Lesson #29

JOHN 17
Lesson #29
THE TRUE LORD’S PRAYER OF INTERCESSION

• Memory verse: John 17:21

• John 17 is a unique passage of scripture that gives us a view of the depths of Jesus’ heart, God’s eternal plan regarding His Son, and God’s eternal plan for all believers.
• Jesus prayed this prayer so that the disciples could hear the desires of Jesus’ heart. This is the longest prayer in the Bible.

• Read Joh 17:1-10 Jesus’ prayer for Himself
• Jesus prayed not as an inferior asking for petitions of a superior as man prays. The Greek verbs used in this passage indicate an equality between Jesus and God, the Father.
• Jesus prayed first for Himself. We need to first get our hearts right with God before we bring our petitions.
• “…glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.”

(1)

• Glory to the Son through the crucifixion and the resurrection.
• Jesus requests that God glorify Him in the crucifixion and resurrection.
• How does the cross of Calvary glorify God?
• It fulfills the redemptive plan of God from the foundation of the world. (Rev 13:8)
• It fulfills God’s plan from the foundation of the world for a people to love Him. (Eph 1:4)
• The purpose of that glorification is that Jesus would then glorify the Father with an eternal harvest of believers.
• The fulfillment of God’s eternal plan

• “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him”

(2)

• God, the Father, gave Jesus, the Son, power to make all humans submit to God, but Jesus does not use that power to violate man’s free will.
• God, the Father, gave Jesus, the Son, power over all flesh, but Jesus put aside some of that power to become flesh in order to fulfill God’s eternal plan. (Phi 2:5-11)
• That eternal plan was that Jesus become the sacrifice to pay for man’s sins on the cross.
• That plan was made from the foundation of the world. (1 Pet 1:19-20 Heb 9:26)
• Having fulfilled the plan, Jesus could, then, give eternal life to those who believe in Him.
• What is eternal life?

• “…that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ…”

(3)

• Eternal life is a personal relationship with God, the Father, and Jesus, the Son. It is to experience Him.
• This is why Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life”. (Joh 11:25)
• “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”

(4)

• All through His ministry Jesus glorified God, the Father, because He spoke the words God told Him to say, and He did the things God told Him to do.
• Now He speaks of the crucifixion as though He had already finished it, because He was determined to fulfill His task for God, the Father.
• “…O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”

(5)

• When Jesus successfully fulfilled that plan, God, the Father, restored all heavenly power and authority to Jesus, the Son.
• What glory did Jesus have before He came to earth?
• He had all the attributes of God, the Father: preeminence, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotent, eternal, etc.

• Read Joh 17:6-19 Jesus’ prayer for His disciples

• “…the men which thou gavest me out of the world…”

(6)

• The phrase, “that thou gavest me”, is mentioned seven times in this chapter, (2, 6, 6, 9, 11, 12, 24) which indicates a complete perfection of choosing. This is the Biblical doctrine of election.
• God, the Father, chose the disciples that Jesus would call to be his closest companions.
• Jesus had revealed to these disciples the true nature of God, the Father, and the true nature of Jesus, the Son. (7)
• Jesus gave His disciples the Word of God, and the disciples received that Word. (8)
• “…I pray not for the world,…”

(9)

• Jesus makes a point to say that He does not pray for the world here in this section of scripture, at that point in time, but that He was specifically concerned for His disciples because He was leaving them.
• This is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry of intercession…that of a high priest who intercedes for the people. (Heb 7:25)
• Jesus did have concern for the world of non-believers:
• He came and died for the sins of the world.
• He prayed from the cross for the forgiveness of the non-believers who were crucifying Him.
• “And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.”

(10)

• This statement reflects that intimate reciprocal relationship we have seen between God, the Father, and Jesus, the Son. Now we see this same kind of reciprocal relationship between Jesus and His disciples.
• The Father and the Son share divine ownership of the disciples which glorify Jesus.
• How did the disciples glorify Jesus?
• The disciples glorified Christ as they lived the Christian life carrying the message of the salvation and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• The disciples are to be left in a hostile world:
• Prayer for protection in a hostile world:

• “…keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.”

(11)

• The word, “keep”, means = to guard with watchfulness day and night.
• The believer is “kept” by the sealing work of the Holy Spirit, who seals our redemption the minute we are born again.
• Jesus prayed for special protection of the 11 disciples who would carry the message of the gospel to a hostile world.
• Essential to that protection is unity one with the other.
• There is power in unity as we will see later in this chapter.
• If Jesus prayed for their protection, why did 10 of the 11 disciples die a martyr’s death?
• Physical life is not the most important protection. These men must bear tremendous temptation to discouragement and defeat. Each one must fulfill God’s personal and unique plan for his life in the same way that Jesus fulfilled God’s plan for His life.
• The same is true of the believer today. God has a plan for your life that He wants you to be faithful to fulfill.
• Protection for the disciples would come through the name of the Lord.
• Read Pro 18:10
• There is power in the name of the Lord.
• Protection comes through a close contact of an intimate relationship with the Lord.
• “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name…”

(12)

• Jesus was the unifying source of their protection during His earthly ministry. As long as the disciples were unified spiritually around Jesus, they were protected from the enemy, Satan.

• “…none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”

(12)

• Judas was the exception. He was not in unity with Jesus. Therefore Satan was able to attack through Judas.
• Judas exercised his own free will. However, it was prophesied in the Old Testament that one would betray Him. (Psa 41:9)
• Prayer for blessings in a hostile world:

• “…that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

(13)

• Joy is sustained through intimate contact with Jesus in spite of the surrounding circumstances.
• There is joy in knowing God has a purpose in their lives.
• There is joy in working out that purpose.
• There is joy in completing the task and knowing God is pleased by it.
• “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them

) …” (14)

• The Word of Jesus’ teachings would sustain them in a hostile world.
• The Word of Jesus’ teachings would also cause the world to hate them. The values in God’s Word are opposite from the values in the world system.
• Prayer for purpose in a hostile world:

• “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”

. (15)

• The reason Christians are left in the world, after they are born again by the Holy Spirit, is because God entrusts them with the task of being a witness to the world.
• God places a tremendous amount of trust in weak humanity to perform a phenomenal task.
• It is for this reason that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to come along side of us to help us in this great task.
• The phrase, “keep them from the evil”, refers to the evil one, Satan.
• This is why believers need the Holy Spirit, who gives us power against the attacks and temptations of the enemy.
• “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

(16)

• The world system belongs to Satan because title and authority to this world were given to Satan when Adam sinned.
• Jesus redeemed the title and authority to this world by His sacrifice on the cross.
• Therefore, Jesus Christ and those believers who are personally identified with Christ through a new birth experience are in direct opposition to Satan and his kingdom. (Col 1:13)
• Prayer for sanctification and mission in a hostile world:

• “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

(17)

• Sanctification through the truth of the Word of God:
• What does the word, sanctification, mean?
• Sanctification means = the process of making holy by setting apart; the action of God’s grace through His Word purifying and setting a person apart from sin and the world system to exalt that person to a supreme love relationship with God. (Heb 4:12)
• This prayer includes a double sanctification:
• Believers are to be set apart from the world by the truth in Jesus Christ of the born-again experience.
• Then believers are to be set apart with the truth of Jesus Christ as they go into the world to be a witness.
• “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.”

(18)

• A common theme in the gospel of John is that God, the Father sent the Son into this world, both the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world to be with the disciples, and both the Father and Son send the disciples into the world as a witness of the Father and the Son.
• “And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.”

(19)

• What did Jesus mean when He said that He sanctifies Himself?
• Because the word, sanctify, means = to se apart, He means that He is setting Himself apart for sacrifice so that the disciples and all believers after that might be set apart to be born again through the shed blood of Christ.

• Read Joh 17:20-26 Jesus’ prayer for future believers, His church:

• “…for them also which shall believe on me…”

(20)

• Jesus prays for all the believers who would come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior through the ministry of the 11 disciples, and on, and on from there.
• This is the great chain of believers through history as the gospel spreads down through time to include us today.
• It is awesome to think that Jesus prayed for us today.
• The petitions on our behalf: (21)

• =1= “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee…”

(21)

• Jesus prays for unity among believers through all time.
• The concept of unity is so important that Jesus emphasized it numerous times in this chapter. He bases this concept of unity on His relationship with God, the Father. That relationship is our model.
• He spoke what the Father told Him to speak and He did what the Father told Him to do.
• Since Jesus prayed for the unity of believers, to what do we attribute the vast multiplicity of Christian denominations?
• This unity was not meant to be a unity of one church denomination. Church denominations are man’s governmental systems for running churches.
• What Jesus meant was a spiritual unity and not a governmental unity.
• All true, born-again believers in Jesus Christ are baptized into one body of believers by the Holy Spirit. It is this unity that crosses denominational church lines.
• =2= “…that they also may be one in us…

” (21)

• Six times in this chapter the word, “one” is used to express this unity between God, the Father, Jesus, the Son, and believers in Jesus Christ. (11, 21, 21 22, 22, 23)
• The unity between God, the Father and Jesus, the Son is perfect, but when man is added to the concept, that unity is not always perfect (represented by the number 6 instead of the number 7 which refers to perfection or completeness.)
• Spiritual unity:
• Spiritual unity is based on an intimate relationship with continual communication, love, commitment, and obedience. That is the spiritual relationship Jesus had with the Father.
• The Holy Spirit creates the spiritual unity between God, the Father and Jesus, the Son, in heart of the believer the minute the convert comes to Christ. However, it is the responsibility of the believer to express outwardly that interior spiritual unity.
• The reciprocal relationship in unity:

Christ in us	We in Christ
Christ lives in us by putting His Spirit in us	Our salvation is guaranteed by His Spirit in us
Christ and His Spirit go everywhere we go	We live in His abiding protection
We represent Jesus Christ everywhere we go to everyone we meet	The plan and purpose for our lives is focused on Christ and His plan for us
Jesus Christ and His Spirit help us to obey God	We seek His guidance and desire to obey Him
The presence of the Holy Spirit guarantees our eternal hope	He accomplished what we can look forward to with hope.

Principles of the Law of Unity
Definition: Unity is agreement in harmony of purpose working toward the common good.
Gen 1:26	=1= God, Himself, operates in unity.
	=2= Great creativity occurs where there is unity.
	=3= God’s unfathomable power is released where there is harmony.
Gen 3	=4= Unity of judgment came upon man when Adam and Eve broke that unity with God.
Mat 6:10 Mat 18:19-20	=5= Unity in the invisible world governs the visible world.
Deu 12:30	=6= There is a multiplication factor in unity. It compounds itself.
Acts 1:14	=7= Unity is what the Holy Spirit uses to expand the church while disunity causes the Spirit to flee.
Gen 11:1, 4-9	=8= Unity always produces strength whether for good or for evil.
Jam 1:6-8 Psa 57:7 Mat 6:24	=9= Unity begins with the individual within himself.
Eph 5:25	=10= Collective unity brings greater strength and power.
Pro 11:29	=11= Disunity produces weakness.
1Cor 12:4-7	=12= God does not insist on or even desire “uniformity” for variety and diversity are God’s plan, but unity is commanded.

• =3= “…that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”

(21)

• Notice that this spiritual unity is supposed to be a witness to the world of the relationship between God, the Father and Jesus, the Son.
• Therefore, the closer believers are in their relationship to Christ, the more unified they will be to one another. This unity will astound the world. That unity of love and commitment will verify the truth of the gospel that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
• =4=

“…the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one…” (22)

• Believers receive a measure of the splendor and character of God when they receive a new nature in the born-again experience. (Gal 2:20) This makes God real to the believer.
• It is this experience the believer is to pass on to others.
• It is this experience that unifies believers one to another.
• =5= “…I 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.”

(23)

• Love is the result of this reciprocal unity between God, the Father, Jesus, the Son, and all believers.
• It is this tremendous love that is a witness to the world of the reality of God and the truth of Jesus Christ.
• According to the end of this verse, God loves the believers in Jesus Christ as much as He loves Jesus, the Son. What tremendous love that is!
• “…that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them”

(26)

• Jesus promises that God’s love will be in the believer because God’s love is in Jesus and Jesus will be in the believer.
• =6= “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…”

(24)

• This is the promise that believers will be with Christ for eternity and know God, His glory, and love personally.
• =7= “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” (26)

• Jesus will continue to declare the truths and secrets of God’s heart to the disciples
• He does this by way of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
• Summary:
• What does this chapter teach us about:
• Christ’s glory?
• God’s glory is in Jesus and because Jesus is in the believer, God’s glory is in the believer.
• Eternal life?
• The believer has eternal life because God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit dwell inside the believer.
• The intercession of Christ?
• Jesus was very concerned about the disciples that He was leaving behind as well as the future believers in Christ. Therefore, He prayed for our strength, our protection, and our spiritual provision to see us through this life in a hostile world.
• This chapter teaches us of the marvelous resources believers have in Jesus Christ to enable them to persevere in the faith.
• Jesus promises us eternal life (2)
• Jesus is our intermediary between us and God. In that capacity, Jesus prays for us. (9, 20)
• We have the protection of God, the Father (11)
• Jesus gives believers the Word of God (8, 14)
• Jesus sets us apart for special service to God (17-18)
• The believer has the unity of God and Christ in us (21, 23)
• The believer has God’s love (23-24, 26)
• Christ is in us (23)
• Jesus Christ reveals God to us (26)
• This chapter teaches the believer’s relationship to the world:
• Believers are given to Christ out of the world.(6)
• Believers are left in the world (11)
• Believers are not to be part of this world system (14)
• Believers will be hated by the world (14)
• Believers will be kept from the evil one who controls this world system (15)
• Believers are sent into the world to be a witness (18)
• Believers are to manifest unity before the world as a witness (23)

HOMEWORK
JOHN 18:1-12
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of Joh 17
• In what ways does Jesus’ prayer strengthen your relationship to Him and to God, the Father?
• Preparation for Joh 18:1-12
• Read Joh 18:1-12 and corresponding scriptures Mat 26:47-56 Mar 14:43-52 and Luk 22:39-53
• In the gospel of John, what references do you find to Jesus’ spiritual nature equal with God?
• What does Joh 18:1-12 tell you about:
• Divine sovereignty?
• Submission?
• The cost of discipleship?

• Memory verse: Joh 18:37b “…To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice..”