Bible Reading - John 17 — Frank Sona

Reading John 17:1–26

Good morning. Let's read then John chapter 17 verse 1. These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee.

As thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him, and this is eternal life, sorry, life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known all things whatsoever thou has given me are of thee.

For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them.

I pray not for the world, but for them which thou has given me, for they are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine. I am glorified in them, and now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world.

I come to thee, Holy Father, keep them through thine own name, those whom thou has given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scriptures might be fulfilled.

And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth, and thy word is truth.

Even as thou has sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

And the glory which thou gave us me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me, and I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.".

The Setting and Purpose of Christ’s High Priestly Prayer

This is admittedly one of the most difficult chapters.

In John. It's one of the fullest chapters in John. And as we look at it, you'll notice the importance of coming out of chapter 16. He is speaking to his own, he is preparing them for his absence, and he tells them that they are going to have tribulation, that he has overcome the world, and then it says, these words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven.

So it's with the backdrop of that preparation that he is going to encourage them, he's going to fortify them, and he is going to pray to his Father in relation to all that they will go through and experience.

It is going to be the darkest times. Every prop, every anchor, is going to be pulled out from under them. They are going to experience confusion, even from what they expected to happen and did not happen.

They are going to see their Lord, their Master that they have accompanied with for three and a half years taken from them. His departure will not be one like a departure that we have when we leave from one another and we give hugs and kisses and there's an amicable element to that and a kind of a sorrowing.

No, they're going to watch and see the Lord Jesus' body riddled with wounds, violently murdered in their estimation, and then around all of that is surrounding the anger, the animosity of the very system that they were part of.

So there's going to be confusion, there's going to be surrounded by enemies, there will no doubt be the involvement of Satan, the satanic element, and in light of all of this, the Lord Jesus is praying for them.

They're kept. It's tremendous as this happens. Now notice the specifics as we go through this chapter. There are specific requests in his prayer. That's a great example for us. There are practical things in here and we can touch on them, but I want to focus mainly on the devotional aspect in preparation for the next meeting.

Creation, Present Experience, and Future Oneness

You'll notice as well here as we go through there, there are time stamps that we look at in this. For example, and I have this on the outline, there are three time stamps in this prayer. There is a time stamp that takes us prior to creation, before the world was.

There's the time stamp that takes us to the present, when the Lord Jesus was actually praying and what was happening at that time and what would happen as these men now would be prepared for his absence.

And then there is the time stamp of the future that will take us to the completeness of the oneness that the Lord Jesus is praying for. So you have these time stamps. I think one of the things that is so essential to understanding this and it seems to escape our grasp, our ability to understand is the idea of glory.

Glory. I'd be interested in hearing what some of the other men have to think on this, but in John's gospel, it is particularly significant. The word is numerous times in this prayer and in terms of biblical truth, glory, it's multifaceted.

For example, you have the glory of the inanimate. So in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes about the glory of the terrestrial, the glory of the celestial. And so there's a different glory there. There's the life and rank in terms of men and women as he writes in 1 Corinthians 11.

And the personal glory, for example, of the long hair of the sister, that's given her for a glory. So you even have the aspect of praise. Let him that glorieth, glory in this. So there's praise that's given that is associated with glory.

But John's gospel gives us a little bit different twist on that. And in John's gospel, he is emphasizing this, the idea of real glory, true glory, is exhibited in lowly service because he begins his gospel by one who is the eternal word, one who never had a beginning, one who created all things.

And then John brings him into time. And it's interesting that John's gospel is the only gospel that gives us the feet washing. As he stoops down and washes the feet, taking the place of the servant, and there is lowly service seen.

John's gospel is emphasizing and highlighting the significance of one who is the eternal son of God and yet who has become a man to stoop down and do this. In fact, what gospel would you think, brethren, that the name Jesus, his earthly name, appears more than any other gospel?

You would think it would be in Luke, the gospel of the son of man, but it's actually in John. And over and over and over again, John introduces us to that. And so when you come to John chapter 1, John writes, we beheld his glory.

When you come to chapter 2, and he turns the water into wine, these things manifested his glory. When you come to chapter 7, he speaks about the glory of doing his will, the will of God. And when you come to chapter 11, and he raises the dead, Lazarus, it says that you shall see the glory of God in what he did.

So John is emphasizing this aspect of glory in the lowly service of the Lord Jesus. And it can never be, when it comes to him, it can never be exaggerated. It can be magnified, but never exaggerated. It's not like the fisherman who, he caught a big fish and his friend said to him, you going to mount it?

And he said, mount it. He says, I never mount my fish. He said, it stops them from growing. So you can't boast, right? There is no, we cannot exaggerate when it comes to the Lord's glory. It is magnificent.

It is beyond anything we can really comprehend. And so I'm hoping and praying that we'll appreciate some of that in this Bible study. As well, there are emphatic truths seen in this prayer. You have father, the mention of the father over and over again, 111 times in John's gospel.

We have it six times in 17. We have extensions added onto that. Father, holy father, righteous father, emphasizing different aspects when it comes to holy father. The idea is his separation unto his father, the idea of sanctification, holiness.

When we have righteous father toward the end of the chapter, that is his separation in relation to the world, from the world, and his distinctiveness. The term world is found 14 times here. The expression give, gave, given, is numerous times in this chapter.

And it's almost a parallel with Paul's use of the word grace. And so John gives us that word given in graciousness, in magnanimous giving. But there's one more thing. There's oneness here that is stressed, the uniqueness of that relationship between the father and the son.

And in fact, we are going to have to grasp the truth of that in whatever measure we can, before we will really be able to grasp the significance of the term glory. There is a uniqueness of the relationship and glory between the father and the son that is shared.

And over and over again in John's gospel, you will read of that shared glory, that oneness. And in fact, that's why you do not read of, on the cross, that he is forsaken. There's a oneness there. Whereas in the other gospels, you read of that, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

And so there's one more thing. There's a little word here, and I hope it doesn't escape our notice, and it's the word that. And you might overlook that, but in the Greek language, there is a Greek word and it's a clause.

It's a purpose clause. The idea is cause and effect. You could say, this happens so that this will happen. And over and over again in this chapter, things are prayed for, things happen so that this can happen.

The results are predicated on what happens before. And over and over again, we'll read of that. So with that, we want to move through these sections. We'll begin with the first section, praying for the Christ.

Christ Prays for His Own Glorification

These are the personal prayers of the Lord Jesus as he is praying, and he's praying for himself to his father. And it's interesting, he prays, he doesn't pray like we pray. We pray, we bow our head. We pray, we close our eyes.

He prayed, he lifted up his head. He prayed, he opened up his eyes. I don't know why we do that, but I guess we say we want a prayer to free ourselves from distraction or whatever, but this is how the Lord Jesus prayed.

And I like to think that he looked right into heaven, looked right into where he came from and where he was returning to. So praying for the Christ, three prayers for himself to his father. So the first point is that the son is glorified.

These things speak Jesus, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son so that thy son also may glorify thee.

In view of what was coming, the knowing full well that he had an hour that he had to face, even in his earthly ministry, there was always this hour. So is this the last time that the word hour is mentioned in John?

I know it's mentioned before, chapter four, chapter five. So it would seem like this is the last hour that he has mentioned. Yeah, this is the completeness,.

The completion of that. And I like the word Isaiah used in his ministry yesterday, the mission. This is the mission. The mission is going to be accomplished. Mission accomplished, right? It's not mission impossible for any other man.

It was mission impossible for him. It's mission accomplished. And there's two aspects to that mission. And we'll look at that in this section. But the first aspect, phase one has been completed in actuality.

And that was the life that he lived. That was the revelation that he was to give to the world of God, of the father. He hath told him forth the life that he lived. So how would the father glorify the son?

He's praying for this. Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son. So what is the Lord Jesus specifically praying for?

This is the first specific aspect of his prayer. So if the purpose of the Lord Jesus until this moment has been to glorify the father, to make known the excellency, the dignity of the father, now he is saying, is it not time that I be glorified?

In what way? That's a good question. The hour has come. Is he speaking of the cross or is he speaking of what follows the cross and.

His return to heaven? I don't think you can separate them. I think we often do. But I think that's the whole point. That he is now going, he wants to have the father glorify him in not only the accomplishment and vindication in terms of when he says it's finished, but then in the raising of him from the dead.

I think they're all looked at as one. You can't separate them.

Would you agree with that? I'm here to learn. So would there be a higher glory, a degree of glory as a result of the cross work and what was to follow than what he had?

I think it would be a distinctive glory, right? Because he mentions the glory that he had with thee before the world was. Then the glorification on earth. And now the glorification of an hour. And obviously this had not yet been done.

It was going to be done. So the son would be glorified. And again, what we see here is that we have the glory of the father and the glory of the son. So again, they're linked together, even in this. They're not separated.

That oneness is seen over and over again. So now as he continues his prayer, he is asking now, praying that, he says, thou has given him, verse 2, thou has given him authority, power over all flesh, so that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him.

So this authority over all flesh would be all of humanity. That would encompass his coming into the world as a man. He has authority over all flesh. And the purpose of his becoming a man would be so that he could die.

And as a result of that, that he could give eternal life. So this authority then moves on into verse 4. A finished work and a work to be finished. So when we come to this, this is life eternal. That, there's another purpose clause.

There's over and over again, cause and effect. This is life eternal, so that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent. Again, the connection between the two. But the order is reversed of what we would normally think.

We normally consider that if you know God, you will have eternal life. We tell sinners in a gospel, you don't know God. You might know about God, but you don't know God. But the result here is different.

It's getting life eternal so that you may know God. It is really impossible to know God without having eternal life. And that eternal life is in the Son. So that when we know Him, we know the Father. There is this oneness of revelation that will result in knowing God.

Is it not synonymous, though, eternal life, having a relationship with God? Is it not one and the same? It's life, but it enables us to know Him. I appreciate what you said. No one comes to the Father but by me.

You cannot have a relationship with the Father without having a relationship with the Son. But is not eternal life in itself a relationship with God and with His Son in itself?

It is. But okay, so what will help us on that is the first mention of the word give in this passage is what's called an aorist, a point tense. It means a once and for all act. That's the act of salvation, the giving.

But then beyond that, it's continuous. So that this giving, it's a gift that keeps on giving, if we can say it that way. And the knowledge here is experiential knowledge. It's the experience of the believer as we know what he is praying for is what he is going to do and give will enable his believers to do the same thing, to give, to teach, to express God in the world in which they're in.

Does anyone have any thoughts on that, any questions on that section? Admittedly, it's almost a mysterious aspect of intimacy as the Lord is praying to His Father specifically for Himself and His relationship.

This finished work, let's just touch on that. Verse 4, I have glorified Thee on the earth. Now the Lord spoke earlier in John 3 about being lifted up from the earth. Here He's saying I have glorified Thee on the earth.

I have finished the work which Thou gavest me. And the interesting thing is the last expression there, to do, literally in the Greek says, so that, so that. It's the same exact word as that. And it almost leaves us hanging.

And I know the normal interpretation is that He was looking at the accomplished. But I don't think that's it. I think what He is saying based on the language is that phase 1 has been completed. And that had to be completed and these signs had to be given not only to validate who I am, but to glorify You.

And as a result of that, phase 2 is now on the horizon. I couldn't get to phase 2 without doing phase 1. And so that is really, if we see that, then His entire life, which is so true, becomes a glorification of.

The Father and a revelation of the Father. So we see a contrast from Adam who failed. And Adam failed on the earth and disobeyed God. But the Lord Jesus Christ was perfect. And being in human flesh, He glorified God in His perfection.

So in that way, He glorified God in His life and being perfect.

Very good. Yeah, that's, I do always those things that please me, right? But in particular, those signs that were made to tell forth. So verse 5 then, I and now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self.

Now this is another interesting word here. It's a very small, insignificant word in our vocabulary, but the Greek language is so pregnant, so full of meaning. And when you read this word over and over again, it's literally the same word in the Greek, para, para.

So you have parallel bars, right? They're bars that run concurrently, they're equal. He's saying the glory that I had, para, alongside of Thee. And then when we read it again, it's going to be the same thought there, para, alongside.

The Lord Jesus is emphasizing to us, who will read this, the equality, the connectivity, the oneness of Himself with His Father. And then He's going to bring His own into that same truth.

It's not a superior looking down to an inferior, it's co-equal.

Co-equal is expressing as well divine fellowship, harmony with one another.

So the beginning of the book tells us that we beheld His glory. So is this something that is even greater than what was revealed to men on earth, the glory He had before He came to earth?

Yes, I think what the Lord is praying, and it's similar as to what the writer to the Hebrews brings in chapter 1, is that He has come from the Father. He has become a man, and He is revealing the Father and God in His fullness to the world.

And in that stoop and step and sacrifice, nothing is lost, nothing is diminished. And He is now praying, the glory that I had with Thee, bring that back, restore that, nothing is lost. He is able to pray that and get the answer to that because He knows that nothing is lost.

And I think that's the revelation of it.

In a sense, the glory of the Lord Jesus, His purpose was to glorify God, even though He is co-equal, as you said. But the time is coming that that is going to be put on full display, that everything, all the glory that He has is equal with the Father.

Maybe it's been hidden now in His humanity for the years, even though something was displayed.

Christ Prays for His Apostolic Companions

So now let's move to the next section then, because as He is going to return to glory now, in verse 5, and the glory that was His, the next section now He's going to be praying for His companions. Now this, in verses 6 -19, one of the key words in this section is going to be kept or guarded, preserved, given safety.

Nothing is going to happen to them. And these companions, this group of men, there is a slight distinction between the next group that will begin in 20. This would be predominantly the apostolic band.

Those men, and as John writes in his epistle, that which we have seen, that which we have handled, of the word of life. And so the Lord Jesus is praying for them, and He says, I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world.

Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me, and they have kept Thy word. So what does the Lord mean by this, in terms of, You gave them to Me, and now they were Yours, and now they're Mine. But in a way they're still Yours,.

But they're Mine as well. I'm glad you have this Bible reading.

I'm not. It was given to me on Saturday, so. Tell us what it means. I'm waiting to hear. Any thoughts? I see some friendly faces. I see a lot of friendly faces. Nothing brethren. I see some hometown faces.

So any thoughts of any?

Is it this scene before in John's gospel? I'm just trying to look. I thought it was chapter 10, but it speaks of, no man can come to Me, but the Father bring them to Me. Draw them, yeah. Draw them.

I think that's part of it, definitely. So the initiation is always on the part of God. But in a sense, these are unique men that are fitted by God, not only in the call of these men, but the shaping of these men, their personalities, their lives, their distinctiveness.

I know it was said yesterday that we all have a particular, in the ministry, that we all have a particular place and niche and so on. But these men are uniquely given. And even Judas, in a sense, what we are going to read of later, to fulfill Scripture, to fulfill the Word of God.

And the Lord Jesus is specifically praying now that these men are kept. They are unique vessels. And there is a sense of, if we can use the word, in not a restricted sense, but an election of grace, a choosing, as it were, of these men for a particular mission.

It has been suggested, too, as well, that they were part of Judaism. So as being part of Judaism, the only God-given religion that ever existed, that they were the fathers, because that was the religion that God had given.

That's true. But it goes wider than that, because he says they were given by the Father out of the world, not just out of Judaism. So their sphere is distinctive, not only from Judaism, but from the world in which they lived.

Now, they have kept thy word, in verse 6. And he says, now, that's another time stamp, now, at this point, now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. There's the word para again.

They are parallel with thee. So that this handoff, if I can use that word reverently, that is coming from the Father, as these men were the fathers, and he's giving them to the Son. There is an equality.

They're not losing anything. There was always a question, always the question, well, God, how did you make God your Father? How did you? I am my Father alone. So they can, now don't forget, they're hearing this prayer.

They're listening to this prayer. It's not just that they're in the background and they've left. They're listening. Can you imagine what it would have been like to all of a sudden see the Lord Jesus stop and just lift up his eyes and head to heaven and start praying this?

And they're listening. It would have caused them to think, the Father, the Son, here we are. We're in safe hands. We're in his hands. So you can understand how much more and greater the confusion.

Would have been later. Would it be a silly question to ask when this transaction took place?

Well, he says now. He does say now. So within the space of that time of his ministry. We have to move, Brethren. So we're going to move down through this section again quickly. He says, they are thine.

And so we have now this, he was praying, there's a place for them. They're in the world, but not of the world, as verse 6 tells us. They're going to go through great testing, and yet they've been given the full revelation of himself.

He's given words for them. Verse 8, there's a prayer for them. He says, I pray not for the world. I'm praying for them. But we, why did the Lord Jesus say, I don't pray for the world? Don't we pray for sinners to get saved?

Don't we pray for?

It's not that he wasn't interested in the world, but they weren't his own.

So what could he have possibly prayed for the world if he did? The only thing he could pray for the world is that they stop being the world. They would have to become his own, right? And that is really what's looked and longed for in this chapter.

So there's a distinctiveness again from ourselves in the world. We are in the world, but not of the world. And again, I'll go back to Brother Isaiah's ministry yesterday. Now what he is going to pray and direct is that we will be an influence in this world.

We sometimes try to be so isolated, and that's not the case. He has left us here to reveal, to continue to do what he has done, and to reveal God to the world. And so as we move on here, he says, keep them.

Keep them in thy name. What is his name? What is the name here that is being so emphasized? They had multiple names, multiple contractions of names. Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Rofi, Jehovah Sekeinu, Elohim, El, Adonai.

What is it? We would all be happy if you told us. Well, if you don't know, you're in problem with it because he has revealed his name. I'm not putting you on the spot, Al. I'm just saying, you know, we need to know that, right?

What's in a name? With us, we like a name, or you know, baby's grandfather had this name, and it's been in the family, so we're going to name him, you know, whatever it is. This is different in Bible times, though.

A name revealed the person. And so the name here is, yes, it is father, which the Jew never enjoyed as an individual. God was the father of the nation on a national level, but now he's speaking in relation to individuals that will be able to enjoy that revelation and reality and relationship that he has come to make known in its fullness.

And that was never known before. So then now in verse, as we move down in verse, these petitions for the disciples before the world, in verse 11 on, keep them in thy name, that they may be one, even as we are one.

So three things to emphasize about this. Number one, this oneness is not local, it's universal. It's not natural, it's spiritual. And it's not temporary, it's eternal. So as we move down, I am no more in the world.

He says, holy father, keep them through thine own name. Those whom thou has given me,.

That they may be one as we are. So obviously this is a very important point as it's repeated over here, but what does it mean to be one? Is it one in purpose? In what sense is it one? He and the father, they're two distinct people, obviously, but they're united in purpose in everything that is done.

Is that the idea of being one? Yeah, I think there, as he goes down later on, he will.

Say, I in thee, thou in me, as we are one. There is a deep mystical oneness in this that will spill out to unity, agreement, and purpose, but I think there is a oneness of security, a oneness of position that is deeper than anything that we could create on agreement.

It is a unity that will be initiated at Pentecost. There will be one body, there will be one homogenous group, and the condition or the relationship is as we are one. That was never enjoyed, that was never experienced.

This is something unique, and it's going to be completed in the future. It's ongoing, and as believers are added to that oneness, it continues to grow throughout the dispensation. That will be addressed in the Lord's Prayer later on, but I believe the oneness here is what we have in Ephesians 4, which is the truth of the one body, but yet in Ephesians 4, what is the prayer of the apostle or the exhortation?

Endeavoring to keep, there's that word, to keep the unity of the Spirit. So this has been created, and it's interesting, the Spirit of God is not mentioned here, but the Father and the Son, but Ephesians brings in the Spirit, so you have the Godhead.

It is impossible to be one in us, the Father and the Son, without the energy of the Spirit, so the Godhead is involved in this. This is a deep, mystical unity that is far beyond anything that we can imagine.

Sanctification Through the Truth and Protection from Evil

So keep them in thy name, and what would support that oneness is that we have become family, children of God, and how do we know that? Because the name that He came to reveal is what? Father. So now are we sons, children, born ones, the new birth brings us into that.

So this entire gospel weaves in truth together that is supplemental to one another. So as we move down a little further, there are three aspects of being kept. Number one, keep them in thy name in relation to this oneness.

Since Father is the name, family is the reality, and unity is expressed in that. Family likeness, family relation, family unity. Keep them from the evil one. Verse 15, so is it the evil one, or is it the evil, or is it both, and why is the Lord praying for that specifically?

I can't look to the women, so I have to look to you men. Brent, Travis, anybody? Bruce, any thoughts? The evil one, so Satan himself, and that would have a lot of bearing and significance since Judas has been mentioned.

So you have these men who are kept safely. There is a security that is the foundation of their safety. The security is in the family. The security is in relation to the oneness. Judas was never one. So what you have here is that none of them is lost, and the interesting thing is that that word is lost is actually the thought of something that's already been accomplished.

And I wonder at this point, you remember that Judas went out earlier. Could it possibly be, and likely might be, that at this point Judas had already hung himself and is gone? I don't know. Can't be dogmatic.

But the point of the matter is this, that this man, Judas, not only was just as much a fulfillment of Scripture as the other men, not because the Scripture predetermined what he was going to do, but foreknew he had free choice, and his very.

Character and essence is one of lostness. Judas comes to the garden while he's there, so he's obviously still around. But it's something that's actually, he is a sure thing, right?