The Final Fulfillment of Jesus' Prayer in John 17
Without a doubt, Jesus is going to get what He prayed for.
For two and a half weeks in February 2023, the tiny town of Asbury, Kentucky experienced a remarkable outpouring of the Spirit. In that brief window of time, an estimated 160,000 people descended on the small city of about 7,000. Asbury was overwhelmed and nearly shut down by the sudden influx.
The attraction was simple: the presence of God manifesting in a continual, spontaneous worship service at Asbury College. Many made personal commitments to Jesus Christ, others were reconciled, healed, saved, and delivered. Still others performed acts of radical generosity. The grace of God was available to all in an unusual way.
One of my favorite testimonies came from a friend of mine. As he worshipped in the chapel, he looked around the room and saw several famous Christian musicians and celebrities. And yet, no one was paying attention to them, and they weren’t looking for attention. Everyone’s eyes were focused on the Lamb who was slain. He was the one, the only one who could command attention and worship. He was the only attraction.
The outpouring came off with evident humility and meekness. I can’t name a single person who started it or ran it, although many people were involved and used of God in leadership. The outpouring sparked many other similar moves around the globe, including some that are still worshipping 24/7. An unusual sense of unity was experienced by participants.
This move of God, with no preparation, planning, or promotion, brought tens of thousands together in one place and touched hundreds of millions of people around the globe through social media. As we attempt to look into the future and imagine what the fullness of John 17 might look like, the Asbury outpouring is an intriguing modern case study.
John 17: A Matter of Grace
In 2013, while I was walking to a prayer meeting in Boston, God asked me a question:
“Do you want to know how I’m going to pull it off?”
Immediately, I knew what the Lord was asking me. He wanted to tell me how He would answer Jesus’s prayer. The funny thing was, while I believed He would do it, I had never asked Him how it would happen. I simply believed because Jesus prayed it.
“Show me.” I responded.
Immediately, I saw a very large bathroom sink made of crystal-clear glass. It was clearly a hand-washing sink, and yet its size was much larger than a normal sink, closer in size to a bathtub. The basin had a number of objects in it that you’d find in a bathtub if you have small children: plastic boats, a rubber duck, and other floating toys. At a certain point, an invisible hand turned on the water. The crystal-clear basin began to fill up and the many objects in the basin all began to rise with the water level.
Interpretation
All at once, I knew what the Lord was saying.
John 17 unity is a grace gift, or an anointing that the Lord was waiting to pour out. When He begins to pour it out, it will cause everyone in the Church to rise together—the new believer and the mature saint alike would all rise to the same level of unity through this gift of God’s grace. Water and the bathroom sink are symbolic of how this outpouring of grace will bring holiness and the washing of the Word, leading to purity.
He said to me: “The crystal-clear glass basin represents a purified and refined leadership.”
I knew this was essential to God’s plan—if the basin was cracked or had any imperfection, the water would have quickly leaked out on the floor. While I didn’t realize it right away, this vision aligns well with Paul’s vision of mature unity in Ephesians 4. The five-fold leadership gifts have a significant role to play in bringing the church into the unity of the faith. They are the basin that contains mature unity.
But let’s not miss the main point: an outpouring of a special grace-gift for unity through the Holy Spirit is God’s plan to answer John 17 in full. It’s that simple. We are just waiting for everything to be ready and the Father to turn on the faucet, releasing the crystal clear water that will unite us in perfect love. We are waiting for the best wine, saved for last.
From Partial Fulfillments to Complete Fulfillment
The Asbury outpouring is a modern example of a measure of John 17 unity being poured out, suddenly and unexpectedly. This outpouring, along with many other similar experiences in Church history, is a partial fulfillment of Jesus’s prayer. People who came to Asbury experienced a divine union with God and with one another by the power of the Holy Spirit. The glory of Jesus, the manifestation of the Spirit that makes the Father and Son one and makes us one, was certainly present (John 17:22).
We could look at other historical examples of partial fulfillments to Jesus’s prayer. But, there is an entire book of the Bible that documents the Father’s initial response to the prayer of His Son.
Let’s read the book of Acts in light of John 17.
Partial Fulfillment: The Book of Acts
In Acts chapter 2, we see the Father’s first salvo, His first significant move to answer Jesus’s prayer.
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that divided and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:1-4
Glory
God immediately fills the believers with the Spirit, manifested externally with visible, divided flames of fire on their heads. He also manifests the coming of the Spirit with a great rushing wind from heaven.
The rushing in of God’s glory with visible fire parallels how God came to dwell in Moses’ Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple. Now God’s people are the Temple. Now God lives not in a house, but in His people. To further drive home this connection, we were told earlier that there were about 120 people in the upper room. Solomon’s Temple was 120 cubits in height, and there were 120 Levitical Priests present when the glory of God entered the temple, preventing them from ministering to God.
This time, however, the priesthood of 120 are enabled to minister, sharing the word of God with boldness. The people of God have become the temple of God.
The Father is doing exactly what Jesus prayed in John 17:22, He is pouring out the glory of Jesus: “The glory that you gave me I am giving to them, so that they may be one just as we are one.”
The Undoing of Babel, God’s Inheritance in the Nations
“Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
The first manifestation of the Spirt is a supernatural ability to speak in other languages. The outpouring of the Spirit is a reversal of the futility of Babel. At Babel, God scattered the nations and confused their language. But, on Pentecost, God begins to reunite humanity, enabling us to understand “the wonders of God in our own language.” At Babel, the pursuit of glory and fame in false unity led to confusion. Now, the Son’s humble obedience brings God’s glory to earth. The nations are reunited back to the Creator with a common language, and a common Spirit.
The nations, here represented by Jews and Jewish proselytes from the dispersion, are beginning to be regathered in answer to Jesus’s prayer. The futility and confusion of Babel is undone.
Harvest
“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call. With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” Acts 2:37-41
Pentecost was a feast that celebrated both the first harvest and the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai. The outpouring of the Spirit leads to a great harvest. When the Law was given and Israel worshipped the golden calf, 3,000 were killed on the same day. Now, 3,000 are saved as the Spirit is poured out, the new law, written on human hearts (Jer. 31:31).
In this initial harvest, we see yet another answer to Jesus’s prayer. The pouring out of His Spirit of love and glory binds the 120 together as one. Just as John 17:23 predicts, their union causes the unbelieving world to recognize that Jesus is Son of God. The 3,000 new believers, including those who just fifty days before participated in killing the Messiah, now worship Him as Lord.
From Outpouring to a New Normal
The unity of the early church is legendary:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42-47
Out of the power encounter of Pentecost Sunday comes a new normal that is incarnated by the early church in the midst of daily life.
Is there a better description of the practical, day-to-day experience of living in unity than this? It’s all the Marxists dreamed of, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need,” but completely voluntary and freely offered (and without the 100 million dead bodies that Marxism produced). The outpouring of the Spirit in a moment of glory leads to a new normal, a community where miracles are common, radical generosity is the norm, worship, prayer, and communion are central, and joyful simplicity permeates. This is the most beautiful description of an ideal human community in all of literature.
Only the Opening Salvo
The events of Acts 2 are without a doubt the Father’s opening salvo, His initial response to Jesus’s prayer. All the elements of John 17 are present. There’s an outpouring of the Spirit that fills the church with glory. Unbelievers witness it, recognize Jesus is the Son of God, repent, and are baptized (John 17:23). Other unbelievers also recognize Jesus and are stirred to oppose and persecute the church.
This outpouring of glory, a momentary explosion of the power of God, leads to a new normal for the community that is characterized by the Word of God, warm fellowship, communion, and prayer. Believers love one another and sell their possessions to give to each other. They lay down their lives to love one another, living out Jesus’s new commandment in John 13:34-35.
However, Acts 2 is only the beginning of a pattern that will repeat throughout the book of Acts. It is not one and done. The Father has just begun to respond to His Son’s dying request.
This article is an excerpt from the book “Jesus Gets What He Prays For” by Jonathan Friz. Paid subscribers can continue reading the entire chapter below.
