Jesus prayed for YOU
Did you know that Jesus prayed for you during his earthly ministry? It’s true. Jesus actually prayed for YOU.
In John 17, Jesus prays on his way to the cross. During the prayer, He first prayed for Himself, then He prays for his disciples, and finally beginning in verse 20, look at what he prays…
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
That’s you and that’s me. Those who would believe in Jesus through their message are all of us who would come after the disciples and receive his grace.
So, Jesus did pray for you, and we have a record of what He even specifically prayed for you. We know that Jesus prayed a lot during His earthly ministry, but we don’t have very many of His prayers recorded.
Evidently, the Holy Spirit thought it was important that you know what Jesus prayed for you.
WHAT DID JESUS PRAY FOR YOU?
As Jesus continued his prayer in verse 21, here is what He began to pray for you…
21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
So what was Jesus’ request for you? Union.
Not for good works…not for confession…not for daily quiet times and Bible reading…not for tithing...not for obedience or any kind of religious activity…No, His prayer was for union.
Jesus says, “Father, you are IN ME, and I am IN YOU, and I am praying that they will be IN US…that they may be one with us just like we are one!
Jesus’ prayer for you is that you would have a spiritual oneness with Him and the Father. A union that you would receive through what He would accomplish on the cross for you.
And that did happen. The same John that wrote this in his gospel, wrote this in 1 John 4:15…
“If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.”
Through Jesus’ finished work on the cross, his resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ prayer for union was answered.
This is the heart of the gospel message. Christ in you and you in Christ. Union.
Experiencing a deep, abiding, and intimate relationship with Him. Experiencing His love, His guidance, His power at work in you and through you.
JESUS’ GLORY GIVEN TO YOU
Jesus goes on and continues to pray for you in v. 22…
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—23 I in them and you in me
This is incredible. Jesus is talking about His glory here. Now for those of you who know your Old Testament, you know that in Exodus, we see the glory of the Lord settled on Mt Sinai. In Exodus 24:15 it says…
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.
That’s kind of scary. The glory of the Lord is so great it’s like a consuming fire.
When you keep reading though in Exodus, you see that the glory of the Lord eventually moved from the mountain and filled the tabernacle. Here’s what it says in Exodus 40:34-35…
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Moses couldn’t go into the tent because the glory of the Lord filled it. You don’t go near a consuming fire.
So, this is the picture of the glory of the Lord in the Old Testament. But look what John tells us at the beginning of his gospel about Jesus in John 1:14…
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
So, the picture we get as Jesus shows up on the scene near the end of the Old Covenant (remember the New Covenant doesn’t officially begin until after Jesus’ death) is that the glory of the Lord was among the people in the Person of Christ. The consuming fire that was on Mt. Sinai, the glory of the Lord that filled the tabernacle was here in Person and walking among the people.
And now in John 17, we have Jesus praying about passing that glory to you as the New Covenant would begin after His death and resurrection.
The glory of the Lord, the consuming fire would fill you, and you would be in union with Him.
That is absolutely incredible, right? This is the New Covenant. Not God up there and us down here. Not God in a building. Not even in God walking with us (as if he were a companion walking along the journey of life). No, God in us and us in Him. His glory filling us… a part of us.
This is the life you and I have as believers through the union that Jesus prayed for in John 17.
WHY DID JESUS PRAY FOR UNION?
As Jesus continued his prayer in verse 23, He says so that. In other words, he is about to tell God the Father in His prayer why union is his request. Look at what he says in John 17:23…
—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Jesus is praying for union so that you and I will be brought to complete unity. A complete union with God and a complete union with each other.
All of us who have received God’s grace through faith in Christ are united to the same God, which means that we are all united together as well.
We are brothers and sisters in Christ. We are sharers of His spiritual DNA. We are in Christ and He is in us, and we are in each other.
And even though this is a spiritual, invisible union, there is a visible component to it. Jesus says then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
As this complete, spiritual, and invisible union occurs, then it will become visible to the world.
The world will see Christ in us and His love between us and through us. They will see we are one with Him and each other!
And we even begin to see an answer to His prayer in Acts 2. After Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, He sent the Spirit which united the disciples and other believers in Him and to each other.
Then at the end of Acts 2, here is a description of how that oneness played out. Acts 2:44-47 says…
44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
We see the oneness between the disciples and other believers here. But we also see Jesus’ prayer answered that the world would see that unity and expression of unity and be drawn to Him (the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved).
In other words, as Jesus manifests Himself through us, what the world will see is His love being expressed to each other as we live in unity together.
This is what Paul even taught as churches were planted in other places and as new believers were united to Christ and to each other. He says this to the church at Philippi in Philippians 2:1-4…
Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
The expression of Christ in us and through us is living united in the unity He’s already established between us.
Him working in and through our union looks like us loving each other, submitting to each other, being like-minded and one in spirit and of one mind.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO JESUS’ PRAYER FOR YOU?
Jesus prayed for you, now what? Well, you don’t have to pray for union like Jesus did. That’s already happened if you’ve accepted Christ through faith.
You may not always feel the union or think that you are united, but the truth is that God says you are united to Him.
Your response is to thank God for the union you have with Him and other believers.
Your response is to abide in that union. Lean on Him, trust in Him, and depend on Him as your Source.
Your response is to seek unity through the union you have with other believers. Jesus has united you to brothers and sisters in Christ, so live as if you are united with them.
In the power of the Spirit, seek to love them, serve them, be one in mind and purpose with them as the Church.
Your response is to pray that the world will see the love and unity that exists between you and God and you and others in the Church and want to be a part of that.
Jesus prayed for this, and then He went to the cross to ensure it would happen. His work is done. His work is finished. Your work is to live in the victory of what He’s accomplished for you.
