Sermon for May 17, 2025: On their Behalf based upon John 17:1-11

5/19/2026

John 17:1-11 Jesus Prays for His Disciples (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people,[a] to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

In his notes on today’s text, Obery Hendrick’s calls it “Jesus’ Final Prayer.” It is the last part of his farewell address in the book of John. He is spending time preparing them to preach the Gospel without him. It takes him about four chapters after washing his friends’ feet (and warning them he would be betrayed) to say what he needs to say. He made sure that they understood that he would be preparing a place for them and instructed them to keep his commandments. They are to keep loving their neighbor and keep loving God. He reaffirmed them as branches to his vine, extensions of his love into the world. He also warns them that bad things will happen, but that doesn’t mean that they should stop loving. And, then, he prays.

The scholar Cláudio Carvalhaes, in his commentary on this text, says that this final prayer is “as if Jesus is wrapping up his ministry by telling God what happened and what will be needed as the disciples move forward.” Gennifer Brooks describes the prayer as “read[ing] like a narrative of Jesus’ role as Savior and guide, as leader and example for the present disciples and those yet to come.” He prays to God, stating his readiness for what is coming next, and he also prays for his friends. He asks God to empower them. “They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.” He goes on to pray, “I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those who you gave me, because they are yours.” This is a kind and generous intercession on Jesus’ part, an intercession said in such a way that his disciples likely hear him praying for them.

Dr. Carvalhaes also points out that in his prayer, Jesus beautifully reasserts the relationships that connect the disciples to him and all of them to God. “All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.” Jesus prays for their protection, asking God “protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” Jesus knew that they must work together... that their many must also be one if they are to help the kindom come. Jesus wanted his joy to be complete in them, for them to be made holy in God’s word, and for them to be protected from evil, even as they find themselves in conflict with the powers of the world. Who has been praying for you lately? Have they prayed so fervently? Who have you been praying for God to empower?

He prayed in earshot so that they knew he was praying for them. Brooks says that Jesus wants to make sure that they know what they are receiving from him. The last thing he will be able to give them before he is arrested is this assurance of his on-going love and their capability built by this love. The last time I preached on this scripture I described this passage as Jesus “doing that Good Shepherd thing again: making sure they know they are not alone in the valley of the shadow of death.” Dr. Meda Stamper, in her commentary on this text, notes that Jesus is basically asking for two things for his friends: that they will be protected and that they will be made holy by the presence of Divine Love in their lives. In being made holy, they will be able to continue Christ’s mission.

I’ve prayed for a lot of people in my life. We pray for each other every week. I’ve witnessed people countless times be moved by having someone pray for them. To be fair, not everyone wishes for prayer. But, for those who do, it can be a balm. Sometimes the prayers are simple and sometimes more complex. Sometimes they are ones that I make up on the spot. Sometimes, they are prayers we know and have memorized as part of Christian tradition. I’ve shared before about how, when I was a hospice chaplain with many patients with memory loss, one thing that most of the Christians could remember was the Lord’s Prayer.

I learned over the 5 years that I worked in that job that if I started the Lord’s Prayer, I could almost always count on someone who had been actively religious to pray with me, even if they no longer could speak many clear words. Some people would pray clearly, occasionally even saying the most clear sentences that they had said during the whole visit as they recited the familiar phrases of the prayer. Sometimes people would only remember the rhythm of the prayer, mumbling alongside me, and maybe saying a few words clearly. Sometimes they would only remember the Amen. Sometimes they would just hold my hand tightly while I would pray. These experiences really helped me appreciate the power of a communally known and memorized prayer.

I officiated Ray Baillergon’s funeral this week. His wife Georgia made sure we prayed the Lord’s Prayer. She said it was his favorite. When I looked around at the attendees of his service, his relatives and coworkers, his friends in suits and ties and his friends in Harley jackets and high viz vests, and began the Lord’s Prayer, most of us prayed it together. Our words were able to be unified because the love of Ray brought us together and because tradition had given us a common prayer to reach for in times of grief. It was lovely.

Another place that I’ve witnessed the power of shared prayer is AA meetings that I’ve been invited to attend. The founders of Alcoholics Anonymous had deep roots in the Episcopal tradition, which might not surprise you if you are aware of their view of a higher power. I think this may also be why they incorporate the Serenity Prayer into meetings. This prayer, likely originally written by UCC theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, may have been rolled into AA practice when some folks from AA came upon the prayer after it had been shared with service members by military chaplains.

The first version I remember hearing goes like this: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. I learned a while ago that there is a different version that Rev. Dr. Niebuhr evidently preferred: God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. As much as I like this prayer, I also appreciate Dr. Angela Davis’ reminder that we don’t have to be serene in the face of that which is unacceptable. She said, “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” That’s a prayer I’ve needed sometimes, too.

I’ve been co-teaching a class through the Maine School of Ministry called Organizing for Relationship and Repair. It’s a class ultimately about helping churches of people who are the descendants of settlers on this continent work on relationships that support the sovereignty of native people who were here first. It has been useful to talk in community about concrete actions of repair. One thing that consistently comes up in discussions of best practices for a settler Christian community that wants to repair relationships is that we must root ourselves in spiritual practices that sustain us for the solidarity work we are undertaking. Communal prayer, either through shared prayers that bolster us, or prayers that are more off the cuff, like that of Jesus for his friends, are a part of those spiritual practices.

It matters deeply to us that we are listened to and remembered. We often feel better to know that someone hopes good things will happen for us. It is powerful when someone sees and hears what’s on your heart, and acknowledges it before God, and then prays for your relief or your protection or clarity or a change of heart. Jesus hoped his friends would hear him praying and that those prayers would give them strength for the hard work ahead. As Brooks notes in her commentary on this text, the final words of this portion of his prayer for his disciples is for their unity, “so that they may be one, as we are one.” Brooks calls this an “realized petition on behalf of our Savior.” We are still working on our oneness.

In fact, much of this farewell prayer could be for us, as well as the first disciples. In just a few verses after this one, in verse 20 and 21, Jesus says that he is also praying for those “who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.” That’s us. We’re the ones who have come to believe. Jesus has been praying for us, for our protection and empowerment, for a long time. May we go into this week feeling those prayers alive in our hearts and praying for each other. These prayers will bolster us for what’s ahead and connect us to God and each other. Jesus prayed on his friends’ behalf. Let us pray on behalf of each other.

Resources Pastor Chrissy consulted:
Obery Hendricks, Jr.'s notes on John in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)
Gennifer Benjamin Brooks: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/seventh-sunday-of-easter/commentary-on-john-171-11-6
Cláudio Carvalhaes: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/seventh-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-john-176-19-5
Meda Stamper: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/seventh-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-john-176-19-3
About the Serenity Prayer:

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Winthrop Congregational Church, United Church of Christ