SERMON: “Prayer for Our Future Glory” (John 17:24–26)
“Prayer
for Our Future Glory” (John 17:24–26)
Series: “John: Life in Christ’s Name” #95 Text: John 17:24–26
By: Shaun Marksbury Date: December
1, 2024
Venue: Living Water Baptist Church Occasion: AM Service
I.
Introduction
There have been many recently who have imagined what heaven would
be like. Some books have been written along
the lines of what Justin Peters has called “heavenly tourism,” books which claim
experiences of visiting heaven and returning to tell the tale. Some of the authors have since recanted their
accounts, but this hasn’t stopped people from picking up these books.
This is somewhat understandable, though. Eternity has been written upon our hearts,
Scripture says in Ecclesiastes 3:11. As
such, the Lord would want us pondering upon such eternal realities. In fact, the longing within us to know the
truth is an expression of His desire for us to spend eternity with us in His
glory.
As one study notes,
Godly men have always longed for heaven. In the Old Testament David expressed his
heart’s yearning for heaven when he wrote, “In Your presence is fullness of
joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Ps. 16:11). In the New Testament Paul wrote to the
Philippians of his “desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much
better” (Phil. 1:23), while in 2 Corinthians 5:8 he declared his preference “to
be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”[1]
It's fitting, then, that as we come to the end of the Lord’s
high priestly prayer for us, the prayer moves to focus on our future. This comes on the heals of Jesus’s prayer for
unity. He asks that we would have
genuine fellowship in this world. Such a
love and commitment to one another would be essential to withstand the temptations
of this world.
We’ll note three ways Jesus prays for our future glory. He prays for our perseverance of faith (v.
24a), then for our perspective of glory (v. 24b), and finally, for our presence
in Spirit (vv. 25–26). Let’s consider the
first of these.
II.
First, Jesus Prays for Our Perseverance of Faith
(v. 24a)
Father, I desire
that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am,
Christ begins this section of His prayer with a request born
of divine love and sovereign will. He begins
by calling upon His Father. This emphasizes
His relationship of intimate communion. None
of what Jesus says in this prayer is understandable unless we first accept that
He is the Son of God, the exact representation of the Father.
In His incarnate state, He prays for His disciples. He’s been doing this throughout this chapter,
and we again see ourselves in His designation, “whom You have given Me.” Christ’s words reflect the doctrine of divine
election, where believers are a love gift from the Father to the Son. He describes us as a group, united as one
body under Christ (cf. John 6:37; 10:29; 17:2).
This fact alone should give us a great assurance of our salvation, hope
that we can have unity on earth, and it helps us slay any doubts about what’s
coming next.
Jesus expresses a heavenly desire for His disciples. This godly “want” echoes Jesus’s earlier
promise in John 14:1–3: “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it
were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” This is an example of a good desire in
Scripture, a divine one for us.
Of course, it’s not that Jesus is desiring anything contrary
to the Father’s will, but it’s important to see: Christ’s desire for His people
is eternal fellowship with Him in heaven. Keep in mind that “heaven” actually describes
different realities or states in Scripture.
Right now, there is the intermediate state — the condition of believers
after death but before the resurrection of the body (cf. 2 Cor. 5:8). Then, there’s the tribulation state, heaven
during the seven-year tribulation on earth (Rev. 6–19), where it will be a
place of intense activity, the staging ground for Christ’s return to earth. Then, there’s heaven during the millennial kingdom
(Rev. 20:1–6), where Christ rules upon the earth with the resurrected saints of
heaven at that point ruling with Him. Finally,
there’s the eternal state, where God creates a new heaven and a new earth (Rev.
21:1–4), where He permanently dwells with His redeemed people.
The common thread through this isn’t the pearly gates or the
streets of gold. Rather, it’s relational
intimacy with the Lord. As Psalm 23:6
declares, “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my
life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Just as Jesus will continue to have a
relationship with the Father, we will also forever be with Him.
Jesus speaks with certainty about this. In fact, He says here “where I am” as though
His heavenly ascension has already occurred. It’s not that He’s saying that He hopes His
disciples will be in Gethsemane with Him!
He’s speaking of His ascended glory, and He desires that we will enjoy
fellowship with Him there.
His confidence assures us of the unbreakable promise of
eternal life (cf. John 10:28). As the
church, we are His bride, awaiting the day we will be united with Him in glory
(cf. Rev. 19:7; Eph. 5:25–27). So, let
us take comfort in knowing that Christ prays for our perseverance. Our faith will endure because it rests not in
our strength but in His sovereign care (cf. Phil. 1:6), and He prays that we
make it to the end!
Why is that? That
brings us to our next point:
III.
Second, Jesus Pray for Our Perspective of Glory (v.
24b)
so that they may
see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of
the world.
We can read here that there’s a clear purpose Jesus lays out
in His prayer. The ultimate goal of
salvation is not merely to escape hell but to behold the glory of Christ. Jesus prays that His followers would perceive
the fullness of His divine majesty.
Consider the fact that they’ve already had a glimpse of
glory. During His earthly ministry,
Jesus’ glory was veiled in human flesh. Yet,
His disciples caught glimpses of it in His miracles and the Transfiguration
(cf. John 1:14; Matt. 17:1–2). In v. 22
here, Jesus prays, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them,
that they may be one, just as We are one.”
So, they have seen a bit of His glory, almost like Moses viewed the glory
through the cleft of the rock.
Now Christ prays for the day when believers will behold His
unveiled glory in eternity. That glory
will change us; John writes in 1 John 3:2, “We know that when He appears, we
will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” He desires us to not only behold but be
changed, conformed into His glorious image (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 3:20–21).
We can be changed by the glory of God because of the love of
God. Consider that Jesus’s own glory
flows from the eternal love of the Father. He declares, “You loved Me before the
foundation of the world.” This statement
points to the preexistence and deity of Christ; before creation, the Father and
the Son shared perfect love and glory (cf. John 1:1; 17:5). The Lord also describes Christians as chosen “in
Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).
Jesus prays that believers share in His glory. As Paul writes in Romans 8:29–30, those whom
God predestined, He also glorified. Our
eternal hope rests in the unchanging love of the Father for the Son, extended
to us through Christ.
Yet, we are not yet there.
We are still on earth, awaiting that glorious day until Christ calls us
home. How does this affect us now,
and can we have hope that we’ll make it?
That brings us to the final point today:
IV.
Third, Jesus Prays for Our Presence in Spirit
(vv. 25–26)
O righteous
Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these
have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will
make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I
in them.
We’ve already answered the question as to whether we’ll make
it, though we haven’t exactly said why.
We will enjoy Christ’s presence here, as well, through the Holy
Spirit. So, Christ concludes His prayer
with a focus on our present and eternal relationship with God.
Consider what this commentary noted:
Although it is possible to think of
these two verses as a summary of the entire prayer, their connection with v. 24
is perhaps more compelling. They serve
to ground the eschatological prospect of v. 24, not only by continuing the
theme of the Father’s love for the Son, but by emphasizing the continuing
manifestation of the Father to the believers, the continuing ‘making known’ of
the Father, in anticipation of the consummating glory.[2]
We see this as the Jesus again addresses the Father, calling
Him “righteous.” This isn’t the only
time in the prayer He’s modified the Father’s name; He called Him “Holy Father”
in v. 11. In this case, Jesus emphasizes
the Father’s perfect justice. As one
commentary notes, “God is righteous
in everything He does (Ps. 145:17); His judgments (Pss. 19:9; 119:7; Rom. 2:5),
deeds (Ps. 103:6), ordinances (Ps. 119:62), and Word (Ps. 119:123) are
righteous.”[3] We need the righteousness of Christ if we are
to approach a righteous Father.
The world lacks this righteousness. It remains blinded by sin, fails to know the
true God (cf. John 8:19; 16:3). Yet believers, through Christ, come to know the
Father, because Jesus says that “I have known You; and these have known that
You sent Me.” Jesus even uses an
emphatic pronoun of Himself to emphasize what He’s praying; the world might not
know, but “I, I have known You.” In
John 7:29, He said, “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” We not only would be unable to approach God
without Jesus, we wouldn’t even know fully about Him!
Jesus’ mission was to reveal the Father. Jesus continues in v. 26, “I have made Your
name known to them, and will make it known.” This revelation began during His earthly
ministry and continues through the Holy Spirit, who leads us into all truth
(cf. John 14:26; 16:13). And He was successful.
He then gives another purpose clause. He says this is “so that the love with which
You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
The ultimate purpose of this revelation is aimed at God’s love.
This love is poured out in our hearts through the Holy
Spirit (cf. Romans 5:5). It’s possible
that this refers to the love that God will have for us as a result of our
belief, to the love of God we will have in our hearts for each other, or to
both. It unites us with Christ and one
another.
This love assures us of our union with Christ. As Paul writes in Colossians 1:27, “Christ in
you, the hope of glory.” It also compels
us to abide in Him, obey His commands, and reflect His love to the world (cf.
John 15:9–10). We will have the unity
with one another as He commanded because of what the Holy Spirit produces
within us.
We must remember that we have the love of God already
(this prayer is for present disciples, not those earning the love of God). Yet, we must also abide in that love (as Jesus
said back in John 15:9–10). This is not
to keep the love of God but to remain in it by keeping His commandments. We will not know the assurance of God without
it.
Yet, if the Holy Spirit is doing all this, then we can know
the presence of God on earth. We can
also know that Christ’s prayer will be affectual within us. We will persevere until heaven.
V.
Conclusion
This isn’t just the end of these verses, but the end of
Jesus’s entire high-priestly prayer.
Just as He’s praying that we persevere in the faith until heaven, He’s
praying that we make it through this world.
We need this encouragement as we face the temptations and trials of this
life.
Jesus’s prayer here reminds us of our great hope. We will dwell in the presence of the Lord,
behold His glory, and experience His love forever. So, let us live today with this eternal
perspective, persevering in faith, seeking His glory, and abiding in His love.
[1] John F. MacArthur Jr., John 12–21, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, (Chicago, IL: Moody
Publishers, 2008), 296.
[2] D. A. Carson, The
Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, (Leicester,
England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 570.
[3] MacArthur, 301.
