The Real Lord's Prayer John 17:1-25 (Monday's Reading!)

I know, we say "The Lord's Prayer" every Sunday (Matthew 6, Luke 11). But it really is a model for how we are to pray. The prayer in John 17 is not a pattern to follow, but Jesus' actual prayer before his arrest and crucifixion. I wonder how John knew about this prayer. Did Jesus pray it in front of the disciples or did John somehow overhear it (the other gospels do not refer to it)? It is really a prayer of relinquishment in which Jesus gives over responsibility for those who he has been in ministry with during the previous three years. This moving and powerful prayer also has a future edge.

"Glorify Your Son" (17:1-5)

The intimacy of these words is striking, a statement from a son to a Father. "Dad, I'm done now. Tell me if I did a good job." Jesus is ready to return to the relationship they had before he became flesh. He has brought glory to God through his obedience and self-sacrfice. He now needs the validation and sense of His Father's presence.

Prayer for the Disciples (17:6-19)

The whole success of the mission of making present the kingdom of God is now about to be put at risk in the disciples. Jesus will not be able to restrain them from wrong actions or bad decisions, like he could on earth. Besides, it has become abundantly clear that the disciples are not fully "getting it," and that it will be really tough on them, maybe more than Jesus expected. So Jesus prays for them. By the way, according to Romans 8, Jesus through the Spirit still prays and intercedes for us.

He prays for four basic things for the disciples: 1) protection from despair,falling away and from "the evil one", 2) for their unity, as they will soon be scattered and needed to regroup, 3)for their joy, 4)and for their ability to stay holy and true. Jesus asks the Father to "sanctify" them, which means to "set them apart as holy." It has the notion of cleansing in it, but even more, it is a sense of purpose and calling for which Jesus is praying. For the disciples, it will seem as though everything was over, but it is actually going to be a new beginning for them, should they be open to it. Jesus sets himself apart for the cross, so that the disciples will be able to set themselves apart for the purpose of taking the good news of God's life-changing, society-changing love to the world.

Prayer for Disciples Yet to Come - Like You and Me!
(17:20-25)

The same things he prays for his disciples, he now prays for all those who follow. For John, this part of the prayer would be richer as the years went by - the early Jewish converts, and the surpising success among the "God fearers" and Gentiles. Jesus' vision for the kingdom was much bigger than he thought...and so it continues to be. So he prays for unity (something the church has always struggled with), for glory (both in eternal life and in close relationship with the Father and with Christ), and that they too will be the incarnation of God's love. What a visionary and high-minded prayer this is. I'm beginning to wonder if memorizing this prayer might be as important as memorizing the other Lord's Prayer we say each week. It has our job description in it.