Jesus’ Prayer for HimselfJohn 17:1-5

24 May, 2015

The Bible is filled with great prayers…•Abraham’s prayer in Genesis 18•Moses’ prayer in Exodus 32•David’s prayers in 1 Chronicles 17 and 29•Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8•Mary’s prayer in Luke 1 (Magnificate)•But this prayer of Jesus’ is by far the greatest in the whole of Scripture

The greatest prayer…?How can we top God’s own prayer – the Son of God praying to God the Father in heaven? The entire chapter is a prayer by Jesus. It is like we are walking into the Holy of Holies of the Gospel and listening to the very voice of Jesus to His Father•Someone who is very wise said, “A person’s innermost being is revealed by genuine prayer.”

“Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true

God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I glorified You on the earth, [b]having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

John 17:1-5, NASB

A. Glorify Your Son…•This is the “hour”, according to V 1•Now He asks, knowing through His humiliation the Glory comes•Note “How” He begins praying•How many of you does this thought make uncomfortable?•never confuse the non-essential customs of prayer with the essential aspects of prayer!

A. Glorify Your Son…•This is the “hour”, according to V 1•The hour for fulfilling all prophesies regarding the Messiah•The hour of triumph over sin, death, and the Prince of this world, Satan•The hour of ending the Old Covenant and ushering in the new!•The hour of darkness, quakes, graves emptied!

A. Glorify Your Son…•Some have asked, “Was it selfish to pray for Himself?”• I don’t think so– see how much He laid aside His own glory just to save the wretched like us• Jesus glorified the Father thru His miracles•But brought the greatest Glory to Himself thru suffering, death, resurrection, ascension

B. The Source and Nature of Eternal Life…•He’s in effect coroneted king, Vv 2-3•Philippians 2:10 says, “…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth…”•What is this “eternal life”?•To start to answer that question we must look at lots of Scripture!

B. The Source and Nature of Eternal Life…•The first answer is mind-blowing—

But as it is written: “ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

1 Corinthians 2:9, NASB

B. The Source and Nature of Eternal Life…•The first answer is mind-blowing—•Revelation 4 gets more descriptive– God’s Throne Room•Revelation 21 and 22 have even more astounding descriptions- I can’t even imagine it really•Only by knowing Him, Greek “ginosko”, can we enter into this amazing place

C. His Perfect Obedience…•V4 gives us the method by which Jesus glorified the Father in all this• Jesus said, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”•Even though the agony at Gethsemane and the Torture at Golgotha are still in the “future” from this moment– all is finished

C. His Perfect Obedience…•By going to the cross willingly, Jesus showed us that there was nothing the love of God would not do for His own, to redeem them and bring them to Heaven• Let’s look at V5 again•Was Jesus asking for glory that is something He didn’t possess before?•NO! There are no degrees of being God

C. His Perfect Obedience…•Unlike the Hinduism which has many different levels one can “achieve”•To Jesus, the cross was the gateway to glory – glory for the Father who sent Him; glory for Himself; glory for the sinners He came to redeem• Jesus wouldn’t have said V5 if He wasn’t God already!

“I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.”“For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another.”

Isaiah 42:8, 11 (NASB)

C. His Perfect Obedience…•According to these two verses, God DOES NOT share His glory with absolutely anyone. If the Father and the Son share their glory, there is only one answer for this –they must BOTH be GOD!•Question: Did the Father answer Jesus’ prayer? Yes!•Stephen saw Jesus Glorified!

“When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Acts 7:54-56 11 (NASB)

Take-Home!•The essential aspects of our prayer are the One who hear our prayers – our God, not the people around us, our sincere and humble hearts, and praying according to His will.•We need to imitate our Lord Jesus’ complete obedience to the Father –without resistance, without complaint.