Jesus Prays for His Disciples, Part 2
John 17:11-19
We come to this most marvelous chapter, chapter 17, which has so enriched our hearts already in the last few weeks, this chapter is known as "The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus Christ." It is His intercession for His own as the Son of God, Christ Himself, speaks to the Father on the behalf of those whom He loves. And as I've told you in past weeks, it is a pre‑cross preview of a post‑cross work. That is, when Jesus had finished His work on earth and ascended to the Father, He then began to intercede for those who are His, that is to constantly plead to the Father on our behalf. Though that didn't officially begin until His ascension, we have here in John 17, hours before His crucifixion, a preview of His intercessory work and some insights into how it is that Jesus prays for those who are His own.
Now, we have seen the chapter fall into three categories. In this prayer, verses 1 to 5, are concerned with Jesus praying for Himself. For He must accomplish His own work on the cross before He can ever expect the Father to do anything for the disciples who will follow. And so, first of all, He prays for Himself that His glory will be accomplished on the cross. Then in verses 20 to 26, He prays for all the believers who will live throughout the church age of years to come. But for our study, in verses 6 to 19, He prays for the disciples gathered around Him who were alive at the time that He prayed this, and particularly for the eleven Apostles. So, verses 6 to 19, which we're studying currently, are very specifically the prayer of Jesus Christ directed to the disciples who were alive at the time He prayed it, more particularly the eleven Apostles gathered about Him. And the pervading thing that I gain from this entire chapter, and I've studied it now for hours and hours for several weeks, the thing that I keep seeing over and over again is the tremendous love of Jesus Christ for His own. Here He is anticipating His own death and yet not anticipating it, aware of it and yet seemingly unaware of it, as He is not preoccupied with His own suffering but is totally preoccupied with making sure that those who love Him, that beloved little flock of disciples, are going to be well taken care of while He has to go to the cross and be a sacrifice for their sins. Not only does His care drive Him to the cross but His care drives Him to His knees before the Father that the Father would care for them while He goes to bear their sins.
And I'm reminded of chapter 13 verse 1 where it says, "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come, that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." He loved them utterly, totally, completely. And here we see Him moving right toward the hour of His death and indeed His care is for them, His love is directed toward them.
In chapters 14, 15 and 16, He gave them all the promises of His love. Now in chapter 17, He prays out of a heart full of love that the Father will make these promises all come true in His perfect will. And so, we see Jesus Christ praying for His little lambs about to be let loose amidst the wolves of Satan in the world. And fully aware that for a time He is unable to cradle them in His own loving arms, He commits them to the tender care of the Father and asks that the Father take over the work of shepherding them until He can complete His work and rise to the right hand of the Father and intercede for them and send the Holy Spirit to dwell within them.
And so, if you really want to know the truth, people say that I Corinthians is the love chapter in the Bible, I say John 17 is the love chapter. Because, you see, I Corinthians 13 is more of a definition of love whereas John 17 is a total expression of love. And I can get along real well with definitions but I like expressions a lot better. And I hear about love in John ... in I Corinthians 13 but I begin to really experience it in John 17, because I see how much Christ loves me. And when I sing the song: "The King of love, my shepherd is," all I ever think about is John 17. In a framework of such passionate care and undying love then Jesus prays for His own. And you see His love here displayed in a beautiful, beautiful way, equaled only by the display of love on the cross. It's that kind of love, you know, that Paul talked about in Ephesians when he said that we might know the height and depth and the extremities both ways, the length and breadth, of the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. And here we get as close an insight into the depth of His love as anywhere and you're going to learn some really, really exciting things this morning.
Because of His love for us He never ceases to pray for us. And that's why the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 7 verse 25, "He ever lives to make intercession for us." He never stops praying for us. That's how much He loves us. And He didn't begin that ministry officially as I said, you see, until He ascended, but here we have a little preview of it so that we might get an insight into His intercession and He does this in time and space and left it to be recorded for us so we might see how it is that He intercedes on our behalf.
Now, last week we considered the first two points of this one message and we said that point number one was the subjects of His prayer; you have an outline probably in your bulletin and if you'd like to look you'll be reminded that it's there. The subjects of His prayer in verses 6 to 8, now His prayer encompasses the whole chapter but this specific part is geared to a special group of individuals, as I mentioned, the disciples alive at that time particularly the eleven Apostles. Notice in verse 8, and I'll just read it, "I have manifested Thy name unto the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world."
Now, there they are, those are the ones that He's praying for, right there, those that the Father has given Him who are the disciples at that time particularly the eleven. And then He gives the two reasons why He had the right to pray for them. He is going to ask for the Father to care for them, He is going to put them on divine welfare for a little while. He's going to assign them to the care of the Father and He now gives two credentials which really give them the right to claim that divine welfare. The first one is this, verse 6, "Thine they were and Thou gavest them to Me." Before He ever asks anything for them, He reminds the Father that they have a right to the Father's care because after all they were the Father's to begin with. They're Your's, You just gave them to Ale. And so all He's really asking is that the Father care for His own which is consistent with the character of God, He always cares for His own.
And so, Jesus says then ‑- the first credential that permits them to receive divine welfare is that they were Yours to begin with. The Bible says He chose them before the foundation of the world.
Then He gives the second reason that they are to be blessed with the Father's care in verse 6, "... and they have kept Thy word." You see, that's the balance. Thine they were ‑- is the divine choice; they have kept thy word ‑- is the human response. That's both sides of the mystery of salvation. They had credentials for divine welfare because they were the elect and because they were the believing faithful to the Word. And so, from both sides they were to be recepients of the Father's welfare.
And then He goes on to define their faith. "They have known that all things," verse 7, "whatever Thou hast given Me are of Thee." They believe that, that's saving faith. "For I have given unto them the words which You gave Me, they received them and they've known surely, number one, that I came out from God." They knew His origin was divine. Number two, "... and they have believed that Thou did send Me." They knew His mission was divine. And so they believed in Him, that He was God and that He was sent by God to accomplish a mission. Their faith validated their right to divine welfare. So, both the elective sovereignty of God and the faith of those disciples accredited them to receive the Father's care. And so, Jesus then introduces the Father to the subjects of His prayer and gives their credentials to receive His care.
All right, then we saw the second point last week, the reasons for His prayer in verses 9, 10 and just a little bit into verse 11. Why is He praying for them? First reason, verse 9, "I pray for them, I pray not for the world," remember that Christ does not intercede for unbelievers. He may pray ‑- Father, forgive them for they know not what they do, but He doesn't pray for their welfare, He doesn't intercede on their behalf. "I pray for them," that is these disciples, "I pray not for the world, but for them whom Thou hast given Me." Why? Here's the reason number one, 11 ... for they are Thine and all Mine are Thine and Thine are Mine." We'll stop there.
The first reason that Jesus prayed for His disciples was they were the personal property of both He and the Father. And since they were the personal property of both He and the Father, it was only normal that they would be cared for by He and the Father ... and thus does He pray.
Then the second reason that He prayed for them, as we saw last week and this is a quick review, was: "... and I am glorified in them." And He goes on to explain what He means. "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world and I come to Thee." In other words, I'm leaving, Father, and the world seeing My glory will depend upon seeing it through them ... so, I'm leaving and, Father, I want You to guard them because they're going to be left to display My glory, I'm glorified in them.
And you know, it is true that when Christ gains glory, when men give Christ glory, it is because they have seen clearly His beauties through the life of one of His own. They have no other way to Him discern Him, do you see? And so, Jesus prays for them: number one, because they're personal property of the trinity and number two, because they are glorifiers of Christ because He's leaving and they are left to display His glory. All right, so that's the ground work.
Now, let's look at the requests, and oh, are these exciting. The third aspect of Christ's prayer ‑- the requests in His prayer. And this will be verse 11 to 19. What does He specifically ask for? I mean, they've got ... He's established the right to divine welfare, He's established the reason that He prays, it's important because they're the personal possession of the trinity and it's also important because they are the glorifiers of Christ. But what is it that He asks for? What does He expect from them?
Well let's see ... first of all ... what He doesn't ask, verse 15 ... and I want to set this off against the others. Verse 15 says, "I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world." Did you get that? He doesn't pray that they be taken out of the world. That's what He doesn't pray for. Now you've learned two things that Jesus doesn't pray for in this chapter. Number one, He doesn't intercede for unbelievers ... we saw that, didn't we? ... in verse 9, He doesn't pray for the world. Number two, He doesn't pray that Christians be taken out of the world. That would make an interesting study sometime to just chart the things that Jesus doesn't pray for. But He does not pray that believers be removed from the world. Jesus never prayed that His disciples would find an escape, He only prayed that they might find victory, you see. Jesus never prayed that they might find a cop‑out, He only prayed that they might be conquerors. And the kind of Christianity so called which buries itself in a monastery or which buries itself in a convent is not the kind of Christianity that Jesus desires, if indeed it is Christianity at all. The life that is withdrawn from the world is a sad confusion of what Jesus intended for His own, He never intended that. He says ‑- I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world. Either remove them from being involved with the lost or to remove them by just taking them away all together in death, He doesn't pray for that.
Now, of course, there are times when prayer and meditation and withdrawing into the presence of God are needed but that's not the end, that's the means to the end. We withdraw into God's presence for meditation and prayer alone with God that we might be strengthened and empowered to go back into the world with an effective message ... and an effective life. And so, Jesus never offers His disciples an easy peace, He only offers them a triumphant warfare. He never tells His disciples to abandon the world but always tells them to win the world. Jesus Christ never attempted to establish a holy club, "Us four, no more, shut the door," isolated and stuck up in the boonies somewhere where nobody can touch them. Jesus Christ wanted a people who would move into the world and confront them with His claims and His truth. All right, so that's what He doesn't pray for ... keep that in mind, we'll come back to it in a little while.
Now, what does He pray for? Four specifics, and may I add that this is for all of these disciples but particularly for the eleven that has special import. He prays for their oneness in the world, their joy in the world, their protection in the world and their sanctification by the Word... four tremendous things. And these are just exciting, there's ... we could do a whole study on each one of them but we won't.
First of all, He prays for their oneness in the world, verse 11: "And now I am no more in the world but these are in the world and I come to Thee." Now, that's ... that's kind of introducing the problem. Jesus is saying ‑- I am about to leave and they're going to be left here without My physical presence. Jesus was going to the cross and then He was going to ascend to the Father and they would be left alone in terms of the physical presence of Christ. But may I hasten to add, they would not be left without a supernatural care because Christ had already promised them that when He went away He would send the Comforter who would dwell within them. But even before the Comforter came, when Jesus went to the cross, there would be a period of time in there wouldn't there? At least a period of time of several days when they would be without Him. And so, in view of that and in view of the continuing time that they would be without Him physically, He prays for the Father to take care of them. The Father ... the Savior then reminds the Father that His beloved little flock that were given Him by the Father will be deprived of His personal care and be exposed to the world and it was now up to the Father to activate all the promises of 14, 15 and 16 and secure these ... these believers. Now notice what it says in the middle of the verse, verse 11, beginning with Holy Father, those two words very, very important. They set the pace for the rest of the passage.
"... Holy Father," emphasis on holy, Holy Father, "keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me that they may be one as We are."
Now, here the wicked world is contrasted to the Holy Father and I'll show you what I mean. Jesus is expressing the Holy Father for a very important reason. You know, in the New Testament, that expression, I don't think, appears anywhere else. The holiness of God is a great emphasis in the Old Testament but it's not so emphasized in the New Testament ... more of the love of God, the Fatherhood of God and so forth. But here the combination of holy and Father are put together for a very express reason. The power of the Holy Father is being set as sufficient to off‑set the influence of the world's system. He says ‑- Holy Father -‑ emphasizing His holiness. Now the word holiness, hagiŏs, holy, simply means to be set apart, or to be separated. And He is saying ‑- separate Father. What does He mean? Separate from what? What is it that God is separate from? From sin, Holy Father, separate from sin, guard them. Guard them from what? Guard them from sin. Separate Father, keep them separate. That's all He's saying. And the holy is the whole emphasis of this passage. God is holy and separated from all evil. He is of purer eyes than behold iniquity and canst not look upon sin. And here His holiness is emphasized because Christ wants Him to keep His disciples holy and separated from all evil. Separated Father, keep them from the same thing that You're separated from. Guard them against the unholiness of the world. The word to keep is tērēson, it means to watch over, it's kind of a divine surveillance, you know. For three years Jesus had kept them and now He commits them to the care of the Father with the prayer that the Father will fulfill His will and guard them from the unholiness of a polluted, godless, Christ‑hating, persecuting world.
Now it's kind of a beautiful little exchange. I was looking back at verse 6 and at the end of the verse it says ... and they have kept Thy word." Jesus tells the Father ‑- They have kept Thy word. And in verse 11 He says ‑- You keep them ... fair exchange. And so, He says ‑- Holy Father, keep them from the unholiness of the world.
Now, notice ... continuing in verse 11 ... He says, "Keep them through Thine own name." Now, don't you remember last week, we talked about what it means when it says in the Bible -‑ the name of God? It's not just talking about Yahweh, or what His name is as a title, it's talking about His entire character and His entire nature, right? I have kept them through Thy name -- He means, I have kept them according to Your character and nature. In other words, by Your power, by Your holiness, by Your love, by Your grace, by Your mercy, by all that You are, I have kept them, guarded them, according to the holy character of God. He has done it and He says ‑- Father, now You do it.
Verse 12 ‑- While I was in the world, I kept them through Your name ‑- now, back in verse 11 ‑- You do it, through all Your attributes, through all Your essence of holiness, keep them in Your holiness, keep them in Your love, keep them in Your grace, keep them in Your mercy, etc., right? Wisdom, right on down the line. By all Your character, by all Your nature, keep them ... keep them. And so, Jesus prays that they be guarded from unholiness.
Now watch this. I began to look at this and I began to say to myself -‑ You know, it's a strange thing that Jesus is so concerned about us. I mean, let's face it, when you come right down to it, we're valueless, right? I mean, we're vile sinners. Why does He get so concerned about hanging on to us? Why is He so intense about praying to the Father to care for us? I mean, where do we get all this value all of a sudden? What makes us such a hot commodity to Jesus Christ?
And then I read a little further in the verse and my heart jumped because I saw what it was. Listen to this. "Keep through Thine own name those ... here it comes ... whom Thou hast ... what? ... given Me." Do you know why we're so valuable to Jesus? You know why? Because we are love gifts to Him from the Father. That's why. In ourselves we're not that valuable, but because we have been given to Christ as an expression of the Father's love, we are priceless. Now you don't receive ... for Christmas, you received a lot of stuff, right? And a lot of it was very nice stuff. But, you know, it's interesting, when you look back of all the things that you received from dear friends and family, you know the things that mean the most, aren't the specific objects, but what is valued is valued on the basis of the love that you have for the individual that gave it to you. Parents, you realize that. Every year your kids bring weird things for you for Christmas from school, strange little things, can't ... so you realize some teacher probably stayed up a week figuring it out and you've got to stay up another week figuring out what to do with it ... strange little strange things that you say ‑- Oh, it's beautiful, kid. You don't know what to do with it. But you know something? You look back, and I look back at Christmas, and I see all the little things that kids brought. Now in themselves they're not worth anything ... nothing ... sawed ... off Joy soap bottle with some sprinkle on it, you know, what are you going to do with it? And you've got all of these kind of little things that they bring home and they're not worth anything ... but you know something? Of all the things you look back on, they're the most priceless treasures you have because they're expressions of the love. And so you see, the gift is valued in the sense that you love the giver, right?
Do you know why Jesus now loves you so much? Not because of your own intrinsic value but because you were given to Him by the Father and He loves the Father infinitely. You want to know something exciting? Consequently, He loves you to the same degree that He loves the Father. That's why you're so valuable. You see, that's why when Jesus goes to the cross, He stops to pray for you because He loves you so much, not for you own sake, but for the sake of the Father who gave you to Him. I mean, that's exciting, isn't it? That will show you the depth of the love of Christ for you... it's not limited. His love for you is as unlimited as His love for the Father. For you represent to Him, the love of the Father, for indeed you were the Father's love gift to Him. Now that's why Jesus is so concerned about praying for US. That's why the ministry of intercession is what it is. That's why He really cares ... He really cares.
So, our high priest looks on us with a love and a delight that we really don't deserve but that beco