Palm Sunday: The Lord's Prayer - John, 17

Good morning. This morning I found myself, it was inexplicable. I was walking, going about doing various things, singing at the top of my lungs. And I said, why am I singing at the top of my lungs? Oh, I'm picking Nancy up tonight at the airport. Okay, that's why. At least it's not completely inexplicable. Okay.

We'll be looking this morning at, John 17, Courtney read for us just a wonderful introductory section, the first five verses. I'd like us to kind of get some context for this, and so we'll start off by looking at that. This is kind of an accounting of just a little bit more than the week. before what is commonly called Passion Week, the time the week before and including our Lord's crucifixion and burial and resurrection. And this is the traditional chronology. There are those who hold some different views on it. I think the traditional chronology has a lot to say for it and so we'll step through it that way. Today is what is commonly called Palm Sunday.

And what we do here at Holly Hills is we look at, that is an opportunity to look at anything from when Jesus was in Jericho and Zacchaeus was up in the tree, all the way up to just the night before he was crucified. So anything in that range is a candidate. So we'll be looking at that. Zacchaeus was in Jericho on the Friday before, a week before Christ was crucified and Christ found him there and the Lord said, you know, Zacchaeus come down, I'll go to your house today.

Lazarus was raised in Bethany and you can imagine what kind of a phenomenal event that was. Here is Lazarus, and as a matter of fact, the words were sort of a muttered bitterness that Jesus hadn't been there, right? If you'd have been here on time, this wouldn't have happened. Our brother Lazarus wouldn't have died. Just trying to hold back the tears and biting the lip and the tongue, right? But you can imagine when Jesus resurrects Lazarus, just what an awesome event that was and how much that rather radically changed people's perspectives.

Continuing that Sunday, what we recognize as today was Palm Sunday. It was the day of what's typically called the triumphal entry. I think it's kind of a so-called triumphal entry. It was on Monday that he drove out the money changers. And real amazing as you read that account. He didn't just come in and start throwing things about. I think they must have wondered, what's this guy weaving a whip for?

On Tuesday, he gave what is known as the Olivet Discourse. It was from the Mount of Olives across the valley from where the temple stood, where he had entered on Sunday, on this Palm Sunday, just a couple days before. And as he stood there with them, and they all were looking upon this Temple Mount in Jerusalem, he told them, it's recorded for us in Matthew 24, what would be happening in this place among these people, the Jews, when he would come again in the time immediately preceding that. He told them, and we even now are anticipating those events. And Wednesday he went to the temple and spoke there. There was less momentous events, but he came to the temple on that day.

On Thursday was the day that culminated in what's called the Last Supper. This was actually a time of the Passover, which was also, I'll call it a handoff, the institution of what we call the Lord's Table. and observed here just a couple weeks ago. That was also the time when he proceeded over to the Garden of Gethsemane.

And then on Friday, and I'm summarizing quickly here, following middle of the night and early in the morning trials before people, crucifixion and burial by the end of that day. And on Saturday, in the grave. On Sunday, resurrection. And so that's the week plus a little bit more in that time before our Lord was crucified, buried, and resurrected.

We'll be looking tonight, this morning, I'm looking forward to tonight when Nancy's back. We'll be looking this morning at the time that was the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane. And we'll take a look at the particular conditions there. And this is a map that shows the days and events that took place around Jerusalem during the week that we just reviewed here, one day at a time.

For those of you who would like to have a copy of that, we have one available as a supplement. We, of course, if you've been around here very long at all, know that we'd love you to take your supplements, okay? And so anyway, those are available in color printout. If we fall short, we'll be sure to get some more available to you. At any rate, the upper room was about in this portion of the city of Jerusalem. Well, we would just look at and say, well, that's about the southwest corner of the city of Jerusalem.

This is where Jesus held the Last Supper with his disciples. Over here, across from the Temple Mount, on the base of the Mount of Olives, where Jesus had earlier that week given the Olivet Discourse and explained to them what was going to take place in the events leading up to his second coming. And when we look at this passage here, John 17, it's tough to know Did it take place quite in this upper room or did it take place in the Garden of Gethsemane? And I think one of the reasons why it may be difficult to say was it here or there is it may have happened right in between, walking between one place and the other. It may have been what he was saying as he was leaving the place where they had finished having the Last Supper and going towards the Garden of Gethsemane.

This is according to tradition and supported by some evidence. It seems to fit the facts well. The upper room where Jesus had the Last Supper with his 12 disciples. The ceiling and column structure has been redone since then, but the basic building and the floor is very likely the room, the place. This is another view of that same room. This is the Garden of Gethsemane from a few different views.

The oldest trees you see there in the upper photo were probably around when Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Isn't that amazing? They are trees that last quite some time and these are quite old. And so may very well have been growing as young trees when Christ was there in the garden.

This word Gethsemane, it's an Aramaic term. It just means an olive press or an oil press for pressing out the oil from the olives. That's what a Gethsemane is. So a garden of Gethsemane is this garden named after this olive press. Here is another picture there in the garden of Gethsemane as it's kept now.

And from that garden, what's real interesting is you can see the place, you see that gate that's sealed up in the yellow square? That is the golden or eastern gate that Christ went through on Palm Sunday during his so-called triumphal entry. It is also likely the gate through which Christ will pass when he comes again. And because, a little over 500 years ago, because a Muslim ruler heard that Christ was going to come through those gates, he says, I'll fix him. He bricked it up. And he put Muslim graves, as if that's going to stop the creator of the universe, right? Anyway, more Islamic terrorism. Okay. John 17.

We're going to take the big picture view here in this slide. And just for those of you who might be joining us for the first time, we have in the lower right corner the page number so you can follow on the handout for any of those slides where we do have it in your handout as well. The first five verses, as Courtney read for us, are our Lord's own prayer about his own relationship with the Father. That's where it centers. And the next verses, 6 through 19, are our Lord's prayer for His disciples, lest Judas, Judas as you'll see was mentioned briefly. So this is the 11. The next verses, 20 through 26, are our Lord's prayer for those who would believe. And by the way, that's us. If you have put your trust in Christ for salvation here this morning, He prayed for you. Okay? You're included. Now here are some themes in John 17. This is truly our Lord's Prayer. We have what's conventionally or typically called the Lord's Prayer out of another passage, but this is one actually, this is our Lord's own prayer. He didn't just say pray like this, this is what he prayed.

It is a prayer between Christ, who is the Son of God with God the Father, and he addresses everything from back in eternity past to the very present time on into the future, even eternity future. It is a far sweeping prayer in terms of covering everything from eternity past into eternity future.

But rather than just simply being a discourse the Son just telling the Father things. It includes our Lord's expression of His relationship with the Father. It speaks of that. It speaks of our eternal place in their relationship. And that is what is amazing. We might listen to this and think, oh, this is great to hear about the relationship between God the Son and God the Father. But what is astounding is how the Lord folds our relationship with Him into this wonderful, deep prayer.

Another theme that shows up in this chapter, it includes descriptions of our Lord's ministry with His disciples and the Lord's prayer for their position and ongoing ministry until the Lord comes again for us and our own inclusion in that. Furthermore, it contains Christ's prayers for the believers' relationships with the world. That's one of the themes we're going to see frequently in here. It's what is the world's relationship to Christ? What is our relationship to the world? What is the relationship of the disciples to the world?

And finally, this passage is the clearest in the Gospels that expresses that we are united with Christ. obviously explained in more detail, particularly in the letters of Paul. But we have been united with Christ in his crucifixion, which was to take place within hours here, in his burial, in his resurrection, in his ascension in the heavenlies, in our seating with him.

There's also a recurring theme in John 17, Christ referring to his disciples as them or the men. And this is how he refers to them. These are them or the men that the Father has given to him. Given or gave or terms of that sort show up 13 times in this prayer. Again and again and again. Given, given, given, given.

Amazingly, Christ also prayed for those who would believe in Him. That's us. He prayed for us. If you're sitting here this morning and have put your trust in Christ for salvation, He prayed for you. Isn't that neat? That's a wonderful thing. If you're ever wondering, I just wonder in the circumstances I'm going through, does the Lord care? Yeah, He does. He prayed for you. Within hours of His being crucified, He prayed for you. Some of John 17, and we'll find this as we go through it, some of John 17 is said as if a future event had already happened. He speaks of his crucifixion as if it had already taken place.

And I think that's something we'll see it as we encounter. But it's also something we use similar figures of speech in our own language. Let me give you an example. Have you ever heard someone say, consider it done? It doesn't mean it is done. It means you may consider it so.

Christ was considering this as already done. It was so certain. After all, it had been determined and agreed upon in an eternity past. It had been prophesied for centuries, millennia. And now it was only hours away. It was as good as done. And He spoke that way. Considering that Christ's death on the cross had been determined from eternity past, this is a very fitting way for him to speak. It was quite certain.

If anything was certain to take place, this was it. Now, turn with me to John 17, and let's look at the first couple of verses there. Jesus spoke these things, lifting up His eyes to heaven, and He said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You. Even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. Now, it may be easy for us to think of Christ, because here He is, hours away from being crucified. It's going to start getting, from an earthly standpoint, pretty ugly within a very short period of time. You may be thinking, well, what's going to occupy his mind?

Was there some anticipation of the pain of this moment? Oh, yeah. But what is amazing here is that rather than being occupied with the pain, he's not thinking, oh, this is going to hurt. He's not thinking, oh, this is going to leave a mark. It was. It was going to leave a mark forever. But what's amazing here is what he's occupied with. He's occupied with eternal life for you and me. He's occupied with His relationship with the Father. He's occupied with our relationship with Him. Now, let's look at verse 3 here.

So what is eternal life really? This becomes actually quite clear in what he said. When we think of the words eternal life, we may be tempted to just kind of draw some kind of conclusion about infinite time, and we think in a time dimension. Something that lasts forever, that's our inclination oftentimes. The point that he makes here is that eternal life that he's talking about is knowing God. See, there are people who will not believe. and who will spend some kind of an existence eternally. But eternal life, eternal life is life which is about knowing God. That's the character of eternal life.

Him. You can imagine chapters recorded earlier here, Jesus talking to the Jews. This must have blown their circuits, okay? Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. I always was. I am right now. I always will be. Now figure out how that fits with your watch. It doesn't. Calendars aren't very much good for that.

It is because God is eternal by character that He is life, and He is life. Knowing Him is true eternal life. You see, we obviously are living and thinking in a time mode. But God the Father and Jesus Christ and His perspective as He's praying here is living in the eternal present.

All times are now. Here we are meeting here this morning. You know how God looks at right now? That's now. Christ is praying these things that we're reading about here this morning. You know how He looks at that? That's now. Back when the earth was being created, we've been studying in Genesis. To God, that's now. That's now. Let's look at verses 4 and 5.

I glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work which you have given me to do. Now, Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. The glory I had with you before the world was. In Philippians, chapter 2, verses 5 through 11, and this is not on your handout, Paul summarizes this.

Our Lord came down and basically emptied himself of his privileges of deity for our sakes. Now, what we see in the last part of this passage, verses 9, 10, and 11, is our Lord asking for a restatement to that glory that he had. For this reason also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name so that the name of Jesus every knee would bow of those who are in heaven on earth and under the earth that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

That's what he's asking for. Let's look at verse six here. I have manifested your name to the man you gave me out of the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your Word." Now, that might raise some questions. Certainly, the disciples had learned some things. They'd been with Christ.

But we can read through the Gospels, and repeatedly, we might look at that and say, boy, these guys, there's a lot of things they didn't get. As a matter of fact, it would be a very short period of time. We might even say an hour or two, and they would all be running. scattered. It wouldn't be many hours later and Peter would say, I never knew him.

What can you mean by they have kept your word? They had in fact, even though there was certainly a lot that they didn't know, a lot they didn't understand, they did recognize that Christ was sent from the Father, that this was the Messiah, the sent one, the anointed one that God intended for our benefit.

They did recognize that and acknowledge that openly. Later, they would certainly come to understand more of what Jesus had said and more things on top of that. Let's look at verses 7 and 8 here. Now they have come to know that everything you have given me is from you, for the words which you gave me I have given to them. And they received them and truly understood that I came forth from you, and they believed that you sent me. They recognized that, didn't they? Here's what's amazing. We see this word given as it keeps cropping up, given or gave in this passage. And the Lord said several times in this prayer, you, Father, have given these disciples to me. Isn't that something?

If you had been there on the shores of Galilee that day, you would have said, yeah, I heard and even saw that Jesus asked the disciples to follow Him. We would have seen that. Right there with the nets and the boats and everything else. We would have seen the disciples responding. Dropping the nets, leaving the boats, following Him. We would have seen that. And we would have seen the whole apparently human interaction. What we wouldn't have seen is that the Father gave these men to Christ. Isn't that something?

And Christ repeatedly refers to that. There is often times in our lives something spiritual going on that we don't see. And this is one of those that Christ repeatedly refers to. In this prayer, He does not talk about His invitation to them or their response. But He does talk about the Father giving these men to Him. That's a key thing in our life to recognize. We see all the human level interactions.

But just to recognize, we do not always see what the Lord is doing. We don't always interpret everything that's going on as something that God is doing in our lives. Let's look at verses 9 and 10. I ask on their behalf, I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those you have given me, for they are yours, and all things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them.

Verse 9 begins to reveal something here. And the language in our human expression is almost a bit awkward. Yours and mine and I and them. It all seems a little bit strange. And one of the reasons that that is so is because it's expressing a unity that's a little hard for us to fathom at times.

Lord, I am in you, and you're in me. This is language that it seems like it takes a lot to say the oneness that the Lord has brought about with the disciples and as we'll soon see with us. The distinction that is made in verse 9 continues in chapter 17. We can look for it. Christ and his disciples and we who believe are not of this world.

There is a separation, a distance. And you look at him and say, hey Vern, you know, I'm right here. Okay? But he's making a separation, a distinction, a spiritual separation, one that is not immediately evident. We may be sitting here and say, well, my body is made of the same molecules and everything that's a part of this world. He's saying, no, spiritually speaking, there is a great difference. Great difference. Let's look at verses 11 and 12. I am no longer in the world, and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to you.

Holy Father, keep them in your name, the name which you have given me, that they may be one even as we are, that they may be one even as we are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in your name which you have given me, and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition, that the scripture would be fulfilled. That one We knew all along.

Judas was not some nasty last-minute surprise. He was not, oh no, what's wrong with you? All along, the Lord knew he would be the one to betray. The Lord was not shocked at some final revelation that he would be the one to head south. Judas called the twelve. This one Judas was the son of perdition. That word perdition means destruction. Christ certainly knew who would betray him. As a matter of fact, as he's saying these words, Judas is already making final arrangements. He's already getting the change. His betrayal is actually minutes away as he's saying this. So Jesus' prayer was not about Judas, but about these eleven. Excuse me, let's look at verses 13 through 19 there.

But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world, so that they may have my joy made full in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." So note as we look at verses 13 through 16 here, many of Christ's clarifications have to do with the difference and the distinction and the relationship of himself and these disciples with the world.

And, you know, I just wonder as we look at that, that's what his prayer and concern is all about. Isn't it likewise important that we see those distinctions? Because here we are and we eat food and we go to the restaurants and we, you know, hopefully get a paycheck and things like that. And we have interactions here with this world. But one of the things he's pointing out is on the surface, it all looks like We're doing a lot of the same things and interacting with the world. But one of the distinctions he makes abundantly clear here is that's the world. Here's what's going on spiritually with the Father, with the Son, and those who believe, his disciples particularly here. And that distinction is massive. Even on the outside, you may look at it and initially say, well, I can't tell any difference. It is a massive chasm between ourselves and the world. He continues to make that distinction.

He also uses, in this set of verses, the word given. In this case, he has given the disciples the word, the message that comes from the Father. There's a big part of what he makes as a distinction here. There's all sorts of things given in this passage, but one of the things that's given is the word, the message. Let's look at verses 17 through 19.

Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify myself that they themselves also may be sanctified in the truth. Now, there's a whole lot of sanctifying going on.

Okay? What's all this sanctifying? Now, sanctifying is not a word we use real commonly. Okay? If you go up to the clerk at the grocery store, and I'd like five pounds of sanctification, please. Okay? I'd like to sanctify that there. They're not going to understand what you mean. Okay? So we better make sure we understand what we mean. To sanctify means to set apart for a particular purpose. That's what sanctify means. Okay?

Jesus was already sanctified. As a matter of fact, he was sanctified from eternity past for the purpose of going to the cross to take our sins upon himself. He was, by the world's clock, hours away from fulfilling the thing that he'd been set apart for, the purpose he'd been set apart for from eternity past. That's what sanctification is. And he was sanctified for that purpose. He was set apart for that purpose. So what would sanctify these disciples? What would sanctify them would be the truth that God intentionally revealed to them. That would be what sets them apart for his purpose.

And that's why we gather here this morning. That's why we're going over these very things. These are words that God intends to use to set us apart for His purpose. That's why we're meeting. That's why we're gathering. He is doing something spiritual that He is praying about right here. As we look at these words, He is sanctifying us as we study His Word. He is setting us apart for His purpose.

The truth from God that would set them apart for the purpose God had for them. That is what sanctifying is. Let's look at verses 20 and 21 here. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one. even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me." Let's look at this oneness thing.

He now prays directly for us, for you and me. Are you among those who have believed because of the apostles? Yep. Because of what they said and did? Yeah. If you're a believer here this morning, it's because of what these guys said and did and wrote and told people. It's real amazing to think of these apostles. The Lord's praying for them, and in a very short period of time, they're all going to scatter. And Peter will multiple times deny that he ever knew the Lord. But the Lord changed them radically.

One of the pictures that we had as a background for one of the songs there, and you may recall, it shows a picture of Thomas looking at the Lord as an artist rendering. And here's Thomas looking at the Lord. Remember, he was the one that doubted. He says, no, until I see it, you know, and put my finger in the wounds, no, I'm not going to believe that stuff. Well, Thomas did believe. And Thomas didn't just sit there and believe and leave it at that. He told. He testified.

Some time back, there was a missionary that I met that had spent some time as a missionary in India. And Thomas, it turns out, both the extra-biblical records indicate that Thomas went as far as Madras, India, to spread the gospel. And I talked to this missionary, and he says, yeah, and the Christians there will tell you that's how they got the gospel. And that's how they understood it. So it's interesting the tradition comes forth. But yes, those apostles did spread the gospel. And they did write what they saw. And they did write what the Lord had them write for our benefit. And we do believe because of what they've done.

Our Lord's Prayer. was certainly fulfilled here. He does so as he prays for us by talking about the oneness of Christ himself and the Father being extended to include us. Isn't that amazing? That the oneness between Christ and the Father which has existed from eternity past would be extended to include us, that we would be enfolded in that oneness.

That is astounding stuff. As we're gathered here this morning, we've come from different circumstances and situations, and as you well know, I'm half insane because Nancy's gone. But this oneness, this oneness is phenomenal stuff. This is amazing stuff. The Creator of the universe is now praying for the Father. and asking that we be included in that oneness. That is astounding stuff. This is deep.

The end result that he asked for is that the world, remember we keep talking about the distinction between us and the world, that the world may come to believe that there are those out of this world who may come to believe because of the Lord's having brought about that oneness, the fulfillment of this prayer. And you know, it is amazing how that takes place. It takes place in our lives at different stages.

I'm kind of astounded and I think of my own extended family, where I know in my own case, I became a believer at four and a half. I chased my parents down until the end of the night. I got to know how to be a Christian, okay? And yet, my dad's mother, my grandmother, It was only three weeks before she died that she came to the Lord.

And probably a lot of us have stories somewhere in between. But what is astounding is this is actually fulfilled. The Lord has drawn us, hasn't he? From whatever place we were at, at whatever age, and under all kinds of circumstances, the Lord's prayer has been fulfilled. That we have come to believe. I'm going to pass on this passage here for the sake of time. Let's look at 22 through 24. The glory which you have given me I have given to them and that they may be one just as we are one. I in them and you in me.

That they may be perfected in unity so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me. But by the way, You, if you're a believer here this morning, are a gift from God the Father to Christ. That is wonderful stuff. Okay. Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am so that they may see my glory which you have given me. For you love me before the foundation of the world.

Have you seen the Lord's glory? Have you? That's what he prayed. Have you seen the Lord's glory? What's glory? Alright, let's take a look at that. In the human sense, we tend to use the word for things like recognition or accomplishment or recognition of accomplishment. But the biblical sense of the word glory is this.

Glory is the radiant essence of who he is. It is by fundamental character radiant. Glory is the radiant essence of who He is. That glory that is the radiant essence of who He is will be sufficient to light up the new heavens and new earth and new Jerusalem entirely without any sun or moon or stars or anything of the sort. That kind of glory.

In the same way that light has a spectrum that can be broken up into different colors using a prism, or we see it naturally in a rainbow, that same phenomenon where light gets broken up into different colors is an illustration of God's glory. Why? Because God's glory is the radiant essence of who He is, and when you think of who is He, it has all sorts of components. We've talked last week about God's grace, whom the Apostle Paul refers to in the riches or the wealth of His grace. God's mercy. God is love. All those characteristics of God are part of that spectrum of who He is. The radiant essence of who He is. In every one of those attributes, He is eternal and infinite. It's not lights out. There'll be no blackouts in the new heavens and the new earth. No brownouts either. And you won't have to call Wayne in the middle of the night. Okay. Verses 25 and 26.

O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You and these have known that You sent Me. And I have made Your name known to them and will make it known so that the love which You love Me may be in them, and I in them. Now, this has come full circle, hasn't it? Verses 2 and 3 of this passage, we saw that eternal life doesn't have to do so much with time and duration as it is about knowing God. And now we come to this passage here. And what does he talk about? Knowing and making known. It all comes back to knowing, doesn't it? It says here, Christ knows the Father, and He made the Father known. The disciples knew The Father had sent Christ.

And now we're going to get real personal. Can you stand it? Christ prayed here that the Father's love would be in us and that Christ would be in us. What's amazing as we look at these verses is the sense of intimacy with God, the experiencing and knowing of his love. That's what he's praying about here. Everything about our gathering together as believers today, everything about our individual lives as we go about life through the course of the week here, is intended by God to be centered upon relationship with Him, fellowship with Him, as it will be forever.

We were made for relationship, not for buying the stuff they advertise on the TV. We weren't made for that. We were made for fellowship with Him, not just for paying bills. Oh yeah, you should pay your bills, but we weren't made for that purpose ultimately. We were made for fellowship and relationship with Him.

That is exactly what God had in mind. Let's pray. Lord, as we look at this passage, thank You for making this very personal. We could look at this and say, oh, that was nice about something that happened. A couple thousand years ago, those were nice words. But the truth is, these are all about who we are in you. All about the relationship you intended from eternity past and that you intend for us to have with you on into eternity future. Starting even right now. And we just thank you for that. What a wonderful, awesome thing this is. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.