
Sermon Date: February 28th, 2021
Reflections on Sunday’s Sermon
Prayer
As you begin your study, spend some time praising God for the reality that you are known by Him, saved by Him, loved by Him, sanctified by Him, and will one day be glorified by His grace. Ask that the Holy Spirit would show you these truths and anything else He wants you to see in His Word as you study this week. As you pray, make the following words your own before the Lord (prayer taken from Prone to Wander: Prayers of Confession and Celebration by Barbara Duguid and Wayne Houk).
- “Triune God,
You are one God in three persons, a diverse unity in whom there is neither division nor contention. You call us also to be one body made up of many different members, with different gifts and abilities, as well as different needs and failings. We confess that we often take pride in our own gifts and look down on those who lack them, while thinking little about our need for the gifts of others in the body. We form factions and cliques that promote and support our own interests, desperately trying to attract the favor of those whom we think strong, while despising and shunning those whom we see as weak, unattractive, or broken. Father, forgive us.
Jesus, thank you for your willingness to allow your physical body to be shattered and broken to establish the unity of your spiritual body, the church. Thank you that in you we have a unity that transcends all earthly boundaries: in you, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, slave nor free. Thank you for the particular love and care that you bestowed on the weakest and most ignored members of your community, especially women, children, and outcasts. By your gracious attention, you gave honor to those who lacked it. As the only mediator between us and the Father, you unite all your people in yourself.
Holy Spirit, you are the one who gives each of us our various gifts and callings. Help us to see and appreciate your work in other Christians, honoring them more highly than ourselves. Remove our stony, self-centered hearts and give us hearts of flesh that love our brothers and sisters in Christ and value them just as they are. Teach us to love them with all their weaknesses and sins, as beloved children of our own heavenly Father and servants of the same Master. Bind us firmly together into one new people, united by Christ’s work on the cross and your continuing work in each of our hearts.
Amen.”
Scripture
John 17:18-26 - (English Standard Version)- 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Handling the Word
- Our passage this week marks the end of what is known as the “High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus in John chapter 17. Read through the entire prayer again and summarize the key thoughts or ideas in each of the main sections listed below:
Understanding and Applying
- Before we look into the depths of what Jesus is praying in our passage this week (verses 18-26), it is important that we understand exactly for whom Jesus is praying. We are told in verse 20, that Jesus did “not ask for these [the disciples present with Him] only, but also for those who will believe in [Him] through their word.” In other words, Jesus was praying these words on behalf of every one of His people, throughout every generation, including you. As you ponder that reality, what impact does it have on the way you read these verses? Although the meaning does not change, do the words of Jesus’ prayer strike you differently knowing that Jesus had you in mind when He prayed them? If so, in what ways?
- Jesus has already made it clear in His prayer that His people were not to be taken out of the world, but rather to be a people He uses to make Himself known in the world (look back at verses 14-16). Just as the original disciples were “sent into the world” (v. 18), so we too have been sent into the world to display His glory and make Him known to those around us. How does this reminder help you think differently about the interactions you have with the people God has placed in your life, even those interactions that may seem ordinary, commonplace, or mundane? What are the regular, maybe even daily, ways that you see God making His gospel and His glory known through you?
- In direct connection with sending His people into the world, Jesus prays that His people would be sanctified in the truth as they are sent out (verses 17-19). Although our sanctified actions alone do not proclaim the good news, why is our sanctification necessary if we are to be an effective means God uses to proclaim and display His glory in the world (refer to Matthew 5:13-16 and 1 Peter 2:9-12)?
- As those who are sent into the world to make Him known, we can find great encouragement in Jesus’ words in verse 20, where He assures us that there will be “those who will believe” in Him as a result of the gospel message being proclaimed. What other truths about God and His work of salvation support Jesus’ ability to make such a promise or guarantee (see Ephesians 1:3-10 and 2:1-10 as examples)? Do these promises and truths encourage you as one who has been sent into the world? Why or why not?
- In verses 20-23, Jesus focuses His prayerful attention on the unity of His people being a means that He will use to make Himself known in the world. What do these verses, as well as the passages listed below, teach us about the unity for which Jesus prayed and that will be found in those who are part of His true church? Use these same passages to make note of what this unity does not look like:
- Why is the unity that is described in these verses so different from any other form of earthly unity? Why will true, genuine, God-given unity catch the attention of people in the world around us?
- As Jesus nears the end of His prayer in verse 24, He expresses His desire that His people would ultimately be with Him in eternal glory. Even more than just a desire, verse 24 is a promise that all who are His will one day be with Him in a glorified state. He who saved us, redeemed us, and is sanctifying us will also bring us all the way home to glory (John 14:1-3, Romans 8:29-30). What do you think and feel when you consider the reality that Jesus desires, and promises, that you will one day be with Him in eternal glory? How does this future promise impact the way you interact with the present world?
- In verses 24-26, Jesus demonstrates the balance between contentment with what God has us doing in the present (in this world) with longing for what He is going to bring forth in the future (in our eternal home). Eric Kamoga said of this balance:
- “Scripture calls us to live in the tension of contentment and longing, of rest and hope…The danger of extremes is always present. We often whine like spiritual orphans as we wait for deliverance or relish God’s provision of earthly riches so much that we cease to long for the coming perfection.”
Which of these extremes do you find yourself more prone to lean towards, and why? What can we do to regularly recalibrate and find balance between the two (note Paul’s words in Philippians 1:21-24)?
- Although much of this prayer is focused on how Jesus is going to use His people to make His glory known in this world, He also makes it clear that there will be many in the world who will not know and believe in Him (v. 25, also refer to 17:14). How do the words and promises of Jesus’ prayer (particularly the closing words in verses 25-26) keep us from growing discouraged when the world rejects Him?
- As we close our time studying Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer” in John 17, what are 3 truths you have learned, been reminded of, or that stand out to you from this chapter? How have these truths deepened your appreciation for, and worship of, Jesus?
“Christ was sent here on an errand of mercy, to seek and to save that which was lost; so we are here as His agents, His instruments, to preach His gospel, to tell a world dead in sin of One who is mighty to save…we are here prayed for that we might commend our Master by gracious and faithful lives.” —A.W. Pink