The Seventh Sunday
of Easter
Year B
May 13, 2018
Volume 22, Number xx
ISSN 1071-9962
CONTENTS:
A Thought on Preaching
Title
Sermon in a Sentence
Scripture
Biblical Commentary
Children's Sermon
Sermon
More Sermons on this Text
Thought Provokers
Hymns & Hymn Story
Bibliography
A THOUGHT ON PREACHING: The Church is uncommonly vocal about the subject of bedrooms and so singularly silent on the subject of boardrooms. (Dorothy L. Sayers)
TITLE: The Real Lord's Prayer
SERMON IN A SENTENCE: John 17 is the real Lord's Prayer––Jesus' prayer for his disciples, including us.
SCRIPTURE:John 17:6-19
BIBLICAL COMMENTARY:
JOHN 13-18: THE CONTEXT
Following the Passover foot washing (13:1-20) Jesus begins to prepare the disciples for his departure:
• He foretells his betrayal (13:21-30), gives them the great love commandment (13:31-35), and foretells Peter's denial (13:36-38).
• He then tells his disciples that he is going to the Father's house where he will prepare a place for them (14:2) and that he will come again to take them with him (14:3).
• He promises them the gift of the Holy Spirit (14:16)––and that he won't leave them orphaned (14:18)––and that the Holy Spirit will teach them everything (14:26).
• Also implied in his call for them to abide in him is a promise of ongoing connectedness (15:1-17).
• He warns of the world's hatred (15:18 - 16:4a), and gives the rationale that the Spirit cannot come unless he goes (16:4b-15). He promises them joy (16:16-24) and peace (16:25-33).
After this prayer, Jesus and his disciples will go to a garden in the Kidron Valley where he will be arrested. This prayer, then, serves as a transition from the discourses of the Upper Room to Jesus' passion (his death on the cross).
JOHN 17:1-26. JESUS' HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER
This prayer concludes the farewell dinner. It is often called The High Priestly Prayer for two reasons: First, Jesus is preparing to offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Second, he intercedes for his disciples (vv. 6-26) in the same way that the high priest intercedes for the people of Israel (see Romans 8:34).
This prayer is often likened to Moses' farewell address (Deuteronomy 31:30ff), which concluded with Moses' final blessing on Israel (Deuteronomy 33). The tone of that address was positive, very much like Jesus' prayer. Moses was preparing to die, but he said, "You are happy, Israel. Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh" (Deuteronomy 33:29). Jesus is preparing to die, but he prays, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you" (17:1).
This is the Johannine equivalent of the Lord's Prayer as found in Matthew 6:9-15. Lincoln calls it "the Lord's prayer transposed into a Johannine key," and notes the following parallels (Lincoln 432-433):
• "Our Father in heaven" (Matthew 6:9) is paralleled in John 17:1 by Jesus mentioning heaven and addressing God as Father.
• "may your name be kept holy" (Matthew 6:9) is paralleled in several places by concerns for God's holiness or God's name (John 17:6, 11, 26).
• "Let your kingdom come" (Matthew 6:10) is paralleled by a concern for Jesus' hour having come (John 17:1) and a concern about eternal life (John 17:2-3).
• "Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth" (Matthew 6:10) is paralleled by Jesus' comment that he has finished the work that the Father sent him to do (John 17:4).
• "Bring us not into temptation" (Matthew 6:13) is paralleled by Jesus' plea for the Father to protect the disciples, living as they do in a hostile kosmos (John 17:11b-16).
This Johannine prayer is quite unlike Jesus' Gethsemane prayer in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46). There Jesus sweats drops of blood and prays, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me." In John's Gospel, there was a hint of anxiety in Jesus' earlier prayer, "Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? 'Father, save me from this time?' But for this cause I came to this time," (12:27) but Jesus expresses no anxiety about his personal fate in chapter 17.
But though Jesus' prayer is positive, we hear an urgent, concerned tone. He is, after all, about to depart, leaving his disciples in a difficult world with a critical mission. He includes several petitions for the disciples in this prayer:
• First, he prays, "Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are" (v. 11).
• Second, he prays, "I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one" (v. 15).
• Third, he prays, "Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth" (v. 17).
• He also prays, "Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me" (John 17:20-21). This expands on the emphasis on oneness in the first petition.
Verses 1-11 have to do with the interrelationship between Jesus, God and the disciples. While Jesus has promised the Holy Spirit on several occasions (7:39; 14:16-26; 15:26; 16:13), there is no mention of the Spirit in this prayer.
JOHN 17:1-5. GLORIFY THE SON
These verses are not included in this Gospel lesson, but the preacher needs to be familiar with them. In these verses, Jesus deals with various concerns, including:
• His "time" or his "hour"–by which he means his death and resurrection (v. 1a).
• The glorification of the Son and Father (v. 1b).
• The Son's God-given authority (v. 2)
• And eternal life (vv. 2-3).
JOHN 17:6-8. I HAVE MADE YOUR NAME KNOWN
6"I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word(Greek: logos).7Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,8for the words(Greek: rhemata) which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me."
"I revealed your name"(v. 6a). From the beginning, Jesus' mission has been revelation. He is the Logos, the Word, the one sent to reveal God to us (1:1). He has made the Father's name known.
The Jewish people were sensitive about God's name, because they thought of God's name as synonymous with God's true nature or character. At the burning bush, Moses asked God's name, and God replied, "I AM WHO I AM" (Hebrew: YHWH or Yahweh) and commanded Moses to tell the people, "I AM has sent me to you" (Exodus 3:14). In John's Gospel, Jesus frequently uses this "I AM" formula (Greek: ego eimi) to identify himself ("I AM the bread of life"––"I AM the light of the world"––"I AM the sheep's door"––"I AM the good shepherd").
For much of their history, Jewish people considered God's name, YHWH, too sacred to pronounce, so they substituted the word adonai. Now Jesus makes God's name known "to the people whom you have given me out of the world" (v. 6)––and the name is Father. Jesus makes God accessible––makes it possible for us to address God as Father.
"to the people whom you have given me out of the world" (v. 6b). The disciples about whom Jesus speaks are not outstanding in any way. Jesus could easily complain about their mediocrity, but instead speaks of them respectfully, as if they were a treasure that the Father has placed into his hands. As events will prove, once they are filled with the Spirit, they will become worthy witnesses––powerful advocates for the kingdom.
"They have kept your word"(logos) (v. 6c). It is surprising that Jesus would say that the disciples have kept the Father's word. Their performance thus far has been mixed at best––but see the comments on verse 8b below.
"Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you" (v. 7). The disciples do not yet understand Jesus' teachings about his death and resurrection, but they have placed their faith in Jesus as God's prophet––as one who speaks God's word.
"for the words(rhemata) which you have given me I have given to them" (v. 8a). Note the difference between "word" singular (logos) in verse 6 and "words" plural (rhemata) in verse 8. Logos (singular) and rhemata (plural) are two different words with significantly different meanings.
• Logos is important in this Gospel. Jesus is Logos––Word––the revelation of God. "In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word (logos) was with God, and the Word (logos) was God" (1:1). Jesus was the incarnate Word of God.
• Rhemata (plural) has to do with spoken words. The Father gave these words to Jesus, who gave them to his disciples, beginning in chapter one with Jesus' invitation, "Come and see" (1:39). Throughout this Gospel, Jesus has revealed the Father's words, which have been both comforting and compelling.
"and they received them, and knew for sure that I came forth from you" (v. 8b). Jesus does not say that the disciples have kept his rhemata––his words––his teachings––but only that they have received them.
It would be stretching things to say that the disciples have been faithful to Jesus' teachings, which they have thus far understood only dimly. Prior to the resurrection, they are more clueless than faithful. However, they have been faithful to the Father's logos––to the Father's revelation of himself through the Son, who is the Logos. The disciples have hung in there with Jesus through good times and bad, because, "You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God" (6:68-69). It is the disciples' faithfulness to himself to which Jesus refers when he says, "they have kept your word" (v. 6).
"and they have believed that you sent me" (v. 8c). Jesus establishes the chain of custody by which God's words are transmitted. The words came from the Father, who gave them to the Son, who in turn gave them to the disciples. These disciples have not rejected these words, but have "received" them (v. 8b). They have been receptive to the words that Jesus gave them, because they believed that Jesus was sent by the Father. It follows that Jesus' words are trustworthy.
JOHN 17:9-11a. I AM PRAYING FOR THOSE WHOM YOU HAVE GIVEN ME
9"I pray for them. I don't pray for the world,(Greek: kosmou––from kosmos)but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.10All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.11I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you."
"I don’t pray for the world,(kosmou)but for those whom you have given me"(v. 9). This has a harsh ring to it, as if Jesus cares only about his little band of disciples and no one else. However, when Jesus speaks of the world, he is not speaking of planet earth or all humanity but of the kosmos, which is the "sphere of enmity to God.... The only hope for the kosmos is precisely that it should cease to be the kosmos" (O'Day, 792). The kosmos poses a threat to the disciples, who "are in the kosmos" even as Jesus is preparing to depart from the kosmos (v. 11).
But God does not respond with hostility to a hostile world. Instead, this Gospel portrays God as loving the world and working to redeem it. Jesus said, "For God so loved the world(kosmos) that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God didn’t not send his Son into the world to judge the world,(kosmos)but that the world(kosmos) should be saved through him" (3:16-17)
He also said, "If anyone listens to my sayings, and doesn't believe, I don't judge him. For I came not to judge the world,(kosmos) but to save the world"(kosmos) (12:47).
Jesus' salvation purpose was clear even to the Samaritans, who said to the woman at the well, "We know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world"(kosmos) (4:42).
"All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them" (v. 10). "What strikes one... most in our Lord's prayer is not even (Jesus') moving loyalty to his friends, ...but rather his unmistakable pride in them" (Gossip, 746). It seems astonishing that Jesus would claim to be glorified in these disciples. They are a small and ordinary group of people who exhibit no unusual intelligence or talent. They seem unable to learn from the numerous clues that Jesus gives them concerning his future. No matter what Jesus says, they just don't get it. How can Jesus claim to have been glorified in them?
Keep in mind that this Gospel was written quite late, probably after most of Jesus' original disciples had died. The author has seen that, somehow, through the grace of God and the work of the Spirit, Jesus has indeed been glorified by these disciples. The church is growing and spreading. However imperfect these disciples might have been, they have succeeded in glorifying the Lord. In fact, when Jesus says that he has been glorified in them, he uses the perfect tense, suggesting an already completed glorification, showing full confidence that they have glorified him and will glorify him.
This is an encouraging word to those of us who are tempted to despair of disciples and discipleship today––those of us who long for a wart-free church. While the future of the church might seem compromised by the quality and commitment of its people, we can rest assured that the glorification that began with those first disciples continues with the work of the church today. The church is one example of the principle that God chooses the foolish and weak to shame the wise and strong (1 Corinthians 1:27).
"I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you"(v. 11a). Technically, Jesus is still present in the world, and his death and resurrection lie ahead, but he has begun the process by which he will be glorified and will return to the Father. The kosmos will soon succeed in killing him, but he will emerge victorious through the resurrection. The disciples, however, will continue to live in the kosmos, an alien and hostile kosmos, and we can hear a note of angst in Jesus' voice as he speaks of leaving them behind.
JOHN 17:11b-16. HOLY FATHER, KEEP THEM THROUGH YOUR NAME
11b"Holy Father, keep(Greek: tereson––keep, hold, maintain) them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction,(Greek: ho huios tes apoleias––the son of perdition)that the Scripture might be fulfilled.13But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.14I have given them your word(Greek: logon).The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.15I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one.16They are not of the world even as I am not of the world."
"Holy Father" (v. 11b)––in verse 25, Jesus says, "Righteous Father." God is holy and righteous. This righteous aspect of God was emphasized in the Old Testament to the extent that Jewish people did not feel worthy to address God by name. Now Jesus makes known God's name––and that name is Father. That name helps us to see God in a new light, not simply as holy and righteous, but also as nurturing.
But we must not forget that the nurturing Father is also holy and righteous. In our preaching, we will always be tempted to favor speaking about the Father's willingness to forgive rather than the Father's call to holiness and righteousness. However, if it weren't for God's call to holiness (and our failure to measure up), there would be no need for forgiveness.
"keep(tereson––keep, hold, maintain) them through your name"or"keep them through your name which you have given me" (v. 11b). Jesus has been the disciples' protector, and gives an account of his stewardship (v. 12). Now he is preparing to depart, so he asks the Father to assume the role of protector to these disciples who are in the kosmos (world) but not of the kosmos––belonging to the Father but dwelling in a hostile land.
If we had been praying, we would have asked simply that the Father protect Jesus' disciples, but Jesus prays, "keepthem through your name." The Father's name represents the Father's person and character. Jesus is praying that the Father will help the disciples to maintain their Godly character.