Sermon Tone Analysis

*Jesus’ High Priestly prayer*

*March 2, 2008 sermon*

(Pray)

In today’s sermon we will enter into the holy of holies.

We will hear the prayer of Jesus to His Father concerning us, those who have trusted Jesus as our personal Savior.

This is like Moses standing by the burning bush: where God tells him to take off his shoes, for it is holy ground.

This is similar to Peter, James and John watching Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration; where they heard the Father and saw the Son.

This is holy ground, a personal prayer of Jesus, the Son of God, to His Father.

We cannot really appreciate this Chapter, until we have looked at all that Jesus said from Chapter 13 through Chapter 16.

Now we are ready to enter this holy scene.

*John 17:1-2* Jesus 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, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.

Jesus spoke these things, what things – the things that He spoke in Chapters 13 through 16.

Those things about washing their feet and being servants.

Those things about sending the HS; those things about Him being the vine and we being the branches; those things about Satan coming, as the ruler of this world; those things about the world trying to trip them up, but His words keeping them on track.

Jesus then said “Father, the hour has come” – here is that time phrase again.

Here we see Jesus looking intently at the cross; desiring to go to Calvary in order that He may give eternal life.

In order for us to be saved and to receive eternal life, Jesus must die.

This was his hour of triumph over death and sin.

Sin is part of the human nature.

We inherited it from Adam.

Without the death of a perfect sacrifice, you and I would die in our sins and would never see God.

Jesus saw His death as glory.

The world sees His death as a tragedy.

Non-believers scoff, but Christians bow their knees in humble adoration to the loving Savior.

*John 17:3* “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Jesus defines eternal life – that is - to know God and His Son, Jesus, who came from the Father.

Knowing God is not good enough.

Those who claim to know God and reject Jesus are only kidding themselves.

Eternal life is to know God and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anyone who says “I believe in God” is not saved because they still are rejecting God’s Son as their Savior.

All religions believe in god.

The demons also believe and tremble (James 2:19 – You believe that there is one God, you do well; the demons also believe and tremble).

Man made gods are made by man so that man can be god of their lives.

*John 17:4* “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.

Jesus, glorified the Father, by acting out all of the Scripture passages that referred to Him, His ministry and His ultimate goal of dying on the cross, as the suffering Savior.

Jesus’ whole purpose was to glorify the Father.

He accomplished all that was needed for your salvation.

Notice that Jesus has accomplished all the work that His Father had sent Him to do.

Jesus looks past the agony to the Joy of victory.

\\ *John 17:5* “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Jesus looks past the cross to His return to the bosom of the Father.

The glorification of Jesus included the cross.

Jesus is the express glory of God.

Jesus revealed His glory to Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration.

His glory was revealed and made an impression upon John, to the point that we read in

*John 1:14* And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the only one of a kind Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Also notice, in 17:5, that Jesus is submitting to the Father.

He knows what must be done and gives consent for the final sacrifice.

The Lamb of God, now steps into the silent sacrificial phase of His ministry.

Abraham’s statement “God will provide a lamb” is now imminent in being fulfilled.

Jesus is the very Word of God as expressed in John 1:1-4:

*John 1:1* In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

\\ *John 1:2* He was in the beginning with God.

\\ *John 1:3* All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

\\ *John 1:4* In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

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The one who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, created all the universe by His Word, as recorded in the first chapter of Genesis.

This Jesus is the God-man: the God of Creation as shown in

*Jeremiah 10:10* But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King.

At His wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot endure His indignation.

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*Jeremiah 10:12* It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.

*John 17:6* “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.

Jesus has shown the disciples, the Father through Himself.

Jesus revealed the Father to His disciples.

To reveal His name is to reveal His attributes, His likeness, His very essence.

“If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.

(14:9)

The Only One of a Kind God, has revealed the Father to us.

Notice also that the Father gave the disciples to His Son.

This is in direct contrast to how other teachers, in that day, chose their pupils.

The teachers of those days always looked to how much the student could pay and support them before they would accept that student.

No so with God.

The Father draws the sinner to the Son.

The Son reveals His plan of sacrifice to the sinner.

The HS leads and guides the sinner into the truth of the cross.

The sinner trust in the good news of Jesus and then the HS indwells the believer to seal him, guide him, and use him for the glory of God.

Also note the John writes that they have kept the Word, at the time of his writing this book.

Jesus looked down the course of time to the writing of this book, 60 years later, and says “they have kept Your Word”.

The Apostles were true to God and did not alter the Word of God.

Through the ages, through the translations, we can know that Godly men have kept the Word of God intact for us today.

John is the last living Apostle and writes “we have kept the words of Jesus”, we have not allowed His words to be slandered nor changed.

We can be assured that we have the very Words of God in our Bibles.

\\ *John 17:7-8* “Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for 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.

Jesus has revealed all we need to know, in the Words we have written down in our Bibles.

Through the witness of the written Word of God, we can understand that Jesus came from the Father, on our behalf, to accomplish His One of a Kind mission.

That Mission is - To save the lost family of Adam, from our sins.

Verse 8 again emphasizes the fact that if you are a Christian, you will believe that Jesus was sent by the Father, and He came forth from the Father.

This does not mean that you will understand all there is to know about the Trinity, but you will be able to accept what God reveals to us in His Word, concerning the Holy Trinity.

Also note how important it is to know that Jesus came from the Father.

These men and women will be subjected to cruel punishment, and yet they will sing praises to the Father as their lives are sacrificed.

No one will offer their lives for something they do not believe in.

The readers of this book, in the Apostle John’s day were suffering cruel punishment, at the hands of the world.

All who suffer for Christ need to rest their head on this pillow of truth - Jesus came to us from the Father.

These early Christians have gone through and are going through the valley of death, as depicted in the Psalm 23.

Jesus has given them a promise that they can ask anything in His name during this time of persecution (stated in John 16:24).

The recorded letters and historical documents show that these Christians did not pray to be delivered out of these trials, but to faithfully go through the trials and not deny His name.

\\ *John 17:9* “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;

Jesus asks the Father on their~/our behalf - those who have believed~/trusted in Jesus Christ.

What a privilege to have God the Son intercede for each one of us.

Jesus is asking on our behalf.

Jesus does not ask the Father for those who are not His, but He asks the Father for us, those who believe~/trust in Jesus.

Jesus acknowledged that the eleven belong to His Father.