Jesus Prays For Us To Be With
Him - John 17:24
We are looking at the prayer that Jesus prayed just before
he died on the cross. It is the most amazing prayer that has even peen prayed
on this earth and this morning we are going to look at the greatest request in
that prayer. In verses 11-15 Jesus prays that his disciples might be protected
in this hostile world; in verses 17-19, that they might be sanctified in this
evil world and in verses 21-23 he prays that we may be one in this disjointed
world. Now in verse 24 his final request is that might be with him in the world
to come. ‘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.’
There’s a lot of discussion about the precise meaning of the phrase ‘I want’ or
‘I will’ (AV) It conveys the idea of a bequest in our
Saviour’s Last Will and Testament. He is about to die and he says to his
Father, ‘Father I want, I will, it’s my dying request, in this my Last Will and
Testament that these people you have given to me will be with me.’ In other
words we have here a description of the wonderful inheritance which will be
ours.
A. Let me be a kind of spiritual solicitor and explain the legacy to you.
1. For a start we will have a wonderful home. Jesus says ‘Father, I want, I will that those you have given me to be with me
where I am’ Our inheritance consists of a wonderful home in that realm which
the Bible describes as ‘The New Heavens and the New Earth.” John describes it
graphically in Revelation 21 & 22. It’s a place of unparalleled beauty and
majesty. In poetic language, we are told that its splendour is so bright that
there will be no need for lamps, or for the sun to shine. There will be no
sorrow, sadness or suffering of any kind (Rev 21:4). Even more important, in
that perfect homeland there will be no sin of any kind (Revelation 21:27) .
The worship and singing there will be overwhelming in its majesty and grandeur
(Revelation 14:2). Like the sound of rushing waters, as awesome as
2, Our future inheritance is even greater. Not only
will we live in a wonderful place, but we will be with an amazing Person. ‘Father
I want, I will that those you have given me to be with me’. That’s the most
wonderful thing about the heavenly realm - it is to be with Christ (see also
Luke 23:43, Philippians 1:23). We will live with him and enjoy his presence for
ever.
3. His dying request in that we will also see his glory, ‘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.’ Just after his death and resurrection the Lord Jesus
Christ went back to heaven and was reinvested with all the glory of the
heavenly realm. From before the beginning of the world the Lord Jesus Christ
had shared all the glory of the heavenly realm with God the Father, but when he
came into this world to die for our salvation he laid aside his glory (not his
deity) but after his death and resurrection he returned to heaven as the
God/man and was reinvested with all the glory of God (Philippians 2:9).
Jesus refers to that here in verse 24, ‘I want them to see my glory, the glory
you have given me.’ It’s difficult to describe his glory because we are
attempting to describe the indescribable (see Revelation 1:14) but one day we
will see it (1 John 3:2).
That’s our inheritance and it will last for ever. It’s continuous. ‘Father I
want those you have given me to continue to be with me where I am and to
continue to see my glory.’
B. If we are Christian we can be sure of this legacy.
There’s no need to be plagued with doubts. ‘Why should the children of a King
go mourning all their days?’ This legacy has been secured for us by the
death of Christ. It’s his Last Will and Testament and God the Father will make
sure that the will of his Son is executed,
How can I be so sure of that?
1. First because he is the Righteous Father. That’s how Jesus refers to him in
verse 25
2. God the Father will execute his Son’s request because he loves his Son
(v24).
3. God the Father will gladly carry out his Son’s will because he is in full
agreement with it.
4. Another reason why we can be so sure that God the Father will fulfil the
Will of His Son and take us to glory is because we have been given to Christ to
be part of his bride and to live with him for ever.
This legacy is certain. You can trust it absolutely. You can never be certain
of an earthly legacy but when it comes to our Lord, it is absolutely certain.
C. But live in the light of this truth.
Let’s live as those who are destined for glory Did you notice that strange
phrase? ‘Father I want those you have given me to be with me where I am.’ Our
Lord refers to the heavenly realm as ‘the place where I am’ but when he said
that he was here on earth. How do you explain that? It’s partly explained by
his omnipresence as a divine person, but it also means that his mind was so
centred on heaven and glory that he was, in a sense, living there already
Are we living as heirs of eternal glory? We are in this world. That’s where our
Saviour wants us to be just now (v15). ‘My prayer is not that you take them out
of the world. No, as you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the
world .’ That’s where Jesus wants
us to be just now, but he wants us to live as those who are destined for
glory.