In what is called the High Priestly prayer in John 17, Jesus prayed for His disciples that they would know true joy and the Heavenly Father’s protection. He also consecrated Himself to the Father’s purposes so that the disciples would be sanctified in truth as He sent them into the world. We notice the following in the prayer.
1]. WHAT JESUS HAD GIVEN TO HIS DISCIPLES. 17:6-8.
1a]. He Manifested God’s Name To Them. 17:6-7
John 17:6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.”
When Jesus prayed, “Yours they were, and you gave them to me” He recognised that His Father had already chosen them to belong to Him and that the Father had given them to Him. St Peter writing about believers expressed it this way, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” or “who have been chosen and destined by God the Father… ” 1 Peter 1:2.
God chose them to belong to Himself knowing beforehand in His omniscience, who would respond to Him. These people God gave to belong to Jesus. Jesus had manifested God’s name [describing the character and purposes of the Father] to them and they had kept His word. They now understood that all Jesus possessed came from the Father.
1b]. He Shared The Word Of God With Them.17:8
John 17:8 “For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.” Jesus had previously taught His disciples that His words had authority because they came from the Father, “So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.” John 7:16. AND “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” John 12:49-50. The disciples had learned and now believed that Jesus had been sent by God and that His teaching was from God. It was divinely inspired.
2]. JESUS PRAYED FOR HIS DISCIPLES.17:9-12
John 17:9 “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”
In this section of the prayer, we see that Jesus claimed these things.
- He is praying specifically for believers whom God had given to Him.
- He had been glorified in them as they trusted in Him.
- He had kept them in the name of God and now He prays that the Father would keep them in His name and that they would have unity like the unity He enjoyed with the Father.
- He had guarded them and only one was lost, namely Judas Iscariot, the son of destruction. But that loss was no surprise. It had been a fulfilment of prophecy.
3]. JESUS COMMENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO HIS FATHER’S CARE. 17:13-17
John 17:13”But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
As Jesus prayed this prayer, He knew that His time to leave this world was soon to come and He wanted His disciples to experience joy. He knew the unbelieving world was hostile to His disciples because they were different. They were “not of the world”, just as He was not of the world. In other words, they had become different through their commitment to Jesus, and the unbelieving world didn’t understand them.
Jesus prayed two things for His disciples.
i]. He asked God not to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They were meant to continue to live in the world even though they didn’t really belong to it any more. While they continued to live in the world they would be attacked by the evil one and Jesus prayed that they would be protected from the evil one’s assaults.
ii]. He prayed that God would sanctify them in the truth, God’s truth. “Sanctify” [hagiazō; ἁγιάζω] basically means to be separated, cleansed or purified. Jesus had earlier told His disciples, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32. If they received and acted on His teaching they would be further cleansed from sin and would become more free to live for the Lord.
4]. JESUS CONSECRATED HIMSELF TO HIS FATHER’S PURPOSES. 17:18-19
John 17:18 “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.”
Jesus knew that His time on earth would soon come to an end. He had been sent by His Heavenly Father and had accomplished the Father’s will throughout His life. He was about to send His disciples into the world to witness to Him. So for their sake, He “consecrated” Himself to fulfilling the plan God for His life on earth. “Consecrate” is the same word as “sanctify” [ἁγιάζω; hagiazō] and Jesus was separating Himself to do only the Father’s will for the rest of His life. This commitment to His Father’s will would enable His followers to continue to be sanctified in truth. He would remain the same and that would encourage His followers to continue to be loyal to Him.
We see in this High Priestly prayer that Jesus was committed to fulfilling the Father’s will and that He wanted to ensure that His followers did the same. He had consecrated Himself to the purpose of God throughout His whole life and would continue to do so in His final days on earth. Because He was about to send His disciples into the world, He prayed for them to know God’s protection and the ongoing sanctification in God’s truth.
St Paul later wrote about the church of God, [the ekklesia, the “called out” ones] those whom God had separated from the world to belong to Him. He wrote that “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-26.
Jesus’ prayer for the church in verses 17 and 19 in John 17 [to be sanctified in truth] was answered as we see in Ephesians 5:26, “having cleansed her [the church] by the washing of water with the word.”
Blog No.545 posted on Sunday 14 April 2024.
holbeck 
545. “Experiencing Christian Joy.” Sermon Notes On John 17:6-19 For Sun12 May 2024
In what is called the High Priestly prayer in John 17, Jesus prayed for His disciples that they would know true joy and the Heavenly Father’s protection. He also consecrated Himself to the Father’s purposes so that the disciples would be sanctified in truth as He sent them into the world. We notice the following in the prayer.
1]. WHAT JESUS HAD GIVEN TO HIS DISCIPLES. 17:6-8.
1a]. He Manifested God’s Name To Them. 17:6-7
John 17:6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.”
When Jesus prayed, “Yours they were, and you gave them to me” He recognised that His Father had already chosen them to belong to Him and that the Father had given them to Him. St Peter writing about believers expressed it this way, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” or “who have been chosen and destined by God the Father… ” 1 Peter 1:2.
God chose them to belong to Himself knowing beforehand in His omniscience, who would respond to Him. These people God gave to belong to Jesus. Jesus had manifested God’s name [describing the character and purposes of the Father] to them and they had kept His word. They now understood that all Jesus possessed came from the Father.
1b]. He Shared The Word Of God With Them.17:8
John 17:8 “For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.” Jesus had previously taught His disciples that His words had authority because they came from the Father, “So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.” John 7:16. AND “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” John 12:49-50. The disciples had learned and now believed that Jesus had been sent by God and that His teaching was from God. It was divinely inspired.
2]. JESUS PRAYED FOR HIS DISCIPLES.17:9-12
John 17:9 “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”
In this section of the prayer, we see that Jesus claimed these things.
3]. JESUS COMMENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO HIS FATHER’S CARE. 17:13-17
John 17:13”But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
As Jesus prayed this prayer, He knew that His time to leave this world was soon to come and He wanted His disciples to experience joy. He knew the unbelieving world was hostile to His disciples because they were different. They were “not of the world”, just as He was not of the world. In other words, they had become different through their commitment to Jesus, and the unbelieving world didn’t understand them.
Jesus prayed two things for His disciples.
i]. He asked God not to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They were meant to continue to live in the world even though they didn’t really belong to it any more. While they continued to live in the world they would be attacked by the evil one and Jesus prayed that they would be protected from the evil one’s assaults.
ii]. He prayed that God would sanctify them in the truth, God’s truth. “Sanctify” [hagiazō; ἁγιάζω] basically means to be separated, cleansed or purified. Jesus had earlier told His disciples, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32. If they received and acted on His teaching they would be further cleansed from sin and would become more free to live for the Lord.
4]. JESUS CONSECRATED HIMSELF TO HIS FATHER’S PURPOSES. 17:18-19
John 17:18 “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.”
Jesus knew that His time on earth would soon come to an end. He had been sent by His Heavenly Father and had accomplished the Father’s will throughout His life. He was about to send His disciples into the world to witness to Him. So for their sake, He “consecrated” Himself to fulfilling the plan God for His life on earth. “Consecrate” is the same word as “sanctify” [ἁγιάζω; hagiazō] and Jesus was separating Himself to do only the Father’s will for the rest of His life. This commitment to His Father’s will would enable His followers to continue to be sanctified in truth. He would remain the same and that would encourage His followers to continue to be loyal to Him.
We see in this High Priestly prayer that Jesus was committed to fulfilling the Father’s will and that He wanted to ensure that His followers did the same. He had consecrated Himself to the purpose of God throughout His whole life and would continue to do so in His final days on earth. Because He was about to send His disciples into the world, He prayed for them to know God’s protection and the ongoing sanctification in God’s truth.
St Paul later wrote about the church of God, [the ekklesia, the “called out” ones] those whom God had separated from the world to belong to Him. He wrote that “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-26.
Jesus’ prayer for the church in verses 17 and 19 in John 17 [to be sanctified in truth] was answered as we see in Ephesians 5:26, “having cleansed her [the church] by the washing of water with the word.”
Blog No.545 posted on Sunday 14 April 2024.
Share this:
Related
About Jim Holbeck
Once an Industrial Chemist working for the Queensland Government but later an Anglican minister in Brisbane, Armidale and Sydney. Last position for eighteen years before retirement in 2006 was as the Leader of the Healing Ministry at St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney.