WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:04.639 Hear now the word of the true and living God, John 17, 1. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:11.359 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:15.199 Glorify your son that the Son may glorify you. 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:16.800 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:18.079 Please be seated. 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:22.000 I think we got the wrong one. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:25.519 All right. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:34.320 Okay, so this is John 17, 1 through 5. 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:41.679 It says, when Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, did we read all this, or did I just blank out? 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:44.240 Just verse 1. 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:45.280 Just verse 1. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:45.679 Okay. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:49.359 This transition is going to be fine, everybody. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:00:58.640 John 17, 1 to 5. 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:03.119 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:05.599 Gly your Son, that the Son may glorify you. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:10.640 Since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:16.799 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:20.959 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:27.439 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the word existed. 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:29.120 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:30.959 Would you pray with me? 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:43.599 Holy Father, would you send your spirit to make your word come alive in our hearts? 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:48.480 May we be a people who are animated by what you have said to us? 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:56.159 In the same way that your word went out and formed all things, would it go out this evening and would it form our hearts after you? 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:02.719 Lord, would you create in us a uh a heart that seeks you and loves you? 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:07.519 And would that create a community that rallies together for you? 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:09.680 Father, only you can create those things. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:11.360 And we lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:12.319 Amen. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:21.280 So over this Advent season, we're going to be moving through John chapter 17. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:25.759 And John chapter 17 is often referred to as the high priestly prayer. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:36.000 And uh in this commentary on John by Leslie Nubigan that I've totally fallen in love with, uh he describes this chapter like this. 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:45.039 He says, When a man is going on a long journey, he will find time on the eve of departure for quiet talk with his family. 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:55.360 And if he is a man of God, we'll end by commending to God not only himself and his journey, but also the family whom he leaves behind. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:03.039 So when I was considering what we should preach through during this time, I knew that we needed it to be a time of prayer. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:20.800 And seeing this chapter as Jesus' prayer before this journey that he sets out on towards the cross, it seemed like an appropriate thing for us to focus in on, that this prayer of Jesus might let us know and remember that Jesus has prayed for us. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:23.199 So we're going to be moving through this. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:26.159 It's oftentimes referred to as the high priestly prayer. 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:32.800 And that's because Jesus stands as our high priest about to make an offering on our behalf. 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:36.159 The offering that Jesus will make is Himself. 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:43.199 Now, look, a move across town to Berkeley is nothing like the road to Calvary. 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:46.080 They are very different things. 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:51.840 There's no Denver Biscuit Company at Calvary. 00:03:52.879 --> 00:04:02.560 But this idea of hearing Jesus' prayer before a journey and making this our prayer before our journey just seemed really appropriate. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:06.080 So through this Advent season, that's what we're going to be looking at. 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:10.400 Remembering that we move because Jesus moved for us. 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:15.680 We go on mission because Jesus went on mission to rescue us. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:19.759 He is the one who gives the example and provides the power. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:21.360 And that's what we're going to be looking at. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:31.600 Just as Leslie Nubigan said, uh, if you're good to go on a long journey, then it would make sense to have a quiet talk with your family before the journey. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:39.120 And you would commend yourself in prayer for the journey, and you would also pray for the family that you're leaving behind. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:46.160 So we'll see as Jesus moves through this prayer in John 17 that he follows just that pattern. 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:56.959 He prays for himself, and then he prays for his disciples, and then he prays for those who will know who Jesus is through his disciples. 00:04:57.199 --> 00:04:58.639 And that's us. 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:06.000 And so that brings me to the final reason that I wanted to move through John chapter 17. 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:17.360 And that's look, I this is I've been doing this for a bit now, but in kind of strange ways that we've all come here. 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:28.879 And the uh I think that in a lot of ways, this may be the first holiday season where it seems like I I'm really your pastor. 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:32.560 And I think many of you think of me that way. 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:37.759 And I'd always heard that holidays start to get pretty tough. 00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:40.959 And a lot comes out of the woodwork around the holidays. 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:43.279 And that hadn't really happened to me. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:48.160 I hadn't really seen that before, but this year I'm really seeing it. 00:05:48.720 --> 00:06:05.759 And so as we're moving through this and we see just all the hurt and pain that the holidays can bring up for people, one thing that I thought would be so important for our church to know and to hear, you know, for many of you personally, just need to hear this. 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:08.399 Jesus prayed for you. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:19.519 And you need to sit through this series, this quiet talk as a family before we move, and know in your heart, Jesus prayed for me. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:25.600 You need to hear what those words sounded like and let them resonate in your soul. 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:28.000 I think it can be a transformative thing to hear. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:31.759 And so that's what we're going to be moving through as we move through John 17. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.639 So to begin this prayer, Jesus is discussing glory. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:44.319 So let's go ahead and get into our text and begin this prayer and hear what Jesus' prayer is for us. 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:54.879 John 17, verse 1, said, when Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:00.240 Glorify your son, that the Son may glorify you. 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:10.480 So you'll notice that this prayer is not like prayers that uh where Jesus describes someone else praying. 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:25.439 Oftentimes when Jesus describes someone else praying, we'll hear in as he's described stories, he's told the story of uh the sinner who's praying next to the Pharisee, and uh he says, Lord, have mercy on me as sinner. 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:28.319 And it's that prayer that we learn to pray. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:30.399 Lord, have mercy on me as sinner. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:32.639 That's the one who goes away justified. 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:35.120 Head bowed before the Lord. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:37.920 But Jesus isn't praying that way here. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:42.160 The posture that Jesus assumes is his head is lifted up. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:47.439 And that's so important to notice because we have to remember who is praying here. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:50.879 This is not the confession of a sinner. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:55.040 This is the Trinity communicating with itself. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:08:01.680 This is what a person of God communicating with the other persons of God. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:11.040 We're seeing something, a picture, a look into the community of the Trinity in this prayer. 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:16.639 And it's saturated from beginning to end with this language of glory. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:21.839 Now, glory is one of those things that's tough to pin down until you see it. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:27.920 You know, glory is that thing where it's why is that sunset so beautiful and captivating? 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:32.240 Why is the alpin glow such an amazing thing to behold? 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:36.960 Why are certain cups of coffee so much better than other cups of coffee? 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:41.440 It's because what we're getting is these glimmers of real glory. 00:08:42.320 --> 00:09:03.200 We're seeing these pointers towards this essence of God, which is his gloriousness, these things that are so high above us, so transcendent and complete, like a robe that fills his throne room, and a voice that sounds like thunder and lightning that flashes forth from his throne. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:08.080 These are all images and pictures of this essence of God, which is his glory. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:22.080 And so Jesus, in his prayer, he requests that God would glorify him so that the Son would glorify the Father. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:39.600 Now, in the reformed tradition that I preach from, glory it can become just this kind of rote, boring sort of catch-all term for anything that God does. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:46.960 Any hard question that we face, if you're talking to a reformed person like me, I'll just say, like, well, he does it for his glory. 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:51.279 And then we'll just like know, like, oh yeah, don't ask any more questions. 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:54.720 You know, God's gonna be glorified in this. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:56.720 This is for God's glory. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:04.320 And it's this kind of like, okay, I don't know anything more than before you answered the question. 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:18.240 And what we see in the way that glory is demonstrated here is something so much more dynamic, so much more complicated than that wrote answer of God just does everything for his glory. 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:46.639 When we hear God does everything for his glory, I think we picture this sort of like outside of space and time, God is this sort of orb or old man in the sky, and he's commanding things on us creatures, and he's constraining us in these finite lives, in these time-bound worlds, and he's saying, now you have to do this and you have to do that, and you go to heaven, and you go to hell, and it's for my glory. 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:53.919 And it's like, okay, what does glory mean in those instances? 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:57.919 How do I understand what God's glory is? 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:05.440 It seems just like a threat to us, it seems just imposed upon us God's glory. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:15.519 But the way Jesus prays for it here paints a very different picture than we often have in our just imagination of God's glory. 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:23.600 We see Jesus pray, Father, the hour has come, glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:31.519 You see, Jesus is praying to be glorified so that he would glorify the Father. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:36.799 And what is this hour that has come for Jesus? 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:39.440 It's his crucifixion. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:46.159 When this prayer is set in motion, the wheels of his evening have been set in motion as well. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:52.000 Judas has already left to go gather the Sanhedrin, that way Jesus might be arrested. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:12:04.159 And so they're in this kind of space where the plan is in motion, Jesus' eyes are fixed, and he knows that his glorification means his death on the cross. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:17.039 And when he's praised, Lord, glorify me that I may glorify you, we see a picture that's very different than some sort of orb imposing himself upon us. 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:24.480 But we see that God's glory takes place in this relational dynamic of the Trinity. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:32.960 That in the oneness between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, there is this constant giving of glory to one another. 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:39.039 Glorification is in giving glory to each other. 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:41.440 Leslie Nubigan, again, he says this. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:46.240 He says, the glory of God is a reciprocal relationship. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:50.320 It is something forever freely given. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:53.519 Forever freely given. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:13:00.559 The glory of God is expressed in the giving of this glory. 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:05.519 That's why when the Lord created the world, He He puts His glory into it. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:07.840 We can see the fingerprints of his glory in it. 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:10.240 That's why the Alpin Glow is so beautiful. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:12.879 That's why the coffee tastes so good. 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:21.759 Because God has made it, and this is the God who is always freely giving glory to himself. 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:34.080 And then in John 17, 2, this picture of this dynamic glory in the Trinity, it overflows to include us in Jesus' prayer. 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:42.720 In John 17, 2, it says, Since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:49.039 Now that sense is probably better translated as just as. 00:13:50.159 --> 00:14:06.320 So Jesus prays, Lord, give me glory, that way I might glorify you, just as or in the same way that you have given me authority over all flesh, so that I might give eternal life to all whom you have given me. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:20.799 See, this picture of the Father giving glory to the Son, so that the Son might give glory back to the Father, Jesus has this picture in his mind of this eternal relationship that he shared with God. 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:36.000 And he says, just like that picture, would you, would you, in the same way that you give me this glory, would you give me the authority to then turn around and give life to the people that you have given me to give life to? 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:42.879 See, the dynamic of the Trinity is part of Jesus' imagination for our salvation. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:58.159 So when Jesus is praying for glory, when Jesus is praying for his own glory, he overflows into this prayer of giving his people eternal life. 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:04.000 They are sought at the same time, at the same instance. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:12.000 Jesus' seeking of his glory is the same as his seeking of giving his people eternal life. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:19.679 And so Jesus' picture of uh this, so Jesus starts to then riff on, all right, eternal life. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:20.240 What is that? 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:21.360 What is eternal life? 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:25.759 And he moves on in John 17, 3 and adds this nice little definition. 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:36.159 He says, and this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:46.399 Eternal life is to know the only true God in Jesus Christ whom he has sent. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:51.519 I think if we were to walk on the street and take a survey and say, what is eternal life? 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:55.759 I think most people would say, well, eternal life is living forever. 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:58.399 Eternal life means not dying. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:02.559 It means you you start living and you live for forever, for a very long time. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:06.399 Einstein has that great quote, or maybe it's Stephen Hawking. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:09.759 I saw it on Facebook with one of their pictures. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:11.600 I'm just kidding. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:13.679 But that's how things happen. 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:19.120 Um he says, eternity is a very long time, especially towards the end. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:25.279 And I think that's the way that most of us would conceptualize what eternal life is. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:28.000 But Jesus has a very different understanding. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:35.840 That is eternal life. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:39.840 This is far better than everlasting life. 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:44.639 It's a completely different category from everlasting life. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:46.879 It is eternal life. 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:53.759 And so we see Jesus makes the conversation about knowing God. 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:56.559 This is eternal life, that we know God. 00:16:56.879 --> 00:17:08.559 And when you consider how it is that a finite little creature like us, who let's imagine, like almost none of us will, but let's imagine that we'll have a hundred years to live. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:15.440 If you have a hundred years, what could you do in that hundred years to know God? 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:20.160 To where at the end of it you might say something like, Oh yeah, God, I know God. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:22.960 I know what that's like, I know, I know what he's like. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:25.680 I I can confidently say I know God. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:30.480 I don't think the most efficient person would not be able to even scratch the surface. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:39.519 It seems like a complete impossibility for us to say, in as the types of things that we are, that we could ever know God. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:52.160 He would have to make himself known to us in a very different way, in a way that's much more like us, in a way that's much more accommodated to our small frame. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:55.599 And that's precisely what we see God do. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:04.799 But the question is, as these limited people, we realize we must be changed in order to say that we know God. 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:17.440 And Christ in the Trinity is the way that God has accommodated Himself to us so that we could know Him, just like knowing another person, we are all of a sudden able to know God. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:30.720 So with this question of knowledge, we've got to ask ourselves, what is it with our lives that we are trying to know? 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:44.160 If eternal life is not just living forever, but it's knowing God, and if we're after something that's great, like eternal life, then if we were to step back and look at our lives, what would you say you are trying to know? 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.240 This is a conversation that goes back very far in scripture. 00:18:48.480 --> 00:19:11.599 Uh in uh when Eve is being tempted in the garden by uh the serpent, uh, the serpent says to her, Genesis 3, 4 through 5, says, But the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:18.640 So here's the way it works, I think. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:24.480 We have this hope of eternal life, which is knowing God. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:34.799 But the first temptation is, you know, God has already put these limits on you. 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:38.720 You time-bound thing. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:42.079 You could never really know, right? 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:44.960 I mean, not like he knows. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:57.519 Sure, he's given you the rest of the garden, but if you can't eat from that one tree, doesn't that mean that he's really just gonna limit you everywhere? 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:05.279 And that all of these limits on yourself that you experience, aren't those bad? 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:11.119 I know that God says that they're good and they're to be received for your good, that it's a good thing. 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:20.000 He stepped back from this world that he bound in time with these limited creatures, and he said, It is good, but the serpent says, Is it really good? 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:29.839 He says, Here's the opportunity not to know God, but to know what God knows. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:32.720 To know just like God. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:39.759 So the question becomes, not one of knowing God, but of being God. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:43.839 So it's an important one. 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:46.799 What do you want to know? 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:49.920 Do you want to know God? 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.400 Or do you want to know what it's like to be God? 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:00.720 We have little things that we carry around in our pockets and that uh buzz to wake us up. 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:07.200 And I I was thinking about this the other morning when I was rolling out of bed and I reached to grab my phone, the first thing. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:08.640 And I thought, you know what it feels like? 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:12.000 It's like I'm grabbing the handle of the world. 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:18.960 And when I grab this, then then I'll be able to control all that happens with the rest of my day. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:43.440 And if I don't grab it, then I'm gonna feel totally vulnerable and so out of control and terrified because there may be somebody trying to get me, and if I don't respond to them in time, then they'll start thinking these things of me, and this narrative of my life will start to spiral out of control, all because I didn't grab that handle of the world that gives me control over everything. 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:45.279 What do I want to know? 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:49.359 I want to know what it's like to be totally in control. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:58.720 I want to know what it's like to feel like I have complete say over my narrative, over what the world thinks of me and what it says of me. 00:21:59.119 --> 00:21:59.759 I want to know what. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:06.400 It's like to feel completely comfortable because I've portrayed myself exactly how I would like to be portrayed. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:15.279 See, in all these things that I would like to know, I'm saying I would like to know what it's like to be God. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:22.640 Not to rest back into this creaturely space. 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:27.359 That God says it's good, you be the creature, all be the God. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:31.519 Instead, I say, I don't trust you as the God. 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:35.119 I'm the one who needs to be the God here. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:37.920 That's what I really want to know. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:42.000 I don't want to know you, the true God. 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:46.480 I want to be you, the true God. 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:51.920 And so survey your heart. 00:22:53.440 --> 00:23:07.039 Because those things that we begin to idolize for the sense of control or the sense of comfort that they bring to us, it's those things that we first grabbed because we thought they would make us feel like God. 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:23.440 It's those things that become the functional gods in our lives that we have to worship, we have to bow down to, we have to grab, and we have to do what they say in order that we might feel it, because they are offering this opportunity to be God. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:28.240 But what they're really making us is their slaves. 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:32.400 So just think through your daily routine. 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:42.640 If somebody were to film you for a day, and you were to watch it later, and somebody were to ask you, what does that person want to know? 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:46.160 What does their life say they want to know? 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:49.759 They want to know what it's like to be in control. 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:53.119 They want to know what it's like to not worry. 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:56.160 That's why they just keep themselves distracted all the time. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:00.000 What would you say? 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:02.000 What do you want to know? 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:11.759 Jesus says this is eternal life. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:18.160 That they know you, the only true God, in Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:25.599 If you were to look at that video, would you watch and think, this is a person who wants eternal life? 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:29.119 They want to know what it's like to know God. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.559 They rest in God being God. 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:38.559 They don't wrestle it for themselves. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:42.640 Jesus continues in his prayer. 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:49.599 In John 17, 4 through 5, he says, I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:57.440 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:15.279 So Jesus returns immediately to this theme of glory after describing what eternal life is, and he places himself in this particular moment of redemptive history, where he says that he has accomplished all that the Father has given him to do. 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:18.480 And he's glorified the Father by having accomplished that. 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:33.039 Now we know that Jesus has not yet gone to the cross, but he begins praying in such a way as to add this capstone to his earthly ministry, because as we know, he won't have time to pray this later. 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:40.000 And so he speaks in a way as though he places himself immediately after having been crucified. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:48.480 He says, Look, I have accomplished all of what the Father has given me to do, and he has glorified the Father on earth because of that. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:26:03.279 And then he prays this strange phrase in verse 5 where he says, And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:19.440 He asks for this return to a previous glory that he had experienced with God, a glory that Jesus and the Father had shared since before the world existed. 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:32.480 When they hatched this plan of existence and redemption and glorification, when they shared this together, Jesus is saying, Let me return to that type of glory. 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:39.440 Now, there's two things at least that are weird about this part of the prayer. 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:53.359 First one is this reality that it shows that Jesus, this person who is like us, is the second person of the Trinity. 00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:56.640 He is completely God. 00:26:56.960 --> 00:26:58.880 He is one with the Father. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:07.759 In fact, earlier in this very same book, in John chapter 10, verse 30, he says, I and the Father are one. 00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:17.599 They are completely one, sharing forever and eternally glory together. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:32.640 And then secondly, we see in this that Jesus is praying for a return to the glory that he once had with the Father. 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:42.960 Now, how can this eternal second person of the Trinity possibly be praying for a return to glory? 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:57.440 Newbegin again in that, excuse me, in the in the comment in the commentary that I'd referenced earlier. 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:09.279 He says that this means, this part of the prayer means that the incarnation entailed a forfeiture of glory. 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:17.279 Jesus becoming a man meant laying down his glory. 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:23.680 And that's why we see him pray here: Lord, restore me. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:31.440 Restore me to the glory that I shared with you, that I shared with you before the world existed. 00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:42.319 Now, we've seen this picture of glory as this for this forever reciprocal giving of glory that takes place in the Godhead, that takes place in the Trinity. 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:47.599 The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are constantly forever giving glory to one another. 00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:53.599 And what is that other than they're all three of them treating God as God? 00:28:54.160 --> 00:28:57.599 And in doing so, they're being glorified and they're glorifying. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:05.359 They're saying, that Jesus is saying, Father, you are God, and Father is saying, Jesus, you are God, and the Holy Spirit is saying, You're sending me, and you're God. 00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:12.160 You know, there's this constant treating of God as God in the Trinity. 00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:23.279 This is why we say that this is the blessed Trinity. 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:35.119 Because God is happy in himself, constantly treating himself as he is, in his own glory. 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:44.160 So then how is it that Jesus says, return me to that? 00:29:46.720 --> 00:29:51.519 Look, this is the unfathomable depth of the gospel. 00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:59.839 We are the ones that didn't treat God as God. 00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:05.680 We are the ones that are so unlike the Trinity. 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:23.119 Who instead of this forever giving of glory to God and treating God as God and us finding our place in his world as just his creatures, we are the ones who said to God, I will not give you glory, I will take glory from you, and I will use it to glorify myself. 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:33.920 Something so unlike anything we see taking place in the Trinity, something so unlike what the nature of the glory of God is. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:39.920 And so how could things like us know a God like that? 00:30:43.519 --> 00:30:53.200 Well, what if the Father treated Jesus like one of us? 00:30:55.359 --> 00:31:38.720 And what if Jesus willingly laid down his glory and did not consider equality with God a thing to be jealously held, but instead laid it down and took on the form of a man, humbled himself to the form of a man, even to the point of dying on a cross, laying down his glory, taking on the punishment that we would deserve for not treating God as God, so that we might justly be brought in to see and know completely the glory of God. 00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:43.200 That is eternal life. 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:55.440 This is eternal life, that we know the one true God, who he is, and what knowing that means is saying we did not glorify him as the one true God. 00:31:55.599 --> 00:31:58.000 We were the ones that broke away from him. 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:12.880 And then seeing Jesus Christ, the one whom he has sent, as the one who took on the punishment that we deserved, that way we might see his glory demonstrated so completely in the giving it up for us. 00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:21.440 And it's because of that that Jesus has the authority to give us eternal life. 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:26.000 Don't you see? 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:29.279 Glory is not just some boring catch-all. 00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:32.559 We pray this all the time. 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:35.920 Lord, would you be glorified in this situation? 00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:38.480 Don't you see what we're praying? 00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:46.319 Don't you see that when the prayer started out and Jesus is praying, Lord, glorify me? 00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:49.680 Don't you hear the good news for us in that? 00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:57.039 Jesus is glorified in his rescue of us. 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:03.039 They're the same end to him. 00:33:05.039 --> 00:33:06.960 This is incredibly good news. 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:26.079 And so as we move through this season with this as the background for this prayer, we'll see that even Jesus' first prayer, the one that focuses on him being glorified, to us means our salvation. 00:33:27.279 --> 00:33:30.799 So we have this amazing news of this glorious God. 00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:36.480 We're going to mix up a bit the rest of the liturgy. 00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:40.079 We're going to join in on Jesus' prayer here. 00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:46.880 And we're going to pray that God would be glorified in our lives and in where our church is headed. 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:49.920 And I hope that that means something more to you. 00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:54.079 I want you to consider the situations that you're in in life. 00:33:54.240 --> 00:34:04.559 I was talking about this with one of our elders this past weekend, of like something that we've just really seen lately is life is so hard for everyone. 00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:08.960 Like, just it may, my wife and I, again, we're talking about this past weekend. 00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:16.960 We were like, whoever talked about like you need to learn to navigate the highs and the lows, that person was that person was an idiot. 00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:19.199 There's not highs and lows. 00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:22.079 I don't know a part of life where it's like, this is a high. 00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:24.400 Gotta learn to navigate this. 00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:26.320 Hasn't been my experience. 00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:31.519 There's good things happening all the time, and there's really bad things happening all the time. 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:35.760 I don't remember where I was going with that. 00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:47.199 Our hope in understanding this is to pray that God would be glorified in it. 00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:50.559 To see in his glory, that's our knowing him. 00:34:50.719 --> 00:34:51.679 So here's what we're gonna do. 00:34:51.760 --> 00:34:53.280 We're gonna take communion together. 00:34:53.440 --> 00:35:04.320 We're going to remember that uh his poured out blood and his body that was broken for us, it brings us in to see and know the one true God and to join them in their eternal life. 00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:07.840 And then we are going to sing one song. 00:35:08.159 --> 00:35:15.599 Now, before uh typically, right when you're done with communion, we go and get our kids uh so that they can come up here and sing. 00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:17.119 Uh wait. 00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:21.679 Because we're going to sing one song and then we're all going to pray together. 00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:26.559 After that prayer, go get your kids, and then we're gonna come back and sing two more songs. 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:27.920 Make sense? 00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:29.039 Yes. 00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:34.400 Okay, so we're gonna do communion together and then sing one song and pray. 00:35:34.559 --> 00:35:36.480 Then go get your kids and we can all sing. 00:35:36.800 --> 00:35:37.440 All right. 00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:41.280 Uh so would you pray with me? 00:35:42.400 --> 00:36:10.800 Father, I pray that in your word we would see what your glory means and what a God who is constantly in pursuit of his own glory means for us, that we might rest in that, Lord, that we might become people who are constantly in pursuit of your glory, and see that in by being in constant pursuit of your glory, that that is where our hope of joy is, that is where our hope of life is. 00:36:11.039 --> 00:36:16.639 That's what it means to settle into the goodness of who you created us to be. 00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:24.239 Father, I pray that we would see in your gospel the forgiveness of sins that you offer us in Christ. 00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:27.599 Lord, and that you would be glorified in that. 00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:32.079 And Lord, would you attend this time of prayer that we move into it? 00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:33.440 Would you be glorified by it? 00:36:33.679 --> 00:36:35.280 Lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:36.000 Amen.