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INTRODUCTION
So I'm going to be honest with you here by saying that this is a bit more of a challenging week to teach. And that’s just because the chapters we cover this time are a little doctrinally dense and the language a bit harder to grasp. Now that doesn't take away from their beauty or their power or their importance, but they do require a bit more focus, intensity and pondering. In fact, probably the best way to understand these chapters would be to go through them verse by verse. Unfortunately that’s not realistic if you’re a teacher. We’re probably going to all be limited by either the 45 minutes of class time that you have on a Sunday or the short attention span of your family at home. So I found that one of the best ways to teach these particular chapters is to approach them thematically. Identifying the major themes of the Savior’s teachings here and walking your class through examples of verses within the chapters that reveal those themes so we’re going to be jumping around a bit between chapters. But as we do that, understand that these themes are all part of an interconnected whole and they don’t stand independent of each other. Jesus is going to weave these ideas in and out all throughout these chapters, which are then going to culminate and climax into what is referred to as the Great Intercessory Prayer in John chapter 17.
JESUS’S NOTECARD
So to introduce these chapters to my students I would start by taking a quick classroom poll. The question. How do you like to give a talk in Church? Which of the following methods are you most likely to use? How many of you are the type that likes to just get up and talk? You have a general idea of what you want to say, but you don’t write anything down. It’s just you and the pulpit. Ok, now how many of you are the type that likes to write out your entire talk and read it word for word? Maybe some of you like to do it that way. Great. And then, how many of you are the type that likes to have some notes that represent an outline of some of the things you want to say, but that you don’t necessarily follow word for word? And I think those are probably the most common methods I’ve seen people use for giving talks. And you know what. There isn’t one method that’s better than the others. It’s personal preference. For me, I’m a notecard kind of speaker. I don’t like to read word for word, but I also don’t like to go without anything just in case my mind goes blank, and I forget what I was wanting to share, which does happen on occasion the older I get. So I just kind of make a bullet list of the major points of my talk and then if I get lost I can just glance down at my outline and remember where I’m at. So when I read some of these longer discourses or talks that we find in the scriptures, sometimes I try to guess what the notecard might have looked like if the person in the scriptures had used one.
And that’s going to be our overall approach for these chapters this week. We’re going to try and visualize Jesus’s “Last Supper Sermon” Notecard. As a teacher, you could give them this handout to take notes on as you walk them through the major themes of Jesus’s teachings here. And when they’re done, they can place this in their scriptures for future reference. And I really think that this can help to simplify this rather deep discussion that Jesus has with the apostles during the Last Supper and as they walk towards the Garden of Gethsemane. So encourage them to write these points down on the notecard as you go. And you can also let your students know that as you go through the points, that you’re going to do some kind of a different activity for each one.
POINT #1: THE DEFINING TRAIT
ACTIVITY-PICTURE MATCHING
So point #1. An identification activity. I’ve got a slide here with pictures of a number of different people on it. Can you tell what religion they practice based solely on the picture. How can you tell? Which of these people is Jewish? Which one is Muslim? Which is Buddhist? Which is Catholic? Which one is Amish? Which is the member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Now that probably wasn’t too hard. There are often exterior signs that we can point to that can help us to see and know what religion somebody practices—the way they dress, hairstyles, jewelry even. Now this isn’t a lesson on judging from the outward appearance, but Jesus had something to say about the defining characteristic of being one of his disciples—that there was a distinguishing mark of his followers. People would know his disciples by this defining trait. And what is it? Do you have any guesses as to what it might be? Is it the way they dress? The way they speak? Is it by what they believe? That they believe in the resurrection, the Bible, baptism? Well let’s see. As you go through this entire final discourse of Jesus, there is one big overall theme or word that you’re going to notice more than anything else. It’s the Christian trait that should stand out in those who profess to be disciples of Christ. What is that trait? What is the word?
And here I display a large list of references to see which of my students can identify it first. Here they are:
13:1, 13:34, 13:35, 14:15, 14:21, 14:23, 14:24, 14:28, 14:31, 15:9, 15:10, 15:12, 15:13, 15:17, 15:19, 16:27, 17:23, 17:24, 17:26
And what is it? What attribute should most distinguish a disciple of Jesus Christ?
Love. Love is the defining trait of the disciple of Christ. This, above all else should stand out to those around us. People should be able to watch us for any amount of time and eventually come to the conclusion: That person is a follower of Jesus, because look at how loving they are. And I would take my students specifically to John 13:35 which makes this point most directly. And you may not even need them to turn to that verse of scripture because they probably can already recite it word for word without even looking. There’s a song that most of us probably learned in primary that quotes this verse. See if they can finish it.
By THIS shall all men know that ye are my disciples . . . And how is it that they will know? If ye have LOVE, one to another.
THAT is point #1 on Christ’s notecard: The world will recognize my disciples by this defining trait: love.
POINT #2 THE TWO LOVES
Now, in this discourse, Jesus is going to talk about two different kinds of love that define his followers—the two loves of the last supper. What are they?
ACTIVITY: CRACK AT A SNACK
And the activity for this is what I call “Crack at a Snack”. The person that can identify the two loves first, gets a little treat. You’re going to reveal two references on the board, and their job is to be the first person to raise their hand and share the two loves. Here are the references you’ll show.
John 13:34 for the first love, and John 14:15.
What are the two loves? Love for each other or love for your fellowman. And a love for Christ.
So John 13:34 . . .
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
And what follows is the verse that we just read a second ago . . .
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
And then John 14:15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
So, Jesus is going to talk about and teach us about loving Him. And, because they are so deeply unified, by default, how we show love for God. Because Christ and God are inseparably connected.
Now that shouldn't surprise us much because Jesus has already taught this principle back when he was asked by a lawyer which commandment was the greatest and he answered:
Matthew 22:37-40
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
So point #2 on our notecard. There are TWO kinds of love my disciples must possess-love for each other and love for me.
POINT #3 HOW TO LOVE EACH OTHER
ACTIVITY: PAIR AND SHARE DISCUSSION
Point #3 now. To introduce this portion, we’re going to do a quick pair and share question. Pair up with a partner and share with them your answer to the following question. And, just for fun, the person who was born the farthest away from where you are right then, gets to share first. The question is, What is love? Which of the following definitions of love do they most agree with and why?
Love is physical attraction
Love is a feeling
Love is commitment
Love is respect
Love is security
Love is healthy communication
Love is equality
Love is acceptance
Love is patience
Love is service
Love is undefinable
Love is _____________ feel free to choose your own word to define love.
And, of course, love can be all of these things. But which do they feel is the greatest manifestation of love and why. And after they’ve shared, perhaps you could have a few share their thoughts with the class. But as the teacher, I would want to make the following point. I imagine that most of them chose a word other than the first two on that list. Love is so much more than just physical attraction or a feeling. Love, as Jesus uses it here, is a verb and not just a noun. Typically, I believe that when most of us hear the word “love” our minds seem to automatically jump to the noun definition of love. Love the feeling, the physical attraction we might feel for someone, or even the physical feeling of care and concern that we possess for a family member or a friend. But I don’t think that that’s what Jesus is getting at here at the Last Supper. When the scriptures tell me that I need to love God and love my fellow man, it’s not that I need to develop a certain feeling in my heart for them. I don’t think that God is too concerned about me mustering up a feeling within my heart. It isn’t something I need to manufacture in my feelings if it doesn’t come naturally. Feelings can’t be forced or controlled. They come involuntarily. But love, in the way Jesus uses it is an action. It’s doing something. Love is evident in the things we do. So what actions do we take to show these two loves.
Well how do we show that we truly love each other? And here you can make the point that we already talked about this last week when we studied John chapter 13. Jesus did an object lesson to teach the apostles what love for others looks like. What did he do? He washed their feet. I show my love by humbly serving others. And this week he’s going to add another idea to this. It’s in John 15:13. How else can we show love for others?
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
So what’s the word we use to describe something like that. Giving something up for someone else? Sacrifice. Sacrifice is another way we show love for our fellow man. To even be willing to lay down our lives for them. And I think that can mean more than dying for someone. There probably aren’t going to be a lot of situations where someone is actually going to be put into a position where they will choose to die for the benefit of another. But this could also be, being willing to lay down our own needs, desires, benefits, and rewards for the benefit of somebody else. Like a parent for their child, a spouse for their partner, a member for another member, a missionary for an investigator, or a neighbor for a neighbor. We show our love by serving and sacrificing for others. Some examples of this kind of love . . . we show love for others when we serve in our church callings. We show love others when we extend a hand of fellowship to someone. We show love for others every time we wipe away a tear, write a thank you note, invite others to hear the gospel, demonstrate patience with others and their problems. Every time we smile, offer an encouraging word, forgive someone, hold our tongue when we would be justified to speak sharply. Serving our fellow man is rarely demonstrated by the big, conspicuous things. But more often is shown in the small, unheralded things that we do for each other.
Love is a verb and not just a noun.
And remember how Jesus put it earlier: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Or I might more directly say, if ye “serve and sacrifice” one to another.
Joseph Smith had something interesting to say about this special love for others that his true disciples possess. He said:
“There is a love from God that should be exercised toward those of our faith who walk uprightly, which is peculiar to itself, but it is without prejudice [that is, it is not just that birds of a feather flock together. It is divinely inspired love]. It also gives scope to the mind, which enables us to conduct ourselves with greater liberality towards all that are not of our faith, than what they exercise towards one another. These principles approximate nearer to the mind of God, because it is like God, or Godlike.
TPJS 146
Meaning, because of OUR particular understanding of Christ and his gospel, we have the ability to love people in a way that is, as Joseph says, peculiar to itself. It gives us the capacity to love others in a unique and special way. It “enables us to conduct ourselves with great liberality towards all that are not of our faith, THEN WHAT THEY EXERCISE TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER.” So, members of Christ’s restored Church have the ability to love Muslims in a way that is greater than the love which Muslims have for each other. We can love Jehovah’s Witnesses greater than the Jehovah’s Witnesses have amongst themselves. And Jews and Baptists and Catholics and Hindus. We love these people in a special, Godlike, divinely inspired way. And hopefully that WAY is not just feelings, but by physical acts of service and sacrifice.
So point #3 on the notecard. You show love for each other by service and sacrifice.
POINT #4 HOW TO LOVE ME
Now what about the other love? Love for Christ, or love for God.
There is a popular book out there that’s been around for some time now called “The Five Love Languages”. And do you know what they are? They are:
Words of Affirmation,
Physical Touch,
Receiving Gifts,
Quality Time,
And Acts of Service.
Well Jesus is going to teach us what his love language is. What is the greatest way that we can show that we have love for Him, or that we love the Father?
ACTIVITY: VIDEO
And the activity we’ll do for this point involves a Church video paired with a scripture search. So you’ll show them the following video with these two questions in mind. How did the grandma show love for her granddaughter. And, how did the granddaughter show love for her grandmother? And then show them the church video entitled “Going to Grandma’s”.
Then, after you’ve watched and had that little discussion, ask them to look in the following verses for how Jesus taught this truth. We already know that his commandments are an expression of love for us. He’s not trying to control us or take away our freedom. But what’s the way he prefers we show our love for him? And we can tell that he really wants us to understand this because he repeats it a number of times in a short amount of space.
John 14:15
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:21
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: . . .
John 14:23
. . . If a man love me, he will keep my words: . . .
So what is it? What is Christ’s love language? Obedience. Keeping his commandments is the way we show that we love Jesus. If you love me, keep my commandments. One of the shortest, but most well-known scriptures out there. So, obey him. Love is a verb. Let him buckle you up in the safety of his divine guidance and stay buckled!
Point #4 then: You show love for me by keeping my commandments.
POINT #5 AS I HAVE LOVED YOU
Point #5. We know that Jesus stands as the greatest example of all virtues. He would never ask us to do anything that he wasn’t willing to do himself. As he says in John 13:15, “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). And so here in this Last Supper discourse, Jesus is going to show us how he has demonstrated both kinds of love. And for this portion, to keep things moving, I would just present these as the teacher. I’d just walk them through it, the activity for this point will come a little later.
How Jesus loved God
So first, How did Jesus show his love for God? Love for his Father? Is there any evidence of Jesus showing this kind of love in these chapters? Yes.
John 15:10
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
We decided that the best way to show love for God was through obedience. Jesus was also obedient to his Father in all respects. In fact, he is the ultimate example of obedience. He was perfectly obedient to his Father’s will all throughout his life.
Then John 14:31 Very direct here.
31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
Ooooo. Goosebumps. Do you understand what he’s referring to here? It’s like he says, “I want the world to know how much I love my Father and I know the way to show my love for him. I obey His will. Therefore, since he has given me this commandment, EVEN SO I DO. Arise let us go hence.” And where are they going? What’s the location he’s inviting them to follow him to? Gethsemane. And you can almost sense the determination in his voice and see the resolve in his eyes, as he looks out the door, towards Gethsemane and says, “Arise, let us go hence.” I’m ready to go and suffer for the sins and sorrows of all mankind, as my Father has commanded me to do. And off they walk towards the garden, only him understanding exactly what He was about to undergo.
How Jesus loved others
Now, what about love for his fellowman. Remember John 13:34 as he gives them the new commandment to love one another, he adds this qualification, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU. I want you to show love to others in the same way that I’ve shown it. And he does. In fact, that’s a great way to read all of these chapters—to just go through John 13-17 and look for all the ways in which Jesus showed love for his apostles.
First, just look at the way that John introduces the entire sermon in John 13:1
“Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.”
We too must love others unto the end. Unto the end of our lives, regardless of what pains and trials and betrayals we may have to endure.
And then also in chapter 13, Jesus washes each of the apostles feet. As we already said, we show our love by serving others selflessly and humbly.
What does Jesus do for the apostles in John 17? Specifically look at verse 9. If we wish to love others as Jesus loved them then we must pray for others. Hopefully our prayers are not just geared towards our own needs and well-being, but the needs and well-being of others as well.
And then finally, probably the greatest way Jesus demonstrated love for his fellowman can be deduced from what he taught his disciples about the greatest way to demonstrate love for others. Remember he said in John 15:13
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Did Jesus demonstrate his love for them in any way? Yes he did. His atonement demonstrates this greater love. He literally, laid down his life for his friends—his apostles, and all of us. He overcame sin and death for us by laying down his life. He is the ultimate example of this greatest show of love.
Therefore, in a beautiful and profound way, the atonement of Jesus Christ stands as the greatest fulfillment and the greatest example of both loves. It was the greatest act of service and sacrifice, and the greatest act of obedience in all of human history.
ACTIVITY: HANDOUT
And then, there is another quality of the Savior’s love for others demonstrated here, and indeed throughout the entire last 24 hours of his life that I would like to dig a little deeper into here. And here’s where the activity comes into play as well. And I’d like to introduce this idea with a question. Of all the people in Jerusalem that night, who do you feel was probably the most in need of comfort, reassurance, encouragement, and support from loving friends? The obvious answer would be Jesus himself. And we know that this was an incredibly difficult time for him. He tells us as much. Look in the following verses:
In John 12:27 he says, “Now is my soul troubled”.
In John 13:21 we learn, “When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit,”
And I think we can deduce why. Just think of what must have been going through his mind at this time . . . what he knew. He knew that Judas, one of his beloved apostles, would betray him. He knew that all of his disciples would be offended because of him and would be scattered that night (Mark 14:27). He knew that Peter, his rock, would deny him three times within the coming hours (John 13:38). And besides all this, the weight of His hour of sacrifice was beginning to settle on his soul and he knew that shortly, the sins and sorrows of the entire world would begin to press upon him with astonishing magnitude. Mark tells us that as that hour approached, he began to be “sore amazed” (Mark 14:33), or that it was harder to bear than even He expected it to be. I mean, it’s going to be so hard that he will plead with his Father if there was any way that “cup” could be passed from Him. He will suffer so greatly that he will tremble because of pain, and it will cause blood to drip from every pore (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18). Then, following all of that, he knows that he is going to suffer the pains of mocking, scourging, and ultimately crucifixion before the sun would set the next night. And yet, and yet, just look at what he does throughout these hours. And I like to do this as a secret phrase activity. I would just like to highlight some of the things Jesus says during the last 24 hours of his life that just amazes me. Fill in the boxes with the correct words, and then match the numbered boxes with the letters placed in them to discover the secret phrase.
These first answers here all come from what Jesus said to his apostles during the Last Supper Sermon.
John 14:1 Let not your heart be __________. TROUBLED
John 14:18 I will not leave you _____________; I will come to you COMFORTLESS
John 14:27 _________ I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. PEACE
John 16:22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall ___________, and your joy no man taketh from you. REJOICE
John 16:33 In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good _______ ; I have overcome the world. CHEER
And then, to continue with this thought, watch what Jesus continues to do as the excruciatingly painful last of hours his life unfold.
In the garden at the arrest, he appeals for the freedom of His disciples.
John 18:8 Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these ___ their way: GO
When Peter cuts off the ear of the arresting officer Malchus, what does Jesus do?
Luke 22:51 51 And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and _________ him. HEALED
To Pontius Pilate,
John 19:11 “He that _____________ me unto thee hath the greater sin” DELIVERED
And then, as he hung in agony from the cross, in the midst of torturous pain, regarding the Roman soldiers carrying out the crucifixion:
Luke 23:34 Father, __________ them, for they know not what they do. FORGIVE
To the thief crucified beside him,
(Luke 23:43) Today shalt thou be with me in _____________. PARADISE
And to Mary, his mother,
John 19:26-27 Woman behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy ________! MOTHER
And maybe before you even read the secret phrase, you might ask: Did you notice what Jesus did all throughout the midst of his great suffering? Where is his focus? Remember that of all the people in Jerusalem that night and day, who was most in need of comfort? But who is comforting who? Jesus is turning outward. Though he was the one who most needed comfort and support and reassurance, he’s the one offering it. I think Jesus understood something about suffering. One of the best ways to alleviate your own suffering is to seek to alleviate the suffering of others. What’s our secret phrase then? Comfort comes to those who comfort others. How can we love as Christ loved? We can seek to bring peace to others, even at those moments when we are not experiencing it ourselves.
So as I said, Jesus is the greatest example of the two loves of the last supper.
So point #5 . . . I want you to show these loves to others in the same way that I have shown them unto you.
POINT #6 BLESSINGS
And now, point #6. And I’ll just tell you this one right out the gate. I have great blessings in store for those who possess these two loves.
So now let’s take a look at the blessings, the results, the promises to those who develop and possess these two loves in their lives. I am going to give you a list of verses and I want you to identify and mark them all. Jesus always promises great things to those who do what he asks. What are the promises here?
ACTIVITY: GAME
For an activity on this point, you could play a little game. I call this game: FACE OFF. Divide your class into two teams, and for each round, they will send one person up to represent their team. It must be a different person every time until everyone has had a turn. But they come up, and either on the board, or on a table you will have a collection of cards with different blessings printed on them. You will shout out a scripture reference from John 13-17 with a blessing in it and their job is to locate the correct matching blessing and grab the card first. That person is welcome to bring their scriptures to the front for help, and their team is also encouraged and allowed to help as well and shout their suggestions to them. A point is given each time to the team that grabs the card first. Whichever team collects the most cards by the end of the game, wins. In my version of this game, I also include some blessings that are not found in these chapters, so as to keep the game challenging all the way to the end. And as each blessing is highlighted, I might tape them to the board or the wall under the title: The Blessings of the Two Loves. So what are these promised blessings of showing Christlike love?
13:17 Happiness
14:2-3 Christ will go and prepare a place for us in heaven.
14:18 Comfort
14:21 We will receive the love of the Father
14:23 The presence of Jesus and the Father will abide with us.
14:27 Peace
15:3 He'll make us clean
15:11 We’ll experience a fullness of joy
15:14 We become a friend of Christ
And maybe just a quick comment on that one—Christ calling us his friends. Pair that thought with the verse that follows. Verse 15 where Jesus says, “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” You see, that’s the kind of relationship that Christ wants us to have with him. He doesn’t want us to just be servants—he wants us to be friends. It's like if you’ve ever taught the youth before, you know that it's not always easy to get them to behave and be respectful, so that they can learn and be blessed by the message of the scriptures. And so we employ all kinds of different techniques to help them to behave. We might offer them a reward. Hey, I’ll bring you doughnuts if you're good. Or we threaten punishment, “If you don’t behave, I'll have to call your parents.” Or maybe we even get to the point where we shed some tears or plead and beg them to be good, and they're good out of a sense of pity for us. But I'm sure that every teacher out there would prefer their classes to behave because they love us and respect us and see us as a friend. We want them to be motivated by more than mere bribery, fear, or pity. Now God does use all of these motivations in his plan in some way as well. Reward, punishment, and pleading. But I believe that God would prefer us all to get to the point where we obey, and follow him, because we see ourselves as his friends, not just his servants.
And then . . .
15:26 He’ll send us the Comforter or the Holy Ghost to help us.
And you know, that point could be an entire lesson in and of itself in these chapters. Jesus has a lot to teach us about the Holy Ghost here. Just a quick summary of those things:
15:26 He comforts us
15:26 He testifies of the Father
16:8 He reproves the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. So, he helps us to judge between sin and righteousness, and to choose the right.
16:13 He guides us into all truth.
16:13 He can show us of things to come
16:14 And he glorifies Christ.
So this ends up being one of the greatest blessings of possessing the two loves. We get all the benefits and help that come through the gift of the Holy Ghost.
And then one more. Another one of the most famous verses of scripture in this week’s block:
John 17:3 Eternal life
And this verse explains to us what eternal life really is. It defines it.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
That’s what eternal life is all about. Knowing God and Jesus Christ. So the more I seek to know them, understand them, spend time with them, love them, serve them, and obey them, the closer I get to experiencing what eternal life is all about. And then the culmination of blessings that seeking to become one with God in this life brings me is the promise of a future oneness with them in the world to come. Another theme that you can see throughout these chapters that we didn’t have time to examine in depth here is the theme of oneness or unity with God. Jesus emphasizes here that he is one, in work, will, personality, character and purpose with the Father, not some mystical literal unity. But Christ desires that we experience that same kind of unity with them. We can begin to experience that here in this life and then more literally, in presence in the world to come. That’s what eternal life means, to live forever with God and Christ. Like he says in 14:3
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, the blessings of living and showing the two loves, are so worth it. More than worth it. They speak to the very purpose and objective of our entire mortal experience. They are the way back to God.
THE GREAT INTERCESSORY PRAYER
Therefore, all of these themes are going to culminate and climax in John chapter 17 in what we call the great intercessory prayer. Intercessory meaning “pleading in behalf of someone in trouble”. And this, this is such a special chapter. It’s one of those chapters that doesn’t need much by way of commentary. It’s a prayer after all. And this is an excellent way to conclude your lesson. You might ask your students what they think it would be like to hear Jesus say a prayer for them. That would be pretty special wouldn’t it? Well that’s exactly what they are going to get to experience here. Because he is going to pray for them here. And not just in a metaphorical, figurative, or liken the scriptures kind of way. No, Jesus is literally going to pray for THEM in this chapter. We can see this in verse 20 where he says, “Neither pray I for these alone [my apostles], but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” I’m not just praying for my apostles, but for everyone who believes what they say. So if you and I believe in Jesus Christ and his gospel, this prayer includes us.
So the way I would like to approach this chapter is to just let my students hear it. I either read it to them, as I’m going to do for you here, or I play a recording of it from the Church’s scripture website. But as you listen, look for evidence of the themes we’ve just discussed. You can see almost all of them interwoven throughout the intercessory prayer. So look for themes of . . .
Love
Service and Sacrifice
Obedience
Comfort
Eternal Life or Oneness with God and Christ
See if you can pick them out, and also, pay attention to how you feel as you listen to our Lord and Savior pray for us. And if you have time. Encourage them to pick their favorite verse from the prayer and share why they found it insightful.
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest 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 have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Ah, beautiful, isn’t it. Did you catch the themes? They’re all there.
TRUTH
Now if I had to boil this all down into one simple statement of truth, here’s how I would put it. If I demonstrate a love for God through obedience and a love for my fellowman through service and sacrifice, then I will be greatly blessed and gain eternal life.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
As they consider the board where all the blessings of the two loves are listed, which do they desire most, and why?
Which of the two loves do you need to work on most this week? What can you do to either serve and sacrifice more, or be more obedient to the Father’s will.
CONCLUSION
I hope you’ve felt the spirit of these sacred chapters. What makes them so special to me is that they kind act as a window into the Savior’s soul. It’s this conversation with his closest of friends at the most difficult part of his life that is so personal, so private, that we’re fortunate that we even get a chance to read it. It really allows us to look into the deepest, innermost parts of his spirit. And at the center of it, at his very core, what did we find? Love. Jesus Christ is love personified. And I wish to bear witness of that love. I know he loves me, I know he loves you. I know he loves his Father. And his love is characterized by ACTION. He loves as a verb, not just a noun.
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