Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, give us grace again to hear You pray. Amen.
Text: John 17:6–11
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.”
Devotion
Here Jesus prays for us, His disciples, not for the world. Of course He prays for them also, but not in this prayer. For there is an immense difference between Jesus’ disciples and the world. They are the Father’s special gift to the Son. “You have given them to Me,” He says, “they were Yours, and You have given them to Me.” What exactly this means that they were the Father’s and that He has given them to the Son, we shall not fully understand clearly until we are in heaven, but this much we understand already now, that it is something unspeakably precious and great. Jesus’ disciples are chosen and set apart from the world. They have believed and received the Lord’s Word, which the world has not done. When the world hears the word about the Father and the Son, darkness covers their soul, so that they do not understand it. But Jesus’ disciples receive the truth inwardly and keep it. It has become clear and certain to them that the Father sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. And they understand the love in this. They believe and confess that the Son is one with the Father, that God’s fatherly heart is open for us in Christ, that we through Him have a free and living way to the Father. These disciples of Jesus are now His precious possession and the Father’s children. Just as the Father from the first gave them to the Son, so through the Son they rightly become the Father’s again. For “what is Mine is Yours,” He says, “and what is Yours is Mine.” Infinite happiness and glory! And this grace does not belong simply to the first disciples, but to all believers. For in verse 20 He says: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.” But the Father and the Son are then also unspeakably great, glorious, and precious for them. Their election and redemption, the Father’s love and Jesus’ intercession, the light of the Word and faith’s gift of grace: all are more precious to them than gold to the greedy. All is joy, but also meekness, because it is completely undeserved.
And what heavenly care Jesus has for His people! “I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” This the Father shall do. He has always heard His Son’s prayer. Alleluia!
Closing Prayer
Thanks for Your prayer, thanks for everything, Lord Jesus. Thanks, heavenly Father, for Your unspeakable gift. You are greatly praised, Triune God, forever and ever. Amen.
Hymn
Praise to the Lord whose eternal love He now forth setteth;
His work begun, He His chosen one never forgetteth;
Saving from care
Those who His glory now share;
Heavenly mansions He setteth.
Praise to the Father whose grace everlasting endureth!
Praise to the Son who eternal salvation secureth!
Praise Holy Ghost
Who giveth faith to the lost!
Praise Him who bliss e’er procureth!
Döring/Landstad: Lover den Herren, hvis reddende Kjærlighed sender L 364:5-6 tr. DeGarmeaux;
tune: Lobe den Herren (ELH 65); alternate hymn: Praise to the Father ELH 7