Greetings everyone and thanks for joining me for this edition of my Sunday School lesson commentary. This Sunday’s lesson is entitled “Called As The Intercessor” and is found in John 17:14-24.
Today’s lesson focuses on a portion of which can truly be referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer”. That prayer which begins with “Our Father” which we have referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer” is more correctly described and referred to as “The Disciple’s Prayer”. It is the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to prayer when they asked Him to teach them to pray.
The entire 17th chapter of John is a recounting of a prayer Jesus prayed. So it is “the Lord’s Prayer”. This prayer takes place after the last Passover Supper and meal Jesus ate with His disciples in the upper room. In the upper room, Jesus made a type of “farewell” speech in which He disclosed and revealed some things to them that up to this time they did not understand or were not ready to receive.
Sometime between Him speaking His final words to them and Him being arrested, Jesus found time to pray this prayer. A majority of the prayer is on behalf of and for His disciples and all those who will believe on Him because of what they will do and say after His departure. It can be called a prayer of intercession. An intercessory prayer is one in which requests or petitions are made to God for the benefit of others.
The verses in the lesson today reveal a few of the Lord’s request on behalf of and for His disciples and the Church. Jesus asked the Father to keep them from the evil. It is the same request He taught us to prayer – “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil”. “The evil” Jesus refers to is Satan himself, the appeal of evil, the power of evil or any or all of these. Jesus asked the Father to help His disciples and church in their struggle against the evil.
Jesus asks the Father to sanctify His disciples in the truth of His word. “Sanctify” means to “set apart” for holy use. It is ‘truth” that is revealed through Jesus Christ that the disciples were to proclaim and live by in the world. “Truth” is the one of the hallmarks of those who are called and sanctified in the blood of Jesus. Lairs, those who perpetuate lies, believe lies and deny truth are not sanctified through truth and are not considered part of the family of God. All God’s children believe the truth, walk in the truth, recognize the truth and reject all lies.
It is important to note here that Jesus prays not only for the disciples that are with Him, but for all who will believe the truth because of what they will do. In other words, Jesus prayed for the millions unborn who would become believers because of the witness of others.
Jesus prayed that His disciples would come to where He was going and that they would see and be a partaker of His glory. He prayed that they would be made one with the Father and Himself.
Jesus repeated the reason for His request is so that the world may know that He was sent to the world by the Father. His request for sanctification, for protection and for unity for His disciples and church is so that the world might believe the testimony of Jesus Christ and by believing be saved.
This is “the Lord’s Prayer” that was prayed for all believers before any of us were born. He left us an example also to sanctify ourselves as He did for us in order to help others receive the eternal gift of life He has given to those who believe.
Well, I hope you will be able to attend SS this coming Sunday. Invite someone to come and share your thoughts with the class. Sunday School at Flag Branch will begin at 9:00 am and you are invited to join us at www.fbmbc.org and clicking the online services link. You and others can also join us by dialing 508 924-2490. If you have any comments or questions before then, be sure to place them in the comment section of this preview and I will get back to you. So, as always remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
