The Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 28, 2017
John 17:1-11
Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer—
A Model for Us!
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.” (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
If I were to ask you for an example of what you consider to be a “model” prayer, what would you say? Most of us would probably automatically say, “The Lord’s Prayer!” And we would be correct! The Lord’s Prayer is indeed a “model” prayer on every single level. It is focused. It is balanced. It is both simple yet comprehensive.
At the same time, I think that it is good for us to recognize that there are other “model” prayers to be found on the pages of Scripture. For me a “model” prayer for boldness would be Abraham’s prayer asking the Lord to spare Sodom and Gomorra “for the sake of the righteous” (Genesis18) or Moses’ boldness in asking the Lord to forgive the Israelites for the sin of making and bowing down to a Golden Calf (Exodus 32). For me a “model” prayer for humility would be Hannah’s prayer asking the Lord to grant her a son (1 Samuel 1) or Hezekiah’s prayer asking the Lord to heal his illness (Isaiah 38). If we want to see a “model” prayer for “persistence” all we need to do is read Jesus’ words in Luke 18 about the “Persistent Widow.” And if we want to be reminded of how we are to pray with confidence all we need to do is read Jesus’ words in Matthew 7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:11). Yes, my friends, prayer is such a “powerful and effective” (James 5:16) tool that the God of heaven has placed into our hands that there is no shortage of “model” prayers recorded for us on the pages of Scripture.
We have yet another example of this right here in our text for today. John chapter seventeen is commonly referred to as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. Spoken in the Upper Room on the evening we call Maundy Thursday Jesus permits His disciples to listen to Him as He presents His deepest, most heartfelt concerns to His heavenly Father in prayer. Just hours before suffering and dying to pay for all the sins of the entire human race we hear Jesus pray for Himself, for His disciples and He even prays for you and for me. Today as we study this text our goal is to see how Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer is a Model for us!
The first portion of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer is found in the opening five verses of our text. I invite you to look at our text as it is printed in your worship folder. What is the one word that is repeated five times in those five verses? It is the word “glory.” Out of love and concern for us poor mortal sinners Jesus willingly set aside the divine “glory” that was rightfully His from all of eternity. In poverty and humility the true eternal Son of God was born into our world as the true Son of Man. The purpose for this is made crystal clear when Jesus says to His heavenly Father in verse four, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” The “work” that Jesus refers to here is, of course, His Father’s Plan of Salvation for this world. The fact that God the Father was willing to provide a Savior for this world is a testimony to the “glory” of His amazing grace. The fact that God the Son was willing to serve as that Savior even though it meant sacrificing Himself on the altar of the cross not only testifies to the “glory” of His love for us, but it also underscores the “glory” of our heavenly Father. All of this “glory” is then wrapped up into one beautiful precious present for you and for me— the gift of eternal life! Jesus says, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” We cannot help but rejoice and stand in awe of the fact that at the heart of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer is the “glory” of God, the “glory” of God as it is openly revealed His Plan of Salvation for this world, the “glory” of God as it is found in the gift of eternal life freely given to you and to me!
The second portion of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer emphasizes how Jesus has revealed to His disciples the Truth— the Truth as it is found right here on the pages of God’s holy Word. This is brought out in our text when Jesus says, “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your Word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.”
In my confirmation classes I teach that there are two “sources” of knowledge when it comes to God. First, there is the Natural Knowledge of God. This is the knowledge of God that we see from Creation. (See Psalm 19) This is the knowledge of God to which our conscience testifies. (See Romans 2:14, 15) There are, however, two glaring problems with the Natural Knowledge of God. The Natural Knowledge of God cannot tell us who the true God is and the Natural Knowledge of God cannot tell us what the true God has done to save us. As a result of these two fatal short-comings of the Natural Knowledge of God, mankind not only manufactures a variety of “gods” in his own likeness, but mankind also naively assumes that when we make one of these “gods” mad, we can appease their anger by means of works. This is called: work-righteousness.
The second source of knowledge when it comes to God is the Revealed Knowledge of God that can only be found on the pages of Holy Scripture. The Revealed Knowledge of God proclaimed to us in the Bible possesses two unique strengths. The first strength of the Revealed Knowledge of God is that the Bible, and the Bible alone, tells us who the true God is. He is the Triune God. The second strength of the Revealed Knowledge of God is that the Bible, and the Bible alone, tells us what the true God has done to save us. (Pointing to the cross) When we take these words of our text at face value, when we read these words of our text in the larger context of John’s Gospel, one can not help but see how Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer touches upon those two tremendous strengths of the Revealed Knowledge of God. First, Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer makes it very clear that Jesus and the Father are so closely “connected” (or as the theologians have put it Jesus and the Father are “one in essence”) that when we see Jesus we see the Father and when we hear Jesus we hear the Father. Secondly, when Jesus says in His High Priestly Prayer, “They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me” we automatically remember that the Son of God was sent into this world for the specific purpose of saving us from our sins. Can there be any doubt that this portion of Jesus’ prayer includes His heartfelt desire that His disciples remain in the Truth as it is revealed to us in Scripture?
And finally, the heart of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer is unfolded for us still more when He prays, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name— the name you gave me— so that they may be one as we are one.” Jesus knew that once He returned home to heaven all the hostility and all the hatred of this unbelieving world would be directed against His disciples. Jesus also knew that there would be forces that would strive to divide His disciples from within by destroying their unity of faith— a unity that is to be modeled after the perfect unity of the holy Trinity. So deep is the love that Jesus has for His disciples, so deep is the love that Jesus has for us that when He pours out His heart in prayer to His heavenly Father He can’t help but pray for the divine protection of His children.
Let’s take a moment then to look at Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer and see how it serves as a model for you and for me. As Lutheran Christians you and I understand that while there is only one High Priest, by the grace and power of God we are all members of a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9), the Priesthood of All Believers as Martin Luther taught us. As “priests” and “priestesses” in the Kingdom of God we have the privilege, we have the right, we have the responsibility to approach God’s throne of grace “with freedom and confidence” (Ephesians 3:12). For whom do we pray? For what do we pray? Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer gives us a beautiful model to follow! In Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer our Lord prays for Himself, He prays for His children (namely, His disciples) and He prays for others— including you and me. In Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer He addresses the “glory” of the Father’s Plan of Salvation for this world, He asks His heavenly Father to keep His disciples in the Truth, and, He asks His heavenly Father to use His divine power to protect Jesus’ children (namely, the disciples). Those six points give us a very clear model, a very clear outline to follow in our own prayer lives! So let’s see if we can fill in that outline a little here today.
The first part of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer focused on the “glory” of God’s Plan of Salvation for this world. Is it difficult to see how that glorious Plan guides and directs our prayers— whether for ourselves, for our children or for others? Not at all! God’s gift of eternal salvation through faith in His Son is by far the most precious gift we have ever or will ever be given. Our prayers need to reflect that truth! First, we not only thank the good Lord for giving us this priceless gift absolutely free of charge, but we also ask Him to help us treasure this gift and strengthen this gift and keep it safe through regular use of His holy Word and regular reception of His holy Supper.
As we pray to the Lord we also ask Him to protect the gift of saving faith that He created in the hearts of our children and our grandchildren when they were baptized in His Name. We know from personal experience just how cunning and just how ruthless and just how relentless the devil, the world and the sinful nature are. Therefore we ask the heavenly Father to help our children and our grandchildren hold fast to that precious gift throughout their entire lives. More than anything else we want our children to spend eternity with us in our heavenly Father’s home.
And finally, we pray to the Lord and ask Him to fill our hearts with so much love for the souls of people who do not know Jesus as their Savior that we will do everything we can to carry out and to support mission work both here at home and all across the world.
The second part of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer focused on preserving the Truth of Scripture. Again it’s not difficult to see how important it is for us to include this in our daily prayers— especially when so many people and so many churches have turned their backs on the divine inspiration of the Bible. Because of that sad reality we need to ask the Lord to once again restore the Truth of Scripture to its rightful place in the church as the only Source of doctrine and practice, the only Source of what we teach and how we live our lives— just as He did in the Lutheran Reformation. Because we know how often and how subtly our children and our grandchildren are being tempted to listen to the siren-song of their friends and the unbelieving world which are constantly trying to convince them that truth is “relative,” namely, that what may be true for their parents and their grandparents may not be true for them, we need to constantly ask the God of heaven to keep our loved ones safe in the circle of His saving Truth. And, of course, because you know just how often you are bombarded with the drumbeat of political-correctness that says love for everyone and tolerance for everything are paramount, we need to ask our Lord to help us tune out the cacophony of lies we hear each and every day and keep the Truth— His Truth (Pointing to the cross) — always before our eyes and in our hearts.
The third part of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer focused on— protection. Take a moment to picture the faces of your children and your grandchildren. Take a moment to picture the faces of your family and your friends. Take a moment to picture the faces of your brothers and sisters in the faith. Take a moment to picture the face of the person you see in the mirror each and every day. Those are the faces of the people that the “roaring lion” is “looking to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Those are the faces of the people that Satan’s legions of demons are constantly trying to catch in the deadly web of sin and lure away from the cross on Calvary’s hill. Those are the faces of the people whom we need to daily ask our Almighty Creator to protect.
While the Lord’s Prayer is hands down the #1 “model prayer” that our God has recorded for us on the pages of His holy Word, I think it is good for us to take note of the other “model” prayers that He has also given to us— including Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. Let this prayer be your guide as each and every day you gladly and willingly pray to your God for yourself, for your children and for others. Let this prayer be your guide as each and every day you gladly and willingly praise God for the “glory” of His Plan of Salvation, as you ask Him to preserve His Truth among us and as you ask Him to use His divine power to protect us.
To God is the glory!
Amen