John 17-19: A different kind of king

We read John 17 through 19 and listen to Jesus pray for his disciples and for all who will believe later, including us. Then we walk through his arrest, Peter’s denial, Pilate’s courtroom questions, and the crucifixion that John presents as the crux of our faith. 

• Jesus’ prayer revealing his heart, goals, and hope for the future 
• Eternal life described as knowing the one true God and Jesus Christ 
• Protection in the world, joy in hardship, and being set apart by truth 
• Unity among believers as a witness to the world 
• Judas’ betrayal and Jesus choosing the Father’s cup over violence 
• Peter’s three denials and the rooster’s crow by the charcoal fire 
• Pilate’s interrogation, “What is truth?”, and the pressure to crucify 
• The crucifixion details John highlights to build belief in who Jesus is 
• “It is finished,” fulfilled Scripture, and the burial in a nearby tomb 
• The reminder to preach the gospel to ourselves all year 

What detail from the story sticks out to you? 
What jumps out to you today?

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Transcript

Jesus Prays For His Disciples

Jesus Prays For Future Believers

Betrayal And Arrest In The Orchard

Peter’s Denials By The Fire

Pilate Questions Jesus About Truth

Crucifixion And Final Words

Burial And Why The Cross Matters

SPEAKER_01 0:12

This is the Out Loud Bible Project Podcast, and I am Mike. It's here we're going to hear the word of God read out loud, and then we're going to talk about how to actually do something about it. How is it going to make a difference? Let's hear it, let's love it, and then let's live it. That's what we're doing here at Out Loud Bible. And uh thanks so much for being a part of it. We're in the book of John. We're going to read John chapter 17 through 19 today. And things are getting real. I'll tell you what, it is heating up. Jesus is taking a few moments by himself and with his few closest friends to share what is closest to his heart, what is most important to him. And we're going to find him pray. And his prayer is very revealing about what his goals are, what he expects of the future, and spoiler alert, he includes us, you, me, in his prayer. So we should pay attention. Let's check out John 17. We're going to continue the story through chapter 19, leading all the way up to the instances surrounding his death. A really poignant part of history and worth paying attention to. So let's check out John 17 through 19 in the New English Translation. When Jesus had finished saying these things, he looked upward to heaven and said, Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you, just as you've given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you've given him. Now this is eternal life that they know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent. I glorified you on earth by completing the work you gave me to do, and now, Father, glorify me at your side with the glory I had with you before the world was created. I've revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world. They belong to you, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word. Now they understand that everything you've given me comes from you because I've given them the words you've given me. They accepted them and really understand that I came from you and they believed that you sent me. I'm praying on behalf of them. I'm not praying on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you've given me because they belong to you. Everything I have belongs to you, and everything you have belongs to me, and I've been glorified by them. I'm no longer in the world, but they're in the world, and I'm coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe in your name that you've given me, so that they may be one, just as we are one. When I was with them I kept them safe and watched over them in your name that you've given me. Not one of them was lost, except the one destined for destruction, so that the scripture could be fulfilled. But now I'm I'm coming to you and I'm saying these things in the world so that they may experience my joy in themselves. I've given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they don't belong to the world, just as I don't belong to the world. I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but th that you keep them safe from the evil one. They don't belong to the world just as I don't belong to the world. Set them apart in the truth. Your word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world, and I set myself apart on their behalf, so that they too may be truly set apart. I'm not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony, that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I'm in you, and I pray that they will be in us so that the world will believe that you sent me. The glory you gave to me, I've given to them, that they may be one just as we're one, I in them and you in me, that they may be completely one, so that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them just as you loved me. Father, I want those you've given me to be with me where I am, so that they can see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me from before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, even if the world doesn't know you, I know you, and these men know that you sent me. I made known your name to them, and I'll continue to make it known, so that the love you've loved me may be in them, and I may be in them. When he had said these things, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley. There was an orchard there, and he and his disciples went into it. Now Judas, the one who had betrayed him, knew the place too, because Jesus had met there many times with his disciples. So Judas obtained a squad of soldiers and some of the chief priests and Pharisees, and they came to the orchard with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, because he knew everything that was going to happen to him, came and asked them, Who are you looking for? They replied, Jesus the Nazarene. He told them, I am he. Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, was standing there with them, so when Jesus said to them, I am he, they retreated and fell to the ground. Then Jesus asked them again, Who are you looking for? They said Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus replied, I told you that I'm he. If you're looking for me, let these men go. He said this to fulfill the word he had spoken, I have not lost a single one of those whom you gave me. Well then Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the high priest's slave, cutting off his right ear. Now the slave's name was Malchus, but Jesus said to Peter, put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me? Then the squad of soldiers with their commanding officer, and the officers of the Jewish leaders arrested Jesus and tied him up. They brought him first to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year. Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jewish leaders that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people. Simon Peter and another disciple, now that we know this to be John, referring to himself vaguely here, followed them as they brought Jesus to Annas. Now the other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, and he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard. But Peter was left standing outside by the door, so the other disciple who was acquainted with the high priest came out and spoke to the slave girl who watched the door and brought Peter inside. The girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, You're not one of this man's disciples, are you? He replied, I'm not. Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire they had made, warming themselves because it was cold. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself. Now while this was happening, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus replied, I've spoken publicly to the world. I've always taught in the synagogues and in the temple courts where all the Jewish people assemble together. I've said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said. They know what I said. When Jesus had said this, one of the high priest's officers who stood nearby struck him on the face and said, Is that the way you answer the high priest? Jesus replied, If I've said something wrong, confirm what's wrong, but if I spoke correctly, why strike me? Then Anis sent him, still tied up, to Caiaphas, the high priest. Meanwhile, Simon Peter was standing in the courtyard warming himself, and they said to him, You're not one of his disciples, are you? Peter denied it. I'm not. One of the high priest's slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, Didn't I see you in the orchard with him? And then Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed. Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the Roman governor's residence. Now it was very early morning. They didn't go into the governor's residence so that they wouldn't be ceremonially defiled but could eat the Passover meal. So Pilate came outside to them and said, What accusation do you bring against this man? They replied, If the men were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you. Pilate told them, Take him yourselves and pass judgment on him according to your own law. The Jewish leaders replied, We cannot legally put anyone to death. This happened to fulfill the word Jesus had spoken when he indicated what kind of death he was going to die. So Pilate went back into the governor's residence, summoned Jesus, and asked him Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus replied, Are you saying this on your own initiative or have others told you about me? Pilate answered, I'm not a Jew, am I? Your own people and your chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done? Jesus replied, My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities, but as it is, my kingdom is not from here. Then Pilate said, So you are a king. Jesus replied, You say that I'm a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. Pilate asked, What is truth? When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders and announced, I find no basis for an accusation against him. But it's your custom that I release one prisoner for you at the Passover, so do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews? Then they shouted back, No, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a revolutionary. Then they took Jesus and had him flogged severely. The soldiers braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they clothed him in a purple robe, and they came up to him again and again and said, Hail, King of the Jews, and they struck him repeatedly in the face. And again Pilate went out and said to the Jewish leaders, Look, I'm I'm bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no reason for an accusation against him. So Jesus came outside, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, Look, here's the man. When the chief priests and their officers saw him, they shouted, Crucify him! Crucify him. Pilate said, You take him and crucify him. Certainly I find no reason for an accusation against him. The Jewish leaders replied, Oh, we have a law, and according to our law he ought to die because he claimed to be the Son of God. When Pilate heard what they said, he was more afraid than ever, and he went back into the governor's residence and said to Jesus, Where do you come from? But Jesus gave no answer. So Pilate said, Do you refuse to speak to me? Don't you know I have the authority to release you and to crucify you? Jesus replied, You would have no authority over me at all unless it was given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of greater sin. From this point on, Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leader shouted out, If you release this man, you're no friend of Caesar. Everyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar. When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat in the place called the Stone Pavement, or Gabatha in Aramaic. And now it was the day of preparation for the Passover, about noon. Pilate said to the Jewish leaders, Look, here's your king. Then they shouted out Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate asked, What shall I crucify your king? The high priests replied, Oh we have no king but Caesar. Then Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and, carrying his own cross he went out to the place called the place of the skull, called in Aramaic Golgotha, and there they crucified him, along with two others, one on each side with Jesus in the middle, and Pilate also had a notice written and fastened to the cross which read Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Thus many of the Jewish residents of Jerusalem read this notice because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the notice was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Don't write the King of the Jews, but rather the this man said, I am King of the Jews. And Pilate answered, What I've written, I've written. Now when the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, and the tunic remained. Now the tunic was seamless, woven from top to bottom as a single piece, so the soldiers said to one another, Let's not tear it, but throw dice to see who'll get it. This took place to fulfill the scripture that says, They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they threw dice. So the soldiers did these things. Now standing beside Jesus' cross were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopus, and Mary Magdalene. So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, Woman Look, here is your son. And then he said to his disciple, Look, here is your mother. And from that very time the disciple took her into his own home. After this, Jesus, realizing that by this time everything was completed, said, in order to fulfill the scripture I am thirsty. A jar full of sour wine was there, so they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a branch of hyssop and lifted it to his mouth. And when he had received the sour wine, Jesus said it is finished and then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Then because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was an especially important one, the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to have the victim's legs broken and the bodies taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men who had been crucified with Jesus, first one and then the other. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they didn't break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out immediately. And the person who saw it has testified, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he's telling the truth, so that you may also believe. For these things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled, not a bone of his will be broken. And again another scripture says they will look on the one whom they have pierced. After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, because he feared the Jewish leaders, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he went and took the body away. Nicodemus, the man who had previously come to Jesus at night, accompanied Joseph, carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about seventy-five pounds. Then they took Jesus' body and wrapped it with the aromatic spices in strips of linen cloth, according to Jewish burial customs. Now at the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb where no one had been buried. And so, because it was the Jewish day of preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus' body there. And there it will sit until our next episode, when we'll read the Easter story, what happens next. Please remember though, this is not just a story to be told or to listen to or to read around Easter. This is the well, the crux coming from the word crucifixion. This is the crux of our entire faith. We need to preach the gospel to ourselves throughout the year, throughout our life, so that we don't take for granted what he did. John's account, especially, is to prove to you who Jesus is, and that he laid down his life willingly because he knew who he was and what his role was. Crucifixion was not unique to Jesus. Thousands and thousands of people had been crucified. But when the Son of God was crucified and had not done anything wrong, and he completed every step according to some divine plan that had been in the works for eons, well then that's unique to our faith and makes all the difference. From the story of this crucifixion we just read, or maybe his prayer in the garden prior to his crucifixion, what detail from the story sticks out to you? Every detail John includes is for you to get to know Jesus a little bit better. What jumps out to you today? This whole story begs you to know him, to obey him, and to live differently because of it. That's the thinking out loud thought for the day.