Speaking The Name of Jesus
John 17:6-12
Rev. Juvenal Cervantes, Pastor
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Greeley, Colorado
June 13, 2021
John 17:6-12
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
JESUS PRAYED FOR HIS DISCIPLES TO BE FORTIFIED
Jesus spent the first five verses praying for Himself and the rest of the prayer praying for others. We know He was praying for the eleven disciples who were with Him that night, but did you know He was praying for us? It’s true, 2,000 years ago Jesus was praying for us that night.
“I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word.” (John 17:20) That’s us. We are believers today because of the words written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So as Jesus prayed for His disciples, He was praying the same thing for us today.
A. He prayed that we would be protected by God’s Name.
This is an introduction to this part of the prayer. Other messages will focus on Jesus praying for His disciples.
While Jesus had been physically with the disciples, He could protect them. But He was returning to the Father. So in John 17:11 He prayed, “Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me.” So what was the name that the Father gave to Jesus?
It was the name “I am.” The same name God gave Moses at the burning bush. Seven times in this narrative Jesus had made the claim as the Great I am. He said, “I am the Bread of life. I am the Light of the world. I am the door. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the Resurrection and the Life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. And earlier on this night He had said, “I am the true vine.”
There is protective power in the name of Jesus. Whenever you feel afraid or threatened just speak the name of Jesus and you’ll find inner strength and peace.
B. He prayed that we would be unified in one purpose.
Jesus prayed that we would be as one even as He and the Father are one. So what is the purpose that unifies us? Our life’s goal should be the same as that of Jesus—to bring glory to God. The way we do that is by knowing Jesus and making Him known to others. Once we receive eternal life, knowing Jesus, we want to share this good news with others. Moments before Jesus returned from Heaven He issued our marching orders in Acts 1:8. He said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The thing that unites us is that we are all committed to accomplishing this purpose. To take the good news to those who have never heard.
CONCLUSION
Three years ago, two very famous, influential people died within three weeks of each other. On March 14, Stephen Hawking died. He was one of the most brilliant physicists of all time. His book, A Brief History of Time, sold over ten million copies.
He was diagnosed with ALS when he was 21 and told that he might live for two more years. He lived with ALS for over fifty years and was 76 when he died. Stephen Hawking was a gentle atheist: He didn’t bear any hostility toward believers.
Hawking wrote: “I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.” So, was Stephen Hawking correct? Did his brain just stop and then there was nothing? Is the idea of an afterlife only a fairy tale?
Three weeks before Stephen Hawking died, another famous person also died. His name was Billy Graham. He died at age 99 after struggling with Parkinson’s disease for the past twenty-five years. Billy Graham said this about death: “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”
Now, who was right? For the sake of comparison, let’s put Stephen Hawking on one side and Billy Graham on the other. Is death the end and there is no afterlife as Dr. Hawking claimed?
Or as Dr. Graham said, is there an afterlife where we may spend eternity with God in a place called heaven? Both of them cannot be correct. And the most important decision in your short life is to decide which position is correct.
Blaise Pascal was a 17th Century Christian French Philosopher and mathematician. He presented what is called the Pascal Wager, like making a bet. It is the proposition that each person must wager whether God exists or not.
Possibility #1: A person like Billy Graham believes in God and lives a Christian life and then they die and they are wrong—there is no
afterlife. What has Billy Graham lost? Pascal reasoned that he lost relatively little. Even if he has no afterlife, at least he lived a life and meaningful life filled with hope and a desire to show love to others.
Possibility #2: Let’s say a person like Stephen Hawking chooses not to believe in God or the afterlife. He could still live a full and purposeful life here. But what if Hawking was wrong and there is a God and an afterlife? Pascal reasoned that his loss would be catastrophic—an eternity separated from a God he didn’t believe in.
Pascal’s wager has been criticized, because the Christian life isn’t about hedging your bets to avoid going to hell.
I believe in Jesus Christ, not because it is a reasonable choice. I am a Christian because I responded to God’s offer of love. And God wants to have a loving relationship with you. He is offering the free gift of eternal life.
Vance Havner used to tell the story of a man who came home from work and asked his wife, “How was your day?” She said, “Not too good. I’ve been upset all afternoon.” He said, “Sit down and tell me what happened.”
She said, “This afternoon someone rang our doorbell. When I opened the door, there was a well-dressed man there, but I didn’t know him. He smiled at me and said, ‘Ma’am, may I ask you a question?’ And say, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Do you know Jesus Christ?’”
She said, “I was so surprised by the question that I didn’t know what to say, so after a few moments of silence, I just closed the door and he left. And I’ve been unsettled since then.”
Her husband got angry. He said, “Sweetheart, why didn’t you tell the man that you sing in the church choir every Sunday and that you are an officer in the Lady’s Missionary Circle? Why didn’t you tell him that you hardly ever miss church?”
His wife said, “That’s not what he asked me. He asked me if I know Jesus.”
Religious activity is good, but it is no substitute for knowing Jesus. And that’s what eternal life is—knowing Jesus. Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, grow in that relationship with Him, believe, embrace, and incorporate His promises.
Last week there was a young lady who competed in America’s Got Talent. An Ohio native who is battling cancer wowed "America's Got Talent" judges Tuesday night and received Golden Buzzer honors during the NBC program. Singer Jane Marczewski, 30, who performs as Nightbirde, impressed Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara with her original song "It's OK."
During the audition, however, Nightbirde shared some tough personal news — she had "some cancer" in her lungs, spine and liver. Nightbirde also later revealed that she was given a 2% chance of survival.
When Howie told her that "nobody would ever know" she was dealing with cancer, Nightbirde replied, "Thank you. It’s important that everyone knows that I’m so much more than the bad things that happen to me. … You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy."
She said, for me, it’s been one miracle after another miracle, and another miracle. She revealed why she decided to change her name to Nightbirde. She reflected, “I had the same dream multiple nights in a row where birds were singing outside my bedroom window in the dark. While the first two times were, in fact, dreams, the third time ended up being real.
"The birds were singing as if it was morning but there was really no sign of the light yet," she noted. "And I wanted to embody that. Being somebody that could sing through a dark time because I was so full of hope and assurance that there would be a morning."
Do you have this assurance in your heart? Will you share this enthusiasm and certainty with others?