Jesus Prays for the Church - John 17:20-26

We’re continuing our study of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. And if you remember, there are three parts to his prayer: he begins his prayer by praying for his own glory, then he prays specifically for his disciples, and ends his prayer by praying for all believers.

Last week, we looked at how Jesus prayed for his disciples. And he prayed for several things: He prayed for their salvation, unity, protection, and sanctification.

Now again, we call John 17, Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer because in it, he goes to God on behalf of his people, in the same manner an Old Testament High Priest would, and these last seven verses are no different. And now, he’s moving his attention away from his disciples and to all those who will put their trust in him.

The whole prayer is a beautiful tapestry that has been neatly woven together by the Lord Jesus, but there’s something particularly special about these last seven verses, because in these last seven verses Jesus prays for believers like you and me. Isn’t that amazing?

As he prepares to go to the cross, he not only thinks about his disciples, but he’s thinking about us. There are three main components to his prayer: first, he begins by praying for the entire church (vv. 20-21), second, he prays for church unity (vv. 22-23), and lastly, he prays for the church to enter His presence (vv. 24-26)

He prays for the entire church (v. 20)

I’m sure many of you have had interesting brushes with famous folks. One time Lauren and I ran into the country music singer Martina McBride in a restaurant in Nashville. Interestingly enough, the restaurant was packed, but we were the only people in the whole place that recognized her and so, we got a picture with her and she couldn’t have been nicer.

Lauren and I obviously remember that moment. But you know what? I can just about guarantee that Martina has forgotten about it. We remember our encounter with Martina McBride, but Martina McBride certainly doesn’t remember her encounter with us.

Which is why this particular passage is so amazing: Jesus isn’t the celebrity that makes public appearances in order to make him more relatable. He didn’t make it a practice to stop for a quick photo op in order to improve his favorability ratings.

That’s not the case for Jesus. He not only has intimate knowledge of believers but he also prays for them. That’s something worth chewing on, isn’t it? The fact that Jesus Christ prayed for you and me.

Jesus begins his prayer by praying for believers beyond his disciples. That’s what he means when he says, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word…” He’s essentially saying, “I do not pray for my disciples only… but also for those who will believe in me through their proclamation of me…”

Notice the certainty of Jesus’ words. He doesn’t pray for those who might believe. No, he prays for those that will believe.

I like the way one commentator put it, “The eye of Jesus scans the centuries and presses to his loving heart all his true followers, as if they had all been saved even at this very moment.”

Which isn’t exactly the prayer we would expect him to pray. He doesn’t simply lift up every person that will one day put their faith in him. He prays for all of us in a rather unique way. He prays for everyone who will come to faith through the testimony and preaching of the Apostles.

Did you catch that? He prays for those “who will believe in me through their word…”

In God’s majestic wisdom and holy providence, Christianity is a word based faith. That is, our faith comes through hearing the word of Christ, as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 10. But as we all know, not everyone responds to the gospel in the same manner. Some turn to him by hearing the words of truth, while others reject it altogether.

R.C. Sproul in his commentary on the gospel of John makes the point that there isn’t a lot of difference between Peter and Judas. Have you ever considered that? Peter denied Jesus and Judas betrayed him. But what’s the difference between a “denial” and a “betrayal?”

You have to do some serious hair splitting to bring out the difference between the two. Because a denial is a form of betrayal isn’t it? But we know what the real difference was between them: one trusted in Christ and became a pillar of the church while the other was, as Jesus said, “the son of destruction.” That is, destined for hell.

Here’s what Sproul said about the difference between Peter and Judas: “I’m sure there are many [differences], but I think the most significant one is the intercessory prayer of Christ. Jesus had prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail in the face of Satan’s onslaughts, and that prayer was answered.”

And of course, the same is true for our personal experiences as well. We all know and have seen people sit through countless sermons and Bible studies to only walk away from the faith and deny Christ.

We even know couples or families who have gone through similar circumstances in life and one remains faithful to Christ while the other rejects the faith. What’s the difference between the people that truly trust in the Lord Jesus and those that grew up in the church and never trusted in Christ?

I think Sproul was probably right. There are probably many things you could point to, but one that we often forget about is the intercessory prayer of Christ. One had the Lord Jesus praying for him while the other did not.

After all, Jesus makes it crystal clear that he is only praying for those that believe in him. He says it explicitly in verse 9 that he is not praying for the world. He’s only praying for believers, and guess what? His prayer will be answered.

He prays for church unity (v. 21-23)

Previously in verse 11, Jesus had prayed for unity amongst the disciples and here again, he prays for unity but at this point in the prayer, he prays for it from a slightly different perspective.

In verse 11, the emphasis is on the disciples standing united against the hostility of the world. And so, Jesus wants his disciples to stand firm against the schemes of the evil one, because no doubt, opposition was just around the corner.

Whereas verse 11 emphasizes unity amongst the disciples as they face the opposition of the world, verse 21 emphasizes the nature of unity.

That is, the nature of our common union and what binds believers together. And I think we all know what that is off of the tops of our heads. What brings believers together is our common faith in Christ.

And that’s precisely the point that Jesus makes in verse 21. “...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.”

Jesus is comparing the relationship between God the Father and God the Son to the believers’ relationship with God.

It’s not a one-to-one comparison. The Christian’s relationship with God is different from the Trinitarian relationship between the Father and Son, but his overall point is that the church’s oneness and unity should reflect the oneness and unity of Father and Son.

The church’s unity is a spiritual unity, of a common faith in Christ.

And obviously, this unity is still true today. Of course, each individual church body should be united together in Christ, but the same is true for all gospel believing churches, right? We may disagree on smaller “secondary issues” but the bind that ties us all together is our common faith in Christ.

But again, Jesus isn’t encouraging false unity. He’s not encouraging unity for unity’s sake. He’s not encouraging a superficial unity that seems to be so regularly preached among so many evangelical churches. Because so often, when we hear a call to church unity it’s nothing more than a call to get along, sweep differences under the rug, and play nice.

What Jesus is calling the church to is actually something much deeper than that. He’s calling believers like you and me to a unity that is real and authentic because of our shared faith in Christ.

That doesn’t mean we ignore sin, or pretend like we don’t have any differences amongst believers in our church body, or that sweep every offense under the rug, or that there’s never a reason to break fellowship with a church body, but what that does mean is at the end of the day, even in spite of people’s sinful tendencies, shortcomings, and faults and you can honestly say, “that’s my brother or sister in Christ.”

There’s something really powerful when you’re able to see someone for who they really are: their sinfulness, flaws, imperfections, and still say your shared faith in Christ is far stronger than anything that can divide you.

Friendship, fellowship, and unity in the eyes of the world is nothing more than towing the party line at all costs. There’s no such thing as forgiveness or a love that covers a multitude of sins.

An authentic church unity speaks to the powerful working of Jesus Christ in all of our lives. The reality is all of us come from unique backgrounds, circumstances, and challenges. But it’s not those things that ultimately define us: the work of Jesus Christ in our lives is what defines us.

Which is why church unity is such a powerful testimony to the world and why Jesus says, “so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” Jesus is praying that church unity would serve a much greater purpose than just everyone getting along.

He’s praying that church unity would reflect God’s glory and love.

Look at verses 22- 23 with me:

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

He wants his glory and love to be displayed through the unity of the church. Church unity is so much bigger than linking arms and singing kumbaya. It’s about reflecting what God has done in our lives.

And frankly, so much more could be said about the church reflecting God’s glory and love, but I don’t want my point to get lost here: What I’m trying to emphasize here is the connection between the unity of the church and the manifestation of God’s glory and love.

The more cohesion, the more oneness, the more unity, the greater display of God’s glory and love.

And of course, here’s the significance of this point: the church’s unity, the church’s oneness, where God’s glory and love are manifested is a testimony to the world!

There is an evangelistic component to a church’s unity. Isn’t that interesting? Especially when you consider the emphasis that is put on personal evangelism. Which is of course a good thing! We should all be sharing the gospel with our friends, family, and neighbors. But don’t neglect the role of the church as testifying to the work of Jesus Christ.

There's been a tendency to not consider inviting people to church as “real evangelism.” The Navy Seals of personal evangelism are out there in the streets sharing their faith, while the rest of us peasants are just inviting people to church. But the reality is, we should not set those things in opposition to one another. We need both, and yes, there is and should be an evangelistic component to church. Hopefully, your friends will hear the gospel of Jesus Christ at church of all places!

I think I’ve mentioned this story before, but a pastor friend of mine once told me that his son asked him, “Dad, do you preach the same thing every Sunday?” And he was like, “kind of!”

The gospel of Jesus should be so central to what we do here at church it permeates every facet of our worship service. God forbid, I fail to preach the gospel here, well, hopefully, you’re hearing the gospel throughout the service. It’s why we have a confession of sin and assurance of God’s pardoning grace each week! Hopefully, the gospel is coming through in every element of our worship service!

We all need to be reminded of the gospel! We all need to remind ourselves of our sin, but in the very same breath, remind ourselves of God’s unsearchable grace towards us in Christ! We all need to ponder the work of Christ in our lives!

And of course, that should be the foundation of our unity, that is where God’s glory and love is most clearly displayed to each of us! And it’s that very same message that we proclaim corporately as a church body.

I know many of you pray for Providence. Please continue to pray for us, in particular pray what Jesus prays right here in these verses: that our unity and love for the gospel will be a glorious testimony of God’s work to the world around us.

He prays for the church to enter His presence (vv. 24-26)

How Jesus ends his High Priestly Prayer is every bit as stirring as the rest of his prayer. The reason I say that is hopefully obvious to all of you.

In verses 24-26, Jesus prays specifically for believers to enter into his presence. Look at these verses with me:

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

One commentator wrote of these verses, “The greatest benefit of Christianity is not the forgiveness of sins; that’s simply a means to an end. The greatest benefit that we have is access to the presence of God and His Son. That’s where Jesus wants us to be.”

It reminds me of the last verse to the hymn “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna,” which we’ve sung before, but the last verse says,

““Hosanna in the highest!” That ancient song we sing, for Christ is our Redeemer, the Lord of heav’n, our King. O may we ever praise him with heart and life and voice, and in his blissful presence eternally rejoice.”

Doesn’t that just beautifully capture it? It’s because of Jesus' death on the cross for our sins we can stand in his glorious presence. Isn’t that what this is all about? To “praise him with heart and life and voice, and in his blissful presence eternally rejoice.”

But it’s important that we all keep in mind that our fellowship with Christ doesn’t begin in heaven, for the Christian it’s happening right now. He has indwelt you as well and it’s because he has indwelt us and we experience his love right now.

In other words, experiencing the love of Christ isn’t just a thing that we look forward to at some point in the future. For the Christian, it’s happening right now.

If there’s anything that you take away from Jesus’ High Priestly prayer, remember that Jesus prays for you. The Savior of the world prays for you. It’s a rich, theological, prayer offered up by our Savior on your behalf. It’s remarkable isn’t it? He prays for everyone who has come to faith through the Apostles preaching. He prays for the church’s unity. He wants us to enter into his presence.

But one of the main themes that permeates throughout the last few verses of High Priestly Prayer is love. In fact, he mentions love five different times: twice in verse 23, once in verse 24, and twice in verse 26.

And here’s what I want to end with: prayer is one of the highest expressions of love. To pray for someone is to demonstrate that you really care about them. Which is why it’s so meaningful when someone walks up to you and simply tells you that they’re praying for you. If someone is willing to take your cares to the Lord that’s love isn’t it?

Hopefully you can see my point: The ultimate display of love was, of course, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, but we also see his love right here don’t we? Jesus’ love for his faithful followers is demonstrated by the mere fact that he prayed for them. And it wasn’t just for the people that were in the physical presence, it was for all people who will trust in him, people like you and me.

And you can know that Jesus loves you because he prays and intercedes for you.

Let’s pray.