A look into Jesus' prayer
I. Introduction
II. His prayer for Himself (vv. 1-5) the will of The Father
When we talk about the glory of God and glorifying God, we need to remember that we’re referring to a noun and a verb. The “glory” of God is a noun and means his majesty or his splendor, his “display of divine goodness” (Carson, John, 129). When we talk about God’s being glorified (the verb), we mean the appropriate response to his goodness displayed.
III. His prayer for His Disciples (vv. 6-19)
Jesus uses the verb “have given,” which is in the perfect tense. That means an action happened in the past and has results that continue in the present.
In the sport of rowing, unity is key. Each oar must enter and exit the water at precisely the same time if the boat wants to maintain speed. The way the rowers stay in sync is by listening to the coxswain. The coxswain doesn’t row; he sits in the back of the boat and calls out the strokes. The coxswain is the only one who faces forward, so the entire crew must listen to the coxswain’s commands and respond. When that happens, the boat flies over the water. Unity doesn’t come from everyone rowing their hardest but from everyone submitting to a single voice.
To “sanctify” is to set something aside for a special use—like fine china reserved for special occasions.
IV. His prayer for His Church (vv. 20-26)
The beauty of diversity is summed up well in the classic quotation: “In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, liberty. In all things, charity.” Unity, not uniformity, is what Jesus is praying for.
Thomas Manton said, “Divisions in the church breed atheism in the world”
V. Conclusion
If Jesus’s number one priority is to bring glory to the Father, what does that mean for his followers? It can mean nothing less than that the glory of God must be the top priority in your life. Everything you do should have as its purpose the worship of God. Every single detail of your life is intended to reveal and celebrate the goodness of God. The reason we live on mission and share the gospel is so those blinded to God’s goodness may see it and worship him. Our goal in sharing the gospel is not to enlist converts but to make worshipers