In The Footsteps Of The Master: The Life and Times of Jesus Christ

In The Footsteps Of The Master:The Life and Times of Jesus Christ

Jesus Prays for His DisciplesJuly 22, 2012

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I Have Overcome!• John 16:33

– 33“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

• We might be tempted to view Jesus’ prayer as a rather gloomy conversation with the Father– After all, He knows He’ll be dead in a few

hours• There is no gloom here ... Only Victory!


Glorify the Son• John 17:1-2

– 1Jesus 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, 2even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.”

• The hour has come ...– The hour that brings the fulfillment of all that

Jesus came to accomplish


For Discussion• What sort of glorification is Jesus asking

for?– Is this a self-seeking request?– For what purpose then?

• How will His glorification bring glory to the Father?

• What sort of authority has Jesus been given by the Father?– The giving of eternal life


Eternal Life Defined• John 17:3

– 3“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

• We tend to think of eternal life as an infinite time period

• Jesus defines it in terms of relationship– Knowing the Father and the Son

• What does knowledge of the Father and of Jesus mean?


Accomplished!• John 17:4-5

– 4“I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

• Jesus has accomplished all that has been asked of Him


What Jesus Accomplished• During His time on earth, Jesus:

– Healed– Forgave– Ministered– Fed– Raised– Taught– Blessed– Admonished– Loved– Laughed– Cried


For Discussion• Yet that was not His primary purpose

– Showing the Father to the world• How will what is about to happen bring

glory to both Jesus and the Father?• Jesus speaks of the relationship that He

previously had with the Father– In reality, that relationship was never broken


Those You Gave Me• John 17:6-8

– 6“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.”


For Discussion• Who is Jesus praying for in this passage?• Is Jesus saying that the Eleven now

understand the purpose of His coming?– If so, does that line up with the questions they

have just asked of Him and the fact that they will soon scatter?

• He actually says that they understand that Jesus came from the Father– They don’t really understand the entire picture

just yet


All Things • John 17:9-10

– 9“I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.”

• Which is more significant?– all things that are Mine are Yours– ... Yours are Mine

• Can we say that the things of God are ours?


Keep Them in Your Name• John 17:11-12

– 11“I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”


For Discussion• What do these mean?

– “in the world” – “keep them in Your name”

• Imagine the continuous attacks that Satan must have mounted against Jesus’ disciples– After all, they were the ones who would carry

on after Jesus was out of the picture– Jesus has successfully protected His disciples

from these attacks


For Discussion• Jesus is going away• His disciples will stay• The must be ONE to succeed in the task

before them


Not of the World• John 17:13-16

– 13“But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”


For Discussion• How could the disciples have joy in the

face of what is about to happen?• Why has the world hated Jesus’ disciples?

– Should the world hate us?• He doesn't ask the Father to take His

disciples out of the world– Why?

• His prayer instead is that they be protected from the evil one


Sanctified in the Truth• John 17:17-19

– 17“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”

• How are the disciples sanctified in the truth?

• How does Jesus’ sanctification affect His disciples/


May All Be One• John 17:20-21

– 20“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21that they may all be one; even 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 sent Me.”


For Discussion• Jesus prays for those who will come to

know through His chosen few– That means that He prays for us!

• He prays that we will all be one• What does that mean?• Why is it so important?

– “so that the world may believe that You sent Me”

• How will the world come to know Jesus if His followers are not one?


Perfected in Unity• John 17:22-24

– 22“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”


For Discussion• What is unity?

– How is it defined?– How is measured?– How is it achieved?

• Jesus wants us to be with Him in Heaven, so that He can show us what the Father “looks” like

• Jesus speaks again of His pre-existing relationship with the Father– They both existed before the world was created


A Final Blessing• John 17:25-26

– 25“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”


Conclusion• In closing, Jesus prays that the love that

Jesus and the Father share will be in us• Remember that He prayed that for US


Next Week• Jesus is Arrested

In The Footsteps Of The Master: The Life and Times of Jesus Christ

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