Pt 1 – The High Priestly Prayer – The Greatest Prayer Ever Prayed

When John Knox, the Scottish reformer, was lying on his deathbed in his house on High Street in Edinburgh, he insistently asked that the Bible be read aloud to him. He wanted to hear the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, and he asked for the Psalms, and he even requested that some of Calvin’s sermons be read to him. But above all he asked for his beloved chapter from the Gospel of John, the seventeenth chapter, which he referred to as “the place where I cast my first anchor.” It is a marvelous place into which to cast one’s anchor, for it will surely hold here. (Geddes MacGregor, The Thundering Scot (Philadelphia, 1957), p. 224.)

Philip Melanchthon went to college at the age of 13 and studied philosophy, rhetoric, astronomy and astrology. Though earning a Masters degree, the University of Heidelberg refused to give it to him because of his youth. He began studying theology; became a Greek scholar and Latin scholar and became known as really the first systematic theologian of the Reformation. He was a close friend of Martin Luther himself. When giving his last lecture before his death, Melanchthon said about John 17, “There is no voice which has ever been heard, either in heaven or in earth, more exalted, more holy, more fruitful, more sublime, than the prayer offered up by the Son to God Himself.”

Now let’s look closely at John 17:1, “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,” (ESV).

Who is praying? Obviously from the text, Jesus Christ himself is praying this prayer. Frequently the Gospels mention that Jesus prayed, but rarely do they ever record the actual words that He prayed. And do not confuse this prayer with what is traditionally called “The Lord’s Prayer” recorded in Matthew 6:9-13. Jesus did not actually pray “The Lord’s Prayer” but gave it to His disciples as a model prayer that His disciples should pray. John 17 is traditionally called “The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus” because in this prayer Jesus is interceding for the elect. And under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John the Apostle has perfect recollection of exactly what Jesus prayed — so God intends for us to know and understand the substance of this prayer.

When did Jesus pray this prayer? John 17:1 begins by alerting us to the fact that this prayer was prayed after Jesus had spoken certain words. The phrase “these words” refers to the words of Jesus recorded in John 14 thru John 16. Listen to the sermon audio to hear a recap of (1) what Jesus had said, (2) what He had not said, (3) and why He had said what He had said. You will learn that Jesus had spoken extensively to His disciples – preparing them with information.

But there comes certain times when information is not good enough. Have you ever said, “I know better but…”? Jesus knew that we disciples need more than information — we need the power of God in our lives. So Jesus stops talking to them about the Father and talks to the Father about them. One of the old Scottish divines, Robert Traill, began his sermons on this prayer of the Lord by quaintly saying, “The best of all sermons, in chap, 14, 15, 16 is concluded with the best of all prayers in this chap, 17.” (The Works of the Late Reverend Robert Traill (Edinburgh, 1810) , II, 6.)

To whom is Jesus speaking? The text is clear that Jesus is praying to God the Father in John 17:1. Having given those whom “He loved from the beginning and loved to the end,” all the comfort, all the instruction, all the encouragement, all the warning, and having expressed to them all the love that filled His soul, He “lifted up his eyes to heaven.” What the Savior had spoken from God to the disciples, He now speaks to God for His disciples. So faithful is Christ that he will never say anything to us that He will not say for us!

The God-man speaking to God; this is truly holy ground. John Calvin said, “Here we see the soul of Jesus.”

Why was Jesus Praying? The time element found in John 17:1 is found in the fact that Jesus said, “…the hour has come.” Many an hour had passed on the dial of time since time began, but no hour like this. It was the hour on which His own and His Father’s heart had been set. This was the hour for which their thoughts had been engaged since eternity past. It was the hour for which He became incarnate, for which He came into the world, for which the Son of God became the God-man.

Jesus is conscious at this moment that for every event in the mighty drama of redemption there is an hour. There is a time appointed by the Almighty and everlasting God that is attached to His eternal decree, history, His story. Redemptive history is a moment-by-moment materializing of the sovereign plan and will of God. According to that plan, the exact time when each redemptive event is to take place has been already determined. Jesus was embracing this truth with great confidence in the power of it. There is power in trusting and embracing with confidence God’s sovereignty.

This is sovereign, predestined history. The hour of which Jesus speaks has finally come. It is the time, the hour for fulfilling all prophesies, all types, all symbols, all pictures. It is the hour of which every prophet spoke. It is the hour for which every man of God longs. It is the hour upon which the salvation of every person who will ever enter Heaven depends. It is the hour of triumph over sin. It is the hour of triumph over justice and wrath. It is the hour of triumph over the prince of this world. It is the hour of dismissing the old and ushering in the new. Here it is, the all, the everything, the climax, the coup de grâce, the hour to blot out the curse, to reconcile sinners to God, to illuminate the obscured spiritual Kingdom, make everything clear. And it would all be accomplished on a cross as the King of Glory crucified by Gentiles at the behest of the Jews. It was the hour when the elect where to be redeemed.As He will bear the wrath of a sin-hating God on behalf of His own and bore it in full. In that hour when the sun refused to shine; in that hour the earth will rock and reel; in that hour when graves opened and threw their dead out. It was the glory hour. “Father, the hour has come” – Thine hour, Mine hour, Mine enemies hour, and My people’s hour.

Oh! if we could learn to pray like Jesus. Jesus did not pray to move the heart of God. Rather He prayed to express His faith in the Father’s purpose! John 17 is the greatest example of a true prayer of faith. Such praying can be the believer’s highest form of worship. And Jesus taught us that in Matthew 6:9-13 when He instructed us to pray, “Father, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”