We're looking again at Jesus' prayer on the night before His
death. In the first section He prays for Himself. In the second section He
prays for the eleven who will continue His work. And then, there is the third
section of His prayer. Listen.
I do not ask for these only, but
also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be
one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us,
so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have
given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become
perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even
as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may
be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved
me before the foundation of the world. O
righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and
these know that you have sent me. I made
known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love
with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:20-26
As usual, there is much going on in Jesus' words, and we
will look at some of those details. But not today. What I'd like to do today is
to consider one thought that isn't so much stated here as it is something that
lies behind all that is going on here. And that thought is simply this: Jesus
prays for you. He prays for - what does He say? -
those who will believe in me
through their word,
that is, through the apostles' message. That's you. Now,
think about it. Knowing the horror that awaits Him, of all the things that He
might be doing Jesus decides to pray for you. And that tells us something about
who this Jesus is and what He thinks of you. That's what I want to talk about
this morning.
Let's start with this. In this prayer Jesus refers to you as
a group. You are those who believe in Him. And the group aspect is important.
But someone might think that Jesus' prayer for the group is something
impersonal, something like, 'And dear Father, please bless that group of people
over there. Amen.' But you need to remember something else that Jesus said.
Jesus described Himself as the Good Shepherd who
calls his own sheep by name. John
10.3
Jesus knows you. You're not someone lost in the mass of
humanity. He knows you by name. And so, as He intercedes for you, His prayers
are not generic and vague. How could they be? By the Spirit, He walks through
life with you. He knows what you face, all the ups and downs, the joys and the
sorrows, the victories and the defeats. He knows all of that. He knows you. And
that's why His prayers for you are specific and not generic. It's not, 'And
bless those people in Erie.' No, it's, 'Father, remember (put your name here:
Debby, Dave, Anneke, Patty, Josiah). He/She is having a hard time with ______.
And thank You that that issue from last week turned out so well.' Jesus prays
for you specifically, by name and with your situation in mind. No generic
prayers.
Now, a question. Why does Jesus pray for you? There are
several answers. For one thing, Jesus is convinced that praying makes a
difference. There are those who are not persuaded of this. Some of them are too
philosophical for their own good. 'God can't change His plan so prayer does
nothing.' Then, there are others who are just too lazy to believe in prayer.
Bottom line for both is that they don't pray, not really. But Jesus knows that
praying changes things and that not praying results in missing out on good. The
point here is simple. Jesus believes
that praying makes a difference. So, imitate Him. Pray. Don't do it as some
religious ritual that you're supposed to do. Pray because you believe that your
praying changes things. That's what Jesus believes.
Another reason that Jesus prays for you is that He is
persuaded that you need it. There are things for you to know and experience,
decisions you need to make, goals that would be good for you to achieve. These
are the things of everyday life. But they are not encountered in some calm and
quiet garden that is walled off from the rest of the world. You deal with life
while in the midst of battle. You have enemies, some visible and some not. So,
just to take one of Jesus' requests here, if you are going to become one just
as Jesus and the Father are one, you are going to have to fight for it. Do you
think that Satan is just going to let that happen? No, he is going to fight
against that tooth and nail. And that's why Jesus prays for you.
Now, someone might think, 'If Jesus is praying for me, then
shouldn't life be moving along quite smoothly? After all, it's Jesus who is
praying for me.' The problem here has to do with a certain assumption. And that
assumption goes like this: prayer - including Jesus' prayer - is about making
life easier. It's about avoiding the bad things and enjoying more of the good.
Right? Wrong! Listen to something that Jesus said to Peter.
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded
to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that
your faith may not fail. Luke 22.31,32
Did you notice what Jesus prayed for? He didn't pray that
Satan wouldn't attack Peter. No, Peter is going to be attacked. And Peter will
fail. He will deny his Lord. Jesus didn't pray that that wouldn't happen.
Instead, He prayed for something else. He prayed for Peter's faith. There are
times when God's plan for you will include experiencing some evil. He does that
not because He is too weak to stop it or because He is evil. He brings evil
into your life in order to bring about good. Peter was changed by his
experience of denying Jesus. He became wiser. And that's why Jesus didn't pray
that it not happen. But He did pray that Peter's faith would continue beyond
the test - which it did. He repented. What do you suppose would have happened
if Jesus had not prayed for that?
Jesus prays for you in the same way that He prayed for
Peter. There are times when you will experience some evil. Jesus does not pray
that it not happen. He prays more wisely than that. He prays that you will
learn from that evil whatever it is that the Father intends for you to learn.
It might be that your understanding of life would mature, that your love for your
neighbor would grow, your repentance would deepen. It's children who pray that
only good things happen. Mature Christians know better. They pray like Jesus
does.
I have already applied some of what I've explained from this
text. But there are two things in particular that I would like to happen to you
because of what I've told you. Here's the first thing. I would like you grow in
your sense of being known and loved. That's something that I really want for
all of you. Jesus prays for you, not merely for you as part of some group but
you as an individual. He knows what's going on in your life and prays about all
those things. And He prays for you because He loves you. Or to translate that
church language, He prays for you because He really likes you. Recently, Seth
told me about a conversation that he had with a friend. They were discussing
this question. 'If I invited God to have lunch with me, would He be looking
forward to it?' Good question, no? Let's tweak it just a bit, in light of this
sermon, and talk about inviting Jesus to lunch. So, what do you think? If you
did that, do you think that He would be looking forward to it? Would He be
saying, 'Oh, lunch with (here, again, insert your name). Yes, yes. That's going
to be really good.' Is that what He'd be thinking? Or would He show up just to
be polite? I am convinced that if I invited Jesus to lunch He would be eager to
be there and that we'd have a blast. Lots of laughter, some serious talking,
but lots of laughter. Behind all of this is a simple question. Does Jesus like
you? What do you think? I think that the Bible is clear. He likes you - a lot.
I'm convinced that He'd enjoy lunch with you. And one bit of evidence for that
is the simple fact that He prays for you - by name. This is the Gospel. Do you
believe it?
Here's the other thing that I want for you. If it's true
that Jesus is so involved in your life that He prays about the details of
what's going on with you, doesn't that mean that you can be confident as you
make your way from one day to the next? I'll tell you now what I've told you
before. There is nothing for you to fear, except God. Nothing. You don't face
life alone, even when it feels like you're alone. Jesus walks with you every
step of the way, praying so very wisely so that you would flourish as a person.
Because of that, you can be so very confident. Why not? This also is the
Gospel. Believe it so that you might enjoy what it means to be a disciple of
Jesus.