John, Part 45 — The Revelation of Jesus Christ — The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s prayer is one of many of the Lord’s prayers. Although He prayed often, we only have record of few of His prayers. The Lord’s prayer is one of His last recorded prayers. All of His recorded prayers show believers how to access the throne of grace. In Matthew 6:9-13, the twelve disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Most of us are familiar with the words of the disciples prayer.
Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
The prayer in John 17 is not like the disciple’s prayer. Jesus was praying to the Father and the disciples were carefully listening to Him.
The Lord’s prayer is a threefold petition.
- He asked the Father to glorify His Son, so that He may also glorify the Father, (vv. 1-5)
- Then He asked the Father to keep and sanctify His disciples, (vv. 6-19)
- Last, He prayed for all believers that they would be unified with one another and with US, (Father and Son), (vv. 20-26)
These three things are the focus of John chapter 17. We are given here a unique privilege of hearing the Son of God praying to the heavenly Father.
First, Christ prays for Himself (17:1–5)
Listen to Christ’s prayer.
John 17:1–5 NKJV 1Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
Jesus knew that it was necessary for people to know God and that He was sent by Him. As His hour approached, this was pressing on His mind and spirit. Jesus knew that His hour had come and He wanted to finish the work He was sent to do in a manner that glorified God. Throughout the Gospel of John, “the hour” referred to His arrest, rejection, suffering, crucifixion and death. From the beginning, Jesus knew what His purpose for coming was and what “the hour” would require of Him.
Beginning at John 2:4, “the hour” is often mentioned.
- At the wedding feast Jesus spoke to His mother — “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)
- While speaking to a group of Jews after healing the man at the pool, Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.” (John 5:25)
- Then He said, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice.” (John 5:28)
- While at the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, the Jews sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. (John 7:30)
- After they brought the woman taken in adultery to Jesus, the Pharisees tried to take Him as Jesus spoke in the treasury and as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come. (John 8:20)
- After the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, the Messiah was teaching and Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.” (John 12:23) Jesus was not speaking about the acclaim and praise of the crowd who welcomed Him to Jerusalem. His entry into Jerusalem was in preparation for the hour when He would be crucified and die for the sins of the world.
- While He was speaking to them about His death and the end of His earthly assignment Jesus spoke about this hour.
John 12:27-28 NKJV Jesus said: “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”
- Once again when Jesus met with His disciples for the Feast of Passover, He spoke about His hour.
John 13:1 NKJV Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
Jesus has arrived at the time for Him to “finish the work” He came to do. We have often considered the text that Jesus read from Isaiah where He talks about the purpose for His coming to earth.
In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Now, He has completed the necessary preparations to bring salvation to all men. He was at the end of His earthly journey and these steps were critical in fulfilling the Father’s plan for redemption. Everything He did “glorified the Father on the earth” (v. 4). Now, Jesus was looking toward the cross as a means of glorifying God (12:23).
Why would the cross bring glory to the Father? The cross is the ultimate expression of God’s love to fallen man. This “hour” is God’s method to conquer sin and Satan. Jesus did not want to do anything that did not bring glory to the Father. Especially in this final hour of suffering, betrayal, and death, Jesus wanted to honor and glorify the Father.
John 17:5 NIV And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Jesus Christ wanted to come back into the full glory that He had with the Father. When He came into this world, He laid aside His glory. Jesus knew that He came to the earth to die. Only once, on the Mount of Transfiguration was His glory revealed openly. When He was transfigured and His face shone like the sun, His disciples caught a glimpse of the radiant glory of God. A voice came out of the bright cloud and said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”
Now, Jesus is continuing His prayer.
John 17:2 NKJV As You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.
The Father had given Jesus authority over all flesh so that He should give eternal life to as many as would believe. What does this mean? The only hope for the salvation of mankind is in the Lord’s hands. The hope of the cross is that many will come to Him.
John 6:37 NLT However, those the Father has given Me will come to Me, and I will never reject them.
This is a small indication of the invincibility of God’s eternal council. God has determined that He would provide a Savior, Who is Christ our Lord. God’s Word and will shall not return to Him without achieving its purpose. God is giving many people eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Father planned the success of His Son.
John 17:6 NKJV I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
Jesus said: “I have manifested Your name” (v. 6). The ‘NAME” represents the person, attributes, and character of God. In Exodus 3:13-14, God’s name is ‘I AM.’ Jesus Christ came to reveal the all-sufficient and all-powerful God in actions, words, and character.
Second, Christ prayed for His Disciples (John 17:6–19)
In His prayer, Jesus testified that He manifested the Father’s name to those He was given. He said, “They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.” It would be good if you spent some time carefully reviewing the words from verse 6-26. Jesus prayed, “I have given them Your word”(v. 14), and in verse 17 He asks the Father to ‘sanctify them’ through the Word.
The Word of God has a unique ability to sanctify or set apart those who receive it. As we receive His word, we are separated more and more from the world unto the Father. The Word of God is living, powerful, active and sharp. It reveals the secret things in your life and shows you how to live a holy life. As we receive His Word, tremendous things begin happening in us. The Word of God is able to show us the path out of the world and into eternal life and to God. More is being said than just walking away from the world. God’s Word is able to transform our lives.
John 17:11 NKJVNow I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.
Look at the full request: “…keep [them] through Your own name… that they may be one…”
- Those who belong to Jesus are to be kept while they are in the world.
- They are to be kept in the Father’s Name.
- They are to be kept together.
- They are to be kept from the evil one.
- They are kept by the Father’s Word.
Up to this point, the Lord was physically with the disciples and was able to keep them. He was the buffer from the storm and evil, and He kept them together. He gave them a united heart and purpose and kept them from the world. Now that He was going back to heaven, He asked the Father to keep them. Believers are not of the world, but they are in the world to be a light and witness for Christ. We keep our lives clean through His Word. Pay close attention to what Jesus says in verse 18.
John 17:18 NKJV“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”
We are here to represent God to the world in the same way that Jesus represented God the Father.
We have a great responsibility!
Third, He Prayed for His all believers, (17:20–26). The main theme here is glorification.
John 17:22 NET The glory You gave to Me I have given to them, that they may be one just as We are one—
Jesus said: “I have given them the glory that You gave Me”(verse 22, NIV). The community of believers should display Christ’s glory, the same glory that Jesus displayed from the Father.
Romans 8:30 NKJV Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
The glory that Jesus has given is both current and eternal. It is related to our relationship with Him now, and the with the glory that we shall share throughout eternity.
Look at the blessing that we receive now through Christ.
Ephesians 1:3 NKJV Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Ephesians 2:6 NKJV and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Ephesians 3:10 NKJV To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,
- There is a glory that we now have in Christ.
- There is a glory that will be revealed when Christ comes.
- What will be revealed is greater than what we now have.
- What we now have is not diminished by what we shall be.
- What we shall be exalts and increases what we now have.
Christ has secured the glory for those He has redeemed. He is praying that we might be with Him and see His glory.
Colossians 3:4 NIV When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Christ also prays for the unity of His church (v. 21).
John 17:21 NKJV “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
The unity that He is praying for is beyond what we can experience here and now. Now through Christ, we reveal that we all have the same Father. This unity is achieved by the Spirit Who works inside of us. One day we shall understand better the unity that Jesus is praying for. One day we shall be changed and shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is. The Lord’s Prayer is a very powerful intercession for the destiny of the believer. His desire is that all men be saved and go to heaven. This is God’s will.Christ wants all believers to enjoy the relationship that He has with the Father. He wants us to know the full love of the Father.
John 17 focuses on the three areas of your life:
- Your past, present, and future.
- Your salvation, sanctification, and glorification.
- Those whom He calls He wants to save.
- Those whom He saves He wants to sanctify.
- Those whom He sanctifies He wants to glorify.
