St. John 17:11b-19
Divine Service
Easter 7B 

Dear brothers and Sisters in Christ:

This last Thursday evening, we celebrated the Ascension of our Lord into Heaven.  This morning we are again reading part of the account of what happened on Maundy Thursday.  Our reading is a section of what is known as Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer.”  This prayer of Jesus is the entire chapter 17 of John – all 26 verses.  This section of the prayer is Jesus praying for the disciples – for those whom the Father has given to Him, and whom He must now leave as He prepares to go to the Cross.

Have you ever had someone make the statement: “I’ll pray for you”?  Sometimes when you hear it, it may seem like this simply replaces the phrase “Good luck!”  But not quite.  For if we truly believe that God is in charge, we truly believe that prayer accomplishes things.  We truly believe that neither ‘luck’ nor ‘coincidence’ exist.  God has a plan.  We don’t know what that plan is precisely, but we can perceive a little bit of it by looking at history as recorded in scripture.  God’s plan is powerful, yet subtle.

I can’t think of someone who I would rather have praying for me than the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Just think of the power in that prayer.  Just think of what His prayer can truly accomplish!  “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)  And this prayer for the disciples is being offered by more than just a mere man!  Jesus in this portion of the prayer asks of the Father in Heaven two things:  that His believers will be protected, and that they be sanctified. 

Jesus summarizes His time of ministry, His time of teaching these men, down into one simple sentence.  I truly like the new English Standard Version translation of this: “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. (John 17:12 ESV)  Judas was lost, but not because of any desire of God, but because of Judas rejecting the Son of God.  Scripture – the Old Testament – the very Word of God, had prophesied that one who was “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” (Psalm 41:9)

Jesus has already prayed for Himself.  Matthew reports that He twice has prayed “My Father may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  Here He prays for those whom the Father has given to Him.  He prays for those who believe in him at that time, and He prays for those who will believe in Him.  Jesus understands that not all in the world will believe.  Some will harden their hearts and be lost.  But He prays for ALL of those whom the Father has given to Him – all who have ever, or will ever, believe in Him.

Jesus could have prayed for these men to be strengthened that night – that they would stay by Him and defend Him.  He could have prayed that the fate that was to be His in the next few hours would be divided among His 11 remaining disciples, and that these men, too, would be taken out of the world to their eternal home.  But it was not the proper time for that.  Jesus was aware of the plans of the Father, and He knew that those requests were not among the Father’s plans.  Instead Jesus prays two simple requests to His Father: First, “that you protect them from the evil one,” and secondly “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

Jesus has been the protector of the Disciples for approximately three during His earthly ministry.  He has protected them, not from physical harm, but from the evil one – from Satan.  He has given them to the truth – the very truth of the Scriptures as the Father meant them, not as the priests and Pharisees had distorted them.  He will open their minds to understand the scriptures.  His prayer now is that the Father will take over the protection of these men.  Jesus has done as He was asked to do.  He has now come to Thursday night, and knows that He will be arrested soon, with torture and crucifixion to follow. 

He had protected the brash, outspoken Peter – even as He had chastised Peter for bringing the plans of Satan to Him.  He had protected James and John, the Sons of Thunder, as they looked for earthly glory – one seated at His right hand and the other at His left.  He had defended the disciples from the attacks of the Pharisees when the disciples had casually plucked wheat as they walked through a field of ripening grain.  But now He was going to leave them.  They would be sorrowing, grieving for the next few days, even though He had told them that He would rise from the dead on the third day.  And the emotional distress that is generated by grief can lead the one grieving to make foolish decisions.

Think about how many times you have been as brash as Peter!  Can you count them?  I know I can’t!  How many times have you said something stupid before you even thought about it – often something that certainly wasn’t in keeping with being a good Christian.  Our human nature leads us into doing those brash, un-thoughtful, uncaring things.  We gossip – often unintentionally – we didn’t mean to say that spiteful thing about our neighbor.  We demean someone else who has just said something brash!  Rather than ask for an explanation, we just assume that THEY are being either ignorant or rude.

And just like James and John, we certainly would like our share of earthly glory.  Aren’t we better at ________ than _________ who is getting all of the credit?  If you would just elevate us to a position of authority, we could get things done – we would see that everything was set straight.  And just like those Sons of Zebedee, we are out of line.  Maybe we could use a little more credit – maybe we could do something more efficiently – but prideful longing for better is not the right way to go about getting there.  We continue to do our very best, and pray that God has more in store for us; if not, we need to be content with what we have.  Look what happened to James and John after their quest for glory – they are remembered 2,000 years later for their desires!

God told the ancient Jews to not do any work on the Sabbath.  The Pharisees applied many nit-picking rules to what was defined as “work.”  When the disciples were accused of “doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath,” Jesus defended them as not being in violation of the Law.  He came to fulfill the Law for us, and even as in His humanity, He was still above the Law.  His obedience to the Law was not the nit-picking adherence to the details of the Pharisees rules, but the full obedience to the will of God in His life, death and resurrection.

Jesus also asked that the Father “Sanctify them.”  Just what does “sanctify” mean?  It is a word that is rarely used today, but it is not yet considered an archaic word.  To sanctify something is to set it apart for a holy use.  The very same word is used in Genesis 2 when “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.”  God made it holy by sanctifying it.  Those are interchangeable meanings.

How does God go about making sinful man holy?  Jesus prayer tells us how: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”  The truth is the Word – the Very Word that created the universe; the very Word that was making this prayer.  Jesus has already this evening told these disciples that He is “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Now, in this prayer, He asked the Father to sanctify them by the truth – by the Word – through the very person making the petition. 

How does Jesus sanctify us?  By sanctifying Himself!  By setting Himself apart as both priest and sacrifice.  By becoming the sacrificial Lamb that took on the sins of the entire world.  Not just for those who would believe – but a sacrifice sufficient for all men.  By offering Himself up to be scourged and crucified in our place – that in His death, we might be freed form the slavery to sin that is inherent in OUR humanity.

And then He gives that holiness that is His to us.  He gives us His holiness through the Word that has been given us in the scriptures.  The Word that gives us the good News – the Gospel – that gives us the knowledge of His paying the price for our sinfulness.  He gives us His holiness through the sacraments.  We acquired His holiness when the sign of the cross was placed upon us at our Baptism.  We continue to be strengthened in His holiness – in our faith – as we partake of His Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper.

The Great High Priest has sanctified us – has made each and every one of us holy by His righteousness.  We are encouraged to pray for ourselves and each other. Yet, both here in our Gospel lesson and for eternity, who better to pray for us than our all-sufficient sacrifice and Great High Priest!

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