Well, let's go ahead now and we'll turn to our scripture passage. Now, it's back in John 17, so if you kept your Bible there, you're in the right place. We're gonna read together the end of that passage. But actually, just focus on one verse this morning, and that's verse 24, but we'll read 20, 26. This morning we're actually beginning a new sermon series. We're calling it Knowing Jesus. Each week we're going to take a different passage of scripture and through that passage, highlight, draw out a different aspect of who Christ is. And so we'll talk about Christmastime, the incarnation of Jesus. We'll talk about the the eternal glory of Jesus, the welcome of Jesus, this week it's the delight of Jesus, trying to understand who our Savior is. And actually what we read earlier in John 17 really sets us up for why this is so very important. Did you catch what Ross read in verse 3? Jesus makes this extraordinary statement. You see it there in verse 3? He says, And this is eternal life. That they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. You catch what he says there? He says this is life. Eternal life. That means life that doesn't end, but real life. Lasting life. Life the way it was meant to be. satisfying life, and he says this is what life is, this is what it's bound up to, this is how you get it, this is how it grows in you. Jesus says it's knowing God and knowing me. Knowing the Father, knowing the Son through the power of the Spirit. So we're gonna go through this series and try to know Jesus better. Why? Because that's the way to life. That's where we get life for the first time and that's where life grows in us. And so you could ask yourself the question, do you want to have more life? Well, Jesus tells us where to get it, know him better. And that's what we're gonna seek to do. We're gonna seek to know Christ better and really rest in that and rejoice in it. And today it's gonna be looking at this John 17 passage in verse 24. But let's read first 20 through 26. Again, Jesus in the middle of his prayer, and he picks up verse 20. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I have made known to them your name and will continue to make it known that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them. Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would be pleased to use your word as you promised to show us Jesus that we might know Him better, that we might know the life that's in Him more and more. We pray that for each one. Use the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts for that very end, we do pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Does God like you? Does God like you? Very first book I picked up on my sabbatical, start to read, start to study, right in the beginning, ask that question. Does God like you? And I never thought about that before exactly that way. It is a helpful question because it's one we don't necessarily consider. It's not, does God love you? That's a good question. It's an important question. But most of us are maybe a little more familiar with that one. We might have an easy Sunday school answer. Oh yeah, Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Yeah, Jesus loves me. Does Jesus like you? It's a little bit different. Love sometimes in our head can carry that sense of, I know this person, they kind of have to love me. You know, maybe somebody thinks about a parent or somebody else in their family. Yeah, they love me, we're family. Yeah, but I'm not really sure they like me. Right, because like carries a slightly different quality in our heads. The sense of inclination, the sense of delight, the sense of someone actually wants to be near us, not just has to be, Does God like you? You ever thought about that question? It's actually pretty important when you think about the connection to our series and what we're hoping to do. We said our series is on knowing Jesus, God's own son. Jesus even says, you know me, you know the Father. So knowing Jesus is knowing the Father, Son, and Spirit. Okay, so our whole point is to know Jesus better, because that's life. But doesn't it make a big difference if you're trying to get to know someone, whether they like you or not, in that process of getting to know them? Have you ever tried to get to know somebody and you're pretty sure they just really don't like you? Or you're not really sure, they just have no idea if they really have any interest in getting to know you. It's a whole different thing if you're trying to have a relationship with somebody like that. As I was studying this summer, I thought of a particular moment, actually a date I went on 25 years ago, something like that. It was about a year before Maggie and I started getting together. I was getting towards the end of my seminary days and started to think about the future. Yeah, I'd like to get married, have kids. And my pastor at the time, he said, don't overthink it. Just kind of look around, see if there's anybody who loves Jesus and seems like you'd like to get to know them better. Just ask them to go out to lunch or something. Okay, I can try that. So here's this one particular young woman at school. Knew she loved Jesus. She seems really nice. We chatted a little bit. She's like, okay, I'll ask her. Ask her for lunch. We went out to lunch. It was basically the most miserable lunch I ever had. Because it was almost as if she purposefully went out of her way to be as indifferent as possible. Like as deadpan, like just nothing. And you know, here I am trying to get to know her, right? So trying to make it interesting, trying to be personable and fun, but be myself. And it's just like nothing the whole time. Now, I guess at the end of the day, I can't blame her. I don't think she was that interested in me. I was trying to make that clear. OK, that's fine. Maybe doing me a favor. But sitting there in that lunch, it was miserable. It wasn't fun. Trying to get to know someone, it was kind of making it clear there, yeah, not interested, or at best, indifferent. And so, after that lunch, how motivated do you think I was to keep trying to get to Noah? Yeah, not much at all. I tried a little bit, but more and more I was just like, you know what, why bother? Why bother? I stopped. Is that how we think about God? That, well, we're really not sure if he likes us. Or at best, we kind of think maybe he's just indifferent. And yet here we are trying to get to know him. Maybe you even have that sense deep down, like, well, maybe if I'm kind of impressive enough and interesting enough, then he'll like me a little bit more. But as you think about him, it's just, you're just not sure. Well, that can turn getting to know someone into a kind of a drudgery. Like that day? Is that how we think about God? These are the kinds of things you ponder on a sabbatical. Actually, one of the times I was actually thinking about it, I can remember the moment I was, July, I think it was, or August, sitting in Morristown Library, good library, I know all the good libraries now. Good library. And I was thinking about knowing God, does he like me? and was pondering that date 25 years ago, and it occurred to me that on the calendar for that week in August, I had a date planned with Maggie on Friday. And all of a sudden I kind of started to compare those two dates, 25 years apart, and like polar opposites in terms of my own thinking about it and experience. I was excited to go out on Friday night with Maggie. I was looking forward to it. I had this sense that it was going to be fun, that I wouldn't want it to end, that I would enjoy it, that I wouldn't feel nervous, like I had to impress or whatever. And I was starting to think, well, what's the difference there between those two dates and my experience? Well, part of what the difference was, I know that Maggie likes me. I'm not quite sure why sometimes. But she makes it very obvious that she actually likes me. Yes, she loves me, I know she's committed to me, praise God for that, but she makes it obvious, she tells me that she actually likes me. So sitting down and trying to get to know her better is a completely different experience. Now think, what if knowing Jesus were like that? You knew, not just that he was committed to you, what his heart, his delight, was to know you. He liked you. That getting to know him wasn't this, like, okay, that'd be really impressive, but I'm not sure, he might be disappointed, frustrated, and indifferent. No, no, he actually is committed and delighted in you, individually. That would make knowing him completely different. And since knowing him is life, Oh, this is a pretty interesting thing to think about. Well, let's consider this one verse, just look at three quick elements of verse 24, and kind of have that in the back of our minds. What is the delight of Jesus? And how does that show us about the heart of Christ, whether God loves us, likes us even? So first of all, consider the timing. So here we are, John 17, as we saw Jesus is praying He's praying for his disciples. He's praying for those who will believe in him through his disciples. And if you're a believer here today, that's you. So even just stop there. Jesus is praying for you. That's kind of a big deal, right? The Jesus praying for you, that says something about his heart and what he loves. But consider the timing. When is Jesus praying for this? As Ross mentioned, this is the night he was betrayed. He's just hours from being arrested, from going to trial, from being crucified, and he knows it. He knows that he's just hours from those things. You even see it there in the passage in verse one. What does he say in verse one of chapter 17? Father, the hour has come. This is it. This is the hour. that has been appointed. This is what Jesus was sent to do, to bear our sin, to go to the cross, to conquer death. This is the hour. He's been waiting his entire life for this hour. That's why he came. Actually, you could go back before that. He even mentions in the passage, before the foundation of the world. So before there's anything, There's Father, Son, and Spirit, and what is established there, but the plan for Jesus to come and rescue his people. So from all eternity, this is the appointed hour. All of history, all of God's plan, it all has its climax in this very hour. And who is Jesus thinking about at this very climax of history, all eternity hour? Who is Jesus thinking about? You. You. At this hour of his death, the hour, he's thinking and praying for you. Doesn't that say something? Doesn't that say something about his heart for his people? We can even get this on a human level. Could you picture, it's your hour, it's gonna happen, you're gonna die at some point, maybe you're there on your deathbed, who are you gonna be thinking about at that moment? Or maybe you actually have moments where you start to ponder those kind of big questions like, I could go sometime, this could be it. Maybe you're like me, you get on an airplane and you're about to take off and you think, okay, well, this plane could go down and this, I don't know, but maybe. Who do you think about in moments like that? Do you think about the people that you despise? There's that really annoying kid in third grade. Really? You think about him? Or the people that you're indifferent to? There's a random guy in the airport and you're pondering him? No. You're thinking in that hour of the people that are most precious, most important, the most treasured thing, most treasured people to you. That's who you're thinking about in that hour. And we see the exact same thing in Jesus. Only, the hour is much bigger. It's not just one little life. This is all of history. This is all of the plan of God. And in that very hour, Jesus is thinking and praying about the thing that is close to his heart, that is precious to him, that he loves. He's thinking about you and me as his people. Okay? Well, actually, one other thing, before we leave the timing, this helps us with another aspect, considering the timing, helps us with another aspect, and we're gonna get more into this next week, which is, okay, well, why does Jesus like us? If we wanna say, okay, he likes us, why does he like us? Does he like us because we're practically perfect in every way? because we're really impressive, we're really likable, you know, like, who wouldn't like me? No. Consider the timing. What is he doing in this hour? He's gonna go to the cross and bear the righteous wrath of God that you and I deserve for our sin. He's not dying for practically perfect people. He's not dying for people who are on their own, just wonderful and perfect, right? So whatever his like, his love for his people, it's not because, whoa, that person's likable. He's about to die to make us wonderful, but he doesn't die because we're wonderful. And so that reminds us of why is it that he likes us? If you're tempted to answer that question by looking inside and saying, let's see, is there anything likable about me? You've missed the hour. He dies because, yeah, you're gonna find sin inside. But that's why he's there. That's what drives him to love us in that hour. And we'll talk more about that next week. Actually, there's a little bit in this next point which we'll call consider the reference. Okay, so consider the timing, it's the hour of his death. Consider the reference, here thinking about how does Jesus refer to you? He's talking about you as believers in Christ, but how does he specifically refer to you? Let's look again at verse 24. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, How does he refer to his people, to us as believers? How does he refer to us? Those the Father has given to him. Those the Father have given to him. Jesus actually uses that language in John eight different times. His people are those the Father has given to him. Chapter 10 of John, he identifies those whom the Father has given him as his sheep. Not just a faceless multitude of sheep, he says his sheep that he knows by name. That would mean your name and my name as believers in Christ. Those the Father has given him, sheep that he knows by name. John 6, he uses that language again, those the Father has given him, and makes the point there that because they're those the Father has given him, he will not lose one of them. Not one of them. Because why? They're those the Father has given to him. Powerful, powerful theological truth that we gotta make personal. So the theological truth is, before the foundation of the world, the Father and Son With the fellowship of the Spirit, the Father and Son commit themselves to saving a people to be their very own, God's own people. Not a faceless multitude, but individual sheep known by name. And they are those that the Father gives to the Son, entrusts to the Son. So precious to them that the son is going to, as the good shepherd, those he knows by name, he's gonna call them each by name, he's gonna die for them, he's gonna make sure that not one is lost. And again, so that's the theological truth. But we make it personal. It's not just faceless multitude. It's individual sheep. It's your name and my name as believers in Christ. It's talking about you. Those the Father has given to me. That's why we're important to Christ. That's why he loves us. That's why he likes us. Again, not because we're practically perfect in every way, because you are one the Father has given to the Son. You're his. And he says, I'm gonna call them. I'm going to die for them. I'm going to, in time and space, call them. I'm going to protect them and guard them until the last day so that not one's lost. And again, you come back to that question of how does Jesus feel about me? He feels for you. He thinks of you as one the Father has given. Finally, consider the desire, the desire of Jesus. What is it that Jesus is praying for? We said he's praying here. If you really wanna find out what someone desires, what someone loves, what someone really likes, you listen to what they pray for. It comes out. What is Jesus praying for? Well, let's listen again carefully to verse 24. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me. I desire that they may be with me. That's what he's praying to you. Father, here's what I want. Here's what I'm asking you to accomplish, to do. I want them to be with me and see my glory. Jesus had made a somewhat similar statement to his disciples in John 14. It's the same night, a little bit ago, as he's talking to his disciples. You may remember, he says he's gonna leave, but he explains it to them. Here's what he says in John 14 three. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again to take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. So he's explaining to his disciples and to us Here's why I'm gonna go and die, rise and ascend up into heaven. Here's why I'm gonna go, because I'm gonna prepare a place for you. Here's what it's all about, so that you can be where I am. And now John 17, he takes that same idea and he turns it into a prayer. And he adds this element that's really quite powerful when you think about it. It's the element of Jesus' desire. Right, so it's not just, okay, this is the plan. Everybody listen up, here's the plan. Gonna die, here's what's gonna do. Okay, it is the plan, but it's not this cold plan, you know, like, okay, here's what we gotta do. It's Jesus saying, Father, I desire, I want it. Here's why I'm here. Here's what I want. Here's what I delighted, that they, may be with me. And remember again, who's the they he's talking about? Those the Father has given to the Son. And if you're a believer in Christ, that's you. So Jesus is saying, here's what I want, Father. I want them to be with me and see my glory. Can you start to see Christ and how he feels about us? How he thinks about us? Can you put it all together? Right, so we said, here's our series. We're seeking to know Jesus. Not just know about him, but really know him. We said it's important because, beginning of John 17, knowing Jesus is life. Okay, we can stop there. Maybe this is our, starting the series, our first take home point. Remind yourself where life is truly found. Remind yourself where life is truly found. There's all sorts of good things out there. There's all sorts of good things in your world. And they really are good. Relationships, family, friends, good food, good work to do, good recreation, all good things. But there's a very big difference between a good thing to be enjoyed and something that's life. Enjoy, be thankful for the good thing, but don't confuse it with life. Because if you go to a good thing, hoping that it's gonna bring you life, you're gonna be miserable. It's not gonna work. And Jesus here reminds us where life truly is. It's knowing Him. It's knowing Him. So maybe you're here this morning, and you've been looking for life in all the wrong places. Even looking to good things, but hoping that you wouldn't just enjoy them, but they bring you life, real joy, real satisfaction, real peace, and it hasn't worked. And it won't work. But here's the good news. Jesus calls out to those who were weary and says, come to me. He actually even says that, doesn't he? Come to me. All you who are weary and heavy laden, Jesus says, I'll give you rest. I'll give you life. So whether it's coming to Jesus for the first time or just returning in your heart and mind to where life is, Jesus has come, I'll give you rest. Yeah, because knowing him is life, real rest, real life. Remind yourself where life is truly found. And then as you do it, remember how Jesus feels about you, how he thinks about you. We asked that question and said, well, yeah, it's kind of important. Is he just kind of indifferent? Right, like that date I had all those years ago? Jesus kind of like, eh. I mean, it's actually not completely off the wall, because we are kind of having a meal with Jesus here, aren't we? Meal with Jesus. Kind of like those meals that I had. Okay, well, Jesus at the other end of the table, how is he kind of looking over at you? Is it like that date I had all those years ago? Just kind of, nothing, not interested, indifferent, and you gotta kinda come and look impressive and look really good. We take even just this one verse in John 17. You go to the Bible study tonight, we'll talk more and give more reasons. But let's just take this one verse and realize and see that picture, that indifferent, no, no, no, that's not Jesus. Not at all. I mean, consider the timing. Here he is, the hour of his death, the climax of all of history, and he's thinking and praying For you, believer, for me. Think about how he refers to you as one the Father has given to him. This precious gift, this precious treasure, one the Father has given to him. And then consider this desire that Jesus says he has. He says, I desire that they would be with me. That's the one you sit down across the table with. That's the one who you seek to know. He is not disinterested. He is eager to know you and be known by you, and to give that life that only he can give. Not because you're fabulous or perfect, or have it all together, no, quite the opposite. He dies to make you into that thing that you were always created to be. He's getting you there, but that's not what motivates and drives, it's his own heart. The fact that you're given to him by the Father, the fact that this is the plan and the delight of his heart, and the whole reason why he came. That's good news. That's life. that you would help us to wrap our minds around the gospel in new and fresh ways, that we would see the grace that's really there, and that is what we're talking about here, grace, that undeserved favor, love, that you give, yeah, even to us. Help us to see it in your word, to taste it at the Lord's table, and to walk with you, not as a drudgery or a duty, but just a delight to know you better, knowing your love for us. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.