Jn 17:24 – What Jesus wants (sermon notes)
John 17:24 – “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”
A long time ago, a young man finished an evening meal with his friends, spoke to them about various things, then looked up to the sky, and prayed. He prayed for himself, for his little band of friends, and for all those future generations who would come after them.
Imagine for a moment that it never happened.
Imagine that he didn’t pray for himself. What would be the point? He had been hated, hounded, and harangued, he had been betrayed into his enemy’s hands, and they were about to execute him. What would be the point of a man in that desperate position saying, “Father, bring glory to me”? So imagine that Jesus, the night before he died, abandoned his trust in the Father, and did not pray for himself.
Imagine that Jesus didn’t pray for his disciples. Why should he? They were a small, pathetic, dejected band who couldn’t even be trusted to stay awake while he agonised in prayer. They showed every sign of deserting him. So imagine that Jesus gave up on them, and left them to their own feeble devices. They were hopeless cases. Why would he waste his breath praying for them?
Imagine that Jesus didn’t pray for future generations of believers. Why would he? How could there even be any future generations of believers, since he was about to die and his friends could be expected to drift back to their fishing nets? Who would even remember his name, let alone dedicate their lives to him? So imagine that he didn’t trouble to pray for them, either.
But Jesus did pray.
Jesus did pray for himself, vv1-5. He prayed, “Father, bring glory to your Son.” And that prayer was answered. The Father glorified the Son by taking his dead body and raising it victoriously from the grave.
Jesus did pray for his disciples, vv6-19. He asked his Father to keep them safe. And that prayer was answered. Indeed, they were granted power not only to keep the faith, but to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And so was born the Christian church, a community of believers from every nation and tongue, living and proclaiming the apostolic faith.
Jesus did pray for future generations of believers, vv20-26. He prayed for all who would believe because of the message of those first disciples.
He prayed for two things: that they might be united in their life and witness; and that they might be with him and see his glory.
1. ‘Father’. At the beginning of his earthly ministry Jesus heard a voice from heaven declare: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well-pleased’ (Mk 1:11). And now, at its close, that same Father-Son relationship constitutes a powerful argument for the prayer which follows.
2. ‘I want’. This expresses strong desire. Traill: ‘What a difference between Jesus praying against his own hell, and his praying for our heaven!’ The love of Jesus is not only very deep, but also very strong.
3. ‘Those you have given me’. How would you define what a Christian is? This ‘definition’ is, v6 – applied to disciples. Now applied to all believers.
Isa 8:18/Heb 2:13 – ‘Here I am, with the children God has given me.’
Eph 1:22f – ‘The church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.’ Jesus does not consider himself complete unless he has his people with him.
The church is the bride of Christ. ‘Who gives this woman to be married to this man?’ ‘I do.’
4. ‘To be with me where I am, and to see my glory’.
There is a being with Christ here and now – No sooner had Christ ascended, than the Spirit of Christ descended, to be with us for ever, Jn 14:16.
There is a being with Christ upon death – ‘which is better by far’ Phil 1:23
These are but chinks of light, compared with the full brightness of heaven.
There is a being with Christ in eternity – ‘we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.’ 1 Jn 3:2. To see him as he is is to see his glory.
5. ‘Because you loved me before the creation of the world.’
He might have said, ‘Because you love them;’ or, ‘Because I love them.’ But no: ‘Because you love me.’ Our hope is secure because it is rooted in the love that God the Father had for God the Son since before the beginning of time.
What’s the use?
(a) An object for our hope
Much of what is said or written about hope has no object in view – nothing and no-one to place our hope in. Recent article: ‘Why we should all hold on to hope…Hope helps us to achieve our goals…helps us to see setbacks as opportunities for improvement…boosts our happiness…helps us to heal.’
Is it ‘better to travel hopefully than to arrive’? No!
A ‘living hope’ 1 Pet 1:3.
‘Hope Explored’ course – ‘A joyful expectation for the future, based on true events in the past, which changes everything about my present.’
(b) A spur for our action
Marx: ‘religion the opiate of the people’? Too heavenly-minded to be any earthly good?
Our hope is not for some ethereal heaven, but for the solid physicality of the new heavens and the new earth. If this world, and these bodies, are not destined for the scrap-heap, but are to be wonderfully transformed, then surely that says something for our care for the world, and for our bodies in the present life.
C.S. Lewis: ‘A continual looking forward to the eternal world is not a form of escapism or wishful thinking. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.’
(c) An anchor for our soul
An anchor undisturbed by the storms of this life; a rock which cannot be moved; a spring that will never dry up.
Many Christians in Ukraine are turning to the Psalms:
Psa 31 ‘In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge…Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.’
Brian Jose: ‘I asked a friend how manages to sleep amidst the horror and uncertainty, and he simply texted back Psalm 4:8: “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.”’
When John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407) was brought before the empress Eudoxia, she threatened him with banishment.
“You cannot banish me, for this world is my Father’s house.”
“Then I will kill you,” said the empress.
“No, you cannot, for my life is hid with Christ in God,” said John.
“I will take away your treasures.”
“No, you cannot, for my treasure is in heaven and my heart is there.”
“I will drive you away from your friends and you will have no one left.”
“No, you cannot, for I have a Friend in heaven from whom you cannot separate me.
There is nothing you can do to harm me.”
Thank be to God that Jesus prayed for you, and for me, and for all his people, everywhere; and that his prayers have been, and are being, and will be heard.