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In our
first Midweek Meeting of this New Year (January 3, 2024), I offered a meditation
on Christ’s so-called High Priestly Prayer as recorded in John 17.
It was fitting to begin the year with reflection on this prayer from our
Lord at the initial prayer meeting of the New Year. In his first advent
ministry Christ showed himself to be a man of prayer, and even now he “ever
liveth to make intercession” for us (Hebrews 7:25).
The apostle John did not record Christ’s prayer of agony in the Garden of
Gethsemane, as did the other Evangelists, but he alone did record this prayer
in John 17 in which Christ offered petitions before the Father as our Great
High Priest (cf. Hebrews 4:14-16).
This prayer has traditionally been understood to consist of three main
petitions:
First, Christ prayed for himself (17:1-5). As true God, the Son has shared in fellowship with the Father and the
Spirit from all eternity. As true man without sin he enjoyed perfect harmony
with the Father and rightly was in constant communion with him. With the cross
and resurrection in view in which his glory would be fully revealed, Christ
acknowledged, “the hour is come” (17:1; cf. John 2:4; 7:6), and prayed, “glorify
thy son” (17:1; cf. 17:5).
Second, Christ prayed for the original disciples or apostles (17:6-19). What a task was about to be set before them! They would be given the
Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). Christ prayed for their holiness, “Sanctify
them, through thy truth; thy word is truth” (17:17).
Third, he prayed for those who would come to the faith through the
witness of the apostles (17:20-26), beginning,
“Neither pray I for them [the apostles] alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word” (17:20). These men would indeed preach the gospel,
and they would write the NT Scriptures, which continue to be preached to this
day. Christ was praying for us, those who would come to faith by hearing Christ
preached in the Scriptures. The focus of his petition was for their unity: “That
they all may be one….” (17:21 ff.).
As we enter this New Year may the
Lord grant unity to his church. Let the unity we have enjoyed in this local
church continue, as we love the brethren and bear one another’s burdens in the
name of Christ. Let that unity be demonstrated through our fellowship with likeminded
Reformed Baptist churches throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, this nation,
and the world. Let it also be demonstrated through our unity with all other churches
where Christ is at the center, the Bible is believed and preached, and the core
tenants of orthodox Christian faith and practice are upheld.
Let us indeed “all be one.”
Grace and
peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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