With the cross approaching, Jesus pauses in John 17 to pray his longest prayer in all of the Scriptures. Therein, we are privileged to listen to the inner dialogue of the Trinity as God the Son speaks to God the Father. Many Bible commentators have called this prayer the Holy of Holies. Arguably the richest of Jesus’ prayers, it unfolds with such breadth and depth that Bible students and teachers have been awestruck by its majesty ever since, including the legendary nineteenth-century Irish preacher and friend of the great evangelist D. L. Moody, Marcus Rainsford, who penned a book of more than four hundred pages expounding Jesus’ great prayer. Before proceeding to examine what many refer to as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, we must thank Jesus’ friend and disciple John for faithfully recording Jesus’ prayer by the enablement of God the Holy Spirit. This prayer does not appear in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and is recorded in John’s gospel alone. Had he not included Jesus’ prayer, we would be without any record of this great moment in world history. Regarding the place of Jesus’ prayer in John 17, one Bible commentator has written,
It is by far the longest prayer of Jesus recorded in any Gospel and comes at a strategic time in Jesus’ ministry, sandwiched, as it were, between his final instructions to his closest followers and his passion. Jesus’ parting prayer affords us a rare glimpse into his consciousness and perspective on his imminent suffering. Once the prayer is ended, the final events of Jesus’ earthly life ensue in rapid succession: the arrest (18:1–11); the Jewish and Roman trials (18:12– 19:16); the crucifixion (19:17–37); the burial (19:38–42); the empty tomb and Jesus’ resurrection appearances (chs. 20–21). But for one last time, Jesus pauses to take inventory, as it were, of his earthly ministry, giving his final account to the Father and, by praying, expressing his complete dependence on the Father even in this crucial hour.We will now proceed to learn from Jesus’ words, with the remainder of his prayer comprising next week’s sermon, which will conclude my summer preaching series "Pray Like Jesus."
Jesus Prays for Himself (John 17:1–5)
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. 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. Many things can be said about this astounding beginning of Jesus’ prayer, but for the sake of simplicity I want to stress a few points. One, in the most difficult season of his life, with his crucifixion impending, Jesus does not run to sinful false gods and functional saviors for his comfort. Examples include food, sex, possessions, alcohol, bitterness, and self-loathing, hopeless depression. Instead, he runs to God the Father in prayer. In this, we see that Jesus rightly regards the darkest and most difficult moments of his life as opportunities rather than obstacles to glorifying God. Jesus’ prayer is prayed in the midst of life, in the moment of his need, showing that all of life is to be bathed in prayer because all of creation is the temple in which God is to be worshiped. Two, in praying to God as Father (which was Jesus habitual custom), he reveals that God the Father is both powerful and good, and therefore able to help and worthy of trust. Jesus negates so many false teachings about God by showing that he is living, loving, personal, and powerful. Three, Jesus reveals that eternal life is not a place as much as it is a Person. Indeed, eternal life is life with God. Sadly, when eternal life is seen as a place, the focus on God is lost. The truth is that although heaven is a glorious place, it would be hell if God were not present there. Four, Jesus prays for himself, thereby showing us that while praying for others in need is to be commended, we must also pray for ourselves. In so doing, Jesus is affirming his own devotion to the Father and acknowledging his willingness to suffer and die for God’s glory and sinners’ salvation. He does all of this all publicly and vocally so as to inform and transform his disciples. Five, Jesus clearly reveals himself to be God by stating that he is eternal (before the world existed) and shares the same glory of God the Father with whom he dwelt in eternity past. This is insightful because God does not share his glory with anyone else (Isa. 42:8); thus, if Jesus shares the Father’s glory, Jesus is God. One Bible commentator has said,The statement in verse 3 is also strikingly similar in form to the central affirmation of Islam, "There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is his Prophet." Both religions claim to honor the only true God, a theme from the Old Testament as well (e.g., Ex 34:6 LXX; Isa 37:20), and both speak of the great revealer of God. But they differ radically in what is said of this revealer. Jesus is a prophet— indeed, the revealer of God par excellence. But this verse, in keeping with the whole of this Gospel, says Jesus is far more than just a prophet. For eternal life is not just a knowledge of God as revealed by the Son; it includes a knowledge of the Son himself. Thus he shares in deity, since "the knowledge of God and a creature could not be eternal life" (Alford 1980:875). This amazing statement, therefore, affirms both the equality of the Son with the Father and his subordination as son and as the one sent.Six, Jesus articulates the mission of his life on earth as a man as giving eternal life to sinners. With the cross on the horizon, Jesus said "the hour has come" to acknowledge that his death in the place of sinners would soon achieve God’s glory and their salvation, which together comprised the purpose of his mission. Seven, Jesus does not bemoan the hardship he was to endure, become embittered, grow weary, lose heart, or reject his mission. Rather than praying to get around the cross, he instead prays to get through suffering and dying in such a way that it is not in vain, but rather glorifies God the Father as an act of worship. Eight, in speaking of his return to glory, Jesus promises his resurrection in victory over Satan, sin, and death. In his resurrection and ascension back to his heavenly throne over all peoples, times, places, cultures, religions, ideologies, genders, incomes, intellects, and nations, Jesus today has returned to glory from which he came humbly into history. The essence of Jesus’ prayer thus far is that he would both live and die in such a way as to glorify God the Father. On this theme, one Bible commentator has well said,
In general, to glorify someone means to hold him or her up for honor and praise. So on one level the Son is asking that his own honor be revealed, namely, that he is one with God; Jesus in turn will glorify the Father as he continues to reveal him as one worthy of all praise and worship. In John, however, glorification also has a more specific meaning: the death of the Son of God. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus has revealed the Father’s glory by manifesting his characteristic gracious love. In the death of the Son this same love is revealed most profoundly, for God is love, and love is the laying down of one’s life (cf. 1 Jn 4:8, 16; 3:16). Thus, in his death Jesus will reveal his own character and his Father’s character to be gracious love.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples (John 17:6–13)
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. 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. 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. After praying for himself, Jesus then proceeds to pray for his disciples who have believed in him as God and would subsequently proclaim the good news of his person and work to the world so that all of the elect would come to salvation. Jesus refers to these Christians as people who accept that he was sent by God the Father into history to reveal his "name," which is a shorthand to describe someone’s character, attributes, and essence. This portion of Jesus’ prayer includes many noteworthy aspects, including the following. One, Jesus does not pray for the world. This statement is understandably confusing to many. This is because the word "world" is used in at least seven senses throughout the New Testament. Here Jesus is referring to the system of thinking, speaking, and acting that is in rebellion to God, in allegiance to Satan, and at war against God. In not praying for the world, Jesus is not praying that such sin and rebellion will be blessed, empowered, encouraged, or multiplied because it is utterly dark and demonic. Two, Jesus does pray for his disciples and the elect who will come to trust in him as God and savior through their ministry. Jesus speaks of Christians as those who the Father has given to the Son and the Son gives back to the Father in mutual love, affection, and glory. Three, Jesus speaks of Christians retaining their relationship with God not by their own effort or merit, but rather by God the Father keeping them. In this way, the assurance and perseverance of our salvation are in the faithfulness of God, so that we continue walking with God who continues to walk with us. Four, Jesus says that none of the elect were ever lost during his ministry. This would obviously lead to confusion for some regarding the role of Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus before hanging himself. However, Jesus speaks of Judas as the "son of destruction" who was never truly a son of God. Tragically, Judas serves as a painful reminder that living three years with Jesus, witnessing his miracles, hearing his teaching, and seeing his life is not enough to save someone unless it is accompanied with faith in and love for Jesus as God. While Judas was no victim at the hands of God—he chose to steal from Jesus for years and betray him in the end—in God’s sovereign foreknowledge he did fulfill the Scriptures, as Jesus says. This includes the two following Old Testament Scriptures, which I quote from Vintage Jesus, written by Gerry Breshears and myself (p. 61).Five, Jesus promised that he would return to the Father and leave his disciples and those who would become Christians through their ministry in the world to continue his mission and ministry. In this way, Jesus echoes his prior teaching in John 14 and 16 that the Holy Spirit would empower his people to continue his work on the earth so that many would be saved by him. Six, Jesus speaks of true Christians being able to live together as "one" just as the Trinitarian community of God the Father, Son, and Spirit live together as "one." Sadly, this unity is often undermined and is therefore something to be continually strived for—living up to the state we are saved into as God’s people. In the church, this unity is to be theological (what we believe), relational (how we love), missional (what we do), and organizational (how we coexist). Without pursuing unity on each of these four points, we will, sadly, fail to model our unity after the Trinity and instead accept heresy, lovelessness, unfruitfulness, or chaos in the name of tolerance, which is often quite different than Trinitarian unity. Seven, Jesus’ final word in this section is one of joy. Simply, the life of a Christian, like the life of Jesus, is not always marked by great comfort, wealth, health, ease, or simplicity. Still, it is filled with the presence of God and the purpose of God so that all we have, do, and endure can and will be used to glorify God and benefit others as it was with Jesus as he went to the cross. Indeed, the Christian life is one of joy. Not the kind of joy that most people seek, but the overflow of purposeful and passionate life lived in relationship with God by the power of the Holy Spirit in the example of Jesus to the glory of the Father. Any life lived by any other power following any other example for the glory of anyone or anything else cannot and will not result in joy because it is according to the pattern of the world, which Jesus refuses to pray for. Judas and Jesus are the two examples of how to live one’s life, with the former finally portrayed hanging from a tree by his own noose and the latter reigning in glory forever after lovingly pouring himself out for God’s glory and our joy. In closing, I would like to follow the pattern of Jesus and offer some points for prayer for myself and the senior leaders of Mars Hill Church. For myself
- 1000 B.C.: David prophesies that Jesus would be betrayed by a friend.
- PROMISE: "Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me" (Ps. 41:9).
- FULFILLMENT: "And [Judas] came up to Jesus at once and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you came to do’" (Matt. 26:49–50).
- 500 B.C.: Zechariah prophesies that Jesus’ betraying friend would be paid thirty pieces of silver for handing him over to the authorities and that the payment would be thrown in the temple in disgust (again, the temple was destroyed in a.d. 70, so this prophecy could not have been fulfilled after that time).
- PROMISE: "Then I said to them, ‘If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.’ And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter" (Zech. 11:12–13).
- FULFILLMENT: "Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?’ And they paid him thirty pieces of silver" (Matt. 26:14–15); "And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, ‘It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.’ So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers" (Matt. 27:5–7).
- In the most difficult seasons of life and ministry, such as when the critics attack, acquaintances betray, and the personal cost is high (of course not in comparison to the price Jesus paid), I am praying to be able to see these pain points not as obstacles to what God wants to do through me, but rather opportunities for what God needs to do in me before he can do anything of value through me.
- Jesus was very clear on his mission and as such kept a very keen focus on what he did and did not do. In the past few months I have had the privilege of being with some of the most gifted pastors and movement leaders in cities such as Los Angeles, Denver, Atlanta, Orlando, New York, Philadelphia, London, Brisbane, and Sydney. I have learned more in recent months than any time that I remember in my life. I am now prayerfully considering what we should implement at Mars Hill with the approval of the Executive Elders so that we can be most effective at what Jesus has called us to do without becoming distracted or getting off mission.
- Please pray that I would continue to grow in my ability to faithfully preach, teach, and write biblical truth. In my recent trip to Australia I was sobered by the global influence we have by God’s grace and the Internet’s delivery. I preached to crowds nearing 10,000 people at a time and to the best of my knowledge every one of the roughly thirty-plus sermons and lectures I gave over the course of a week and a half was sold out. One event with 2,200 seats actually sold out in eleven minutes. At every event I met countless faithful online listeners who pray for Mars Hill, many churches using our video as their Sunday sermon, and hundreds of young men who want to plant churches. I also received invitations to return and preach to stadiums of more than 20,000 people. I was deeply convicted that continually growing as a Bible preacher, teacher, and writer is more important than ever.
- I am deeply thankful that God has given Grace and me the best season of our life and marriage in the past year. Our family is doing well and our home is filled with lots of love and laughter. The teams of elders, deacons, and members overseeing Mars Hill are doing a great job leading the church, thereby making my role more focused, fruitful, and joyful. Now more than ever my heart is at Mars Hill and I am grateful for what God has done and am excited to pursue what remains undone.
- I praise God for the Executive Elders, Board of Directors, and Campus Pastors who together comprise the senior leadership teams of Mars Hill. These teams have grown to be very effective, loving, unified, and wise. They have taken a great deal of weight off of my shoulders, thereby enabling me to serve with greater joy and effectiveness than ever. Their efforts have made our church the healthiest it has ever been by far. Having been at Mars Hill every day since its inception, I can assure you that the internal health of the church and the maturity of how we operate are without question the best they have ever been, and in that I find great joy.
- For Pastor Jamie Munson and Pastor Tim Beltz: Continued wisdom to navigate the complexities of our ever growing, maturing, and expanding church so that we faithfully steward all of our resources and opportunities well.
- For Pastor Scott Thomas: The strength and fortitude to continue planting churches at a rapid rate through Acts 29 and the ability to bring in another skilled pastor to replace his oversight of our campus pastors, who currently number seven but will assuredly continue to grow in coming years.
- For Pastor Bubba Jennings and his team of elders and leaders at the Ballard Campus: That after a season of great unifying and refreshing they would see a healthy increase in attendance and conversions this fall to replace the thousands of people they have sent out to help launch the other campuses.
- For Pastor Steve Tompkins and the team of elders and leaders at Shoreline: They have been very effective and successful as our first Mars Hill Campus and are now actively seeking a more permanent home for their growing ministry.
- For Pastor Adam Sinnett and the team of elders and leaders at West Seattle who have seen their campus develop into a very unified and loving missional community: That they would raise the funds they need for their facility improvements (e.g., a new boiler to heat the building this winter) and would see their new evening service succeed in reaching new people in their area this fall.
- For Pastor James Harleman and his elder and other leaders at Lake City: That they would see a few additional men qualified as elders to help lead their campus and also successfully add a third service to welcome new people this fall.
- For Pastor Tim Gaydos and his elders and other leaders at Downtown Seattle: That they would continue the great success they have experienced in their first year and be able to strategically reach both the most needy through mercy ministry and the most affluent through targeted evangelism.
- For Pastor Jesse Winkler, who has seen the Bellevue Campus move into its new facility and explode to a thousand people: That many men would soon qualify as elders so that he would not be shouldering the pastoral load alone.
- For Pastor Gary Shavey and his leaders: They have successfully launched the Olympia Campus and are now seeking to catch up with their fast growth by deploying other elders and ministries to meet the needs of that community.
