Sermon for Easter 7, June 1, 2025
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
John 17:20-26 20“I am praying not only for them, but also for those who believe in me through their message. 21May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you. May they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. 22I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one: 23I in them, and you in me. May they become completely one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am so that they may see my glory—the glory you gave me, because you loved me before the world’s foundation. 25Righteous Father, the world did not know you, but I knew you, and these men knew that you sent me. 26I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have for me may be in them, and that I may be in them.” (EHV)
Jesus prays that you be united with Him in glory.
Dear beloved of God,
A favorite hymn for many people, in our hymnal and likely in most modern hymnals, makes the bold, emphatic statement, “What a friend we have in Jesus!” It goes on to celebrate how Jesus took the punishment for our sins, and how He now hears and answers prayer, and again, how someday, we can expect a good life in heaven. That is all well and good, but the hymn doesn’t really dive into the depth of what Jesus is for you and me. I think people often approach a text like we have before us this morning with a similar shallow approach. In fact, it could be that none of us can fully grasp the depth of all He is doing here as Jesus prays that you be united with Him in glory.
Our text is the concluding portion of what is known as Jesus’ high priestly prayer. In that prayer, Jesus prays for help for Himself as He undergoes the final suffering and sacrifice for the sins of the world. He prays for His disciples who will witness His crucifixion, death, and resurrection, and then Jesus prays for all those believers yet to come, including you and me.
To His Father in heaven, Jesus says, “I am praying not only for them, [His chosen twelve apostles] but also for those who believe in me through their message.” Jesus here pleads with His Father, and ours, for every person who will ever read or hear the Gospel of all He has done for us. In His great love for people who don’t even yet know anything about Him, Jesus is imploring the Almighty to work saving faith in what were once stone-dead hearts, and that God preserve and keep us in that faith until we are together with the Lord in life everlasting.
Jesus has no delusions about the wickedness of this world and the people in it. He knows not everyone will believe. Yet, Jesus doesn’t want anyone lost who has heard the Good News. For the baby who is brought into the Kingdom of God through baptism, Jesus is praying that parents do not neglect to continue to lead that child in the word of God’s grace. Jesus is praying for the person who stumbles into the devil’s snares or the tempting spirits trying to mislead us, so that Christ’s holy Word and Spirit keep us believing God’s promises. Jesus prays, “May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you. May they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.”
Jesus and the Father are perfectly united in this mission to save sinners from the devil’s rebellion. There is never a moment in Jesus’ life as a Man when He is not perfectly united with His Father’s will. Consider how important that is for us. Jesus’ righteousness is what we need to enter God’s heaven. If the Man, Jesus, ever had even one second of doubt, worry, or fear as He faced our greatest foe who has deceived mankind since the Garden of Eden, you and I would be lost eternally. As Jesus prays this prayer, He knows exactly the cruelty and pain, the lies, distortions, and false accusations that will be poured upon Him in a matter of hours. Jesus already understands the separation from His Father’s care that He must endure on the cross for you and me. Jesus was willingly undergoing all that pain to reconcile the world with God. Yet, boldly, Jesus prays that you be united with Him in glory. When believers are united with Jesus, we tell the world of His victory for all.
Sometimes, when people read this plea for us to be one, they misuse it to insist that all churches, or even all religions, be united in one big association without regard to actual doctrines, leading to the mythical lie that all roads lead to heaven. The enemy has pushed that delusion almost since Jesus ascended to heaven. In response, we must make two points. First, Jesus is praying for us to have true, indivisible harmony. Second, that true harmony must be not just among people, but most importantly, complete unity between us and God’s Word. It really doesn’t help anyone to be united with multitudes of people if they are not united with God in truth. Therefore, anyone leading people away from relying fully on God’s true Word is not and cannot be united with Jesus. A division in doctrine marks a division in spirit, and false doctrine separates from Jesus.
Still, in this Church of believers who trust in Jesus, there is real unity, but it won’t always be visible here on earth. Here on earth, we are all frail, imperfect people who may have faults that would disqualify us from membership in God’s kingdom if our membership depended on us. Therefore, we like to call this united assembly of believers the Invisible Church. If you remember that term from your confirmation days, that is the assembly of all believers who while repenting of their sins, believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior who has lived and died and rose again for them. He is their only hope. They trust in Jesus’ promise, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16) Likewise, St. Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write, “So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) Thus, Jesus’ prayer is answered through the work of the Holy Spirit in granting faith to imperfect souls, so that we are counted as holy through faith’s connection with Jesus.
Jesus prayed, “I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one: I in them, and you in me. May they become completely one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” We might ask, what glory did that ragtag bunch of disciples have as Jesus prayed this prayer? But Jesus had called them to believe in Him, and by that faith, weak and wavering though it was as He was arrested, crucified, died, and buried, those men possessed the righteousness that Jesus was living for them and for us. The world won’t see the glory Jesus gives His people until Judgment Day comes. Yet, even now, the world sees differences between believers and unbelievers in how we approach the troubles and sorrows of this sin-damaged world. As Paul wrote to the Roman congregation: “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4) Here on earth, we strive to live for Jesus. In heaven, Christian believers will live forever in His glory.
We read Jesus’ plea for our eternal welfare, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am so that they may see my glory—the glory you gave me, because you loved me before the world’s foundation.” From before time began, the Father has loved the Son. Because the Son is living the Father’s love for us, and voluntarily being the atoning sacrifice for our sins, Jesus could tell His disciples, “This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.” (John 10:17-18)
As the Son of God in human flesh, Jesus has always been the human representation of God’s divine goodness. The Holy Spirit tells us, “For all the fullness of God’s being dwells bodily in Christ.” (Colossians 2:9) Jesus likewise told His disciples, “The one who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) Though separate persons, the three persons of the Trinity are always united in substance and truth, and united in His desire to save us from the devil’s betrayal. Jesus came into this world to restore united harmony with all of us and our Creator. That is what Jesus lives for and why Jesus prays that you be united with Him in glory.
After Adam’s fall into sin, and after God preserved Noah and his family in the great flood, the world soon forgot about God and all His love and promises for our fallen race. Thus, Jesus prays, “Righteous Father, the world did not know you, but I knew you, and these men knew that you sent me. I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have for me may be in them, and that I may be in them.” The disciples learned to know God through Jesus. By His preaching, and the evidence of His life, Jesus convinced His followers that He was the long-promised Messiah and Savior. Still, when Jesus prayed this prayer, His disciples had many questions.
On the other hand, though you and I may sometimes have questions about Jesus and His plan for us, we have sure and certain proof that Jesus is who He claims to be. He gave solid proof that He has accomplished our salvation and peace with God when He rose from the grave Easter morning. Because Jesus made sure that there were numerous eyewitnesses that He lives and breathes even though He had been dead, we can have real certainty about the grace He gives us.
Furthermore, because Jesus continued to give men and messages concerning His love and how His Church is brought into eternal life and peace, there is no good excuse for anyone who denies Jesus as Savior. Thus, we say boldly, “What a friend we have in Jesus!” Jesus not only won our salvation and grants that grace to us full and free, but He continues to intercede with His Father on our behalf. In line with this, so that you and I never waver in that sure truth, and working to make His own prayer come true, Jesus prays that you be united with Him in glory. Amen.
May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers. May he never leave us or abandon us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways. Amen.