John 17:11-19 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. 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. 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.
INTRODUCTION
Good morning, Grace. Thanks for sending us off for vacation and thanks for welcoming us back. I was able to listen to Mark and Matt’s sermons (thanks sound guys and Josh Lewis) and was greatly encouraged. Grace, you have good elders. Thank God and them often.
Also, we were able to go to Daniel’s church and I’d like to report that they had tons of sound feedback.
With that, welcome back to John 17, Jesus’ “high priestly prayer,” and perhaps the most significant prayer of all time. In the way of a reminder, there are four primary petitions in this prayer. We considered the first one a few weeks ago. It is found in vs.1-5. In it, Jesus prayed primarily for Himself. On the Sunday before our vacation, we began looking at the second. While the second petition covers vs.6-19, we focused on the first five verses in which Jesus clearly stated who He was and wasn’t praying for (was for His true disciples; wasn’t for the world). This week, we’ll continue working through the second petition and begin considering the content of Jesus’ prayer for His disciples (half this week and the other half next week).
The first half of v.11, the first verse of our passage for today, serves as a smooth transition between Jesus’ explanation of who He was praying for (last sermon) and His actual prayer for them (this sermon). In acknowledging the fact that His disciples would remain in the hostile world even as He departed from it, Jesus was simultaneously identifying a defining characteristic of His disciples (in, but not of the world) and revealing the primary reason He was praying for them (it’s really hard to be in, but not of the world).
The two main sections of this part of Jesus’ prayer, and therefore the two main sections of the sermon, concern (1) the relationship between Jesus and His followers to the world and (2) the content of Jesus’ prayers for them in light of that relationship.
The big idea of the passage is that Jesus was leaving, the disciples were staying, and, therefore, they needed specific help to continue living according to the Word Jesus had given them. The primary takeaways for us are to consider carefully our relationship to the world, and within that, to seek the things Jesus prayed for above everything else (perseverance, unity, joy, faithfulness, protection, and sanctification).
IN RELATION TO THE WORLD
As I mentioned in the introduction, one of the key themes of this part of Jesus’ prayer concerns “the world” and mankind’s varying relationships to it.
The word, “world,” is explicitly used 9 times (and implied several more times) in these few verses alone. In general, it refers to the earth and all that is in it, created by God and belonging to God. More specifically, however, it usually refers to those who have rejected God as God. It refers to all that has set itself up against God’s rule. In other words, there are two very different ways that Jesus speaks of “the world.”
To be in the world, is tied to the first sense in which Jesus speaks of it. When He talks of being in the world (in vs.11, 13, 15,18), He simply means living on earth. It has no moral implications. To be of the world is tied to the second sense. It means being worldly; rejecting God; embracing a distorted or godless view of things (vs.14, 16). That, of course, is inherently unrighteousness. It is the opposite of the life God made us for and requires of us.
With that, let’s consider the world’s relationship to the world as well as that of Jesus and His disciples.
The World
What’s the world’s relationship to the world? “The world” is made up of all people who were born into the world (everyone), who were born into sin (everyone), who remain in sin (which, again, Jesus calls, “being of the world”), and who refuse to turn to Jesus for forgiveness and reconciliation (“the world has hated them…”).
The world is always in the world, and always of the world.
Jesus
What’s Jesus’ relationship to the world? Jesus created the world (originally good) and came into the world, but He was never “of the world” and would soon no longer be in the world. That is, prior to creation, without beginning, Jesus existed as the Spiritual Son of God. All physical things (the world) were created through Him and for Him. At the appointed time, He was born into the world as a man (“I am no longer in the world” (11), “While I was with them [in the world]” (13), “these things I speak in the world…” (13)), yet, conceived by the Spirit, was born without sin. What’s more, He never sinned throughout His entire life (“I am not of the world” (14, 16)). And He was about to leave the world by way of crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension (“I am no longer in the world” (11), “I am coming to you” (11, 13)).
Jesus was out of the world (prior to His incarnation), in the world (at His incarnation), out of the world (at His ascension), but never, for a single moment, of the world.
The Disciples
Finally, what’s the disciples’ relationship to the world? They were, of course, like everyone else, born into the world. Similarly, they too were, for a time, of the world in that they were born into sin and walked in that sin. By grace through faith, though, they were rescued out of the world by Jesus (“they are not of the world” (14, 16)). And, by God’s design, for their good and the good of the world, they would remain in the world even after Jesus departed from it to proclaim the good news of Jesus to the world (“They are in the world” (11), “I do not ask you to take them out of the world” (16), “I have sent them into the world”(18)).
Previously, they were both in and of the world, they were still in the world, but by the grace of God, they were no longer of the world.
One of the more staggering aspects of all of this comes when we recognize that we are largely defined (in biblical, terms) by our relationship to the world.
In our culture, all kinds of people try to define us by all kinds of things. In our culture all kinds of people try to define themselves by all kinds of things. The harsh reality is, however, that it is an exceptional kind of hubris, pride, and conceit to assume that power for ourselves, for it belongs to God alone.
Humility, however, allows us to conform to reality, rather than our self-deceived notion of it. In other words, from the moment of Adam’s fall, all mankind has been defined either by being both in and of the world—as sinners, in love with disorder, confusion, as the enemies of God, and under the just condemnation of God—or as being in, but no longer of the world—as saints, renouncing the ways of the world, acknowledging the rightness of God’s reign, and having been rescued and redeemed by Jesus. There are no other categories among the living, which means there are no other ways in which we relate to God or the world. Like gender, it is binary no matter how zealously or academically or compulsively others may argue.
But humility also fills us with compassion and sympathy for, and eagerness to share the good news with, those still of the world. Humility causes us to continually remember that we too were once of the world as much as (and in some cases even more than) any who still are. And humility helps us be constantly conscious of the facts that we didn’t rescue ourselves from the world and there was nothing in us deserving rescue. It was the grace of God alone and that grace is freely offered to all who will receive it.
It is these convictions that led Jesus to pray for (and not pray for, as we’ll consider next week) the things He did in this passage.
Grace, in case it isn’t already clear, let me say it again: One of the most defining characteristics of your personhood and faith is your relationship to the world. Indicatively, to be a Christian is to no longer be of the world. There are no Christians who are of the world. To be of the world is to not be a Christian. Again, part of the very definition and nature of a Christian is to be someone who has renounced the world’s ways and acknowledged that God alone is God. Just as a husband is the head of his wife whether he is conscious of it or good at it, Christians are no longer of the world even if we are not conscious of it or living consistently with it.
Out of that indicative flows many imperatives (commands). Imperatively, we must refuse the temptation to live as though we are still of the world. Because we are now of Christ, we cannot find rest or pleasure in thinking, feeling, and loving like the world. Jesus rescues us from the world. He brings us out of it. And then He calls us to live differently because of it.
For instance, because we are no longer of the world we must, with the Spirit’s help, increasingly reject the world’s definitions of who we are (autonomous, accidental, racial, essentially good, etc.) and embrace God’s (divine image bearers, creatures, sinners until grace, etc.). We must, increasingly, with the Spirit’s help, reject the world’s priorities (wealth, power, sexual liberty, self-determination, etc.) and embrace God’s (glorify God and enjoy Him forever, loving God and neighbor, making disciples of all nations, etc.).
It is largely because of Jesus’ and His disciples’ changing relationships with the world that Jesus prayed what He prayed for them. That is, it is because Jesus had modeled what it looks like to be in, not of, the world, because Jesus was leaving the world, and because His disciples, who were no longer of the world, would remain in the world, that Jesus asked the Father for the following six things on the disciples’ behalf.
JESUS’ PRAYERS FOR HIS DISCIPLES
With all of that in the way of background, if you were in the disciples’ shoes, what would you most want Jesus to pray for on your behalf? Understanding your changed and changing relationship with the world and the world’s growing hostility toward you because of it, what would you hope Jesus would ask of the Father for you?
What Jesus Prayed For
Again, then, let’s begin considering the content of Jesus’ prayer for His disciples on the night of His betrayal and arrest, the night before His crucifixion? Jesus asked for six things (again, three this week and three next week).
- Perseverance (11 12). Jesus’ first prayer was for perseverance.
11 … Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me…
Before considering the request itself, it’s critical that we notice exactly who Jesus addressed His request to, “Holy Father.” It’s hard to overstate what a remarkable title that is. In every other situation it would clearly be an oxymoron. Either something is holy—set apart, unapproachable, wholly other—or it is father—intimate, approachable, hospitable—but it can’t be both.
But this isn’t “every other situation. Our God is glorious in such a way that He defies all kinds of conventional wisdom and categories. One in three. Truly God and truly Man. Just and justifier. Righteous and gracious.
Jonathan Edwards called this an, “admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies.” And he explained like this, “There is an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies in Jesus Christ. The lion and the lamb, though very diverse kinds of creatures, yet have each their peculiar excellencies. The lion excels in strength, and in the majesty of his appearance and voice: the lamb excels in meekness and patience, besides the excellent nature of the creature as good for food, and yielding that which is fit for our clothing and being suitable to be offered in sacrifice to God. But we see that Christ is in the text [Revelation 5:5-6] compared to both, because the diverse excellencies of both wonderfully meet in him.” Revealing that He is even more excellent than the mere sum total of a lion and a lamb.
The things Jesus was about to ask for, He asked of One who in all ways embodies an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies. That is, He was praying to His Holy Father.
Jesus’ first request of His Holy Father, on behalf of His disciples, was for perseverance in the name of God. He prayed, Father, “keep them in your name”. In that Jesus meant “’keep them in loyalty to you’ or ‘keep them in full adherence to Your character’” (PNTC, Carson, 562). Keep them trusting in you and living consistently with your character.
The next clause, “which you have given me” confirms and clarifies this. Jesus was the perfect manifestation of loyalty to God and full adherence to the character of God; that is, Jesus was/is the perfect manifestation of the name of God. Jesus prayed for the disciples to remain faithful to the Father through every trial, just as they had seen Him do.
In v.12 we see that this—keeping the disciples in the name of God—is something Jesus did perfectly while He was with them on earth.
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.
While He was with them, He guarded them and kept them in the name of the Father, He kept them from falling away from the faith, from getting lost in the world, from becoming of the world once again (all but Judas, and that to fulfill scripture).
But again, Jesus was leaving, so before anything else, Jesus asked the Father to continue granting them that same protecting, persevering grace (12). This would be, once again, especially important as they continued to experience the hatred of the world for no longer being of the world and for loving the Word (14).
When, Grace, are you most tempted toward worldliness? There is certainly a type of temptation that comes when comforts abound, but there is a different type that comes when hardships come. As they do, what ultimately keeps you hoping in Jesus? Is it your own strength and will power? No. While we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, it is ultimately God who is at work in us to act and to will according to His good purposes (Philippians 2:12). - Unity (11). Jesus’ second request was for unity among the disciples.
11 Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
Once again, when hardship comes, we get stretched, we get blown, we get shaken. When that happens, our flesh tends to want to take over. Some of the more difficult ways I’ve seen this are when families fight among each other after the death of a loved one or when a serious sickness causes conflict between two people who were otherwise in harmony or when COVID hits and previously unified churches became divided.
Hardship tends to temp us to mistrust others and assume negative motives. It wears us down and opens us up to being less careful with our speech and prone to grumpiness. It often causes us to question whether it’s worth it to continue in things we’d previously committed ourselves to. We’ve all experienced this in some measure, sometimes in ways that turn out to be irreconcilable.
Knowing this and anticipating, even promising, imminent hardship for the disciples, Jesus asked His Holy Father to keep them in His name and therein protect them from bickering among themselves, from splintering into factions, and from turning against one another.
They were His representatives on earth, bearing His name, and fulfilling His mission. Disunity and conflict among them would be at odds with the name of God and derail their mission. Therefore, Jesus prayed that they would remain unified through every difficulty.
What’s more, Jesus prayed for a particular kind of unity. Just as He prayed that the Father would keep the disciples in His name just as Jesus had done, He prayed for the kind of unity among the disciples that He’d perfectly and eternally experienced with His Father. Jesus’ obedience to the Father and His unity with the Father were the basis for the disciples’ obedience and unity. That’s the heart of the last clause in v.11, “even as we are one.”
Let me be clear on something before moving to Jesus’ next prayer. The kind of unity we are meant to have is always rooted in the character and mission of Jesus. We are not meant to be unified around the lowest common denominator. We’re meant to be unified (as are the Father, Son, and Spirit) around the shared righteousness of Jesus and on the shared mission of Jesus. The more we all live in the holiness and mission of God, the more true unity we will inevitably experience. In the same way, the less holy and Great Commissional we are, the less true, the less Trinitarian, unity we will know.
Grace, for that reason, in this life, as we seek to conform ourselves to the character and engage in the mission of Jesus, there will always be some measure of tension between purity and unity. It’s inevitable. We do not grow in holiness or engage in discipleship at the same rate. Therefore, if our purity is meant to be the basis of our unity, and we all are at different levels of purity, we’ll always feel tension Jesus was praying against.
What, then, is our hope? It is the power of the Spirit and the good news of the gospel. The Spirit is what allows us to grow in holiness and engage in mission and the gospel is what allows us to remain unified even though a gap remains. To understand that our salvation and sanctification were and are gifts of God, is to be gracious toward and unified with those who are less mature that we are. In that way, unity among imperfect followers of Jesus is tied to shared understanding of, and commitment to the pursuit of holiness and mission, along with a shared recognition of and dependence on the Spirit and the gospel. We know it, we love it, we’re going after it, and we’re gracious to one another when we fall short.
Many around us who call themselves Christian are seeking counterfeit unity by compromising with the world and by pursuing something other than the character, example, and mission of Jesus. They are seeking imposter unity in a shared vague, self-defined notion of God and vague, self-defined commitment to love everyone. But Jesus prays for something altogether different here. He prayed for true unity, “even-as-we-are-one unity.” - Joy (13). Jesus’ third petition, the final one we’ll consider today, is a familiar one. In it, He asks the Father to give His [Jesus’] joy to His followers.
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.
Jesus’ departure from the world was fast approaching, as was significant hardship for the disciples. Were they to honor God through the hardship, in Jesus’ physical absence, by displaying His character and fulfilling His mission, they needed the gracious, persevering, and unifying work of God. In addition, they needed the gracious gift of the joy of Jesus.
It’s one thing to walk in holiness and obedience in the midst of the hostile wickedness of others. It’s another thing to do so in unity with others who are also experiencing the hostile wickedness of others. It’s another thing still to do so in holy, unified, joy!
15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
16:20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
16:22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
16:24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Genuine, fruit of the Spirit joy, in the midst of significant persecution is perhaps the greatest evidence of true faith and the single most powerful piece of evidence we can give concerning the saving power of the gospel. To find not merely the peace of Jesus, but also the joy of Jesus in the midst of suffering at the hands of the enemies of God for faithfulness to God, can only come from God.
Hebrews 12:2 describes exactly this in Jesus at the time of His most significant hardship. It tells us that it was “for the joy that was set before him” that Jesus “endured the [persecution of wicked men in willingly going to the] cross, despising the shame…”. More so, it tells us that Jesus was an example for us in that. “Therefore,” verse 1 says, “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [knowing how to do so by] 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” [in the manner in which He obeyed all the way to the cross.
Jesus prayed that His Father would grant His disciples His joy in the midst of the trial of His departure and the hostile encroachment of the world.
So where does this joy come from? How do we get the joy of Jesus in our hardships? At the highest level, once again, it is always and only ours through the gracious gift of God. At the same time, let’s not miss the fact that the means by which we receive God’s gracious gift of Jesus’ joy is not through some mystical experience or through giving lots of money or through smoke and lights; it is through the word given to us by Jesus. “These things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” Similarly, the next verse, v.14, begins with Jesus acknowledging that, “I have given them your word…”.
Jesus spoke the truth in love to His disciples so that His disciples might have joy. The Word of God is the primary source of the joy of God. It is God’s Word that reveals God’s glorious character and marvelous works and staggering promises and amazing grace. And it is through those things that the Spirit is pleased to bring Jesus’ joy to Jesus’ people.
Grace, do you want fullness of joy? Read the Word. Do you want to have Jesus joy fulfilled in you? Read the word that Jesus has given. As I mentioned in a sermon a while back, read it consistently, comprehensively, thoughtfully, corporately, prayerfully, worshipfully, and practically. As you do and as the Spirit works, you’ll find that the joy of the Lord seeping deeper and deeper into your soul. That’s what Jesus prayed for.
CONCLUSION
The other side of the coin of coming to trust in Jesus is always, always, always forsaking the world (which is just another way to describe repentance). No forsaking the world, no genuine trust in Jesus. Genuine trust in Jesus, forsaking of the world; every time, without exception, always. There is an immediate forsaking of the world at conversion and an ongoing forsaking in our sanctification. All of it is a gift from God. All of it is grace. All of it is part of the good news Jesus came to accomplish and proclaim.
What’s more, God is pleased to bring that grace to His people through various means in and various forms. One such means is the prayers of the faithful (which is what we have in Jesus in John 17:11-19) and three such forms are perseverance, unity, and joy.
Let us give ourselves, therefore, in faith, in the power of the Spirit, to continually forsaking the world and embracing the things of God. And, at the same time let us give ourselves to prayerfully seeking the things God has given us to do so, perseverance, unity, and joy.