Today, as Jesus prepares to endure the cross, He prays for His disciples – which includes you and me. Jesus speaks of glory, of unity, of joy, and sanctification. But He also points out the reality of rejection – specifically that the world will reject those who belong to Him.
Jesus Prays to Be Glorified
1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 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. 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—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.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Rejection
Few experiences sting as sharply as being rejected. Whether we are rejected by a friend, a lover, a teacher, a brother or sister, a family, a church… Rejection is extremely painful.
Out of rejection springs thoughts of harming ourselves or others. It is no longer a mystery to those who study mass shootings what the primary motivation of most killers is. The Violence Project catalogs all mass shootings and analyzes the data to uncover the reasons behind such deplorable events. Their goal is to find solutions based on data and to avoid easy answers. Based on their research, they have determined that most mass shootings can most closely be categorized as very violent suicides, in which the perpetrator is determined to take as many people down with them as they kill themselves. While this doesn’t account for all mass shootings, it does help explain the underlying cause of a great deal of them. I bring this condemnable subject up today in this holy place for two reasons: First, to urge God’s people to continue to pray for those who have been affected by such events, and Second, to raise our awareness of the extremely high price of rejection. While we must not excuse such evil behavior, we cannot deny the stark fact that out of rejection springs thoughts of harming ourselves or others.
Today, as Jesus prepares to endure the cross, He prays for His disciples – which includes you and me. Jesus speaks of glory, of unity, of joy, and sanctification. But He also points out the reality of rejection – specifically that the world will reject those who belong to Him.
Not that we should be surprised. The world is masterful at rejecting those who dare to go against its grain; who seek to do things differently; who seek to love instead of hate, to give instead of take, to share instead of hoard, to serve instead of demanding to be served.
No, the world does not like this at all, and Jesus doesn’t sugarcoat it in his prayer: we will be rejected – nay, hated – by the world if we choose the narrow, seldom-trod path that leads to life over the superhighway of selfish destruction.
Jesus knew the sting of rejection, and how devastating rejection can be. That’s why He prayed so fervently then – and why He prays even now, interceding with the Father for you and for me every moment.
His prayer is not that we would be removed from the world, but that we would be sustained in our walk through the world with Him. Contrast that prayer of our Lord with the prayers of many believers who seek to avoid the world as much as possible; to establish homogenous Christians-only country clubs and neighborhoods. Jesus didn’t pray to put us in bubbles where we would never interact with the world. He prayed that God would protect us daily, as we take our positions on the front lines.
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world” Jesus says in verse 15. Compare this plea of Christ with our selfish tendency to avoid the world at all costs, to withdraw from the mission fields of its schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods.
Jesus didn’t tell His disciples to nix the world, but to mix with it. He did not pray for us to tuck ourselves away in thick-walled saltshakers, but to get out of the saltshaker and season up the world. He did not command us to hide our light under a basket, but to shine His love and acceptance in the places where it is needed most – to carry His torchlight fearlessly into the desperate darkness of a world that is constantly crushed under the weight of its own rules of rejection.
Light in the darkness? Stepping out in love to redeem a world marred by the pain of rejection? Isn’t that the lesson of Christmas? But perhaps that message is too honest. The world won’t like it. The world doesn’t like being shown how dark and cold the winter of rejection truly is, so it makes this season about presents and peppermint mochas instead, hoping that’s enough to distract us from the real story.
But we will not be distracted.
Acceptance
To defeat the poison of the world’s rejection, Jesus offers the antidote of His acceptance. And that heavenly acceptance is demonstrated in His offer to unite us with Himself.
Look at the unity He calls for so many times in His prayer:
In verse 11: “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”
In verse 21: “I pray … that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.”
In verse 22: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one”
And again in verse 23: “I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.”
These are words meant to assure us of God’s acceptance of all who will accept Him. Thanks to John’s way of presenting this prayer of Jesus, we have this beautiful picture, a reminder again and again and again and again … that all who believe are accepted by the Father and the Son. Jesus clearly wants to drive the point home, once and for all, that in Him you and I finally find a home, a place where we are accepted, and never rejected. Not only are we accepted by God, but the Lord’s prayer holds the promise that all who believe are one with Him, just as the Father and Son are one with each other.
Jesus’ assurance of unity, of love, and of acceptance into Heaven’s family for those who believe offers an impenetrable shield from the world’s blistering assault of division, of hatred, and of rejection.
This is hope for the hopeless, that we are accepted by the one who matters most.
But the prayer of Christ does not end there. Jesus also issues a clarion call to mission. This unity, this acceptance serves a purpose. It glorifies God and is draws the world to Him. His express intent in being united with us is “that the world will know” (v 23). Know what? That the Father sent Jesus, and He loves the world as He loves the Son.
Much of this prayer circles back to the theme of chapter 3 verse 16:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The world, for all of its hatred of the Father, is so loved by Him that He giftwraps Himself and presents His own life as a love offering. The world, whose only language is ultimately that of rejection, is sent a gift that speaks of full and total acceptance by the Father, through the Son.
And this offer of acceptance is the gospel in full. Do you know that you are accepted by God? That there is nothing you have been or done that is secret to Him, and in spite of all that, He loves you – through Jesus He takes you in, He loves you – He accepts you – just as you are?
If you only receive one gift this Christmas, receive this one. Do not leave your acceptance by God unopened another minute.
You see, those of us who have experienced this full acceptance by the father burn with the singular desire to share this good news of God’s acceptance through Jesus with others.
And in Jesus' repeated pleas for unity, we see a clear picture of the method Jesus prescribes for sharing this uniting, accepting love with the world.
It is so simple: our acceptance of, and love for, one another is our greatest testimony to the world of God’s acceptance of, and love for, us. Our mission can be summarized in one word: to love. As we receive the acceptance and love of the father through Jesus, we grow in our acceptance and love for Him, and subsequently are able to accept and love one another.
It is hard to encapsulate our mission any more clearly than acceptance and love. Heart to God, hand to man.
In other words, the core Christian purpose of worship – giving God glory – is accomplished most concretely, not in singing catchy songs, but in demonstrating our love for God and one another through the soul-rending melody of acceptance and unity.
Likewise, the core Christian purpose of evangelism – spreading the good news of God’s acceptance for all – is achieved most powerfully, not in clever theological arguments, but in demonstrating our love for God and one another as a community united by love and acceptance.
The joy of fellowship is no more and no less than a celebration of our acceptance and unity with one another in Jesus.
The outpouring of mercy and service to others is fueled most effectively by a desire to accept and love those in need in the same way the father accepts and loves us.
And the greatest measure of discipleship is not how much stuff we know about Jesus, but how closely we walk in His ways. And what is the climax of discipleship but to express love and acceptance to all -- even those we consider our enemies.
Expectation
For some of us, this talk of limitless grace and love, acceptance and unity might make us uncomfortable. And while there is really no way to ever grasp how wide and high and long and deep is the love of Christ -- and no one could ever be faulted for overstating God’s love -- it would be wise for me to make a clarifying disclaimer here.
In addition to praying that we will be united in love, Jesus also expresses another sincere desire of His: that we be sanctified. In other words, that we will be “set apart” even as we remain in the world. In verses 16-18, Jesus prays
They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
It’s a big word that we don’t come across very often, “sanctified.” But it really just means set apart for God. Different. Holy. Not common, but sacred. Not running the world’s operating system, but Jesus’ operating system. Jesus OS.
While that may sound intimidating, it really isn’t. In fact, in a million ways living a life set apart for God is far more rewarding and far less punishing than living a life according to the pattern of this world.
In Romans 12:1-2, brother Paul beckons us to experience the power of this new, sanctified way of living:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
In other words, when we have the fullness of God’s mercy in view, we can’t help but want to replace our worldly operating system (rejection and hate) with the OS of heaven (acceptance and love).
“Then,” Paul continues, “you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
For those of you who might have been worried that all of Jesus’ talk of unity and love might water down God’s expectation of right living, I hope we can see that there is really very little danger of that, as long as we don’t take Jesus out of the equation.
You see, acceptance is a two way street. When we experience the acceptance and love of Jesus, it won’t take long before we realize that He expects us to love and accept Him – including His ways – in return.
And we will WANT to do that! We will WANT to please Him because we will want to know more of His love and acceptance in our daily lives. The case could be made that those who refuse to be set apart, those who do not wish to be sanctified – those who stubbornly refuse to turn from their old ways of sin – really have never experienced deeply enough the love and acceptance of Christ. It is not wrath, but the love of Christ that compels us to be set apart for Him and experience all the joy of living a holy life.
So what will it be for you today?
How does this prayer of Jesus speak to you in this moment?
Did you hear His call, over and over, to unity and acceptance? Not only unity and acceptance between us and God, but unity and acceptance of one another? Our message to the world is so powerfully demonstrated when we love one another and offer all others the same acceptance that God extends to us.
Did you also hear His call that we would be sanctified and set apart? Not that we would be taken out of a bitter and darkened world, but that our lives, surrendered in holiness, would be salt and light that enliven and enlighten those around us?
No matter what this prayer of Jesus says to you today, I hope you understand that He is still praying. Jesus still intercedes for each of us with the Father each and every day, and at this very moment.
You are important to Him. You matter so much to Him. You are accepted and loved by Him without condition. Can any of us say we have the same degree of love and acceptance for each other?
Probably not. None of us really have, have we? But that doesn’t stop Jesus from praying that we will. Perhaps today will be the day we offer acceptance to that person that we have treated as unacceptable in this room, or in our home, or at our jobs; Perhaps today will be the day that we incline our ear to Jesus’ plea and love that one we have branded unlovable.
The world is aching to experience acceptance and love. Will they find it in us? Will they find it here?
Let us sing Charles Wesley’s hymn "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus"
Do you hear His voice? Jesus is, at this moment, praying this very thing for you and me.
Let’s join Him.