p. 12 | The Sabbath School

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 15, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 15.

The Sabbath School

International Series.

LESSON V.—SABBATH, MAY 1, 1897.

The Prayer of Christ.

Lesson Scripture, John 17:1-13, R. V.

“These things spake Jesus; and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee: 2 even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, that whatsoever thou hast given him, to them he should give eternal life. 3 And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ. 4 I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. 6 I manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them to me; and they have kept thy word. 7 Now they know that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are from thee; 8 for the words which thou gavest me I have given unto them; and they received them, and knew of a truth that I came forth from thee, and they believed that thou didst send me. 9 I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me; 10 for they are thine; and all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no more in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in thy name which thou hast given me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

Questions.

1. What did Jesus do after speaking these words?

2. With what statement did he open his prayer?

3. What was the first petition? What was its purpose?

4. What power did he acknowledge that he had received?

5. What did he declare to be eternal life?

6. What had Christ accomplished during his earthly career?

7. What petition did he base upon this fact?

8. What had he done to his followers?

9. How did they come to be followers of Christ? What had been their experience?

10. What had his followers learned?

11. What had Christ imparted to them? With what result?

12. For whom did he pray? How is the statement repeated?

13. What statements show the complete union of the Father and the Son?

14. What change was coming in Christ’s experience? Where were his followers? What petition does he make in their behalf?

15. What had Christ done for them? To what extent was this true? Upon what did the exception rest?

16. Where was Christ about to go?

17. With what intent was he saying these things?

Notes.

1. In verse 2 we learn that Christ was given power or authority to give eternal life to as many as the Father had given him. By comparing this verse with verses 6-12 we learn who were given to him, namely, those who keep God’s Word. See verse 6, last clause. The reason why Judas was lost was because he forsook Jesus, and thus departed from God’s Word. So when we yield our hearts to God, to keep his Word, and do not forsake Jesus, we will be “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:5.

2. To know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, will make a person a Christian, a true child of God, because he who knows God truly will love and obey him. By beholding we become changed into the same image. 2 Cor. 3:18. Our love for God will be in proportion to our acquaintance with him. Hence, eternal life is sure to those who know God; for they are connected with the source of life.

3. “In the intercessory prayer of Jesus with his Father, he claimed that he had fulfilled the conditions which made it obligatory upon the Father to fulfil his part of the contract made in heaven with regard to fallen man. He prayed: ‘I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. [That is, he had wrought out a righteous character on earth as an example for men to follow.] And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.’”—Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 3, p. 260.

4. “I pray for them.” “The blood of Jesus is pleading with power and efficacy for those who are

backslidden, for those who are rebellious, for those who sin against great light and love. Satan stands at our right hand to accuse us, and our Advocate stands at God’s right hand to plead for us. He has never lost a case that has been committed to him. We may trust in our Advocate, for he pleads his own merits in our behalf. Hear his prayer before his betrayal and trial, . . . and let every word be engraven upon the tablets of the soul.”—Review and Herald, August 15, 1893.

Suggestions for Further Study.

1. Why are people destroyed? Compare Hosea 4:6; Isa. 5:13; Jer. 8:7, and John 4:22. What, then, is our mission?

2. Do you also glorify God in the earth? How? See John 15:8.

3. To what did Jesus refer in verse 5, when he prayed the Father to glorify him with the glory which he (Christ) had with him before the world was? Compare also with verse 22 in the next lesson.

4. How does the Father respond to the request in verse 11? See Zech. 2:8.