Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro: Why?

Transition:

Context:

From beginning to end Jesus’ earthly ministry was marked by frequent times of prayer.

He prayed at His baptism (Luke 3:21), during His first preaching tour (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16), before choosing the twelve apostles (Luke 6:12–13), before feeding the 5,000 (Matt.

14:19), after feeding the 5,000 (Matt.

14:23), before feeding the 4,000 (Matt.

15:36), before Peter’s confession of Him as the Christ (Luke 9:18), at the transfiguration (Luke 9:28–29), for some children brought to Him (Matt.

19:13), after the return of the seventy (Luke 10:21), before giving the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:1), before raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:41–42), as He faced the reality of the cross (John 12:28), at the Last Supper (Matt.

26:26–27), for Peter (Luke 22:31–32), in Gethsemane (Matt.

26:36–42), from the cross (Matt.

27:46; Luke 23:34, 46), with the disciples He encountered on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:30), and at the ascension (Luke 24:50–51).

Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, which highlight the Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane as the final preparation of Jesus before his arrest (cf.

Matt 26:36–46; Mark 14:32–43; Luke 22:39–46), the Gospel of John does not include that pericope but has instead this magnificent prayer of chap.

17.

Now in the Farewell Discourse we have another form and setting.

Jesus is not talking to his disciples, he is talking to God.

We are invited to listen in.

But if this is private prayer, if this is Jesus’ personal conversation with God, what use is it to me?

(a) We need to see such prayers as teaching vehicles.

They are meant to be overheard so that disciples can study them and learn.

In Ezra 9:6–15, Ezra offers to God a moving prayer of sorrow and repentance, and upon hearing his words the people are filled with grief (10:1).

Ezra knows that this prayer not only moved the Israelites, but will move any who might read his account.

In other words, his prayer was recorded for us (readers) as well.

A similar role for prayers appears in Acts, where Luke records a lengthy prayer uttered by the church (Acts 4:24–30).

But again, it is a prayer recorded for us, the reader.

Therefore what we can glean from Jesus’ own spiritual perceptions and interests is appropriate

The church must be unified and the church must have a mission.

This is why the Gospels point not only to Jesus’ mighty works and profound words, but also to his personal relationship with God.

On some occasions he went alone into the hills to pray (Mark 1:35), and at other times he told his followers that they had to do the same (Mark 6:31).

Would you like to know the heart of someone?

Pray with them… what do they pray about, what do they ask for?

Here we see the heart of our Savior...

JOHN 17 GIVES us a glimpse into the heart of Jesus unlike any other chapter in the four Gospels.

IN the OT entering the Holy of holies was such an incredibly special moment only done once a year by one guy with extreme precaution… Here we are entering the Holy of holies

John 17 is certainly the “holy of holies”

The prayer recorded here is truly the Lord’s Prayer, exhibiting the face to face communion the Son had with the Father.

Very little is recorded of the content of Jesus’ frequent prayers to the Father (Matt.

14:23; Luke 5:16), so this prayer reveals some of the precious content of the Son’s communion and intercession with Him.

This chapter is a transitional chapter, marking the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry and the beginning of His intercessory ministry for believers (Heb.

7:25).

In many respects, the prayer is a summary of John’s entire gospel.

Its principle themes include: 1) Jesus’ obedience to His Father; 2) the glorification of His Father through his death and exaltation; 3) the revelation of God in Jesus Christ; 4) the choosing of the disciples out of the world; 5) their mission to the world; 6) their unity modeled on the unity of the Father and Son; and 7) the believer’s final destiny in the presence of the Father and Son.

The chapter divides into three parts: 1) Jesus’ prayer for Himself (vv.

1–5); 2) Jesus’ prayer for the apostles (vv.

6–19); and 3) Jesus’ prayer for all NT believers who will form the church (vv.

20–26).

The prayer is intended to summarize in Jesus’ own words his relationship with the Father and the relationship he wished his disciples to maintain with him and the Father.

Tenney, M. C. (1981).

John.

In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.),

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: John and Acts (Vol.

9, p. 161).

Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

The evening began with a footwashing, in which Jesus Himself “poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” (13:5).

Remarkably, He even knowingly washed the feet of the one who would betray Him, Judas Iscariot.

Next there was the final meal, the Last Supper (cf.

Matt.

26:26–29; Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:19–20; 1 Cor.

11:23–26), during which Jesus revealed that Judas would betray Him (John 13:26–27; cf.

Matt.

26:20–25), that He was about to die (John 13:31–35), and that Peter would deny Him (John 13:36–38; cf.

Matt.

26:30–35).

The disciples were understandably shocked and dismayed by what Jesus told them.

Yet, the Lord was quick to console them, comforting them with the promise of future glory.

“Do not let your heart be troubled,” He said to them.

“Believe in God, believe also in Me.

In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you” (14:1–2).

The Lord further encouraged His followers with the promise of the Holy Spirit, the Helper who would come to them after He left.

“The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name,” declared Jesus, “He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (14:26).

Though the world would hate them, just as it hated Christ (15:18–16:4), the Spirit would strengthen and guide them in the truth (15:26–27; 16:5–15).

We were made for glory

Jesus says that the “hour” (Gk.

hora; NIV “time”) has come, which points to “the hour of glorification” we have anticipated throughout the Gospel (see comment on 2:4)

Believers too are to glorify God (v.

10); in fact, this is the chief end of man (Rom.

11:36; 16:27; 1 Cor.

10:31; Eph.

1:6, 12, 14; cf.

Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 1).

Our Lord’s burden was the glory of God, and this glory would be realized in His finished work on the cross.

The servant of God has every right to ask his Father for the help needed to glorify His name.

“Hallowed be Thy name” is the first petition in the Lord’s Prayer (Matt.

6:9), and it is the first emphasis in this prayer.

The important word glory is used five times in these verses, and we must carefully distinguish the various “glories” that Jesus mentions.

In John 17:5, He referred to His preincarnate glory with the Father, the glory that He laid aside when He came to earth to be born, to serve, to suffer, and to die.

In John 17:4, He reported to the Father that His life and ministry on earth had glorified Him, because He (Jesus) had finished the work the Father gave Him to do.

In John 17:1 and 5, our Lord asked that His preincarnate glory be given to Him again, so that the Son might glorify the Father in His return to heaven.

The word glory is used eight times in this prayer, so it is an important theme.

He glorified the Father in His miracles (John 2:11; 11:40), to be sure; but He brought the greatest glory to the Father through His sufferings and death (see John 12:23–25; 13:31–32).

From the human point of view, Calvary was a revolting display of man’s sin; but from the divine point of view, the cross revealed and magnified the grace and glory of God.

Jesus anticipated His return to heaven when He said, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do” (John 17:4).

This “work” included His messages and miracles on earth (John 5:17–19), the training of the disciples for future service, and most of all, His sacrifice on the cross (Heb.

9:24–28; 10:11–18).

Glorify me so people can see how glorious you are in my obedience to you

What does Jesus mean when he asks to be “glorified”?

The Greek word used here (doxazo) means to venerate, bring homage or praise (see 1:14; 12:28).

For Jesus the cross is not a place of shame, but a place of honor.

His oneness with the Father means that as he is glorified, so too is the Father glorified.

His impulse, then, is not for self-promotion but glorification, so that the Father can be honored through his obedience.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GLORIFY GOD?

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

(Hebrews 1:3)