The True Lord’s Prayers — Part Two

This is the second of three parts of an original C201 devotional study.

We said yesterday that we would look at some instances of Jesus offering prayer on our behalf. Probably the best example of this is in the extended section of his life and ministry found only in the Gospel of John, the section that begins at the conclusion of what we call “The Last Supper” in John 13, taking place in and around the Garden of Gethsemane. The entirety of chapter 17 is probably most deserving of the title “The Lord’s Prayer.”

I believe that some of this clearly falls into the category of something meant to be overheard. The IVP Commentary notes:

This chapter contains the most extensive and profound prayer of Jesus we have. When Jesus prayed at Lazarus’s tomb he made it clear that he had no need of expressing prayer because he is one with God in his whole life, the union true prayer expresses. Nevertheless, he prayed for the benefit of those present (11:41-42), and the same is true here as well (17:13).

Although it’s out of the chronological order, we’ll look at the example of Lazarus tomorrow.

We don’t know how John recorded all this; the standard stereotype at this point of the narrative is of The Twelve (minus Judas) having a hard time staying awake.

Big Picture

In the first few verses, Jesus reviews the “master plan” that we looked at yesterday.

^{NLT John 17:1} After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. ² For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. ³ And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. ⁴ I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.

⁶ “I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, ⁸ for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.

I’ve omitted verse 9 here for the moment, the passage continues:

¹⁰ All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. ^11a Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name;… ¹² During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.

¹³ “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. ¹⁴ I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

Then jumping a few verses:

²² “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. ²³ I am in them and you are in me.  ^23a I am in them and you are in me…

And finally:

²⁵ “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. ²⁶ I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

Specific Petitions

Now I want to gather up the other parts of this text; the sections clearly prayed on our behalf:

⁹ “My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you…

^11b …now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are…

¹⁵ I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. ¹⁶ They do not belong to this world any more than I do. ¹⁷ Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. ¹⁸ Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. ¹⁹ And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.

²⁰ “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. ²¹ I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me…

^23b … May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. ²⁴ Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!

I could have fine-tuned this a little more, but I hope you see the distinction between the internal focus of the Father and Son commiserating over the master plan that is drawing to a conclusion, and the outward focus of Jesus praying for his disciples and us; also the interweaving of both types of prayer.

If you want to know what is God’s will for the capital-C Church, read the last section of his prayer again; this spells it out very clearly. If you haven’t already done so, make a point of committing verse 21 to memory.