Title: Jesus Prays for Himself
Text: John 17:1-5

Introduction:

It would be a vast understatement to say Prayer is a staple of the Christian life. It is, in the words of one hymn writer, "the soul's sincere desire, unuttered or expressed." We often ask others to pray for us. And, if you're like me, you want as many people praying for you as possible, and you probably want the best prayer warriors you can think of interceding on your behalf.  

It's also a privilege of Christian fellowship to be able to pray for one another. One of the aspects of our church web site is people can submit their requests for us to pray for. We have quite a number of these that have been shared on Wednesday nights.

In the 17^th chapter of this gospel, John record's Jesus' prayer of intercession to the Father.  In the fifth century, Clement of Alexandria remarked that in this prayer, Jesus was acting as a high priest on behalf of His people. Over the years it has become known as the 'high priestly' prayer of Jesus.  In His prayer, Jesus prayed for Himself, for His disciples, and for all those who would later follow Him,  which includes us.

This prayer is not only personal it is instructional as well. One of the most comforting ideas found in this prayer is that when Jesus was facing the most important period of his earthly life, with all the challenges, all the opposition, and the anticipation of the cross, He was not too busy nor too distracted to pray.  That in itself is an important lesson for us.  It should serve as a reminder to us: when we are the busiest, perhaps that's time to pray the most. We ought to learn from Jesus' example: that when things are the most busy, the most challenging, the most distracting those are the times we should stop and be most prayerful.

Let's look at this prayer and see what we can learn from it about not only how Jesus prayed, but how we can apply it to our own prayer lives. First we see Jesus prayed for Himself.

I. Jesus Prays for Himself

John 17:1-5 These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life. "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do. "And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. (NAS)

Certainly because Jesus prayed for Himself doesn't make His a selfish prayer. We almost instinctively know we should pray for ourselves, but often our prayers are selfish prayers.  Selfish not necessarily in a bad way, but, generally, when we pray for ourselves they are prayers for personal accomplishment, fulfillment, deliverance , restoration, healing, success, things such as that; to achieve something or gain something or even escape something. When Jesus prayed for Himself it was to accomplish something - God's will.

He asked to face the cross. That's what He meant by the words. "The hour has come." Throughout John's gospel we have seen Him moving toward this hour, or this time He had anticipated and expected.  It is in the cross, with its agony, blood, grief and loneliness He asked to be glorified.

Paul confirmed this in Phil 2:5-11 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, {and} being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (NAS)

The glory of the cross not only reveals His Lordship and sovereignty it also confirms the purpose of and the accomplishment of the cross, which is to provide eternal life and all that entails to those who would place their trust and faith in Jesus Christ. That includes the forgiveness of sin, the redemption, reconciliation, sanctification, and justification of humanity, and the restoration of a broken relationship with the Father.

According to the late Greek Scholar Dr A. T. Robertson the phrase "that they may know" in the Greek language is present active subjunctive (I like to throw that in every so often so you'll know that I'm studying) it means "may keep on knowing." it reaffirms, or undergirds the understanding of eternal in eternal life. The word know in this verse speaks of an intimate relationship, not just the awareness of certain facts. According to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, the word denotes personal fellowship with God or Christ.

The UBS Translator Handbook Series explains: The knowledge of God referred to [in verse 3] is the knowledge which comes through a specific revelation in Jesus Christ, and it demands a response of love and obedience on the part of those who follow. Knowledge, for both Old Testament and New Testament writers is not a beatific vision or an intuitive feeling about God, in other words it's not subjective.  It is based on an objective revelation which demands a positive response in obedience and love. Love governs the relationship between Father and Son and between the Son and His disciples.

Verse 3 gives us a simplified definition of eternal life - to continually know God.  That knowledge is objective rather than subjective because it is revealed by God Himself and is personalized through Jesus Christ, whom God sent as the source of revelation and eternal life.  Jesus affirmed the unity and oneness of God. He makes clear there is no other.  He also explained there is no other way to know God but through Him. When an individual knows God in this way they are transformed and introduced to a different quality of living.

Could verse 3 be an example of Jesus denying His own divinity? Certainly not.  How do we know? First, John has time and again throughout his gospel clearly presented Jesus as divine. Beginning with the prologue of the gospel John affirms the divinity of Jesus Christ. In chapter 10 John revealed to us the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.  

His own words in 10:30 "I and the Father are one." are a clear statement of His divinity.  The meaning of what He said was clearly understood as such by the Jews for in 10:33 they responded to Jesus saying: "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out {to be} God." (NAS)

To believe Jesus denied His divine nature or never claimed to be divine at all is to simply ignore the facts and the truth of this gospel and the Bible.  Clearly the confession of the Apostle Thomas in chapter 20, as we have pointed out a number of times and as we will see when we look at that chapter, leaves no room to doubt the apostles came to know Jesus as God, and Jesus accepted this acknowledgment. In the passage we cited earlier from Philippians 2, verse 6 specifically says Jesus existed prior to the incarnation in the form of God. In Titus 2:13 Paul refers to Jesus as our Great God and Savior as does Peter in 2 Pet 1:11

Rather than denying His own divinity, Jesus simply acknowledged the unique role of the Father and the Son in both revelation and salvation. In verse 5 He prayed for full restoration to the pre-incarnate glory and fellowship Father and Son enjoyed prior to the Incarnation. (Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament) Another acknowledgement rather than denial of His true nature as fully God while continuing to be fully man.

We see then Jesus' prayer to be glorified is not a selfish prayer because His ultimate desire is that by means of His death the Father will ultimately be glorified.

We learn from this the true nature and source of salvation. Fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. We also learn that our own prayers for ourselves, like His,  should always be that in whatever we are facing, whatever we're seeking, whatever we're asking, God the Father be glorified through us. That whatever takes place in our lives accomplishes the will of God.

Is that your desire? We sing the Chorus "Be Glorified" after welcoming each other on Sunday morning.  It says, Lord be glorified in my church, in my song, in my life. I pray that's the desire of your heart.  A desire that begins at the cross, by placing your faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

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