John 17 has a claim to fame that no other chapter of the
Bible can match. The chapter is a prayer of Jesus. We have the opportunity to
listen in on Jesus praying. What a good way to learn how to pray. Today, I'm going
to work through the first little bit of this prayer to point out some things
that you can imitate in your own prayers. Listen to Jesus.
When Jesus had spoken these words,
he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify
your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over
all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on
earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father,
glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the
world existed.' (
I'm going to take this apart by asking several questions.
Let's start with this. What is Jesus doing? He’s praying. I find that
fascinating. You'd think that of all people He wouldn't have to. Then, add
this. There are different kinds of prayers: praise, lament, confession,
complaint and more. What kind of prayer is this? Jesus is making requests. He’s
asking the Father for things. There are many things to see in this. Here’s just
one. This reveals Jesus humanity. He wasn’t faking it. Really is like the rest
of us. The Word really did become flesh.
And why is He asking? That is, what is motivating Him to
ask? Jesus would really like to have something. He is expressing a desire. He
wants to be glorified. We'll look at this more closely in a bit. But first let
me add to that this second motivation to His asking. He believes His own
teaching. Remember when He said, 'If you, being evil, know how to give good
gifts to your children how much more is the Father willing to give good things
to those who ask Him.' Jesus believes this. He believes that the Father wants
to give Him good things. And so He asks. 'Please, give me that.'
So, what is it that He is asking for? He is asking to be
glorified. Church word; let's translate it. Jesus wants to be honored. Is that
okay? It doesn't sound especially humble, does it? But it must be okay. It's
Jesus who asks for it. It helps to see that Jesus is actually asking that His
honor be restored. That's what He means when He says,
… glorify me in your own presence with
the glory that I had with you before the world existed …
That makes sense when you remember Philippians 2 where Paul
writes that Jesus emptied Himself. Of what? Well, one thing that He emptied
Himself of was the honor due Him because He is God. He wants that back. And
it's out of the desire for His former honor that He prays.
Now for another 'why' question. Why does He ask for this?
That is, what is His goal in asking for this honor? And He is quite clear about
this.
… glorify your Son that the Son may
glorify you …
Jesus wants to be honored so that He can honor His father.
So, while there is an element of self-interest in His request - He desires to
be honored - it is not a selfish request. His intended goal makes that clear.
But how will Jesus gaining honor result in the Father being
honored? Well, how will Jesus be honored? That's tied up in this word 'hour'.
…the hour has come; glorify your
Son that the Son may glorify you…
This idea of Jesus' hour runs throughout John's Gospel.
Usually, we read about how Jesus' hour has not yet come. But here it's
different. His hour has come. So, what is this about? Jesus is talking about
the Cross. It's time for His death on the Cross. Now, please note the irony of
what I am about to say. Jesus will Himself be honored (glorified) and will
bring honor to His father by being dishonored on the Cross. It is the shame of
the Cross that will bring honor. Be careful here. This shame is not about
feeling embarrassed. It's about the failure to meet the standards of honor.
It's about forfeiting honor. Jesus is honored and will bring honor to His
father by being shamed in the eyes of all the people. He knows that and yet, He
still asks.
One last question. How is Jesus asking? Two things here.
First, He is asking with affection. That's why Jesus starts as He does:
'Father...' We are listening in on an intimate conversation. Affection is a key
element in this prayer. And second, Jesus also asks confidently. There is no
sense of hesitation in His asking. Jesus doesn't throw in a few, 'if it be Your
will' or anything like that. He asks confidently because He is asking His
father who loves to give good things to His children. Affection and confidence.
So, that's the first part of the sermon. I've laid out some
aspects of what Jesus is doing. First, Jesus is praying. In His prayer He is
asking, expressing His desire for something. He does this because He believes
the Father wants to give him good things. He's asking to be glorified (honored)
and He asks for this so that He can glorify the Father. He knows that the route
to this honor is the shame of the Cross and asks anyway. He asks with affection
and confidence.
The second part of the sermon is about you imitating Him.
Can you do that? Can you imitate Jesus’ prayers? After all, He is the Son of
God. Who are you? Well, John thinks you can imitate Him. This is from his first
letter.
… whoever says he abides in him
ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Jesus is our example. We are to live like He lived. That
means that we are to pray like He prayed. And that, by itself, is an astounding
thought.
And that leads to the first thing to imitate. Jesus prayed.
But as you read through this prayer, you don't get a sense that Jesus prayed
out of some sense of obligation. He didn't think of it as a duty that religious
people are supposed to perform. He just prayed. He knew that the Father answers
prayer. When a person is convinced of that, prayer becomes second nature.
Here's another way to imitate Jesus. You can ask for things
that you desire. I'm sure that you pray for things you need. And that's fine.
But there are things that you don't really need but would like to have. Along
with asking for daily bread you can ask for other things. Jesus did. And you
can ask because you know that your Father loves to give good things to His
children. So, here's a question to ask yourself as you think about your
prayers. What do you want? There are things that you need. But then, there are
things that you want. What are they? Are you asking for them?
However, Jesus' desire was not selfish. He wanted to be
honored. But He wanted that so that He could bring honor to the Father. I
wonder if we are not doing what we might to bring the Father the honor that He
deserves because we have been told not to be selfish in our prayers. So we
don’t ask like Jesus did. There's a difference between selfishness and
self-interest. Jesus wasn't afraid of sounding selfish (remember the eleven
were listening to His prayer) as He asked for something that would make the
Father look really good.
I am currently praying for a miracle. It's not something
that is needed, but it is something that is desired. And it's a large request,
something that has been labelled ‘impossible’. It 'just can't happen'. I'm
praying for it for the sake of those who will enjoy it. My enjoyment is tied up
with theirs. But I'm also praying for it so that the power of God to do things
that are ‘impossible’ that 'just can't happen' will be revealed. I'm thinking
that we need to do more praying like this.
Having said that I also need to remind you of something else
we saw in Jesus' prayer. The Father just might grant some large request by
bringing you into and through a hard time. It doesn't have to be about shame.
But it might be just as hard. That does raise the question of how badly a
person desires what he’s asking for. It also raises the question of how
important it is to bring honor to God.
And then, the last two qualities of Jesus' praying to
imitate. The first is praying confidently, asking because you're convinced that
the Father really does want to give you good things. How often are your prayers
tentative and timid? The retort here, of course, is that when we pray we don't
know how He will answer. He may say, 'No'. But, that doesn't matter. Confidence
here isn't about the thing you’re asking for. It's about the person you're asking.
Your confidence is focused on the very simple fact that the Father loves to
give you good gifts. If He says, 'No', to one request it's only because He
wants to say 'Yes' to something better. That will sound like an excuse except
for this last quality, affection. Jesus' prayer was that of a child coming to
his father whom he knows loves him to pieces. When that is part of the
relationship it doesn't matter whether the specific request is granted or not.
Being loved is assured. A 'No' here really does mean a 'Yes' over there.
I've started to go through the Westminster Shorter Catechism
again. There is much wisdom in those Westminster documents. The answer to the
first question tells me that my purpose for existing is, in part, to enjoy God.
When I read that, the question that popped into my head was, Am I enjoying
God?' I thought about that. And I have to tell you that I am. I really am. I
want you to enjoy God, too. I can't help but think that a Christian's ability
to enjoy God is tied up with his prayers. Jesus enjoyed His Father. It shows in
this prayer of His. You can enjoy the Father. Imitate Jesus in His prayers.