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Volume. XXVIII, No. 23 The Prayer of JesusIntroduction
The prayer of Jesus, recorded in John 17, reveals to us the attributes Jesus intends for us to pursue and possess. The prayer begins with Jesus praying for His own glory, in relation to the glory of His Father. But then, in the second part of His prayer, Jesus prays for His disciples; Jesus prays for those who are left to reflect His glory, praying that they would be marked by joy, holiness, unity, and love. Joy Beginning at verse 13, Jesus prays that His disciples would be marked by joy. What do we think of, when we hear the word ‘joy’? Most of us, I suspect, think of joy as a feeling of happiness. Joy is what we feel when our circumstances are favorable. Joy is what you feel when your favorite cricket team wins ‘the big game’. Joy is what you feel when you are reunited with a loved one who has been far away. But is this the kind of joy that Jesus is calling for? Well, no. The joy just described is not unique to being a Christian. You do not have to be a Christian to be a ‘happy person’. But you do, however, need to be a Christian to possess the kind of joy that Jesus calls for. Jesus prays, “that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves” (17:13). It is not just any kind of joy, but it is Christ’s joy that should mark the Christian. ‘How do we get that?’ you ask. Well, first, Christ’s joy is not something one can manufacture. Possessing Christ’s joy is not something that happens by simply wishing for it. It is a persistent theme of Scripture that there is a connection between Christian joy and faithful obedience to God’s commands. A couple of chapters earlier, in John 15, Jesus says, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:10, 11). Jesus explains that, in order for our joy to be “full”, His joy must be in us; and for His joy to be in us, we must be diligent to obey His commands. What I find most striking in this instruction is the fact that obeying God is joy producing. Most people think of obeying God as joy quenching. Many people imagine that if we did all that God required, we would be unhappy. We mistakenly imagine that doing what God requires means ceasing to have any fun. Jesus’ instruction tells us that quite the opposite is true. The one who has the deepest joy, the one who has a lasting joy, is the one who faithfully obeys God’s commands (John 15:11). King David found this, and it caused him to write, “The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psalm 19:8). The joy that each Christian is to possess, the joy that each Christian church is to be marked by, has a Divine origin, and is a joy that comes from obeying God’s commands. Holiness The next characteristic we come to in Jesus’ prayer is holiness. Jesus prays, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth” (17:17, 19). To ‘sanctify’ something is ‘to set something apart for holy use’. Jesus prays that we might be set apart from the world (17:16), and yet, He does not mean that we are to be removed from the world because He also prays, “even so have I also sent them into the world” (17:18). So then, the Christian is to be set apart from the world within the world. In other words, the Christian Church should be marked by distinction—a distinction caused by the sanctifying power of God’s truth. Notice, again, that this second characteristic is also related to God’s Word. In the same way that obeying God’s Word produces in the church the mark of Christian joy, submitting to the truth of God’s Word contributes to our growth in holiness. We should also note the connection between our sanctification and Christ’s sanctification. Now, when we think of our sanctification, we tend to think of a process whereby we grow in holiness. We should not think of Christ’s sanctification in this way. When Jesus says, “I sanctify Myself,” He is confessing that He too has been set apart. Jesus has been, by His own volition, set apart as the righteousness of God Incarnate. Jesus has been set apart to be our atoning sacrifice. Why does He do this? “And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth” (17:19). Our growth in holiness is indeed tied to the transforming power of God’s Word. But, as Jesus also explains, our positional holiness, and our growth in holiness, is intimately connected to Christ’s life and death, set apart for our sake. Do you see the implication of the petitions of Jesus’ prayer? Jesus died, not merely to redeem you from hell; He died, not simply for you to be forgiven of your sins; but He died to make you holy and happy (Robert McCheyne). And so when we fail to pursue the things that lead to holiness and Christian joy, we fail to appropriately honour the death of Christ. Unity The Christian church is to be marked by joy, holiness, and thirdly, it is to be marked by unity. Jesus prays, “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me” (John 17:22, 23). Immediately, we can glean from this petition that Jesus is calling for much more than a superficial kind of unity. Jesus does not call for organizational unity, nor does He call for a sentimental, hand-holding, kind of unity. But, rather, Jesus prays that “(the Church) may be one, as (He and the Father) are one”(17:22). Now how are we to accomplish that? The late A.W. Tozer would often argue that, while the Church is to pursue unity, it is to do so by endeavouring to become like Christ. And, to articulate his understanding of unity, Tozer would employ the analogy of tuning pianos. If a hundred pianos were merely tuned to each other, their pitch would not be very accurate. But if they were all tuned to one tuning fork, they would automatically be tuned to each other. Similarly, unity in the church isn't trying to be the same as everyone else. Rather, it is becoming like Jesus Christ. Unity, then, means much more than just getting along with one another. There is more to unity than holding a worship service, and inviting Anglicans and Baptists to attend. Unity requires that we remain tuned to the tuning fork. Unity requires that we pursue the same goals—goals that are established by the prayer of Jesus. We are called to submit ourselves to the commands of Scripture; a pursuit that Jesus promises will make us joyful, holy, and united. Love And, finally, the Christian church is to be marked by love. James Montgomery Boice calls love “the greatest mark of the church”. The apostle Paul says much the same in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity”. It has been argued, and I am inclined to agree, that love holds all of the other attributes together (Boice, The Gospel of John, 1347). Think about what would happen if you removed love from the other marks of the church. If you have joy, without love, you are left with self-serving hedonism. If you have holiness without love, you get a kind of self-righteousness—the kind that characterized the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. And, if you take love away from unity, you move towards a kind of tyranny; you move towards a pattern of forced conformity (Boice, The Gospel of John, 1348). When we recognize the need for love to permeate every aspect of Christian character, we are not surprised to see Jesus end His prayer with this emphasis. Jesus prays that “the love wherewith thou (the Father) hast loved me (Jesus) may be in them (us, Christians)” (John 17:26). Again, it is not just any kind of love that will do, but rather, what is called for is the manifestation of Divine love in the lives of those who would follow Jesus. This is precisely what Jesus had been teaching. Jesus didn’t simply say, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). This has been the pattern of Jesus’ prayer for us. Jesus prays that we would be marked by certain characteristics, and then He gives Himself as the standard by which those characteristics are to be measured. It is Christ-like joy, Christ-like holiness, Christ-centred unity, and Christ-like love that we are called to pursue. We must ask a question of paramount importance: In what sense is Jesus’ prayer answered? Think about that for a minute. Jesus has already said that “if ye (we) shall ask anything in my (His) name, I (He) will do it” (John 14:14). And so, presumably, when Jesus prays for something, the Father gives Him what He asks for. If this is true, how can it be that a church is lacking in joy, holiness, unity, and love? Since we know that there is no such thing as a perfect Christian or a perfect church, we are compelled to confess that Jesus’ prayer will not be answered completely until ‘the age to come’. In heaven we will see the prayers of Jesus answered perfectly and completely. Yet, on the other hand, to suggest the opposite of this; to assert that Jesus’ prayer is, in no measure, answered during our lifetime is revolting. Conclusion In conclusion, Jesus’ prayer is indeed answered, in some measure, during our lifetime, and is answered perfectly in the age to come. Brethren, do you know what it is to grow in Christian joy, holiness, unity, and love? If you do, then you demonstrate the efficacy of Jesus’ prayer. What holds the Christian Church together, what keeps you and me on the narrow path, what promotes in us the fruits of the Spirit, is the prayer of Jesus. We need to remember this. When the struggle to be like Christ becomes more than we think we can handle, we need to remember who is praying for our spiritual well being. If we belong to Christ, we can expect profound, and ongoing, change in our character; we can expect change in how we live our lives in this world; we can expect change because Jesus is praying for us. And the prayer of Jesus will most certainly be answered. Preacher David Weng |
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