Jesus Prays for You
Download MP3Today, are continuing in our same sermon series, that, following the life of Peter, as he follows Jesus. And last week, Joel and Ford spoke with us about Jesus washing the disciples' feet. And today's passage is gonna continue that same story, the same narrative of Jesus' last supper with his disciples. After he washes their feet, he proceeds to teach them some of his last words and last teachings to them. And then in today's passage in John 17, he turns his attention from speaking to his disciples to speaking to his father in prayer.
Dwight Castle:So now, if you will look either in your bibles or in the worship guide, John 17, we will begin in verse six. These are Jesus' words, his prayer to his father. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were and you gave them to me and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you, for I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.
Dwight Castle:I'm praying for them. I'm not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one even as we are one.
Dwight Castle:While I was with them, I kept them in your name which you have given me. I've guarded them and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I'm coming to you, and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I've given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
Dwight Castle:They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in the truth.
Dwight Castle:I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you've given me, I've given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them, and you in me, that they may be become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. It's the word of the Lord. Pray with me. Lord, my prayer today for us is very simple.
Dwight Castle:We just want to hear from you. We know this is exactly what you do for your people, you speak to us and you guide us into your truth. And so, father, I ask that you will help us to hear you, to have open hearts, open minds. Lord, we will be receptive and attentive to your word. Lord, I ask now for myself that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart will be pleasing.
Dwight Castle:Lord, it will be acceptable in your sight. Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. I vividly remember one of the last lucid conversations that I had with my grandmother before she succumbed to dementia and Alzheimer's before her death. It was several years ago, and I was visiting my house, my parents' house where I grew up in North Carolina, and my parents were taking care of my grandmother.
Dwight Castle:It was in their kitchen. We were standing right by the island, and I can remember all of it. It was a very impactful conversation with me. My grandmother was kind of relaying to me the story of her life and how the Lord had been faithful to her through so many highs and so many lows. We were talking about how we missed her husband, my grandfather, and all of the the trials that she was experiencing at that time, knowing that her health was beginning to fail her.
Dwight Castle:She said something to me I'll never forget. She said, Dwight, through all of it, I just keep saying to the Lord, it's okay, Lord. It's okay. And this just challenged me. It's something I've taken with me into my life, and I try to say the same thing to the Lord.
Dwight Castle:I don't think I'm as good at it as she was yet. But to say, it's okay, Lord. Those words, that conversation, it impacted me deeply. Jesus is having one of those conversations with his friends. He is literally in the last hours of his life, and he knows that his time is limited.
Dwight Castle:In fact, all throughout his earthly ministry, he has said that his time is coming, but it's not here. He refers to it as his hour, the hour leading up to the cross. He said, the hour has not yet come, or the hour is coming, but he begins his prayer to the father in verse one, and he says, father, the hour has now come. He knows that his time is approaching, and how does he choose to use his last moments with his friends? He stops and he prays.
Dwight Castle:He prays to his father. This is actually a very important prayer because while we're told in scripture Jesus prayed all the time, we don't have many of his prayers recorded. What he actually says, this is the longest prayer of Jesus recorded in scripture. And it's actually only one of two times where Jesus prays for someone specifically and we get a look into that prayer. So this is an important prayer.
Dwight Castle:Jesus' last words at the end of his life, the longest prayer he's prayed, one of the only times he's prayed for someone, we should really pay attention to this. This prayer is often called the high priestly prayer and it's because Jesus is interceding for his people as the high priest would. There are three parts to this prayer. Jesus first prays for himself, then he prays for his disciples with him, and then he prays for us. He prays for you and for me.
Dwight Castle:And I don't know if you knew this, but Jesus prayed for you and it's really astonishing and encouraging. And we're gonna focus today on the last two parts of that prayer, the prayer for his disciples and the prayer for us. I think both have words of hope that can be applied for us today. There's a lot in this prayer, but we're really gonna boil it down to three things that I think Jesus is saying to us today. Three major themes.
Dwight Castle:One, Jesus prays that the father would unify us. Two, he prays that the father would keep us. And three, he prays that the father would sanctify us. So first, Jesus prays for unity. Now, obviously, this is of great importance to Jesus because 12 times in this chapter alone, he makes reference to unity.
Dwight Castle:It's it's actually a little bit repetitive. It's clear this is on the forefront of Jesus' mind. He wants his followers to be united. What does that mean? United under what?
Dwight Castle:There are many things in life that can unify us. Right? We all just finished watching the Olympics, and that's people rallying around their country's flag. Right? That can be a unifying theme.
Dwight Castle:We can unify around sports or shared hobbies, books we've read or personal opinions on issues. I mean, me, anytime someone mentions North Carolina, my ears perk up where I'm from. Right? That unifies us. But being unified doesn't necessarily even mean it's anything good.
Dwight Castle:I mean, you can unify under great evil. This is how mobs happen, for example. Right? So Jesus isn't just praying for unity for unity's sake generically. He's praying for a specific type of unity, and that is unity as the family of God.
Dwight Castle:With God as their father, Jesus as their savior, their brother. Now, he connects the dots very clearly for us here in verses twenty and twenty one. If you'll look at verse 20, Jesus says, I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us. So Jesus says that our unity flows from his unity with the father, and then us to them. We're under the same head.
Dwight Castle:We are all a part of the same body. Now, let's park here for a minute. I want you to look around, like actually look around this room right now. Look at all the different people. Right?
Dwight Castle:A lot of people squeezed in these spaces. So much difference. People look different. They act different, different personalities, preferences, priorities, opinions. In fact, there are more things in this room that could and often do divide us than unite us.
Dwight Castle:Yet, for the majority of us here, we are united under one common identity. We're a new creation in Christ. All of those other things that are different, that could divide us, they fade away in comparison to our identity that we are in Christ. And how does this happen? Jesus makes it very clear.
Dwight Castle:Look at verse three. He says, and this is eternal life that they may know you are the one true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. So this is it. This is eternal life, belief in Jesus as God's son, above and over every difference that threatens to divide us. This was difficult for Jesus' followers then in that room with him.
Dwight Castle:There were vast differences in those 12 individuals, and there are differences with us. It might seem impossible. Right? But we have a shared identity. Not only a shared identity, we have a shared purpose.
Dwight Castle:Why are we united? Because unity without a mission is aimless. Well, verse 21, Jesus answers this clearly. Look at the second part of the verse we just read earlier. The second part says, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Dwight Castle:So Jesus prays to the father that his family would be united so that an unbelieving world will look at his people and be like, Jesus is Lord. Have you ever watched the sport of rowing? I confess, I have not watched a lot of it, but I've watched a little bit lately, and it is fascinating. Okay? You've got up to eight people in one small boat, right, who are rowing.
Dwight Castle:And the interesting thing is all of them are looking this direction, but they're actually rowing that direction. So they're facing backwards. None of them can see where they're headed towards the finish line. There's a ninth person in the boat. He's called the coxswain, and he has one job.
Dwight Castle:His job is to direct everyone in the boat and to help them to row in unison. Now think about it. There's eight different people. They're not all the same. Some are stronger than others, some are weaker, some are faster, some are slower.
Dwight Castle:If at any point they go a different pace from each other or a different direction, they fail. They must move in unison towards a shared goal, a goal that they can't even see, so they have to listen to the voice of the coxswain. If they get distracted, if they seek their own glory, they all lose. So they're one team, they're following the lead, the voice of one person to one shared goal. This is a picture of what Jesus is calling us to.
Dwight Castle:Now, earlier in chapter 13 in John, Jesus says a very interesting phrase here. He says this, by this, all people will know that you are my disciples. Alright. So what's he going to say? What's the one thing that will show the world we are his disciples?
Dwight Castle:It's our love for each other. An unbelieving world is watching us. They're paying attention, and they're looking at how we treat each other. Not just when it's easy and we align, or when someone we care about and love obviously has a need and we meet that need, that's important. But what about when there are differences?
Dwight Castle:What about when we disagree, we have conflict, or even, heaven forbid, we're sinned against by a brother or sister? How will we respond? Will we look exactly like the world does when someone wrongs us, or when we disagree with them? Or will the world be absolutely shocked and perplexed at how a room full of different people can be unified? This is only possible through God's spirit, and this is the first thing that Jesus prays to the Father for.
Dwight Castle:The second thing that Jesus prays for is that the Father would keep us. Look at verse 11, the second half of verse 11. He says, Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I've guarded them, and not one of them has been lost.
Dwight Castle:So Jesus continues in this passage five times to mention keeping or guarding. Why is Jesus so focused on that? Why does he keep saying that we need to be kept safe? I mean, if before you leave today, I say to you guys, hey, everyone, I hope nothing bad happens to you today. Just be really extra careful today.
Dwight Castle:You're gonna be like, that was a little weird. Why'd you even say that? Right? So why is Jesus saying this? He's he's not just saying it here in Matthew 10, he says that he's sending out his disciples as sheep among wolves.
Dwight Castle:In verse 14 here, he says that the world will hate them because it first hated him. In verse 15, he says that the he's praying to the father that the father will keep us from the enemy, from evil. In Luke's gospel account of this last supper together, Jesus talks to Peter, and there's a very important conversation he has with Peter that will change Peter forever. I'm not gonna dive deep into it because Matt is gonna preach on this next week for us, but I'm gonna dip my toe in. Here is what Jesus says to Peter.
Dwight Castle:Hey, Peter. Satan has demanded you that he might sift you like wheat. Okay. So take all that, put yourselves in the shoes of the disciples. How do you receive all that?
Dwight Castle:Because Jesus is basically like, hey, guys, I'm about to leave. Oh, you're not coming. You're going to stay here, but I'm going to be gone. Okay? And you should know the whole world is going to hate you, and the enemy is going to come after you, and especially you, Peter.
Dwight Castle:You better watch out. Right? I mean, how do you take that? Right? That's kind of heavy.
Dwight Castle:It's a hard word. It was for the disciples and it's for us. But really, what we learn from this is it should come as no surprise to us when it happens. Because life is hard for all humans. We live in a broken world full of grief and suffering and loss.
Dwight Castle:And for Christians, we are told to expect this especially. In John 16, Jesus says that in this world, you will have troubles. This impacts Peter so much that in first Peter, which we'll study later, he says, don't be surprised by the fiery trials that you're experiencing. So let me ask you this, why are we surprised? I will admit to you that I am surprised every time I suffer.
Dwight Castle:Every single time that something happens to me, lately, I've been kind of like, you know, Lord. More? Like, do we thought that I needed more. Right? Like, why?
Dwight Castle:And you you think that in your own life, in your own circumstances, when suffering comes, we're like, god, why? Right? Like, we don't expect it. But here's what I've realized, even though I'm asking God these questions, he doesn't usually give me the answers that I want, but I've realized, maybe I need to recalibrate my expectations. Life is hard and Jesus warns us, it will be and not to be surprised, so maybe I change my expectations.
Dwight Castle:Dwight, where's the hope in that? What's the point? Here's the hope, it's that Jesus is praying for you and he is praying to the father that the father would keep you. Note, Jesus doesn't remove his disciples from the world. He makes that clear.
Dwight Castle:He says, I'm not taking you out. You're stuck here. You are going to be in this broken world. He doesn't remove us from our hard experiences in life, but he does keep us through them. Guys, this has been of tremendous comfort for me in my own life lately.
Dwight Castle:Because I'll be honest, sometimes I kind of go down that spiral, and I wonder, am I alone? Am I alone in this, God? Like, what is going on? I don't really know what you're doing, and I'm not sure how much longer I can hold on here. Like, do you ever wonder if it just gets so much that you're gonna just one more bump and you might fall off the wagon?
Dwight Castle:It's like, I don't know. They're like, what to believe, God? And here's the good news for us. It doesn't matter how strong our grip on him is. His grip on us is stronger.
Dwight Castle:Just like a father who holds the hand of his child who's in harm's way, it does not matter how strong that child is. That father loves his kid, and he's not letting go. This is good news for us. It should be tremendous comfort for us. Now, this naturally brings us to the final thing that Jesus prays for all of us.
Dwight Castle:Since he's not gonna take them out of the world, he's gonna send them into it to be witnesses to him. Look at verse 17. Jesus says, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
Dwight Castle:So he prays that the father would sanctify his followers. What does that word sanctify mean? It means to set apart for a particular purpose. Jesus prays that God the father would set us apart for a holy purpose. What was Jesus' holy purpose?
Dwight Castle:This is it. This was Jesus' only mission in life. Right? To bring glory to the father through his death and resurrection, so that the world might believe in him. And guys, Jesus sanctified himself to that end, he prays for our sanctification to that end, and if it was his mission, it must be our mission.
Dwight Castle:When Joel opened up this sermon series on Follow Me, he says this. Joel said, To believe in Jesus is to accept his mission. If you don't accept his mission, you might not truly believe in him. What we see here is that we aren't called to follow Jesus just for ourselves. We're called to believe so that we are set apart to draw others to Jesus as well.
Dwight Castle:And I'll be honest, I feel like we've missed this a little bit in our modern western church, and I am part of the same problem. We know it somewhere in our head that this is true, but practically, functionally, how do we live? Let me ask you. Would those around you day to day, week to week, say that they see a difference in you in the way that you live? It's a good question for us to reflect on, for me too.
Dwight Castle:Can they see something different in you? Or are you the exact same as the world? Jesus doesn't let this lie. He presses in. It is literally his dying wish, his last breath of instruction to his followers.
Dwight Castle:He prays, father, please set them apart to draw people to us. He says, children, please live in a way that shows everyone who I am. Now, these three things that Jesus prays for us in his economy, they all work together really well. They feed each other. So for example, if we are unified as God's people, it fuels that mission because the world will look and they will be attracted to it.
Dwight Castle:Right? Also, when we go on mission, it unifies us. That's why people go on a mission trip or serve with the church, and they form new friendships that come back and last. We're unified in our mission. When we show sacrificial love to each other, we discover that this is part of the way God keeps us.
Dwight Castle:We care for each other, and it's his care for us. So ultimately, all of these go together because they boil down to the same root issue. It's a conversation about submission, and we don't like that word. Right? But it begs the question, am I truly submitted to Jesus as Lord over my life?
Dwight Castle:Because if we are, it has to change everything. Right? It changes the way we treat each other. If we are submitted to God, we give up our preferences, and we care for our brothers and sisters. It changes the way that we view God's care for us.
Dwight Castle:We believe and submit to his care for us. We don't have to try to do it or make sense of it ourselves. We are set apart because we don't live for our own purposes. We're submitted to his purposes for our life. This confronts our modern view of the self, of our autonomy, our independence.
Dwight Castle:Is Jesus truly Lord of my life? If you struggle with this, as I do, I've got some encouraging news for you. Take heart. This prayer in John 17 is not Jesus' only prayer for us. Hebrews chapter seven tells us that Jesus lives to make intercession for us.
Dwight Castle:He is right now, at this moment, sitting at the right hand of the father, interceding on your behalf. Jesus is praying for you. He's praying these things for you right now. And I wanna encourage you and even challenge you that that prayer of Jesus would become our prayer. I want you each day this week to start out your day by praying these three things.
Dwight Castle:Lord, unify me with you and your people. Lord, keep me today in you. Father, set me apart for your purposes. When we do that, we will find our identity, our purpose, and God's word says, our joy. Pray with me.
Dwight Castle:Jesus, we know that we need your help for all this. This is why you promised your holy spirit, and shortly after this, you sent your spirit who is now with us. These are supernatural level things that only you can do, and thank you that you do them. We ask that you will remind us that your grip on us is greater than our grip on our self. You are more committed to sanctifying us than we can be to sanctifying and setting apart ourselves for your purposes.
Dwight Castle:So, Lord, do this in us. We pray in your name. Amen.
