Welcome to Day 2174 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Gospel of John – 35 – Divine Intercession – Daily Wisdom

The Gospel of John – Part 4 Confirmation Of The Word – Divine Intercession

Today we continue our series on the Good News according to John the Apostle. Last week, Jesus gave us three words that keep us going: joy, love, and peace. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Our scripture for today is John 17:1-19. Today we will study the Lord’s Prayer as Jesus prays for His glorification and Disciples in a message titled Divine Intercession. Follow along as I read.  Jesus Prays to Be Glorified  After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 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.  I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. Jesus Prays for His Disciples “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.  “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more-than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. The time was probably around midnight. Jesus and the remaining eleven disciples had already left the upper room, where they had eaten supper and were taught several lessons. They headed towards the Garden of Gethsemane. Perhaps they paused in the courtyard of that house. After declaring, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world,” John 16:33. I imagine Jesus allowed a long silence to seal the moment. As the warnings and promises of the Lord began to sink in, I can only imagine the disciples’ feeling of helplessness as they stared into the vast expanse of stars above them. How vulnerable they must have felt, knowing they would soon be without their Master, who had led and protected them. Doubtless, few could remember the time before He entered their lives, summoned them to follow, and gave them purpose. After a time of silent reflection, I imagine the words of Jesus—quiet, yet resonant—washing over the despairing disciples, enveloping them for a moment before rising into the heavens. The words of the Son addressing His Father reminded the men that the void of space is filled with the presence of the Almighty. And He would never leave them alone. Scholars have named this prayer of Jesus His “High Priestly Prayer,” but I prefer another name. This prayer is truly the “Lord’s Prayer,” more so than the example by which He taught the disciples to pray, which we recite each Sunday. Furthermore, “high priestly” sounds cold to me, like the rote prayer of a robed, very stuffy, bored church official. Instead, Jesus’s prayer pours out from a man who loved His followers and cared enough to summon the protection of God around them. With great passion, He prayed first for Himself and the success of His mission (John 17:1–12), then for the protection of His disciples as they fulfilled their purpose (17:13–19), and finally for the generations of believers who would follow Him as a result of the disciples’ ministry (17:20–26). 17:1–3 The Greek term translated as “heaven” is the same word as “sky.” Context usually clarifies which the author intended. Either “heaven” or “sky” is appropriate in this case. Jesus and his disciples had departed the room and made their way out of Jerusalem for Gethsemane.   The terms “hour” and “glory” have been significant throughout John’s narrative. “Glory” refers to the Lord’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, which would vindicate the truth of His teaching and His identity as the Son of God. The “hour” had been appointed before the beginning of time. It was the destiny to which Jesus had been born (Dan. 7:13–14). However, Jesus didn’t focus on the suffering He was about to endure. Instead, He called attention to the fulfillment of God’s plan, the glory the Father would receive, and the gift of eternal life to all of “His own.”   Jesus defined eternal life as having a relationship with God and His Son, the Messiah, Jesus. The word “know” comes from a Greek term meaning “to understand” rather than merely to perceive or to recognize. The term implies exchanging ideas and values between two people so they share complete familiarity. It is the term that describes the relationship of close friends and even married couples. Eternal life is not only long life that does not end, but a rich and satisfying life on earth (John 10:10); its quantity is matched by quality. And this satisfaction can be enjoyed only when an individual fulfills their created purpose: to glorify God and to enjoy Him fully. 17:4–5 Jesus reflected the truth of His identity, recalling how He had come from glory to reflect the glory of the Father on earth. Then, having completed His task, He looked forward to His return to glory. However, this is not to say that Jesus shook off His humanity; instead, He returned to heaven in a glorified resurrection body—the very kind we will receive when believers are resurrected when Christ returns to restore the Global Eden, God’s kingdom. These words reflect the deep longing Jesus felt for heaven. (Would we dare to call it homesickness?) We too easily forget that while Jesus became a man and placed Himself in the world through a miraculous birth, He is not of this world. We tend to see everything from an earthly perspective, so we recall His earthly life, appreciate His greatness as a man, and imagine what a joyful experience it must have been to work, live, and minister with Him. But think of what He gave up to take on human flesh and suffer the worst of human afflictions. Think of what He left behind when He departed heaven to enter the world in Bethlehem and to depart the world less than ten miles away in Jerusalem—to be born under such humbling circumstances and to suffer such humiliation in death. Jesus did not depart the earth in humiliation/ but by glorifying God! He completed His task and conquered death to depart in glory. 17:6–8 Even the Lord’s petitions for Himself were brief and selfless. He quickly turned the focus of His prayer to the needs of the eleven gathered around Him and the disciples they would soon lead. While He prayed specifically for them, the principles of His prayer have applied to all believers since that time. Jesus stated He had “revealed” the Father to the world. This revelation showed them God’s character and attributes. He was the perfect imager of God, and we are to be imagers of Christ. The Son not only taught divine truth, but He also represented divine truth in His very presence. To see the Son was to see the Father. The Lord identified His followers as those whom you gave me out of the world. Then He expounded on this statement. You gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. This “word” is Old Testament Scripture; God’s own were those who remained sensitive to His written words and who obeyed Him. When Jesus, the Word of God in human flesh, presented Himself to the world, “His own” received Him in faith. Jesus, in turn, received them and, through this prayer, officially delivered them to the Father while personally vouching for their authenticity.  17:9–11 Jesus’ request begins with the phrase, “I pray for them,” then abruptly shifts to who he is not praying for before going into more detail and then ends with, “protect them by the power of your name.” The world is not in view here, but “His own”—men and women who had responded to the Word in belief and no longer identified with the world. Once Jesus ascended to join His Father, believers would be citizens of heaven, God’s kingdom, living in hostile territory. Also, as world citizens, Jesus petitioned His Father to “protect” them (and us) and to unify them.   The verb translated “protect” is a term that describes the primary duty of a shepherd; it means “to guard” or “to protect.” The idea is to keep them separated from the world’s dangers even as they live among their hostile neighbors. Furthermore, the Lord asked the Father to bind believers together so that they would enjoy the same kind of oneness shared by the persons of the Trinity. 17:12–13 Jesus grieved leaving His disciples in the world and acknowledged that the Father’s plan was best for all. Jesus had carefully and faithfully kept them from evil and preserved them to this point; now, He placed them in the capable hands of His Father. Only the one “doomed for destruction” had succumbed to Satan. The phrase “doomed for destruction” is a Semitic expression for one who is destined for damnation. Of course, Jesus was referring to Judas, whom He called “a devil” (6:70), who welcomed the idea of Satan betraying the Lord (13:2), and into whom Satan entered (13:27). Judas had not been “lost,” because he never truly believed. He merely occupied a place among the faithful, a circumstance predicted by prophecy and utilized by God to accomplish His purposes (cf. Ps. 41:9; John 13:18). Much of the Lord’s teaching on this final evening with the disciples would not have meaning for them at the time. However, once the difficult hours of His suffering had passed and He again stood before them in the glory of His resurrection body, the disciples would find immeasurable hope in these words. More than sixty years later, John gave preeminence to this final discourse, to which he devoted five of twenty-one chapters in his narrative. 17:14–16 Take note of the sharp distinction between genuine believers and “the world.” The Word of God is the cause of this division. He was drawing a battle line between those who heed the Word, “His own,” and those who hate the Lord. The Greek verb miseō means “to hate” or “to detest,” and describes one’s choice to give priority to one thing over another (12:25). Miseō may or may not involve intense emotion; it may be a silent choice to reject the Word. John describes the dualistic universe, meaning a sharp division exists between good and evil. God created the world and pronounced it “good” (Gen. 1:31). Sin entered the world and brought evil, suffering, and death. As a result, the world operates according to Satan’s values, which oppose God’s way at every level. Consequently, neither side can tolerate the other. John illustrates this division using the opposite images of light and darkness. Where there is light, darkness cannot exist or abide the light. Similarly, people cannot live in both simultaneously. People who prefer darkness will not tolerate anyone threatening their existence by bringing light. (Light / Dark Object lesson) Interestingly, Jesus did not ask the Father to remove believers from the darkness-oriented world. Instead, He asked the Father to preserve believers from the world influenced by Satan. He asked for unity (John 17:11) and preservation from evil (17:15), and I cannot help but see the relationship between the two. John established this connection between unity and protection from evil in his letter to the churches in Asia Minor. 1 John 2:19, These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us. He then braided the concepts of light (belief in the truth of Christ), love (unity among the believers), and obedience (proof of genuine belief) (triple-braided cord) 1 John 1:7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. Verse 15 is a clear description of Jesus’ strategy. Jesus never encourages believers to cloister themselves within a monastery’s walls— physically or spiritually. Instead, he wants the world’s darkness to be illumined from heaven by the Son and multitudes of smaller lights. We are to be lights in a dark world. He asked His Father to give us insulation, not isolation. He asked, in effect, “Insulate believers so they can move amid evil without being burned by the evil one.” 17:17–19 Jesus expressed how believers remain unified and preserved from the evil one: we are set aside for sanctification. The Greek verb is hagiazō, which means “to dedicate or set aside for specific use.” This practice was a common word in pagan worship, describing the process of making something clean and setting it aside for special use in worship. Something that had been sanctified was considered ceremonially pure. The Jews referred to anything reserved for God’s use, including His covenant people, the Hebrew race. Even pots and utensils for the temple. Paul gave the term an even greater personal application. Because the Holy Spirit dwells within the believer, the believer is a temple and, therefore, no less consecrated than the most holy place (see Exod. 26:33–34; Lev. 16:2; 1 Cor. 6:19–20). Jesus used the term even more specifically in reference to the truth—the divine truth expressed through the Old Testament prophets, who faithfully recorded God’s revelation, the divine truth the world had forsaken through Adam’s sin and continues to reject through ongoing sin, the divine truth embodied by the Son of God. Jesus prayed that His followers would not merely perceive divine truth or acknowledge it, but that they would be made clean and set apart (made holy) from the world for God’s special use. Sanctification, being set apart, is not something that will occur overnight. Positionally, we have been sanctified; experientially, we must become sanctified as the Holy Spirit conforms us to the truth. As long as we remain on earth, we are in sanctification. It is ongoing. There are few experiences more humbling and encouraging than hearing the prayers of another on our behalf. When earthly concerns bear on our shoulders and squeeze our temples, hearing someone carry our burdens to heaven is a relief we can barely describe.

• We feel understood. I know someone empathizes with my struggle and takes it seriously enough to unite God’s spirit with mine in seeking God’s intervention.
• We receive confidence. Hearing the intercession of another gives me reasonable assurance that my prayers are consistent with God’s values.
• We grow wiser. The prayer of another offers perspectives I had not considered.
• We find courage. Someone with more objectivity can pray with greater confidence in the power and goodness of God, which is always infectious.
• We gain perspective. People who aren’t caught up in my suffering can better see my struggle from an eternal perspective, which is always helpful.

It’s too bad we don’t do this for one another more often. Now imagine hearing the Son of God approach His Father on your behalf. Imagine the encouragement, confidence, wisdom, courage, and perspective you would gain by hearing Him intercede for you. A perfect prayer from the lips of the perfect man. The Lord gave His disciples a marvelous gift on the eve of His torment! Their preparation for ministry was complete; having consecrated them for ministry, Jesus turned His prayer toward the generations of believers these eleven disciples had been charged to lead. (Next Week) Application: John 17:1–19 Prayer and the Work of God Jesus’ prayer for Himself, His disciples, and the generations of believers underscores three fundamental truths about the relationship between prayer and any God-honoring endeavor.   First, prayer helps us keep God’s glory as the priority in every endeavor. Jesus began His prayer by acknowledging the primary purpose of His mission on earth. As the Son of God, He asked to be glorified—vindicated in the sight of all humanity as the embodiment of divine truth—not for His own sake, but that He might reflect this glory to the Father. When we go to the Father, through the Son, asking for anything to be accomplished, we are wise to acknowledge God’s glory as the primary goal in every human endeavor, whether directly associated with ministry or not. When asking for business success, let it be for the glory of God—and let it be genuinely so, not merely lip service. When asking for ministry to expand, lead off your prayer by submitting all things to the glory of God. I would even go so far as to include the following: “And, Lord, if this does not bring glory to you, please deny our request and then guide us to accomplish Your will in Your way.” Second, prayer helps us remember that any God-honoring endeavor will succeed because of His power, not ours. Jesus acknowledged that people came to Him because they belonged to God. The Father drew them; Jesus kept them (John 6:37,