The Prayer of Jesus

Based on John 17:6-19

The past few weeks, we have been looking at Jesus’ farewell discourse, a long speech Jesus gives his disciples before his arrest. He is giving them the substance of his teaching and his instructions so that the disciples will know where they stand and what they need to do when Jesus leaves. We reflected on the image of Jesus as the vine, the disciples as the branches, and God as the vine grower, and how God, Jesus and the disciples work together to produce fruit that blesses the world. Last week, we reflected on how Jesus chose us to be his friends, how we are in Jesus’ “square squad”, how he loves us as a dear friend, and how we are challenged to love every person we encounter as a friend of Jesus.

In today’s passage, there is a shift from Jesus talking to the disciples to now Jesus is talking to God. All of chapter 17 is a prayer Jesus offers on behalf of his disciples. Jesus is praying for his disciples. But it is a prayer that we get to overhear, a prayer intended not just for the disciples that were with Jesus in the upper room but is also meant for us. Jesus is praying to God on our behalf in this prayer. What is Jesus telling God in this prayer?

As is typical in John’s gospel, there are a lot of threads that are woven together in this prayer which we can’t possibly tease out in one sermon. I think of the gospel of John like a tapestry of themes all woven together into something glorious. The themes all fit together. But it is such an intricate tapestry that we can spend our whole lives trying to follow those themes and see how they are all woven together. With just a few moments together we can only focus on a few threads to do it any kind of justice. So, I have found a few threads for us to follow.

The first can be traced through verse 10 where Jesus says, “I have been glorified in them.” Jesus speaks of being glorified throughout the gospel of John, but this is the one and only place in the gospel where Jesus links his glory with the community of disciples. Jesus is glorified in the community. Why is this important?

The community demonstrates the glory of Jesus. That is a good thing to know as Jesus will soon be leaving them and ascending back to heaven. How will the glory of Jesus continue to be present in the world? Through the community of disciples. In other words, the church continues to glorify Jesus in the world. We present the glory of Jesus in the world.

Every couple of years the world’s attention is drawn to either the summer Olympics or the winter Olympics. Hopefully this year there will be a summer Olympics in Tokyo. The opening ceremonies are always a spectacle, when the host nation has an opportunity to showcase to the world their national myth. One of the highlights is the parade of nations. The athletes from each nation get to march around the track, waving their flag and often wearing uniforms that reflect something about their nation. Each nation gets to represent their glory to the world as they march around the track, whether the delegation is one or two athletes from Mauritania or Palau or one hundred from the United States or China.

Think of the church as a global nation. The community of Jesus followers are not confined to national borders. We are without borders. In 1st Peter we are identified as a holy nation. We are one people, a Christian people, that spans the world, a diversity of hues, of languages and cultures. And as we move about the earth ,we as a global community give glory to Jesus in all of our beautiful diversity.

Let’s trace another thread in vv. 11 and 15. Here we see the thread of Jesus praying for God to protect the disciples. Protect us from what and who?

Jesus prays for God to protect us from disunity. Jesus is asking God to keep the community unified. As Jesus says, “protect them…so that they may be one, as we are one.” It is very important to Jesus that when he leaves the community will remain unified, just as branches abide in the vine. So, how are we doing? How is that unity in the church working out? Uh oh. We are divided in so many ways. I remember visiting an Eastern Orthodox church once. They had this graph posted on the wall that showed the history of the church. There was a thick straight line at the bottom of the graph. At the start of that line was the mark labeled “Jesus and the apostles.” Around the year 1054, another line emerged from that main line at the bottom of the graph. That was labeled as the Great Schism when the Roman Church broke off from the rest of the church in the world. The Roman Catholic Church line continues along until the 15th century, marking the Protestant Reformation. At that point, there are lines breaking off everywhere showing all the denominations in the Protestant church. This graph tries to do a few things. First, it demonstrates how divided up the church is with all these denominations. But it also lets the Eastern Orthodox have the comfort in knowing that they are a part of the church that, according to the graph, has never changed since the days of Jesus and the apostles. Only they are the one, holy, and apostolic church. A little off putting for us Protestants.

But it does beg the question. With so many denominations and independent churches, are we unified or not? Where do we find the unity that Jesus prayed God to protect? Verse 8 may be our saving grace, the place from which we can claim unity in spite of all our divisions. Jesus says, “For the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.” There it is. This is the basis for our unity as followers of Jesus. All Christians, no matter what denomination or non-denomination we find ourselves, believe that Jesus came from God and was sent by God. In other words, we are unified in our belief that Jesus is who he says he is. That is the most basic form of unity that we can claim, a unity that God protects.

Our unity is protected in our common belief in Jesus. Who are we protected from? Jesus asks God to protect us from the evil one, just like in the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Who is the evil one? It is the enemy of God. It is the divider, the one who tears relationships apart, the one who lies and distorts the truth, the one who blocks love and strives to obliterate life. It is this evil one that Jesus prays to God to protect us from. We see evidence of the evil one all throughout the world and even among us. How devastating it is when the evil one uses the church as a means to rip apart relationships, perpetuate falsehoods, and block the expression of love. When it comes to protecting us from the evil one, God has God’s hands full.

Perhaps this is the big point. When Jesus left the disciples and returned to heaven, he did not leave the disciples to fend for themselves. They did not have to face the evil one alone. They were not left to struggle to maintain unity all by themselves. Jesus placed his community into the hands of God to be their protector. This applies to us as well. Each of us, individually and collectively, are placed in the hands of God. Yes, the church itself is in God’s hands. I don’t know about you but it is comforting to know that when it comes to unity in the church and protection from the evil one, the church is in God’s hands, not mine or yours. I, for one, am relieved to know this. It is from this stance that we can be confident to proclaim that not even the gates of hell can prevail against us. We are battered and bruised. And often the church is a tool to further the work of evil in the world. But the church will always remain. God will see to that.

One more thread. In vv. 17 and 19 we follow the thread where Jesus prays for God to sanctify us in the truth. What does this mean?

First, to be sanctified in this sense does not mean being morally pure. This is not about being civilized, not cussing, or succumbing to vices. To be sanctified in this context is about being set aside for special use, even for divine service. In the service of holy communion, the bread and wine are sanctified, becoming for us the body and blood of Jesus. At baptism, the pitcher that contains the water and the bowl the water is poured into, along with the water itself, all become sanctified, instruments in the sacred work of baptizing someone. In that moment, it’s not ordinary water or an ordinary pitcher or bowl. Something happens that makes these things set apart for God’s use. That’s what being sanctified means here.

So, to be sanctified in the truth is to be set aside to proclaim the truth about Jesus to the world. We, as Christians, ordinary people, are set aside, sacred instruments for God’s use, for the purpose of proclaiming truth in the world. In other words, we are sanctified mouthpieces, continuing to speak the message that Jesus spoke when he was walking the earth. We extend the witness of Jesus up to this very day. When Jesus ascended to heaven, his message did not leave with him. His disciples were sanctified in order to continue proclaiming that message. And so, we do the same in our day, and generations to come will continue to proclaim that message, that Jesus is the Son of God and that through believing in him we receive eternal life. This is our sanctified purpose, to bear witness to the truth we know of Jesus so that others will come to belief.

Three strands in this prayer tapestry preserved for us by the gospel writer. We can be confident that what Jesus asks of God will be provided, as Jesus and God are of one mind. We can be comforted to know that even now Jesus is praying for you and me, having entrusted each of us into the hands of the one who creates and sustains, the God of love and life. This is where we find our hope and the basis for our joy.