CHRIST CHURCH,
Sunday May 28, 2006
10am and 6pm
John 17:6-19
Our reading from
John chapter 17 just now focusses on part of what is commonly known as
his High Priestly Prayer; that prayer he made on the night before his
passion and death; that prayer made in the hearing of and primarily for
his disciples. In it he commits his ministry, and his disciples into
this Father's hands. As the commentator Laurence Richards reminds us,
there are three parts to that prayer. The first five verses of John 17
are Jesus' prayer for himself. The next part which we have just
read is his prayer for his disciples, and then verses 20 to 26 his
prayer for all believers, and especially for their unity. Whilst we
are, as one might say, mainly beneficiaries of the last seven verses,
we may be sure that the portion from this morning has something to say
of our Lord's heart for us. If we pose the question,Who are these
favored individuals, who share Jesus' prayer, are recognized by his
love, and have their characters and their circumstances mentioned by
the lips of the High Priest before the throne on high? , we may find
the answer in his own words They are not belong to world, just as I do
not belong to the world.(v15). That would seem to encopmass not just
those who trod the dusty roads of Galilee with him, but to all who have
taken up his call Follow me
And this
prayer of Jesus seems to have to do very much with their (and our)
relationship to the world; that world which God loves so much as to
give his one and only Son (John 3:16); that world into which he
commands us to go (Matthew 28:19), yet is a world whose prince is the
Devil. It for this reason that Jesus prays; he prays for their position
in the world, and he prays for two special reasons.
Jesus prayed:
A Prayer for
their (and our) Security - (v. 11-13)
A Prayer for
their (and our) Deliverance (14-16)
A Prayer for
their (and our) Sanctification (17-19).
I. A Prayer for
Security - (v. 11-13)
Now I am no longer in the world; but
they are in the world and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them
and care for them in your Name that you have given me – so that
they will be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected in
your Name that you have given me, I guarded them, and not one was lost,
except the one destined to be lost, so that the Scripture might be
fulfilled "But now I am coming to you. I speak these things in the
world so that they might have my joy complete in them.
Let's note that
this section of the prayer is very unique because it is the only place
in the John where we find Jesus using the term “Holy
Father.” One Bible scholar Darby suggests that Jesus uses this
term because he wanted God to watch over us like a Father would.
• I like
that image of God with all his power and might watching over each us
with the affection of a Father.
We have the
guarantee that God will keep the saints from the evil of the world the
way a Father tries to protect his family. Every father will protect his
children, so you can almost see this from a parents perspective. You
have raised your children kept them safe now they are about to go off
to college leave the safety of your house and your care and you are
simply asking God the Father to protect them now because you
can’t do it any more. A parent's concern for their child is no
less, maybe even greater when they fly the nets and face the world on
their own. For years we have protected them against all the influences
for ill that there are. So surely that is what this prayer is. "Lord
watch over the ones you have placed in my care, because I can’t."
What a heart we see here from Jesus to pray a prayer like that for us.
We truly see the Jesus' heart, the Jesus' love for us.
Jesus knows the
world will be opposed to us; he knows it will be full of temptation to
lure us from the way of discipleship; that the way of the world is
diametrically opposed to his way, and just for this reason we will face
opposition.
So, Jesus prays
a Prayer for Security But the next, he prays
A prayer for
deliverance. (14-16)
I
have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they
are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I’m
not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect
them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I
belong to the world.
Twice in this
section Jesus reminds the Father, “They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world.” Jesus prayer here is one of
deliverance to God saying,
•
“God keep them from the evil man (Satan).”
The idea here is
Jesus is asking God for protect us from Satan who is the prince of this
world. We know as parents one of the fears we deal with is what kinds
of temptations we have been protecting our kids from, they will they
fall into. We try and watch what they see, and know about. We
don’t want our kids to be exposed to the sickness that is lurking
out there in the world. But we know once they have left our side Satan
will try and expose them to all the trappings the world has to offer.
So Jesus simply prays "Lord protect them form the Father of lies,
Satan". Jesus prays Father help them because,
•
“They are not part of this world any more than I am.”,
Jesus knows the
dangers that will face us, he knows Satan will be after us, as Peter
says in his first letter, prowling as a roaring lion, seeking whom he
may devour- literally whom he can take out of action.
Do you realise
as you say the Lord's Prayer, where we pray, "Deliver us from evil",
the actual word is "Deliver us from the Evil One" . So Jesus prays for
our Deliverance. And finally and most importantly
A Prayer for
Sanctification (17-19).
Sanctify
them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As you have sent me into the
world, so I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself
The story is
told of an old presbyterian Minister who used to pray every Wednesday
night at prayer meeting for his wrongdoing and concluded his prayer the
same way: “And, Lord, clean all the cobwebs out of my life-the
things that are gathered there that ought not to have been there. O
Lord, clean all the cobwebs out of my life. It got too much for one
fellow in the prayer meeting after hearing the Minister once too often;
so when the he said the same prayer the next time, the fellow jumped to
his feet and shouted: “Lord, Lord, don’t clean the cobwebs.
Kill the spider, kill the spider.
Conversion is
usually a one-time act and decision, but sanctification (being made
holy) is a lifetime process and determination. E. Stanley Jones, the
renowned Methodist missionary to India, said,
“Conversion
is the act of a moment and the work of a lifetime.”
Sanctification
is not about living a clean or perfect life, but an obedient life. The
attraction of the world, the weakness of the flesh, and the onslaught
of the devil are daily battles. It involves a purifying of the whole
life of that person or thing to the service of God. In the Old
Testament it usually conveyed the idea of making something sacred,
usually by the burning of the sacrifice. It does not mean to purify as
to purify from sin. Jesus purified Himself even though He had no sin by
setting Himself apart as the sacrificial offering to God so that we His
followers might also be pure and holy.
Sanctification
is not about avoiding or escaping the world but yielding and
surrendering to God. The word “world" is very prominent in
Jesus’ prayer, it occurs some 20 times in all of John 17. That
does lay before us the role of a complete reliance on Jesus; of
the folly of any form of self-sufficiency or self-satisfaction. We
often forget that Jesus told would-be followers to go and reckon the
cost before committing their way to him. Only for such is his High
Preistly Prayer sufficient and relevant.
Our weapons
against the world’s beliefs, values, or attitudes are prayer to
God, and obedience to the word of God, and the power of His name (
Jesus never offers us an easy ride; he never withdraws us from the
world, its trials and temptations. But if we keep close to him, we can
be sure that his prayer to his Father will be sufficient and effective
The believers
and the world: the big theme in those verses 6 to 19 of John 17.
Believers are
-Left in the
world (vv. 11-15)
-Not of the
world (v. 14)
-Hated by the
world (v. 14)
-Kept from the
world (v. 15)
-Sent into the
world (v. 18)
And they are
guarded in all this by Jesus' prayer to his Holy Father
A Prayer for
Security - (v. 11-13)
A Prayer for
Deliverance. (14-16)
A Prayer for
Sanctification (17-19).