Prayer & Fullness
John 17:6–12
I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.
Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
Introduction
We’re learning to pray from the way Jesus prayed in the longest recorded prayer of his we have. But we’re also learning from the prayer itself how to grow in our love for the Savior.
We’re not coming to the prayer just for utilitarian purposes. We’re coming to the prayer to delight in the Savior.
People from all kinds of companies go to Disney World to learn about the Disney magic – how do they do what they do? Where’s the pixie dust coming from? There’s such a thing as Disney University. But when you and your family go to Disney, you’re going there to enjoy the parks. You’re not going there to take a test after the trip on how Disney handles their trash and parking lot.
Similarly, remember our dual focus as we dig into John 17. We’re coming to the prayer to love the Savior more AND to learn to pray like the Savior did.
What Jesus did on earth
John 17:6
I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.
Remember that last week we learned that God-centered prayer fills in our mental maps of heaven. And we saw that the first things Jesus prays about are glory (the glory of heaven) and life. Last week we focused on glory. Today we’re going to look at life, and you’ll see in a moment how life relates to verse 6.
Let’s go back to verses 2–3: For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
How does Jesus define eternal life, the life of the age to come, in the Gospel of John?
This life is different from the life you and I receive through our parents. It’s a form of life we can only have in his name. Jesus describes it by saying things like, we will never thirst or hunger again, we will have life to the full, we will have life eternal, we will be free from sin, we will walk in light and truth, we will rise from the dead, we will have God as our Father, we will be saved from condemnation, we will have his joy, his peace, his love.
Most of those things are benefits from having this kind of life. But what is the thing itself? What is eternal life? In John 17:3 Jesus says, Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Eternal life is knowing the Father of Jesus Christ, who is the only true God, and knowing Jesus Christ, who was sent to us by the Father.
If someone does not know the Father and the Son, they do not have eternal life.
I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. What Jesus did on earth was reveal the Father to those whom he gave him, because in revealing God he was granting them eternal life. That’s what eternal life is: knowing the Father and Jesus.
No one knows the Father like Jesus knows him, and prior to his coming, no one knew him like Jesus made him known.
People today talk about “being spiritual.” By it they might mean inner peace they seek, things beyond the material world (like purpose and meaning), connection to nature and the supernatural, being present in the moment. Everyone can focus on such things, but none of those things is what Jesus means by eternal life.
Eternal life is not about being religious or non-religious, or being spiritual as opposed to materialist. Eternal life is the life that only those have who know the Father that Jesus made known.
So when people from other religions talk about God, we’re not even talking about the same being.
The people who know the only true God are those who know the Father of Jesus. That’s eternal life, and that’s what Jesus did on earth. He revealed the Father.
What Jesus received from the Father
There are four things mentioned in these verses that Jesus received from the Father. Let’s look at them briefly.
Jesus received the Father’s people.
John 17:6
I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.
John 17:9
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
Jesus knew that from all the people he interacted with while he was on earth, some had been given to him by the Father. That subset had received his revelation about the Father. They had obeyed his word. They were God’s, and God had given them to Jesus.
In these verses Jesus is praying specifically for his disciples back then. He’s going to pray for us, those who would follow later, in verses 20 and beyond.
But I want us to think for a moment on this reality that we’ve been given to Jesus by the Father. Every true follower of Jesus knows this and feels it strongly – that they don’t belong to themselves or to the world.
The feeling is a bit like what I feel when I’m interacting with women other than my wife. At a conscious and subconscious level, almost, I know that I belong to Anna my wife. And that informs all kinds of things about my interaction with women.
When followers of Jesus interact with the world, they know they belong to Jesus. The Spirit of Jesus in them reacts to vile things or praiseworthy things in the world. You’re stamped by God. You belong to Jesus.
Jesus received the Father’s things.
John 17:7
Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.
What is the extent of the “everything you have given me”?
John 13:3
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power.
Likely, the disciples did not realize at that point that “everything” meant “all things.” But Jesus knew that all things had been entrusted to him by the Father.
John 17:10
All I have is yours, and all you have is mine.
Everything that belongs to God belongs to Jesus and vice versa.
Jesus received the Father’s words.
John 17:8
For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.
The words Jesus spoke were from God, and the disciples received them as such. He goes on (v 8b), They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. How did they know with certainty and believe that he was sent by God? His words.
You and I know people who know of the words of Jesus, but they don’t accept them. They are not weighty to them. They do not orient their lives around Jesus’ words. To them, Jesus’ words are no different than Aristotle’s words or Shakespeare’s words or Einstein’s words.
Disciples of Jesus accept Jesus’ words with full assurance that they are the words of God.
Jesus received the Father’s name.
John 17:11b–12
Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.
The name of God is given to Jesus. God’s name represents God. God’s name carries with it God’s power. It’s why we pray in the name of Jesus – because we know this is the name that has all authority in heaven and on earth.
Paul says in Phil 2:9–11, Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The personal name of God, Yahweh, is translated LORD (all caps) in the OT. That name becomes kyrios in the NT, which is translated Lord. God is the Lord in the OT. Jesus is the Lord in the NT. They share the same name. This is the name by which the disciples are kept and protected.
Jesus received from the Father the Father’s people, things, words, and name.
What Jesus asks the Father
John 17:9
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
John 17:11b
Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.
Jesus prays for the disciples, the ones who remained faithful to him. He’s not praying for the world. He’s praying for the ones God gave him out of the world. He says, Protect them by the power of your name. He knows they’re going to have the world against them, and they’re going to need protection.
But the protection also moves in the direction of preserving them to be faithful to the revelation of God Jesus gave them. God’s name is power, but it is also God himself. They must be protected to remain true.
And the result of this protection in his name is unity, so that they may be one as we are one.
Then Jesus says (v 12), While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
He’s saying, I did not lose any of them. Judas was lost, but Judas never belonged to me. He was never washed clean by me. He was with me to fulfill Scripture but not to enter the kingdom.
His point is, Father, I kept them while I was in the world. Now that I’m coming back to you, I’m asking you to keep them in your name.
How does this prayer help us delight in Jesus?
For one, his love for the disciples runs deep. He says, I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me. Then he says, Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name. He says, While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe.
Why did the early church against all hope take root in the Roman world and spread like wildfire? Because Jesus prayed for the disciples—because there was no change in the protection they received when he was on earth and when he went back to the Father. Change of management. No change of protection.
It must melt our heart to know how close to his heart Jesus carried those the Lord gave him.
The other thing is, his trust in the Father runs deep.
The biggest weakness, flaw, in the human race is our distrust of God. Every sin comes from our lack of trust in God.
I love the American motto “in God we trust” except that it’s not true. It’s not true today. It was not true 100 years ago or 200 years ago. There was more public acceptance of Christian things, but no nation trusts in God. The Israel of the Scriptures did not trust in God.
Lack of trust in God is the perennial human problem.
Conversely, Jesus’ trust in the Father is perfect. How does his trust for the Father come through in this passage? The fullness he expresses. The whole time he’s talking to the Father he keeps referring to all that the Father has given him. He keeps saying, You gave me. You gave me. You gave me. You gave me.
- I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.
- They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.
- Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.
- For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.
- I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me.
- Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me.
- While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (1:14).
The fullness of Jesus was fullness from the Father. We’re constantly upset about what God has NOT given us, which is, by the way, how the Serpent taught us to think.
The very first words the Serpent said to humanity, which humanity has never forgotten and, in fact, which now live deep within the human soul, are, Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? That’s not even close to what God had said to Adam.
Genesis 2:16, And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden.’
Fullness. This whole garden is yours to enjoy, Adam.
Then God said (Gen 2:17), But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.
Look at what God said, Adam, you’re free. The whole garden is yours, except one tree. And it’s a big deal. But the Serpent says that God said, You must not eat from any tree. A total lie. And it’s why we think of God as a God of No.
Remember the elder brother in the parable of the two sons in Luke 15? The younger son runs away with his inheritance, showing no love for his father. The elder son stays home, but he too does not love the father. When the younger brother returns and the father celebrates, the elder brother is angry with both his brother and father. He doesn’t even go into the house where the party is going on. The father has to come out, find him, and plead with him.
But the elder son answers, Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends (Luke 15:29).
What did he say to his father? You never gave me. What did Jesus say to his Father again and again? You gave me. You gave me. You gave me. He’s full of trust and acceptance and delight in the Father.
Whom do you resemble more, the elder brother or the Lord?
We get so bitter about what God is not giving us and we forget so quickly all he has given us.
Does your view of the Father come more from Jesus or from the Serpent? Jesus’ trust in the Father runs deep. The fullness of Jesus is fullness from the Father.
How should we pray in light of the Lord’s prayer?
In prayer rehearse your history with God.
Imagine if I came to my wife of 25 years and said, Hi! My name is Jon, and I need some things. I was hoping you could help me.
What would you say about that? That is not how you talk to your wife that you have history with. Right. It sounds so stiff and stilted. No familiarity. No warmth.
You wouldn’t talk to your spouse that stiff and stilted way, but that’s how we often come to God. God, I need some things. I was hoping you could help me.
So much of Jesus’ prayer is about his history with the Father—what the Father has already done for him, what he’s already given him. A different mental map of God emerges if you’re asking about things you don’t have versus rehearsing how much he’s already done for you and given you.
Father, you gave me my life before I was born. You gave me my life in Christ three decades ago. You gave me my life this morning—I’m breathing and healthy right now. You gave me my wife, who’s been so faithful to me. You gave me my children who love me. You gave me a love for your Word and for the church. You gave me friends and co-workers in Christ to labor with. You gave me all that I need materially and more than I need. You gave me words for the sermon last week when I was struggling, so that I could give them to your people. You gave me Chai tea and helped me to like it—and all the other delicious things I enjoy.
Something happens in my soul when I pray like that. My peace increases, my joy, my gratitude, my perspective shifts. Why would that be the case? Because instead of the lie of the Serpent that tells me that God is a God of No, I’m rehearsing the fullness from the Father I already have.
God-centered prayer starts with our fullness from the Father.
In prayer rehearse your history with God.
Jesus could’ve made a list of things the Father did NOT give him: You did not give me a place to lay my head, but you gave holes to the foxes, nests to the birds. You did not get the Pharisees off my back. You did not give me smarter dudes as my disciples. You gave me a mole in my inner circle.
Isn’t that naturally where we focus? On what we don’t have?
Jesus received the biggest “NO” from the Father. Take this cup from me. The cup of suffering. The cup of wrath. But the answer was No. Jesus had to drink the cup, so that his disciples would be protected. There was no other way for evil, sin, and death to ever leave us alone. What a Savior! What a Father!
In prayer rehearse your history with God. Start with your fullness from the Father.