prays to Be Glorified; Jesus Prays for His Disciples; Jesus Prays for All Believers.

I added the picture above to the message I shared below.

[source: Biblegateway.com]

Jesus Prays to Be Glorified

1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour 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 know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing 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.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

6 “I have revealed you[a] 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[b] 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[c] that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you 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 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you[e] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
I added the picture above to the message I shared below.

[source: Christianity.com]

Commentary on John 17:1-5

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. Eternal life could not be given to believers, unless Christ, their Surety, both glorified the Father, and was glorified of him. This is the sinner's way to eternal life, and when this knowledge shall be made perfect, holiness and happiness will be fully enjoyed. The holiness and happiness of the redeemed, are especially that glory of Christ, and of his Father, which was the joy set before him, for which he endured the cross and despised the shame; this glory was the end of the sorrow of his soul, and in obtaining it he was fully satisfied. Thus we are taught that our glorifying God is needed as an evidence of our interest in Christ, through whom eternal life is God's free gift.

Commentary on John 17:6-10.

Christ prays for those that are his. Thou gavest them 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: thus he will deliver up his charge. It is a great satisfaction to us, in our reliance upon Christ, that he, all he is and has, and all he said and did, all he is doing and will do, are of God. Christ offered this prayer for his people alone as believers; not for the world at large. Yet no one who desires to come to the Father, and is conscious that he is unworthy to come in his own name, need be discouraged by the Saviour's declaration, for he is both able and willing to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God by him. Earnest convictions and desires, are hopeful tokens of a work already wrought in a man; they begin to evidence that he has been chosen unto salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. They are thine; wilt thou not provide for thine own? Wilt thou not secure them? Observe the foundation on which this plea is grounded, All mine are thine, and thine are mine. This speaks the Father and Son to be one. All mine are thine. The Son owns none for his, that are not devoted to the service of the Father.

Commentary on John 17:11-16

Christ does not pray that they might be rich and great in the world, but that they might be kept from sin, strengthened for their duty, and brought safe to heaven. The prosperity of the soul is the best prosperity. He pleaded with his holy Father, that he would keep them by his power and for his glory, that they might be united in affection and labours, even according to the union of the Father and the Son. He did not pray that his disciples should be removed out of the world, that they might escape the rage of men, for they had a great work to do for the glory of God, and the benefit of mankind. But he prayed that the Father would keep them from the evil, from being corrupted by the world, the remains of sin in their hearts, and from the power and craft of Satan. So that they might pass through the world as through an enemy's country, as he had done. They are not left here to pursue the same objects as the men around them, but to glorify God, and to serve their generation. The Spirit of God in true Christians is opposed to the spirit of the world.

Commentary on John 17:17-19

Christ next prayed for the disciples, that they might not only be kept from evil, but made good. It is the prayer of Jesus for all that are his, that they may be made holy. Even disciples must pray for sanctifying grace. The means of giving this grace is, "through thy truth, thy word is truth." Sanctify them, set them apart for thyself and thy service. Own them in the office; let thy hand go with them. Jesus entirely devoted himself to his undertaking, and all the parts of it, especially the offering up himself without spot unto God, by the eternal Spirit. The real holiness of all true Christians is the fruit of Christ's death, by which the gift of the Holy Ghost was purchased; he gave himself for his church, to sanctify it. If our views have not this effect on us, they are not Divine truth, or we do not receive them by a living and a working faith, but as mere notions.

Commentary on John 17:20-23

Our Lord especially prayed, that all believers might be as one body under one head, animated by one soul, by their union with Christ and the Father in him, through the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. The more they dispute about lesser things, the more they throw doubts upon Christianity. Let us endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, praying that all believers may be more and more united in one mind and one judgment. Thus shall we convince the world of the truth and excellence of our religion, and find more sweet communion with God and his saints.

Commentary on John 17:24-26

Christ, as one with the Father, claimed on behalf of all that had been given to him, and should in due time believe on him, that they should be brought to heaven; and that there the whole company of the redeemed might behold his glory as their beloved Friend and Brother, and therein find happiness. He had declared and would further declare the name or character of God, by his doctrine and his Spirit, that, being one with him, the love of the Father to him might abide with them also. Thus, being joined to Him by one Spirit, they might be filled with all the fulness of God, and enjoy a blessedness of which we can form no right idea in our present state.
Joseph Prince published June 13, 2012: Pastor Joseph Prince sermon - Keep Your Eyes On Jesus. What do you do when a storm comes blowing into your life? Keep your eyes on Jesus and walk above the storm! Join Joseph Prince in this uplifting message as he shows you the simplicity and power of keeping your eyes on Jesus. Learn from Bible names how beholding Jesus' beauty and love will drive out fear, cause you to ride effortlessly over the storm and transform you into His likeness. Begin to turn your eyes away from your circumstances and keep them fixed on the Son, and see Him do the impossible in and through you!

[source: versebyversecommentary.com]

1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,

Jesus and the apostles had by this time probably left the upper room and begun traveling to the Mount of Olives. Having finished the discourse, Jesus now offered a prayer of intercession:

He prayed for Himself (17:1-5)

He prayed for the apostles (17:6-19)

He prayed for all future believers (17:20-26)

This is the longest prayer by Jesus in the Bible. He prayed two things for Himself:

(1) that the Father would glorify His mission on earth (17:1-3), and

(2) that Jesus would return to His eternal glory after His mission (17:4-5).

Jesus spoke these words,

“These words” refers to John 16:33, where Jesus finished His discourse in the upper room with an affirmation of victory—which was a declaration of success for paying for sins by His death on the cross.

The gospel of John does not include the pericope of His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mt 26:36-46).

lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:

Jesus directed His prayer to where the Father was located. His gesture in prayer was to look to the sky to pray.

“Father,

Jesus addressed the “Father” three times in this prayer (Jn 17:5, 21, 24). He also used the terms “Holy Father” (v. 11) and “righteous Father” (v. 25). Jesus spoke as a Son to the Father.

the hour has come.

Previously Jesus had said several times that His hour had not come (Jn 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20). Now the time had arrived for Jesus to die on the cross to execute the plan of salvation. This was the “hour” that the Father planned from eternity, the time for Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of the world. There was an air of finality here. The entire ministry of Christ was to climax at the cross. This was the appointed hour of dramatic change that introduced a new dispensation and ushered out the old.

Glorify Your Son,

Jesus’ request to “glorify” the Son was to manifest to the world His work on the cross, the resurrection, and the restoring of His coronation to eternal glory.

that [purpose]

The word “that” shows the purpose of Jesus asking the Father to glorify Him—His glorification was not an end in itself; it was for the glorification of the Father.

Your Son also may glorify You,

The Son would glorify the Father by His work on earth. God’s glorious attributes were brought to focus at the cross, the resurrection, and the coronation of the Son in heaven. The ultimate end of the Son’s glorification is the glorification of the Father. The Son would glorify the Father by means of the cross.

PRINCIPLE:

There is a divine timetable for each believer.

APPLICATION:

Jesus lived on a divine timetable while on earth. The hour of His death was set in eternity past. He was the Lamb slain, arranged from the foundation of the world (Ga 4:4). Our times are also in God’s hands (Ps 31:15).

The mission of the Son equates with the overall purpose of God—that is, the glorification of God primarily and the salvation of man secondarily. We see the glory of Christ in both the cross and the crown. The world views the cross as something of shame, but Jesus deemed it as glory.

Jesus did not pray for Himself in a selfish way. He prayed that the will of the Father be done. He did not ask the Father to save Him from the cross but to glorify both the Father and Himself through it. The glory of the Son was also the glory of the Father. It was a prayer of sustaining grace.

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