Christ's High Priestly Prayer - Part One

Sermon

November 9, 2025

Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer

Part One

 

Last week I centered my remarks around Hebrews 3:1: “Therefore holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.” We looked at Jesus the matchless Apostle sent into the world by the Father with the eternal message of salvation through repentance through Christ. We also looked at Him as our matchless High Priest, infinitely higher than those under the Mosaic covenant. Infinitely higher because He is Almighty God in flesh, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, inextricably One with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

Last week we saw HOW our Supreme High Priest intercedes for us to the Father – lovingly, individually, knowledgeably, effectively, and specifically. You may remember the acronym I formed from these adverbs – L I K E S.

 

Today I want to turn our attention to WHAT the Lord Jesus prays for us. To do that we will look at what is commonly called the Lord’s High Priestly prayer in John 17 because it best illustrates what it is that He prays for us. We cannot take the time now to read the entire prayer. You can do that yourself at your leisure. But here are some of the salient points in selected verses from John 17:1-24:

 

“Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, ² even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent . . . .9 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me . . . 11 Holy Father, keep them . . . that they may be one even as We are. 12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled . . . 15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one . . 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth . . . 20 I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. . . . 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given  Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

 

Of first importance, we see in this prayer that the Lord is interceding ONLY for those who know the Father, AND Jesus whom the Father has sent. So,  at the outset of this message, we must ask a critically important question: “Is it possible to know God and yet reject Jesus as His only begotten Son? 

 

The short answer – and what should be the obvious answer to those who believe the Bible is God’s infallible word – is “No.” It is not possible to know the Father apart from the Son. To disagree with that answer is to believe our opinion overrides God’s truth.

 

New Testament scholar John Piper put it this way: “Jesus looked right into the eyes of the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders, and said, “If God were your Father, you would love me.” He’s saying to the most religious, the most God-oriented, Old Testament–saturated people on the planet, “You don’t know him. He’s not your Father.” In fact, He goes so far as to say, “You are of your father the devil” (see John 8:44).

 

And I will take this moment to remind us that the text in John 17:3 - “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” – that text is only one of a multitude of texts wherein Jesus made it clear that to know the Father means a person must also know and worship the Son.

 

For example, Jesus said in Matthew 11:27b - “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

 

I’ll say it this way: The litmus test for knowing the Father is to worship Jesus as God-in-the-flesh, born of the Virgin, lived a sinless life, died as an atonement for our sins, resurrected the third day, ascended back to the Father, and is coming again for His own. Anyone who says they worship God but not Jesus is self-deceived. The Scriptures give us no wiggle room for another opinion.

 

All this then begs the crucial question that, as your pastor, I am obligated to God to ask – even though I believe I know your answer: “Do you know Jesus?”

 

The question is not, “Do you know ABOUT Jesus.” The question is, “Do you know Jesus – Jesus as God Almighty in the flesh of a man, as the supreme Lord of your life? Do you strive to live in obedience to His commandments? Do you genuinely repent when you break any of His commandments? Do you seek to routinely communicate with Him in prayer and by reading and studying His Word?”

 

These questions are not incidental to our lives. They are monumentally consequential. Our answers determine how we live our lives; And how we live our lives determines our eternal destiny. Our answers are unmistakable signposts that demonstrate whether our ‘knowing’ God is merely intellectual, or if it is rooted in our hearts in such a way as to result in changes of lifestyle and life-trajectory.

 

Please hear this. This is really, really important: If your lifestyle today is not much different than it was before you committed yourself to Christ, then, as the apostle cautioned those in the Corinthian church: (2 Corinthians 13:5) “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!”

 

I’ll reiterate that point: If your lifestyle is not much different today than it was before you committed yourself to Christ – you might not truly be saved.

 

But, if your answer to those questions about Jesus is fully aligned with Scripture, then you can be fully assured about this rest of Jesus’ prayer.

Listen to what our High Priest said in verses 9 and 20 - “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me . . . “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.

 

Everyone on this planet needs to understand this point. Jesus’ High Priestly prayer applies only to those who are truly His sheep. “I am the good shepherd,” He said in the tenth chapter of John’s gospel, “I know My own and My own know Me.” (John 10:14)  And He prayed not only for His Apostles of the first century, He also prays for those today who believe in Him because they trust the words of those same Apostles as recorded in Scripture.

 

Next – In His prayer, the Lord asks the Father to keep them – and by context, to keep us as well. But keep us from what? Certainly NOT from persecution. The Lord repeatedly warned His Apostles of the impending and deadly persecution. You’re familiar with the New Testament. You know how often He told that to the Twelve – and, by context, to ALL faithful followers of Christ through the centuries.

 

St Peter – later crucified upside down for his faith in Christ – Peter instructed his readers: (1 Peter 4:12-14) “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”

 

So, the Lord’s prayer to the Father could not have been to keep us from persecution. More likely, His prayer was that we’d be kept from succumbing to temptation and even from falling into apostasy.

 

But here is the rub. We know we all stumble into sin and many of us personally know of people who’ve turned completely away from Christ. So, how do we explain on the one hand the superabundantly effective prayers of God the Son, and on the other hand, how we all nonetheless fall into sin – and some even into apostasy? 

 

Yes, God is sovereign over all creation. He opens and no one can shut, He shuts and no one can open. But He has placed on Himself one critically important limitation: He will never override our freedom of choice. He will protect us from sin and even from apostasy – if we want to be protected.

 

The truth of 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 ought to put to rest the question of His mighty protection from succumbing to temptation: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

 

And as Paul warned the Corinthians in verse 12 of this text – “Let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” – we ought NEVER be so sure of ourselves to think we could never fall. We only need to recall the story of Peter, so sure that he would never deny His Lord. And we know how that turned out.

 

So, yes, God DOES protect and keep those who want to be protected and kept from sin. And how does He do that?

 

Surely, the most common method is through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised (John 14:26) “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

 

It is in remembering the Scriptures we’ve read or heard preached, the Holy Spirit encourages or chastens or directs our steps along the journey. Every mature Christian will readily attest to that truth.

 

That is why the significance of knowing God’s word can never be overstated. Listen to what He said to Joshua: (Joshua 1:8) “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”

 

Listen now to the apostle Paul’s instruction to Timothy: (2 Timothy 3:14-17) “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

 

Let’s return now to the Lord’s High Priestly prayer. (Verse 20) “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

 

Two thousand years ago, Jesus asked of the Father that everyone who faithfully follows Him would be one as He and the Father (and the Holy Spirit) are one. Why? So that the world may believe that He was sent to us by the Father.

 

Some of you may have heard the phrase as it relates to unity among Christians: “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.” But that phrase begs the question – what is essential and what is non-essential in true Christian faith?

 

I could teach a six-month Bible study on the subject, but we don’t have that kind of time this afternoon. So, to keep it simple: The essentials of Christian faith, meaning the doctrines one MUST accept and hold to, are encapsulated in the fourth century formulation of faith known as the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed is similar to the shorter Apostle’s Creed, which dates to the second century.

 

In brief, and for the sake of time, here is the shorter Apostle’s Creed: (By the way, and for clarification, the word, ‘catholic’ in both the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed mean ‘Universal” and not Roman Catholic).

 

"I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen." 

 

Since the second century, the essential doctrines of true Christian faith have been expressed in both the Apostle’s and Nicene Creeds. Therefore, a person who denies the full deity and simultaneous full humanity of Christ, is NOT a true Christian. To deny the virgin birth of Jesus, His atoning death on the cross, His resurrection, ascension and impending return as judge of all the earth is to place oneself outside of the saving faith of Christianity.

 

That means, for example, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, and unbelieving Jews who deny the essentials of Christian faith are not saved – as the New Testament defines the word. They may be wonderful people, kind, philanthropic, and so forth – but if we are to believe the Bible, they are lost in eternal sin unless they repent and bring themselves into true saving faith.

 

As for the non-essentials of faith – those are beliefs which do NOT affect one’s salvation. Non-essentials would include, for example, beliefs about end-time prophecy, or the exercise of spiritual gifts such as ‘speaking in tongues’, or the various Do’s and Don’ts such as drinking alcohol, playing cards, dancing, smoking, and so forth.

 

Holding such beliefs are NOT essential to salvation. That’s one reason Christians of all churches should be ‘charitable’ with each other when there is a difference of opinion about non-essentials – kind of like, ‘agree to disagree’ without breaking fellowship with each other.

 

You here demonstrate that kind of charity. We have in this sanctuary today, Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and a host of other denominations and non-denominations. Yet, you come together each week for worship, for Bible studies, and for prayers. And that’s not unnoticed by those in the dining room. Nor is it unnoticed by our Lord.

 

So, in closing, let’s review what we’ve seen thus far in Christ’ High Priestly prayer: (1) That we would know the true God, and Jesus whom the Father has sent. (2) He prayed that the Father would keep us from the Evil One who never ceases to lead us into sin. And (3) The Lord prayed His followers would be united.

 

Surely, as the Psalmist wrote: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!”  (Psalm 133:1)

 

The writer to the Hebrews tells us Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. Today we looked at some of what Jesus prayed in that 17^th chapter of John’s gospel. We’ll return next week to examine what else our High Priest prayed for His apostles – and for us.