Jesus prays for us John 17:6-19
Has anyone ever prayed for you? I don’t mean the situation when they say I’ll pray for you and then go home and do it. What I mean is, they literally stop everything they are doing and focus all of their energy on you and verbally pray for you out loud so you can hear. That’s what I mean by “pray for you.”
That’s the situation we find here in today’s gospel reading. “Well I can read that for myself,” you say. And you can. And I hope you did. But have you really read it? Do you really see and hear what is going on here. Have you considered the events surrounding this text, the text surrounding this text?
What is going on here that could give us an entry into realizing the implications of this particular prayer? Think about it. Besides the Matthew 6 and Luke 11 prayer that we know as the Lord’s Prayer, and besides the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, we never hear Jesus’ prayers fleshed out in such a fashion as we do here in John. Why is it that the writer of John’s gospel found it so important to include this long prayer in particular? Twenty-six verses, all of John 17, of which we only read a portion today.
This prayer is found in the middle of Jesus’ farewell discourse in John. Jesus is preparing his disciples for his leaving to return to his Father in heaven. He is preparing them to carry on his mission, now their mission, on their own, so to speak. Jesus is looking forward to the time when being apostles will not be an easy task. They will face discomfort, ostracizing, rejection, prison, and even death. Jesus knows this as sure as he knows what waits ahead for him in the days to come. That’s why Jesus so often in the gospel accounts spends so much time in prayer, because he knows – “Prayer helps us prepare.”
But now his focus is on his disciples alone and the task of mission and ministry that he will turn over to them in the new few weeks. He knows what will happen. He knows that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” So he turns to prayer. Not for himself, but for his disciples. And he doesn’t go off out of ear shot, but prays for them before them. He is making no secret of it that he has handed them over to the Father’s keeping. But not only them…
What we did not hear in today’s gospel is the following four verses:
20"I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word,
21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, 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… and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Who else is Jesus praying for? Those who will believe in me through their word,Jesus is praying for us. Because like the disciples, we are called into mission with Jesus and the Father. A mission which begins locally. In our community.
And the task is not easy. It scares us to talk about Jesus with others. We may not go to prison, we may not face death, but we most certainly be uncomfortable and ostracized and be rejected if we try to tell people about Jesus. It is hard in this world today and very unpopular to share our faith with others. It’s risky to venture rejection. It is scary to share our faith, not only in the community out there, but also in the community in here. The one place we can safely practice sharing our faith, and we are afraid.
Jesus knows that. He knows that “the spirit is will, but the flesh and mind is weak.” And that’s exactly why Jesus lifted up his disciples then and the disciples that would follow after them based upon their testimony, their faith sharing. Jesus prays for us so that we may have his joy in the relationship that the Father has with him. He wants us to take joy in being in relationship with him and be one with God in mission. And so, Jesus prays then and today for us.
So I will take a page form Jesus’ book:
Father, I ask that this, your community may be strengthened in witness, in faith sharing with each other and with our community. Guard them from fear and lead them to take risks for your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen.
