The Gospel of John | A Final Exhortation – John 17:1-26

The glory of God is given to the Son who gives it to the church as His representatives through the Spirit within us.

Read John 17:1-26

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Having spoken to them in a type of monologue for His final teaching to the disciples, Jesus prays over them a final prayer. He starts with the announcement that the hour has now come. Not just that this final supper together had been coming to a conclusion, but that the work of Jesus Christ on the earth would be coming to a crescendo shortly. Many points of this farewell discourse had been pointing to Jesus Christ’s impending death on the cross and how the time to walk willingly towards the cross for the sake of the people. The atmosphere with the disciples must have been solemn, seeking diligently to ignore the clarity of Christ’s words, thinking that perhaps, He would not have to die and be taken into the hands of those who sought His harm. Yet, we know that this work is precisely why Jesus Christ came to rescue mankind from the depravity of their sin and glorify the Father.

While our personal right relationship with God must remain fully intact, we cannot neglect the relationship of the church as a whole to the Godhead. As Jesus prays for the church, He reiterates His purpose and mission in the world and prays for the church as a whole. The idea of glory runs deep throughout His prayer that God would be glorified, that Christ would be glorified, and that the church would be glorified. The church as the collection of believers would become the primary representation of Jesus Christ to the world after His ascension into heaven. As the body of Christ, the church would continue the mission of Christ to those into which it came into contact. Yet, the purpose and mission of the church would stem from its unification with Jesus Christ. The glory of church stems from the glory of Jesus Christ and God’s representation on the earth. The world cannot and would not give glory to the church or to the God it represents. While the difficulties they face in the world would test their resolve, their perseverance comes from right relationship with the Father.

Glorification of the Church in Christ

Jesus’ prayers for the church centers the church on its relationship between God the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. Throughout the farewell discourse, Jesus has alluded to the sending of the Paraclete to indwell and empower the believers to receive the Gospel and declare this same Gospel to the world, even in the face of opposition. Now, Jesus begins His prayer by asking the Jesus Christ be glorified. Yet, this glory stems from Christ’s relationship to God who is also glorified. As the eternally sent son, Jesus Christ receives the glory and honor that the Father receives. Then, through the sending of His Spirit to the church, the church receives this same glory insofar as they remain in Christ. Throughout the farewell discourse, Jesus did not promise an easy time for them but only that God would empower them to walk through the trials and difficulties they would face. The glory comes from joining the mission of God in the world and standing in the presence of God whose glory transcends any of the pain or suffering we may face in this world.

The temptation for the church will be always to strive to obtain glory from the world. However strong our faith may be, there is always a pressure to want to be accepted and love by the world. We see this individually in our personal lives, but for the church as well. We want the world to see and understand the goodness of God that we briefly consider lessening the impact of the Gospel in order to be liked. Many have chipped away at the Gospel by declaring sins to be not sinful and been accepting of things that God explicitly hates. We do this under the supposed guise that loves wins, hoping the world will look favorably upon us and upon our “gospel” that has been stripped of all its meaning and power. Standing in the glory of God the Father means that we stand in the integrity of who He is as we extend the love and grace of the Son, empowered by the Spirit within us. The glory of the church derives from the Father which empowers us to stand in integrity as the world seems to surround us.

• In what way does the unity of the Trinity proclaim the love of God and empowerment of the church?

The Church Representing The Work of Christ

Now, with Christ moving closer to the cross and later ascending to heaven, His prayer shifts to empowering the church. With the glory of the Father extending to the church through the Son by the Spirit within us, the church bears witness to the power and ministry of Christ on the earth long after He ascends into heaven. This is precisely why the prayer that the church would be one, unified with each other in the truth of God. The unity of the church displays the unity of God in relationship with Himself. The worldly temptation drives disunity and division among one another, yet a God glorifying church will drive towards unity in truth and grace out of the overflow of the eternal perfection and holiness of God. The prayer of Christ is that we would be one, regardless of our ethnic, geographical, or denominational background. Those who proclaim Jesus is Lord have joined the body of Christ and we stand in unity and support of one another based on this proclaim action of Lordship and Kingship. We must be vigilant against the temptation to gate keep the faith by adding criteria or being too quick to disfellowship with one another. The world will actively stand against the church but the church will bear witness to the right relationship with Gods through our unity with one another.

Thus, as we stand in right relationship with God through the empowerment of the fullness of the trinity, we continue the work of Christ in the world. God took on flesh as Jesus Christ, to proclaim a Gospel of forgiveness and hope to those who would stood in rebellion against the High King of Heaven. God, being a just God, cannot and will not allow sin to go unpunished. The weight and consequences of sin had been placed on Jesus Christ on the cross for all who would bow to Him as Lord. There will come a day when the judgment of Christ on the world will be complete. The role of the church, though, is not to carry out that judgment at this time but to offer hope to the hopeless and proclaim the works of Christ. The church, the body of Christ, the collection of the believers shines as a light in the darkness, pointing people to a new abs greater way of life rooted in the love and grace if God. When people see the church, they should see the revealed glory of God in the fullness of its truth, complexity, simplicity, and grace.

• In this final chapter in John 17, how does Jesus empower the church to stand in glory and unity?

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Discussion Questions

• How is the nature of God revealed in Jesus’ final prayer for the disciples?
• What are some of the modern temptations for disunity among the church? How does the gospel respond to these temptations?
• In what ways does the church represent God in the world? How do we join the ongoing mission of Christ in the world?
• Whar is the basis of our standing firm amidst the persecution of the world? What is the difference between pursuing His glory and the glory of the world?

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