Introduction
This afternoon, we will be looking at a few sections of verses at a time, so we will read them as we come to them. This High Priestly Prayer of our Lord is not a rambling disconnected assortment of thoughts that randomly come to Jesus’ mind as He prays. That is sometimes the nature of our prayers as we fumble through our thoughts thinking of how we ought to address the Almighty with our feebleness compared to His majesty. As creatures, who have far to go in our sanctification, our prayers are often a disconnected assortment of thoughts. But there is not a single random word in this prayer of Jesus. There is not a single thought that is not perfectly placed. In some sense, the pure perfection of this prayer can at times make portions of it difficult for us to understand. But with careful study and the help of the Holy Spirit, we can begin to grasp its beauty. In ways, Jesus’ prayer encapsulates prayers and figures of eras past in redemptive history. In some of the ways Jesus describes His own work that He has done in this prayer, Jesus shows us that He is the encapsulation or fulfillment of previous persons whom God has covenanted with in the past. We are going to look at these figures that Jesus embodies and fulfills in this prayer. We will come back to this after we look at each one, but I will drop this in your minds now: one of the common themes that binds these figures together that we will see is covenant. And we will see that prayer is a function of a covenantal relationship with God.
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (John 17:1-5)
Adam
In these verses Jesus presents Himself to the Father as a greater Adam figure. Jesus begins by referring to Himself as Son of the Father, “Father…glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you.” In Luke chapter three, as Luke gives the genealogy of Jesus, he takes it all the way back to Adam, and when he gets to Adam, he says, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
In John 17:2, Jesus is referring to Himself in the third person, and He says glorify the Son that the Son may glorify you, “since you have given Him authority over all flesh…” Adam likewise was given authority, or dominion over all “flesh.” As it says in Genesis 1:26 about man, “let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Adam was given authority over them and commanded to be fruitful. Our first father Adam sinned, and was thus not able to complete this task. Jesus Christ the Son of God, the last Adam comes with an even greater authority over flesh, an authority that Jesus says was “to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.” The first Adam failed to bring life, by bringing in death through sin. The Last Adam comes with the authority and mission of giving eternal life. It is by this authority and mission that Jesus prays.
Jesus continues to present Himself to the Father as a greater Adam in verse 4 and 5. Jesus actually accomplished the work that the Father gave Him to do. Jesus prays this before the cross. Now Christ could certainly be able to say something was already done that was yet to happen, but even if we take it as Jesus referring to all the works that the Father gave Him to do in His earthly ministry up to the point of this hour of glorification, it is yet a marvelous statement. As the Last Adam Jesus came bringing life and setting in reverse where death and the curse had taken a hold. Every work that Jesus did was ordained by the Father. Every miracle was a work the Father gave Him to do. It was His task of being fruitful and multiplying and giving life. Every lame person made to walk, every sick person healed, every blind person given sight, every hungry person fed, every person whose sins He forgave, was Jesus walking the garden of this earth, pulling away the death grip of weeds and telling the curse to turn around and go the other way. Each task the Father gave to the Son, He accomplished.
Then in verse 5 Jesus asks the Father to return Him to the glory He shared with the Father before the world existed, thus showing Himself as not simply an Adam 2.0, but as preeminent to Adam, existing in glory before Adam was ever even raised from the dust. This shows us that Jesus was thus qualified to be the Greater Last Adam, and it shows us how He was to be born not under the curse of Adam with Adam’s sin.
Moses
Jesus also encapsulates and presents Himself to the Father as a greater Moses figure. In verse 6 He says, “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.” Jesus came to bring a people out of the world, just as Moses led a people out of Egypt. I mentioned this in a previous sermon a while back at some point in this farewell discourse of how Jesus is a greater Moses figure, in that He is about to die and no longer be with His disciples, but when He leaves, He will send the Spirit to minister to and lead His people throughout the world. We see this when Moses would not be going with the people of Israel into the promised land, He had to die, but when He did would send Joshua to lead the people in their mission of conquering and taking the land. Jesus came to give something greater than what Moses gave, as John says in chapter 1, that the law came through Moses, but grace and truth through Jesus, then Jesus dies, rises, ascends, and sends a greater Joshua to lead His people, the Holy Spirit.
This is the paralleled era the disciples are about to enter. Jesus is about to be lifted up to die, but first He is communing with the Father, looking over into the promised land, seeing how His disciples, and all who would believe in Him, will be led and taken care of. He has accomplished His mission faithfully and is putting all to rest in the hands of His Father and the eternal plan. This is great comfort the disciples would need as, and remember, they were in the presence of Jesus as Jesus lifted this prayer to His Father for them to hear and be comforted by. This prayer is the capstone of the farewell discourse where Jesus comforts His disciples and prepares them for His departure. This prayer was a lifting of the veil for the disciples to be comforted by peering into, with greater detail and clarity, the mission of Jesus, the plan of God, and the security of those who believe.
David
One final figure. Verse 17, Jesus prays, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” Here, the Son presents Himself to the Father as a greater David. In 2 Samuel 7, King David desires to build a house for God. Up to that time the ark of the covenant dwelt in the tent of the tabernacle. God does not permit David to build the temple, a house for the Lord, but God promises David a Son who would, and He promises to build David’s house and establish it forever. Then David responds with a beautiful prayer to God in which he expresses his faith in the plan and promises of God and he prays the very same words which Jesus prays here, saying, “Your words are true,” or “Your word is truth.” David was not fit to build a house for the Lord, but God promises to sanctify His house that his son would build a house for the Lord, and that in turn, his house would be established forever. We know of course that David’s Son Solomon was the one who was able to build a temple for the Lord, and his kingdom was greatly established. Nevertheless the ultimate establishment of the house of David forever was accomplished and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, David’s greater Son. And what’s amazing is that we know from an explicit New Testament passage that God’s promise to David was about Jesus Christ. In Hebrews chapter 1, the author is establishing the supremacy of Christ over the angels. Hebrews 1:5 says, “For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? This phrase attributed as the Father speaking about the Son, “I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son,” is a direct quote the author of Hebrews takes from 2 Samuel 7:14, in which God makes this promise to David.
Over and over again in the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus refers to Himself in the third person as the Son of the Father, and then uses the same language in verse 17 found in His father David’s prayer which was in response to this promise of a Son to establish His house forever. This prayer of Jesus, as one theologian puts it, is a masterful piece of liturgical architecture. Jesus is presenting Himself to the Father as the promised Son of David whom God promised to establish His kingdom forever. And Jesus prays for this promise to be fulfilled in the sanctifying of this people that the Father has given to Him. Jesus is building the promised House of David.
The common thread between these figures that Jesus presents Himself to the Father as the greater and true fulfillment of is a covenantal relationship. But there is yet another covenant in this prayer.
Redemption
Throughout this High Priestly Prayer, Jesus reiterates that He was sent from the Father into the world to accomplish a mission. He reiterates that He has kept a people whom the Father has given to Him. He also references the glory He had with the Father before the world existed, and the love which the Father loved Him with before the foundation of the world. He also reiterates that He has manifested or made known to the disciples His name. This is the covenant of redemption which the Father, Son, and Spirit made together before the foundation of the world, that the Father would ordain salvation, the Son would accomplish it, and the Spirit would apply it. This prayer is filled with the language of this covenant of redemption. The Son being sent and given a people, shows the covenantal agreement and mission. The references to eternity past and the eternal relationship of the Father and Son show that this covenantal arrangement comes from before the world existed. It is this covenant of redemption that is the basis for this High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. He shows that He has thus far carried it out. He presents Himself to the Father as a faithful covenant keeper. And He prays for the further accomplishment of this covenant. This prayer is rooted in that which cannot be broken. It is grounded in the promises of God and the work of Christ. What confidence this should supply us with that it is carried out, that this prayer is effectual.
Application
This is something we don’t often consider: that prayer is covenantal. Prayer is a function and feature of being in covenant with God. In covenant, God has set the terms and conditions of it, and what is to be done in it. Prayer is done in covenant. It is done in relationship to God, it is done in a covenantal relationship with God, a relationship in which He establishes and sets the terms and conditions of.
We know that we cannot approach God in worship as we see fit. We cannot just waltz into the throne room however we like, or however it may suit our fancy. We come to worship God only because He has established the terms of how it is to be done. We can do no other. In terms of sinners coming before a holy God, we cannot pray or approach God in prayer without God first establishing that we are to do so, and how we are to do so. This is because, when we pray rightly, we are present, as it were, before the throne of grace – God’s throne in the heavenly courts. One cannot simply throw himself into such a presence without warrant. We pray, because God has first established prayer as a means of communion with His covenant people. We approach God in prayer, because God has first ordained and commanded it, and He has provided the suitable way and instruction for how it is to be done. This is praying covenantally. We are coming to God in prayer on His terms, for there is no other way. And we find that His terms of prayer are of the utmost benefit to us as His people.
In John 9:31, the blind man who Jesus gave sight says, “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.” Now we know that this does not mean that God cannot hear the words that sinners say to Him, God hears and sees and knows every word that is uttered by every man. But it means that God is under no covenantal obligation to answer a prayer by such a one. He has made no such promises to receive a prayer not offered in faith through Jesus Christ, as He has to His covenant people. Prayer offered not in faith through Jesus Christ, is not a pleasing aroma in the heavenly court, it is not authorized incense to God.
But as Christians, God has established it, that we pray, and that we pray without ceasing. We are to pray with confidence in faith, through Christ. God has established this covenantal relationship with us in Christ, in which we are to pray, casting all our cares upon Him, for He cares for us. It is a function of our covenantal relationship with God in Christ, that we are to pray at all times.
This gives us great confidence in prayer. Prayer is not us simply calling out to God on our own, hoping He hears us without any warrant, foundation, or basis. We have a great and firm foundation to approach God in prayer. It is a covenantal arrangement, set by God. We are to pray, He will hear. So how is it that we are to pray?
We are to pray according to God’s covenantal faithfulness to us in Christ and His commitment to His own glory. Martin Luther would often say that God does things for Jesus’ sake. Or He would pray that God would answer for Jesus’ sake. This is praying according to God’s covenantal faithfulness. God wants us to pray for the cause and sake of Christ, for He glorifies His Son, that the Son may glorify the Father.
We are also to pray according to New Covenant commands. For example, Jesus has given us the Great Commission, we are to pray for its success, and for help in our Great Commission endeavors. Jesus has taught us to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven, we ought to pray that indeed it would be. Indeed, the entirety of the Lord’s prayer is laid out for our instruction on how to pray, thus we are to be taught by it how to pray. There are many instructions and commands in the New Testament for how we are to pray. We are to pray without ceasing. We are to offer prayers of thanksgiving and supplication. We are to pray for one another. We are to pray for our enemies. We are to pray for those in authority. We are to pray in the spirit at all times with all kinds of prayers and requests. This and so much more, God has established as a means of grace and communion for His covenant people – in times of distress, in times of thanksgiving, and everything in between.
We also are to pray according to the New Covenant promises that have been made to us in Christ Jesus. Jesus models us for this in His prayer. He prays according to God’s covenantal promises. He prays for those whom the Father pledged and did give to Him. He prays according to the covenantal promises that the Father would glorify the Son, and that the Son would return to the glory which He shared with the Father before the world existed. Even for the son of destruction, he fell away, because of the covenantal arrangement that the Scriptures would be fulfilled. Jesus prays for the unity of His people who are one together in Him, per the covenantal promises of redemption and unity with the Godhead.
Likewise, how many great and wondrous covenantal promises do we have pledged to us in Christ, according to which we are to pray with faith and confidence. We are promised that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. What a bedrock promise this is for the believer to pray in accordance with! In our greatest trials of doubt and fear when we know not how all things will work for our good and God’s glory, we can trust that promise and pray to God that He would be faithful to that promise, for He is. We have a great promise that good work which God began in us, He will bring it completion. Oh what a great promise this is to pray by when we feel weak, beaten down by temptations and struggles, and when we know ourselves to be insufficient. What a wonderful promise we have that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness, and that when we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. There are times when we will feel the weight and guilt of our sin and we struggle to know we are forgiven, we can remember these promises, confess our sins, knowing we are forgiven by God in Christ. Similarly, we are promised that there is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. What many more great covenantal promises we have in Christ Jesus, which are given us to remember and pray by, asking God to remember His promises and act on them for His own glory and sake. This is pleasing to God.
But what about for the unbeliever? What promise and prayer does the sinner have to pray? To such a one, you have authorization to begin with offering one prayer to God. It is the prayer to call upon Jesus Christ to have mercy upon you, a sinner. God has established that you are first to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, by which there is no other name under heaven by which men are saved. You are to call upon Him, and you will be saved. God has promised it, that if a sinner would do so, you will be saved. In calling upon the Lord Jesus to have mercy on you and to forgive your sins, your sins will be forgiven, you will not be cast out, you will not be unheard, you will not be praying to a brick wall. You will be calling upon the merciful Lord Jesus who stands ready and willing to forgive your sins. How many sinners have continued on in unrepentant and damnation because they have falsely made the excuse that God would not or could not forgive them. How many have wrongly believed that they are not qualified to call upon Jesus and be heard and received by Him? The qualification you need to call upon Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and grant you eternal life is that you be a sinner. There are no sinners too great or too small. Or how many sinners have delayed in calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus, thinking that today they cannot, but maybe someday, and how that day never comes! What folly! Jesus says that today is the day of salvation. He does not command sinners to call upon Him someday, or sometime in their life. He commands them to call upon Him today. Many sinners avoid doing so, not because Jesus is unwilling to forgive their sins, but because they are unwilling to have them forgiven. Ultimately, it is that they love their sins too much.
God has promised that all who look unto Jesus Christ lifted up on the cross, and call upon Him to forgive and save, that He will. This is the worst promise of all to not believe and to not act upon. Do not this day harden your heart, but humble yourself and call upon the Lord Jesus, who is rich and full of mercy for sinners. He receives them, and eats with them, and comes unto them with healing in His wings. And when you do just this, all of God’s promises in Christ become yours. You can have them today. The angels marvel at the preaching of the gospel and how God saves sinners. For God is glorified in saving sinners, and He loves to glorify Himself. He is committed to it. Therefore He is committed to saving sinners who would call upon the Lord Jesus. Amen.
Leave a Reply