High Priestly Prayer – Part 1

By Pastor Chad

Last Sunday morning, we started a three-part focus on the high priestly prayer. So called because it is a prayer in which Jesus prays for His disciples as a priestly intercessor. The first five verses establish the weight of the rest of the prayer. Jesus, as the eternal ruler of all, has the authority and power to grant eternal life to all whom the Father has given Him. 

Who receives this eternal life? Or how does one get it? 

Jesus said in John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” To receive eternal life, one must know God. This knowledge means one has a relationship with God. It isn’t just some facts that you happen to know. This is a communion that one experiences. 

As I have said before, I have no problem calling Christianity a religion. Some like to avoid the term “religion” because it could evoke some negative baggage in our culture, but I don’t think that baggage is necessary. Religions are systems of belief about God, life, the world, and existence. Christianity very much falls into that definition. The difference is Christianity is the only true religion. All other religions are man-made systems that lead to destruction and futility. Christianity is the true religion that shows how to have a relationship with God–and how to truly live. 

Simply knowing facts about God, however, isn’t what Jesus is discussing here. Don’t get me wrong, knowing facts about God is important (for example, that God is triune, that He is Creator, that Jesus is God, etc.), but Jesus means much more than simply retaining factoids about who God is. To know God is to have a relationship with Him. There is an intimacy in this commune that goes far beyond simple knowledge. To have a relationship with God means one is interacting with the Creator, Savior, Lord, and King in a personal and close way. To be sure, this isn’t like the human relationships we have. In human relationships, we are interacting with an equal. Our relationship with God, however, is one between the finite and the infinite. Thus, it is God that initiates the relationship and sets the boundaries of the relationship. In other words, God makes the rules. So, we can’t demand something from God in this relationship. In fact, given who God is, the greatest thing God could give us in this relationship is Himself. 

All of this to say, to have eternal life, one must be connected to God in a way that goes well beyond simple pleasantries. To have eternal life, one must enter into a friendship with the divine.