Jesus’s Prayers
The Puritan Anthony Burgess, in his work on John 17, remarks: “And definitely, if it’s lawful to want Scripture earlier than Scripture, we might say, ‘Although all be gold, but this can be a pearl within the gold. Although all be just like the Heavens, but that is just like the solar and stars.’”
The truth that we don’t hear most of the phrases Christ supplied in his many prayers on earth makes the phrases of John 17 a kind of entrance into the holy of holies. The Son, within the Spirit, is chatting with the Father.
There’s little level in decrying the truth that there’s a lot extra one can say about John 17 than what they will say. We’ll want eternity to know the reality of what was spoken from the lips of Christ. However that doesn’t imply we can’t glean necessary, soul-refreshing truths now—in any other case, Christ wouldn’t have allowed his disciples to listen to these phrases.
There are lots of angles that we will zero in on relating to John 17, however understanding a number of the wealthy Outdated Testomony background to Christ’s prayer will show invaluable to understanding why Jesus prayed the phrases he did.
Within the first place, he begins praying for his personal glory (John 17:1, 5). He knew, primarily based off what the Outdated Testomony mentioned in regards to the Messiah, that he would obtain glory and honor for being the trustworthy servant: “but absolutely my proper is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God” (Isa. 49:4). We see the Father’s reply to this prayer not simply within the salvation of souls everywhere in the world, however even in heaven a choir of angels proclaim:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to obtain energy and wealth and knowledge and would possibly
and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev. 5:12)
Praying with the information that the Father has given to him “authority over all flesh” (John 17:2), Jesus needs to present everlasting life to his individuals, which is to know God and Jesus (John 17:3). One can’t however suppose that the guarantees between the Father and the Servant in Isaiah 49 have been coming now to their full expression in these phrases by the Son.
Figuring out he has particular individuals as a reward from the Father as a result of he achieved the work given to him (John 17:4), Jesus asks that he can be glorified in them. This echoes the promise of Isaiah 49:6, the place the Father says to the Servant (Jesus),
“It’s too gentle a factor that you ought to be my servant
to boost up the tribes of Jacob
and to convey again the preserved of Israel;
I’ll make you as a lightweight for the nations,
that my salvation might attain to the tip of the earth.”
Since Jesus is aware of his individuals are his reward and that they’ll glorify him, he additionally asks the Father to guard the bride whereas they continue to be on earth (John 17:11–12). To be saved in God’s identify has a wealthy Outdated Testomony background. Jesus knew that the “identify of the Lord is a robust tower” (Prov. 18:10), so he might be asking for God to guard his individuals primarily based on his distinctive means to take action. To be saved in God’s identify would additionally result in the faithfulness of Christ’s individuals whereas on earth. As God protects, we’re trustworthy due to that safety.
Our Lord additionally prayed for his disciples to be joyful (John 17:13). If anybody is aware of the true pleasure of the Lord, it’s Jesus. In actual fact, some of the beautiful passages within the Outdated Testomony about Christ highlights this reality. In Proverbs 8:30–31, the Son, as personified Knowledge, says,
“Then I used to be beside [Yahweh], like a grasp workman,
and I used to be day by day his delight,
rejoicing earlier than him all the time,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting within the kids of man.”
This verse describes Christ, the delight of the Father, rejoicing in God, the world, and the kids of man. By praying this prayer in John 17, Jesus is asking for us to have his pleasure fulfilled in us (John 17:13).
Jesus is aware of the needs of his individuals from all ages and prays for our biggest need: to see him and be with him.
Needing our pleasure and needing that we’re saved by God’s identify on the earth, Jesus additionally needs that we’re saved from the evil one (John 17:15). Any reader of the Outdated Testomony would have identified the ability of the evil one (Gen. 3; Job 1:6–12; Job 2:1–6; Zech. 3). Jesus knew the ability of the satan, which is why he prayed particularly for Simon Peter (Luke 23:31–32) but in addition for all his individuals (John 17:15).
God all the time desired for his individuals to be a holy individuals (Lev. 19:2; 20:7; 20:26; 21:8; Ex. 19:6). Jesus, understanding this, asks that his individuals could also be holy to the diploma that they share in his holiness (John 17:17–19). Simply as Jesus was formed by God’s Phrase, so too we should be formed by God’s Phrase. This was all the time God’s intention chatting with us, and now Christ is asking for our holiness to be the outflow of the ability of the Phrase and the holiness of Christ.
To obtain this holiness, we should obtain that non secular life given to us from the Father and Christ, which comes by the Spirit (John 17:22–23). The Spirit is the technique of speaking life from the Father to Christ after which from Christ to us. Earlier, Jesus equally acknowledged, “For because the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son additionally to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, as a result of he’s the Son of Man” (John 5:26–27). Isaiah prophesied of the Father’s intention to pour out the Holy Spirit upon Christ, equipping him for his work as Mediator:
“Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I’ve put my Spirit upon him;
he’ll convey forth justice to the nations” (Isa. 42:1).
There isn’t a doubt that Christ understood that for us to share within the lifetime of the triune God, in God’s “oneness,” his individuals would wish the indwelling of God, particularly if we’re going to be one as God is one (John 17:20–21).
This oneness ensures our presence earlier than the Son in the future. Jesus prays for us to be with him and see his glory (John 17:24). We are able to see why the loss of life of a saint is “treasured” within the eyes of the Lord (Ps. 116:15): the Lord takes us to himself. Moses desired to see God’s glory. He was advised he couldn’t see God’s glory and dwell (Ex. 33:18–20). Jesus permits his saints to see God’s glory and dwell, for they are going to be glorified like Christ in his presence. Jesus is aware of the needs of his individuals from all ages and prays for our biggest need: to see him and be with him.
John 17 factors us ahead to what Christ is asking God to do for the church, even to today and past. However we should keep in mind that Jesus didn’t pull these requests and needs out of skinny air. The wealthy Outdated Testomony background absolutely has a lot to show us about why Jesus mentioned the phrases he did for the sake of the church. Likewise, God’s phrase ought to present us with the mandatory phrases to go to God with, particularly as we ask him to meet his guarantees made to Christ for our sake.
Mark Jones is the writer of The Prayers of Jesus: Listening to and Studying from Our Savior.
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