Sermon Tone Analysis

Listening In

Have you ever been in one of those awkward situations where you were listening in on a conversation?

That conversation had you as part of it but it wasn’t directed at you?

We do it with our kids right?

It seems like their sweet little ears perk up as soon as they get an inkling that you might be talking about them.

Or maybe you have walked in on some people, who all of the sudden stop taking because you entered the room.

Than you get all insecure wondering if they were chatting about you or maybe something that had nothing to do with you.

Today we are finishing off our series, “Famous Last Words.”

Words that Jesus spoke to his disciples just before he would be taken away for execution.

And in this last section in John chapter 17 we actually get to see the disciples being talked about, but also, we are part of the conversation.

It is a prayer Jesus prayed to his Father on his own behalf, on behalf of his disciples, and on behalf of anyone who would follow Jesus in history.

It says in James,

Jesus lived a perfect sinless life so when we look at his prayers, they mean something.

Isn’t it great to know when someone is praying for you.

We had a little old lady from the church I grew up in who would come up here and visit occasionally.

She would always make a point of coming to me and saying, “I pray for you often.”

My parents, I know, pray for me everyday and it a great comfort to me.

While the disciples of Jesus were around him he began to pray.

He knew he would soon be arrested and so he turned to his Father and prayed, and the disciples got to listen in on their conversation, just like we do today.

In his prayer there are two requests that Jesus made for himself, two for his disciples, and two for all believers including you and me.

Lets look at Jesus prayer and discover Jesus’ heart in the hours before his death.

John 17:1-

Sometimes we think that Jesus started his life when he was born to Mary.

It is easy to see him that way because all of as can relate to it .

Twice here, Jesus is asking his Father to restore to Jesus the glory that once belonged to him.

These are the only two requests that Jesus makes for himself.

He models what he told his disciples in a few of the other passages we looked at these last few weeks.

John 16:

John 14:

Jesus had such a deep intimate relationship with his Father that what he asked for, he knew it would happen, because he knew his Father.

Keep in mind, Jesus was fully human, human body, human mind.

He was also fully God, but he put aside some of those attributes of God so that he could experience life as one of his creation.

His knowledge of who he was, where he came from, and where he was going was given to him through the Scriptures as they were revealed to him by the Holy Spirit.

He didn’t have this image of what he was before he lived on earth as part of his memory.

He learned what it was he was like through the Old Testament, and the work of the Spirit in him.

So this prayer was a real ask, but it was asked with certainty and trust.

Along with this there was Jesus’ exclusive claim which we have seen throughout this series.

John 17:

The word true here is singular and refers to God.

What is the significance of that?

If other ways were also true for salvation this would have been plural.

It would be “you are one of the true ways.”

But the text does not give that option and we have to wrestle with that.

For thousands of years people have tried to get to God without going through him, and in the Bible the only way to God is through his Son Jesus.

Anything that leaves out Jesus is heresy, it is a lie, it is false.

Jesus knew who he was, and what he came to do, and at this moment he was seeing that his time on earth was coming to an end and the Holy Spirit’s time to be here was coming.

His coming death was not a loss for him because he knew that the end of his life would lead to him being raised from the dead and going back to taking on his full role with his Father in heaven.

All the glory that he put aside for a little while would be restored to him.

He knew what he was asking because he knew the Father’s will for him.

Because he knew his Father.

Do you trust the Father?

Do you trust Jesus?

A step you can take to build that trust?

Be alone with God

You don’t have to be some scholar to do this.

You don’t have to be a great Christian to do this.

All you need is the Bible and yourself and a desire to meet the one who loves you so much that he would take the time to come to earth for you.

So Jesus finishes praying for himself and moves on to the disciples.

John 17:6-

His three requests for the disciples.

Protect them for the sake of unity, that comes up again so we will look at that in a bit but he also prayed, and protect them from the evil one.

and protect them from the evil one.

Evil One here does not refer to the bad things around us.

The hurt we experience, the sin that affects the world.

This refers to a person.

Satan, the Devil, Lucifer.

Ultimately in this age Satan is referred to as the Prince of the Power of the air.

The earth.

He has influence in it.

And his primary task in this age is to discredit God by any means possible.

Most often that happens through him working to take down followers of Jesus, either through sin, or death.

Death we don’t have much control over, but sin is a very real issue.

We see it’s damage all around us and if we are honest with ourselves, sometimes we would rather choose sin, choose independence from God so we can satisfy ourselves.

There are three influences on us that do that, first and foremost is our own desire to sin, it comes easy to us because we are born into a sinful world, second is the world itself which Jesus talks about in his prayer, in a large way the world is against God and against his followers, it does not want to be told that it needs Jesus and apart from Jesus is doomed to hell, and finally the devil who tries to manipulate the other to in a quest for power and self promotion.

Jesus prayer for his disciples?

Protect them from the evil one.

Sanctify them by the truth.

What is truth, the Word of God.

Jesus said, your word is true.

Sanctify is almost exclusively used in Biblical Greek.

It simply means to be set apart for God’s use.

That was Jesus prayer for his disciples.

How do we stay connected to Jesus?

How do we stay set apart for God’s use?

The Word of God.

Jesus was praying for this small community that they would remain true to the truth he had given them.

In it was life.

In it was the way to the Father.

As the word invades our life as God works through the Holy Spirit it produces sanctification in us.

And more and more we see how God has set us apart for his use.

Where do you stand when it comes to what is true?

Where do you find your sources for truth?

Jesus said,

Notice Jesus doesn't pray, God, if they are worthy please sanctify them.

He prays sanctify them through the truth.

Jesus was going to take care of the being worthy part by dying for the sins of all people for all time and then being raised by the Holy Spirit so that anyone who would confess their sins, and follow Jesus would be worthy to become sanctified.

If you follow Jesus you are already worthy to be set apart.

The Bible calls it justification.

Jesus said,

Jesus knew that he was leaving and he knew that he had prepared the disciples properly.