John 17: The Greatest Prayer in the Bible

Speaker: 
Andrew Fountain
Date: 
Sun, 2020-04-26

Video cover image by Daniel Reche from Pixabay —Royalty-Free photo

  • What would it have been like for the disciples to hear Jesus praying for them in a way that
  • was so loving and caring,
  • was so challenging in the mission he gave them,
  • and raised their identity and destiny so high?
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Sermon Outline - John 17: The Greatest Prayer in the Bible

Goal:

That we will feel what it would have been like for the disciples to overhear Jesus praying for them
in such a powerful, caring and intimate way.
And that we should take it in that the prayer is for us as well.

Plan for today

  1. The Prayer of John 17 —overview
  2. Jesus’s heart for his people (v.11–13)
  3. Responding to Jesus’ prayer for us

Structure of John

1–12
”Book of Signs” 		13–21
”Book of Glory”

John 13–21 “Book of Glory”

13 A meal with the disciples

14–17 New Teaching
      from Jesus
      to the disciples
18–20 Arrest
      Crucifixion
      Resurrection

21 A meal with the disciples

Last 7 weeks:

  • Jesus —The God who will Wash your Feet and
    Love you to the End
  • The care, empathy and unselfishness of Jesus, and that
    the Father is just like Jesus
  • An invitation to step into
    the same love as is between Jesus & the Father
  • You can only live this new life
    by being connected with the vine
  • How are we connected?
    by stepping out in obedience to the prompting of Jesus
    which nurtures this new life and lets it grow
  • Promise of the Spirit of Truth
    We’re actually better off than disciples because of the Spirit
  • In a little while… your sorrow will turn to joy
    Jesus tells us to pray and experience the joy of a Father who hears and answers

A very natural form

  • I wish I could support my friends who are in need
        But I would need more income
            which would mean a better job
                So I am praying for this
                so that when God answers my prayer
            and gives me a better job
        and I have more income
    I can support those in need

Prayer form example in v.14–18

  1. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them
    they do not belong to the world,
    just as I do not belong to the world
  2. I am not asking you to take them out of the world,
    but that you keep them safe from the evil one.
  3. They do not belong to the world
    just as I do not belong to the world.
  4. … your word is truth… I sent them into the world.

Prayers of John 17

  1. (1–5) I have completed your mission and brought eternal life to humanity, so the time has come for me to come back to your side in glory.
  2. (6–10) You entrusted me with your loved ones, so I fed them your words and they received them. I pray for them now because they belong to us both.
  3. (11–13) Now I am leaving them, please keep them safe, and especially give them the kind of unity that we have.
  4. (14–19) Keep them safe, but also may they be dedicated to our mission, and sent out just as I was sent out.
  5. (20–23) And as the mission grows, may the world see their love and unity and so believe in your love!
  6. (24–26) And finally, I want them to be with me forever, enveloped in our love.

Let’s have a quick peek at the whole passage before we dig in Link to formatted passage

John 17 – Jesus Prays to the Father

Chapter 17

  1. When Jesus had finished saying these things, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son,
so that the Son may glorify you
  1. for you have given him authority over all humanity, so that to all whom you have given him,
he may give eternal life.
  1. Now this is eternal life
that they know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
  1. I glorified you on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
  2. And now, glorify me, Father, at your side with the glory I had with you before the world existed.
  1. I have revealed your name
to the people you gave me out of the world.
They were yours, and you gave them to me,
and they have obeyed your word.
  1. Now they understand that everything you have given me comes from you,
  2. because the words you have given me,
I have given to them, and they have received them
and truly understand that I came from you,
and they have believed that you sent me.
  1. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world,
    but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
  2. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine, and I have been glorified by them.
  1. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world,
but I am coming to you.
Holy Father,
keep them safe in your name that you have given me,
so that they may be one
just as we are one.
  1. When I was with them
I kept them safe in your name that you have given me.
I guarded them and not one of them was lost
(except the ‘son of destruction’, fulfilling Scripture.)
  1. But now I am coming to you,
and these things I speak in the world, so they may experience my joy completed in themselves.
 
  1. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because
they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world
  1. I am not asking you to take them out of the world,
but that you keep them safe from the evil one.
  1. They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world.
  2. Dedicate them in the truth; your word is truth.
  3.   Just as you sent me into the world,
      so I sent them into the world.
  4. And for their sake I dedicated myself, so that they too may be dedicated in truth.
  1. I am not praying for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
  2. that they will all be one,
just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you,
that they will be in us,
so that the world will believe that you sent me.
  1. The glory you gave to me I have given to them,
that they may be one
just as we are one 23I in them and you in me,
that they may be perfectly one,
so that the world will know that you sent me,
and you have loved them just as you have loved me.
  1. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am,
so that they can see my glory that you gave me
because you loved me before the creation of the world.
  1. O righteous Father, even if the world does not know you, I know you,
and these ones know that you sent me.
  1. I made known your name to them, and I will continue to make it known,
so that the love you have loved me with may be in them, and I may be in them.”

Translation by Andrew Fountain

  1. (1–5) I have completed your mission and brought eternal life to humanity, so the time has come for me to come back to your side in glory.
  2. (6–10) You entrusted me with your loved ones, so I fed them your words and they received them. I pray for them now because they belong to us both.
  3. (11–13) Now I am leaving them, please keep them safe, and especially give them the kind of unity that we have.

2. Jesus’s heart for his people (v.11–13)

  1. v.11, 12 He wants us to be protected and kept safe (particularly from the evil one)
  2. v.13 Not just our safety, but our joy as well, that it would be full, or complete
  3. v.11 so that they may be one, just as we are one

3. Responding to Jesus’ prayer for us

  1. How much Jesus cared about his disciples, to be kept safe!
  2. (Feel what that is like to know it applies to you right now, if you follow him)
  3. Not only does he care, but it is really important to him that you have extreme joy
  4. That is where the prayer lands! It is your destiny
  5. (What is it like to let it sink in that he is passionate that you should come into this kind of joy.)
  6. Both of these are woven tightly into something deeper—your unity with other believers
  7. So put a priority on exploring and developing it.
  8. Growing in Love is going to turn out to be the road to joy
  9. Ask Jesus to help you grow in it this week!

Updated on 2020-04-26 by Andrew Fountain