John 17:1-19: Having Your Head in the Game

John 17:1-19: Having Your Head in the Game

Please turn with me in your Bibles to John 17. If you’re using one of the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 748. We’ve been making our way passage by passage through the Gospel of John, and this morning the next passage we come to is John 17:1-19. Jesus is praying to the Father right before he’s arrested and crucified, and here’s what he says. John 17:1-19: 1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. 

One of the important things for an athlete to do before a big game or a big race is to make sure he has his head in the game. I personally never went beyond the high school level in the sports I did, but even I understand that competing as an athlete is often just as much mental as it is physical. So that’s why it’s important to have your head in the game. And that’s why I appreciate this picture of Michael Phelps so much. This picture was taken right before one of the swimming events at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. And as you can see, Michael Phelps means business. In all honesty, he looks like he’s about to punch someone. I don’t think there can be any doubt that he had his head in the game. If you were looking for a definition of what it means to have your head in the game, I’m pretty sure this picture alone would be a sufficient definition of what that means. And it’s important for an athlete to be able to do that. I would venture to guess that just about all successful athletes have some kind of pre-race or pre-game routine they do in order to get themselves into the right frame of mind to compete. 

And I think there’s a lot of carryover there for Christians as well. The Bible frequently compares the Christian life to fighting in a battle. We’re waging spiritual war. And because we’re waging spiritual war, just like an athlete, we have to have our head in the game. And I think this prayer Jesus prays here in John 17 is an excellent example of what having your head in the game looks like. In this prayer, as Jesus is praying for his disciples, he focuses his attention two of the most important needs we have. Jesus prays for his disciples to be both protected and sanctified. That’s the main point. Jesus prays for his disciples to be both protected and sanctified. Those are two of the most critical issues that should have our attention as Christians—two of the most fundamental needs we have. And so, Jesus zeroes in on those two things as he prays. So let’s take a closer look at each of them. First the need for protection, and then second the need for sanctification. 

The Need for Protection

Looking first at the need for protection, Jesus prays for that in a number of places in our text. He mentions it first in verse 11. He prays, “And I am no longer in the world, but there are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” So notice the request: “keep them in your name” or you might say “by the power of your name.” In other words, Jesus is saying, “Guard them, protect them, watch over them.” He then says in verse 12, “12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction [that would be Judas], that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” So basically, Jesus is passing off responsibility for protecting his disciples from himself to his Father. Jesus is about to leave the world, so he’s asking the Father to protect his disciples instead. And if you’re wondering what they need to be protected from, we find that out in verse 15. Jesus says, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” So that’s who we need to be kept and protected from: “the evil one,” elsewhere referred to as the devil or Satan. That’s our ultimate enemy. Remember I said that we’re fighting a spiritual war? Well, that’s who we’re fighting against. And that’s why we need to have our head in the game. 

Unfortunately, many times, we don’t really have our head in the game. We often don’t do a very good job of paying attention to Satan’s schemes and tactics and attacks. Several weeks ago, one of the neighboring families on our street had a pretty serious issue with carbon monoxide in their house. Apparently, their furnace was malfunctioning and putting out all this carbon monoxide. And thankfully, the house’s smoke detectors also functioned as carbon monoxide detectors, so as soon as the carbon monoxide got to an unhealthy level, the alarm went off. However, the husband of the family thought that something was wrong with the alarm. He heard the alarm go off but didn’t see fire or smoke, so he thought something must be wrong with the alarm. He also told me, looking back, that he felt kind of sleepy at the time, I’m guessing from the carbon monoxide. Fortunately, however, his wife remembered that the alarms detected not only smoke but also carbon monoxide, so she called the fire department. And they basically had stay out of their house for a day or two while the carbon monoxide cleared out and they were able to have their furnace replaced. Because carbon monoxide is not something you want to mess with. You may not be able to see it, but that doesn’t make it any less real or any less dangerous. 

And it’s the same way with Satan. You may not be able to see Satan, but he’s real. He’s just as real as the pew you’re sitting on. And he would love nothing more than to destroy you. 1 Peter 5:8 says that he “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” That’s what Satan’s doing even now at this very moment. And there are a number of different ways Satan comes against us, four of which are especially worth mentioning. First, Satan seeks to divide. That’s the first scheme of Satan. He wants to divide believers and create conflict among believers and just stir up trouble any way he can. That’s why, if you notice in verse 11 of our main text, Jesus prays, “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” So he prays for the Father’s protection so that and with the result that “they may be one, even as we are one.” Jesus understands that Satan would love nothing more than to create divisions among believers, so Jesus specifically prays against that. Then second, not only does Satan seek to divide, he also seeks to discourage. Satan will tell you lies about God and yourself and your circumstances all day long in an attempt to discourage you. He’ll try to get you to doubt whether God truly loves you or truly has your best interests at heart. He’ll try to make you feel guilty for sins you’ve committed in the past even after you’ve repented of those sins and asked for God’s forgiveness. Satan loves to discourage you. 

Then third, Satan seeks to derail your spiritual life. He’ll do whatever he can to get you off the path you need to be on. That’s what he’s been doing from day one, as we see recorded in the book of Genesis. Satan approached Eve in the Garden of Eden and tempted her to get off the path of righteousness and to disobey God’s instructions. He made sin look so good to Eve. He made that fruit look so desirable. And ever since then, he’s been doing the same thing. Satan wants you to think that the ways of sin are more desirable than the ways of God. He wants to pull you off the path God has for you and derail your spiritual life. Then, finally, a fourth scheme of Satan is simply to distract you in any way he can. He wants to distract you from God and the worship of God and the mission of God. And really, everything we’ve talked about so far is a form of distraction. Satan divides believers, discourages believers, and derails believers all with the intention of distracting them from what they should be focusing on. And he has other ways of distracting us also. If Satan can get you so wrapped up in the earthly blessings God provides that you don’t pay very much attention to God anymore or God’s mission, that’s a win for him. Satan loves to distract us with things like entertainment and material possessions and social prominence to keep us from thinking about other things—things that have eternal importance. It doesn’t mean those earthly blessings are bad—I enjoy a good movie as much as anyone—but Satan can be very clever in the way he uses those things to distract us from what’s most important. So those are the four schemes of Satan. He tries to divide us by stirring up conflict, discourage us with his lies, derail us through temptation, and just generally distract us in any way he can.

That’s why Jesus prays for our protection. That’s why we need the Father to “keep” us and “guard” us. Satan is constantly on the move, constantly scheming against us, constantly doing his best to take us off of the spiritual playing field. He never rests, never takes a break. He is relentless. And if you and I don’t have God’s protection, we don’t stand a chance. That’s why Jesus spends a good part of his prayer—six whole verses, to be exact—praying for the Father to “keep [us] from the evil one.” To use the metaphor we’ve been using, Jesus had his head in the game. And you and I would do well to have our heads in the game also. That means you should regularly be praying prayers of protection for yourself, your family, and our church. Let me tell you something: we need that. Satan would love nothing more than to divide, discourage, derail, and distract within this church. Are you praying against that? Is your head in the game?

The Need for Sanctification

Then the second need Jesus prays for is the need for sanctification. First, he prays for our protection; then he prays for our sanctification. Look at verses 17-19: Jesus prays, “17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.” That word “sanctify” means to set apart for something special, something honorable. Kind of like a family might do with their dinner plates. A lot of families have one set of dinner plates for regular use and then another set for special use. I remember going over to one family’s house, and they brought out a fancy set of dinner plates that they had received as a gift for their wedding. And even though their wedding was about 20 or 25 years ago, you wouldn’t know it from looking at these plates. They were in pristine condition. And if I remember correctly, they actually had a design on them around the outside of the plate that was made of gold. They were very nice. And of course, you couldn’t put these plates in the dishwasher; they had to be washed by hand. So those plates weren’t the plates this family used on a regular basis. They only came out of the cabinet on special occasions—when guests were coming over for dinner. Those plates were, in a sense, sanctified. They were set apart for special use.

And that’s what Jesus prays for us. He prays that we would be sanctified—that we would be set apart from the tainted things of this world and dedicated to God. So notice there are two components there. First being set apart from the world and then being set apart to God. Sanctification is about both of those things. It’s about being set apart from the world, but not as an end it itself but rather as a means for being close to God. We want to be set apart to God. If you’re a Christian, that’s what you should want for your life. That’s what you should be praying for, just like that’s what we see Jesus praying for. And that’s what you should be actively pursuing as well. Hopefully you recognize that there are things in your life right now that shouldn’t be there. Hopefully the Holy Spirit is progressively bringing those things to your attention. And not just outward things, but inward things also. Don’t think you’re where you need to be spiritually just because your life looks good on the outside. What about your thoughts? What about your motives? What about your deepest desires? Are those things the way God wants them to be? And of course, if we’re honest, we’d have to say “no, not entirely.” That’s why we need to be sanctified. Sanctification is the process of becoming progressively more set apart from our old way of living and set apart to God. 

And according to Jesus in verse 17, the way we’re sanctified is “in [or by] the truth.” That’s what produces a sanctified life. Sanctification comes as we apprehend biblical truth and absorb biblical truth and, in a sense, breathe in biblical truth in a deeper and deeper way. Think about the way Olympic athletes sometimes do their training at high altitudes, where there’s less oxygen in their air. Because there’s less oxygen in the air, the body has to adjust itself in order to function in that high altitude environment. Less oxygen means that your body has to become more efficient in utilizing the oxygen that is there, and it does that by producing more red blood cells. That’s why a lot of athletes will do their training at high altitudes a few weeks before their event so that when they get back to lower altitudes, they’ll have a competitive advantage. So, to put it in the simplest of terms, breathing in the air of high altitudes changes your body. It makes your body better equipped to do the things you want it to do. 

And likewise, when you breathe in the air of biblical truth, that truth has a way of changing you. It gets in your head, it gets in your heart, and hopefully it takes up residence there. And the more that truth gets inside you, the more it changes you. That’s what Jesus means when he prays, “sanctify them in the truth.” The truth is what produces a sanctified life. So, if you want to be sanctified—if you want to actually grow in your Christian life, if you want to actually grow in your knowledge and love and likeness to the Lord—guess what you should do? You should expose yourself to biblical truth as much as possible. Start reading the Bible every day. Just like Olympic athletes breathe the air of high altitudes, let biblical truth be the air you breathe. 

You know, perhaps some of you have wondered why you don’t see more spiritual growth in your life or why you’re not farther along spiritually than you are right now. Could it be that you’re simply not reading the Bible very much? When someone doesn’t read the Bible consistently and then wonders why they don’t see spiritual growth in their life, it’s kind of like someone eating nothing but fast food all the time and then wondering why they’re not very healthy. Look what you’re eating; look what you’re taking in. You’ve probably heard that expression, “You are what you eat.” Well, what are you eating spiritually? And let me just put it bluntly, if you’ll allow me to do that. If your diet during your discretionary time consists of 95% entertainment and only 5% exposure to biblical truths, don’t be surprised if you’re not a very spiritually mature Christian. That doesn’t mean you can’t grow to maturity, if you’ll change your habits. But it does mean that we shouldn’t expect to grow beyond the level of spiritual nourishment we’re receiving.

And notice Jesus says, “sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” He’s speaking to the Father there. “Your word is truth.” There’s unique power in the actual words of God—the actual words we read in the Bible. So it’s good to read Christian devotionals and books and blogs, but there’s really no substitute for reading the Bible itself. Going back to the physical fitness metaphor, there might be a place sometimes for different supplements and different vitamins, but your diet can’t consist of just those artificially made things. You have to actually eat real food. That should be the majority of your diet. Nothing made in a factory or laboratory is a suitable substitute for real food. And likewise, there’s just no substitute for the Bible.

Conclusion

So with all of this in mind, take a moment and think about what might be a good next step for you. You might have noticed in your bulletin, at the bottom of the page entitled “Message Notes,” just about every Sunday we give a little space down there to write down “How I need to grow and change.” Why don’t you take a moment right now to answer that? How do you need to grow and change? Think about the schemes of Satan we looked at, how Satan seeks to divide, discourage, derail, and distract believers. How do you need to grow and change in light of those schemes? Has Satan been particularly successful with one of those schemes in your life? Or maybe the biggest thing for you to think about this morning is related to what Jesus prays in verse 17—how he asks the Father to “sanctify them in the truth” and then says, “your word is truth.” How do you need to grow and change in light of that? 

And yet, also keep in mind that neither our protection nor our sanctification is ultimately something we accomplish ourselves. At the end of the day, both of those things come from God. Notice our text here in John 17 records Jesus praying to the Father to accomplish these things on our behalf. God is the one who ultimately protects, and God is the one who ultimately sanctifies. Our role is simply to pray for God to do those things and make use of the God-given means or channels for receiving them—such as reading the Bible. Because none of this ultimately comes from us. We become Christians by looking to God for everything, and we likewise live and grow as Christians by looking to God for everything. 

Christianity isn’t ultimately about us, in our merit, climbing a ladder up to God. It’s about God, in his mercy, graciously reaching down and even coming down to help the helpless—to help those who had no ability to help themselves. That’s why Jesus came to this earth. He saw our sin, our misery, and our condemnation, and so he came down to rescue us. You see, just minutes after Jesus uttered this prayer in John 17, he would be arrested by Roman soldiers. And those soldiers would take him away to a series of unjust trials and eventually lead him off to be crucified. But God had a plan the whole time. As Jesus died on the cross, he was dying in our place, as our substitute. He endured God’s wrath so we wouldn’t have to. And then he victoriously and triumphantly rose again from the grave. That’s what makes it possible for us to be saved. That’s what makes it possible for us to have a relationship with God. And that’s what ultimately makes it possible for the Father to answer Jesus’ prayer in John 17 for our protection and sanctification. Jesus’ death and resurrection are absolutely foundational for all of that.