Jesus’ Regard For His People (John 17:9-10)

This sermon was preached on 23/8/2012

Are your public prayers predictable? The opposite of predictable petitions, in this sense, is not only surprising petitions but thoughtful and relevant petitions. It is said of some preachers that they preach the same sermon from different texts and it can be said of some petitioners that they pray the same prayer whatever the circumstances, and have done so for years. We are called to self-examination of every aspect of our Christian lives and that call includes how we pray in public.

As we listen in to the prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17, we realise that it was not a predictable prayer. Instead it is a prayer full of surprising requests, yet each request has its reasons. His petitions are requests on behalf of others and are reasons why they should be answered by the Father.

It is important for us to keep in mind that when Jesus prays for his people in this prayer he is aware of the unity he has with them. This is not a detached prayer offered as formal expression of a religious life. Rather it is a prayer that is marked by two relationships that Jesus knew: his relationship with his Father and his relationship with his people. Both these aspects are seen in the verses we will consider.

A prayer for a specific people (v. 9)

The heart of mind of Jesus at this time was focused on the eleven disciples. Jesus is aware of the needs they will experience once he has returned to heaven because they will then be sent by him into the world to spread the gospel. Therefore he stresses that he is praying for them and is not praying for the world. I suppose we find this surprising, yet Jesus uses it as an argument as to why his petition here should be answered.

I suppose the question could be asked as to why Jesus did not pray for the world in general. After all, he was a man who kept all God’s commandments perfectly and one of these commandments is to love one’s neighbour as himself, which would include prayer for them. Also the apostle Paul urges believers to pray for all people in 1 Timothy 3:1: ‘First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people...’ So why does Jesus not pray for the world in this petition?

One possible answer to the question is that Jesus knew that all people would not be converted and he was not going to pray against God’s revealed will. Whether we think of Jesus’ omniscient divine mind which knew the desire and purpose of the Father or his scripture-instructed human mind, he knew that the world, as far as every human is concerned, would not be converted, and therefore he did not pray for it.

His prayers concerning salvation were always concerned with those who were going to be redeemed. This is the case in this chapter as we can see from verse 20 where he does not pray for those who would hear the apostles’ message but instead prays for those who would believe it. Even the prayer that he offered on the cross, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,’ was for the redeemed; it concerned the soldiers who were crucifying him, and before the day was out they confessed that he was the Son of God (Matt. 27:54).

Another possible reason is that it is inconceivable for Jesus to offer a prayer that would not be answered. In Gethsemane he did ask the Father if it was possible for the cup he had received to be removed, but he did not ask for the cup to be removed from him if it was not possible. He there prayed with submission to the Father’s will. ‘In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence’ (Heb. 5:7).  

Thomas Manton mentions another reason why Jesus did not pray for the world: ‘Because all Christ's prayers were to be grounded on a promise. There was an indenture drawn up between him and his Father; he had the assurance to be heard in whatsoever he asked: Ps. ii. 8, “Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession”; John xi. 42, “I knew that thou hearest me always.” Therefore he must needs exclude the reprobate world out of his prayers.’

A prayer for a shared people (vv. 9-10)

As he prays for the disciples, Jesus repeats the wonderful reality that he has already referred to in this prayer, which is that these disciples were a gift of love from the Father to him. One of the features of our lives is that we value people who give appropriate and loving gifts to us.  We often put these gifts in prominent places where we can see them easily. These gifts may not seem valuable to others; in fact, they may regard them as worthless and unattractive. Yet we see in them the thought and interest of the giver. What is seen in miniature in us in such situations is seen in large measure in Jesus as he refers to the gift of the Father.

The Father knew the Son perfectly throughout the eternal ages that preceded the creation of the universe, so he knew what the Son thought about. Further the Father possessed infinite wisdom and therefore knew how to obtain the best gift for his Son; he possessed limitless power and therefore could provide the best gift for his Son; and he possessed immeasurable love for his Son and therefore would not deny him the best gift. If the best gift would be to give the Son a magnificent universe, or an infinite number of them, then that would be done. If it was something else, even something far greater, then that would be given.

So what gift would satisfy the Son and give him endless delight in receiving it? The amazing answer is that the holy Son of God was perfectly satisfied with a gift that comprised specific and sinful human beings. He would have rejoiced at receiving any gift that the Father gave him. But his divine joy overflowed when he was given them to save, to deliver them from the penalty their sins deserved, and to bring them back to God.

Jesus here is thinking of that eternal moment when, in the counsels of peace, he received his people, and in the context the disciples for whom he is praying, from his Father’s hand and embraced them as his gift. We can imagine the Father saying to him, in the depth of their eternal communion, about these disciples: ‘I am giving you the brothers from Bethsaida called Andrew and Simon Peter, and the latter will have a problem of acting before he thinks. I am giving you their friends James and John and they will have a problem with their temper; when you meet them, you can call them “sons of thunder”. I am giving you Thomas and he will have a problem with doubting and you will have to deal with him even after the other disciples believe that you have risen from the dead.’ Indeed, earlier that evening these disciples had not paid much attention to what he had taught them (they were preoccupied with thinking about prominent places in the imagined kingdom about to appear) and later that evening they would abandon him when he was arrested. Yet here he is, praying for them, despite their imperfections. The disciples were given to him as sinners, with all their defects; yet he accepted the gift gladly and lovingly, even although they were given to him in order to deliver them from the state of sin.

The reception of some gifts can get us into trouble because they carry with them certain responsibilities. An uncle could give his farm to a nephew and years later the nephew may discover that he has to pay a certain amount to the landlord who owns it in order to retain it or he may have to give some of his produce to him without charge. The requirements may become so costly that the nephew will wish that he never received the land. The gift that Jesus received was to bring him into great trouble, yet he never regretted receiving it. In fact, the greater the trouble became, the more his resolve determined to solve the problem of their sins. Now, as he makes this prayer, he is coming near to the cross, and he comes to the Father aware of the agreement that was made and he is determined to keep it despite the fact that Calvary and its awfulness is at hand.

Also we can give a gift and still retain involvement with it. A husband can buy his wife a car, but they both own it. Their union means that they share everything. Similarly, the Father gave this gift of sinners to his Son and yet retained them as his because the Father and the Son share everything. When the husband bought the car, he bought it with the money that belonged to both himself and his wife. When the Father gave these people to Jesus, they previously belonged to both of them as God. But in their specific roles, the Father gave them to his Son so that he would work in order to change their status from sinners at enmity with God to that of sons of God. And the Son took them as those with whom he would share as his brothers the eternal inheritance.

A prayer for a special people (v. 10)

By the term ‘special’, I have in mind what Jesus says about his disciples at the end of verse 10: ‘I am glorified in them.’ As we recall who is speaking, to whom he is speaking, when he is speaking and who he is speaking about, we should be amazed. If he had said, ‘They are glorified in me,’ we would regard it as amazing grace but we would not be surprised because he would have meant that his disciples had received glorious things from him. But he says that he is glorified in them.

‘Really, thought becomes giddy, and our poor feeble minds weary, in contemplating truths like these, but they are resting-places for faith; and it was in order that our faith might be strengthened, our hope established, and our love deepened, that our Lord uttered these words to his Father’ (Marcus Rainsford).  

Their uniqueness is also seen in that there is an element of contrast in the words of Jesus in this verse. When he says that ‘all’ is his, the word is neuter and means ‘all things’. So he states that more than his disciples are his. In fact, he is stating his equality with God in this verse. Everything belongs to him. But out of all that belongs to him, in what is he most glorified? He is glorified in that small group of disciples who were currently not showing much interest in what he intended to happen.

All things belong to Jesus in the sense that he is now the sovereign controller of history who reigns on the throne of God. He will cause the ‘all things’ of human history, not just the number that happen to each of his people individually or to all of his people corporately, but every thing that has occurred, to be turned into good for his people. He is working in providence to be glorified in them as he graciously blesses them. His power, wisdom, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and all his other attributes and abilities will be glorified in them.

All things belong to Jesus in the sense that he is the heir of all things, an inheritance that will climax in the fullness of the new heavens and new earth. There the glory of the Son of God will be revealed. But who will share his glory? His disciples, people like Peter, James, John, Thomas and the millions of others who will trust in him. He will be glorified in them.

‘By-and-by when he sets their crowns upon their heads, and listens to their song, ascribing to him the kingdom, and the glory, and the praise for having “redeemed them to God by his blood, out of every kindred and tongue, and made them kings and priests unto God and unto his Father,” then shall be consummated that saying, “He shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied: he shall be glorified in their glory, for they shall be glorified in him’ (Marcus Rainsford).  

In the immediate context in which he is speaking, the Saviour must also be referring to what he has done for them and is about to do for them. He had brought them to himself and then given them spiritual life and some insights into his activities on their behalf. We know that in a sense they had been poor scholars, but it is wonderful to observe that Jesus does not ignore the little fruit of his grace in their hearts by his Spirit. Sometimes we focus on their flaws, but Jesus focussed on their grace.

Two important lessons

While this prayer of Jesus as a whole and each of its petitions in particular are unique, we can also see from these verses reasons why we should pray for other Christians with confidence. They belong to the Father and the Son and were part of the focus of their eternal purpose. Also, in some measure they are glorifying Christ in the present by their progress in holiness and they will yet be the means through which he will be glorified in the eternal inheritance. Therefore we can pray that the Father and the Son would continue to do them good.

There is also a personal application for each of us as his people. Just as Jesus desired to be glorified in the apostles, so he wants to be glorified in us. Then we must always ask ourselves before we speak, before we do something, ‘Will my words or my actions bring glory to Jesus?’ And to do this we have to submit the whole of life to his pleasure.