John 17:6-19. The Prayer of Jesus (2) - for His Disciples
Jesus knows that we, his disciples will always tend to be satisfied with trifles and consequently will miss out on what is really important. C.S Lewis wrote in ‘The Weight of Glory’,
“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward … promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
This section of Jesus’ prayer gives a beautiful summary of what being a disciple of Jesus means. Although this passage primarily refers to the eleven remaining disciples it applies to all Christians.
We recognise the authority of Jesus
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.” John 17:6
Jesus is speaking to his Father and claims that he is the way to know God. He teaches that a group of people have been given to him by God. This theme is repeated
“They know that everything you have given me comes from you.” John 17:7
Christians recognise that God was in Christ. This is repeated in the following verses,
“They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.” John 17:8
“All I have is yours, and all you have is mine.” John 17:10
All true Christians assert that Jesus is one with the Lord God, Jehovah.
We recognise the authority of the Word of God
“You gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.” John 17:6
The proof that people are in God’s kingdom is that they have obeyed God. Without there being a radical change of mind to stop living for ourselves but to live for God, that is repentance, no-one is saved. Jesus is God’s word and the Bible is God’s word. The two cannot be dissociated. This theme is repeated in the next verse.
“For I gave them the words you gave me, and they accepted them.” John 17:8
Christians accept that the teaching of Christ is the teaching of God. Without this desire to obey what God teaches, a person is not a Christian. They are not saved. Jesus taught clearly,
“If you love me you will obey what I command.” John 14:15
“If anyone loves me he will obey my teaching.” John 14:23
If anyone reading this is really unsure whether Jesus is truly come from God, the first essential step is to make the decision to obey what he teaches,
“If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” John 7:17
We have a special relationship with God
“I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.” John 17:9
What a thrilling statement this is, Christ’s disciples are members of God’s family. His disciples are given God’s joy as we listen to him and obey him. However it is not all plain sailing
We will be unpopular
“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.” John 17:14
We are in the world to serve Christ by living and speaking as he has taught but this will inevitably cause opposition. It is when we pass on the uncompromising things that Jesus says, that results in antagonism. Don’t speak up for Jesus and you won’t be spoken against, but refuse to share what Jesus taught, be ashamed of him, and you will face the prospect of being rejected by God.
“If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory . . .” Luke 9:26
“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32
We are set apart for Christ’s purposes as we follow his teaching
“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17
Jesus goes on to explain what part of this means - we will go into the world to share the good news of salvation just as Jesus did for his disciples.
“As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” (i.e. set apart for God) John 17:18
Word and World
It would take too long to go through this majestic prayer with all its detail, but let us concentrate on some key ideas it contains. There are two key concepts, ‘word ‘ and ‘world’.
Word
Note how frequently Jesus draws his disciples back to this essential notion.
“They have obeyed your word.” (17:6) He is clearly referring to God’s word.
“I gave them the words you gave me.” (17:8 ) This is again referring to God’s word.
“I have given them your word.” (17:14) Why does he stress this?
“Your word is truth – sanctify them by the truth.” (17:17)
Somehow the message in God’s word will sanctify his disciples, causing them to be set apart for God. This change will only occur when people read or hear what God has said and commit themselves to obey. Where do we find God’s word? Verse 12 is very clear,
“So that Scripture would be fulfilled.”
Doubtless Christians would say ‘Amen’ to this. God does teach the world through his word. It is however all too easy to give lip service to such thoughts; the test of a belief is how much we act on it.
‘Young Pillars’ is a selection of Charles Schultz’s famous ‘Peanuts’ cartoons. In one of them a teenage boy is on the phone to his girl friend. He says,
“I’ve begun to unravel the mystery of the Old Testament – I’ve started to read it.”
It is clear that Jesus wanted his disciples to be word centred. It would seem that one of Jesus’ priorities after his resurrection was that his disciples should fully understand the Scriptures and realise that they are all about him. When Jesus joined Cleopas and his companion on their 7-mile walk to Emmaus on the morning of his resurrection he said to them,
““Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Luke 24:27
Later that day Jesus appeared to the rest of his disciples. After showing them his hands and feet and eating with them he said,
“This is what I told you while I was still with you: “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures.” Luke 24:44-45
The writings of the apostles are immersed with quotes and concepts from the Old Testament. It is clear from the story of Philip in Acts 8 that he had been well trained by the apostles in how to understand, and learn by heart, the Scriptures. When the Ethiopian eunuch asked him, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about?” it says,
“Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” Acts 8:35
Why has our generation of Christians largely lost this emphasis and what can we do to restore God’s word to its proper place in the lives of ourselves, our families and our churches?
In the book of Proverbs there is a section called ‘Sayings of the Wise’. These explain how people can most benefit from the Scriptures.
“Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.” Proverbs 22:17-18
Here are the four steps that will help make the Word of God live in my life,
1. Read it seriously – Pay attention and listen ( in those days only a minority could read)
2. Meditate on the meaning – Apply to your heart
3. Memorise – Keep them in your heart
4. Teach what you have learned to others – Ready on your lips.
Those who teach or discuss what the Bible teaches are always those who learn the most.
2. World
We have noted earlier how God’s love for the world is central to Jesus’ thinking.
“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son . . .” John 3:16
In John’s gospel the ‘world’ nearly always refers to ‘those who are opposed to God’, that is those who are ‘worldly’.
Yet he strangely says in verse 9,
“I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me.”
If he loves the whole world, why isn’t he praying for it? Jesus goes on to say in verse 11 that he is leaving the world but that his disciples will remain in the world. Why are they still “in the world”? – certainly not “to be of it”, instead they are to win it back to God.
Should we Christians not have different motives from our colleagues who are “of the world”? Are we clearly that different? When I was a Senior Registrar and unsuccessfully applying for teaching hospital consultant posts, a Senior Jewish Consultant, who used to take me to his synagogue, took me aside and said,
“Do you know why you are having difficulties getting a Consultant post – it is because you are known as being religious. And there is something I want to say to you about this, “Please don’t change””.
Contrast this with the advice I received from a very Senior Christian consultant after I had obtained a Consultant post,
“Don’t let your Christianity be too forward as it will prevent you having much influence in the world.”
The priority that Jesus has for his disciples is loud and clear in verse 18, where Jesus is praying,
“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”
His disciples are sent into the world to share the gospel of salvation. They will do this by being,
a) Teachers of the Word of God, the Bible
b) Active in the world but keeping to God’s priorities
Jesus wants his disciples to persuade others to come back to God. Jesus is about to return to heaven but he has a new body on earth, a body in which he has placed his Spirit. This body is his church, which will be built on these his disciples, whom he has left in the world to complete God’s work. This is the work he has always intended his chosen people to fulfil, to be a light for the nations, a light for the Gentiles.
Yes, someone may be saying, but wasn’t this prayer referring to the twelve disciples? Surely we are in a different situation. Is it wrong for us to concentrate primarily for the physical, social and psychological needs? That is surely what the world wants us to do. To answer this, Jesus next moves onto the third section of this prayer that certainly does apply to all of us and a study of this will follow.
BVP
