「イエス・キリストの3つの願い」 3.11を覚える礼拝 宣教 2026年3月8日
ヨハネによる福音書 John 17章20〜26節 牧師 河野信一郎
Good morning. I am thankful to be able to worship together with you all again this morning. We have been observing Lent since February 18th this year, and this week marks its third week. Amidst this, this Wednesday will mark the 15th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Therefore, this morning’s worship service will be offered as a “Memorial Service for 3.11,” and we will pray to God for His protection and blessing upon the three churches being built in the disaster-affected areas of Tohoku. I pray to God that our prayers will not remain mere thoughts and words, but will lead to concrete
According to an article in the Asahi Shimbun the day before yesterday, since 2020, 23 municipalities in Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures have had support organizations monitoring disaster victims to prevent isolation. However, 70% of these organizations—15 in total—will end their support by the end of this month. The reason given is that national funding has been cut off. On the other hand, eight municipalities plan to continue their support independently after April. This is also a question for us at Okubo Church. How long will Okubo Church continue to remember, pray for, and support the three churches in the disaster-affected areas of Tohoku? At the very least, we will continue our support until the pastor changes. The words spoken to us by those we visited for meal distribution immediately after the disaster, before we left—“Please don’t forget about us!”—still linger in my heart. Perhaps that is a personal matter.
Therefore, some of you may be thinking, “Wouldn’t it be better to support this as individuals rather than as a church?” In light of this, I have one question for you all. Why does the Christian church, this community of faith, exist? The logic goes: wouldn’t it be sufficient for those who believe in Jesus to each offer worship to God through their own individual faith? However, it was God, it was Jesus, it was the Holy Spirit who brought the church into being. The church is necessary to fulfill God’s will: to love God, to love our neighbors, and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus’ cross and resurrection to the whole world. The church is necessary so that those who believe in Jesus as Savior can gather together, offer worship together, grow together through prayer and fellowship, and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit that God expects.
Our church faces its own challenges in many ways. However, churches in disaster-affected areas—where aging populations are more advanced than in urban centers, population loss is accelerating, and government support is being cut off—face even greater hardships. Churches in Iwate, churches in Miyagi, churches in Fukushima—they face greater challenges than our church. We must never forget this. By continuing to support churches in disaster-affected areas, encouraging them, and helping the gospel be shared, we glorify God. This is why we consider it one of Okubo Church’s missions and wish to cherish it.
As we journey through Lent, we hear the words of Jesus from the Gospel of John as He walks the path to the cross, taking our place, now facing the cross. Two weeks ago, beginning in chapter 14, we heard the Lord’s words, “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” no matter what happens, and that Jesus Christ is the “way” leading us to God. Last week, from chapter 16, we were encouraged by His promise that even when we grieve and mourn in daily life, Jesus will surely turn that sorrow into joy. These words of Jesus are part of His farewell discourse to His disciples, recorded from verse 21 of chapter 13 through verse 33 of chapter 16.
After finishing this farewell sermon, Jesus turned His heart toward God. Verse 1 says, “After Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said.” “Lifting up His eyes to heaven” means offering prayer to God. We too are permitted to lift our eyes to heaven and pray to God through Jesus, and we are invited to pray. We are encouraged to pray without ceasing. Since Jesus, the Son of God, prayed to God the Father without ceasing, we can understand how important and powerful prayer truly is. We can pray anytime, anywhere, in the name of Jesus. For it is Jesus who has opened the way for us to access God.
This entire chapter 17 is Jesus’ prayer, known as the “High Priestly Prayer.” The high priest is one who offers sacrifices to God on behalf of the people, standing between God and humanity to intercede. After sharing the Last Supper with His disciples and teaching them what was necessary to live as His followers, what did Jesus pray for in this prayer? This morning’s message is titled “The Three Wishes of Jesus Christ.” In His prayer to God, Jesus essentially prayed for three things.
The order alternates, but Jesus’ prayer to God in verses 6 through 19 is an intercessory prayer for the disciples He leaves behind on earth. He prays: “Father, while I was with them, I protected them myself. But when I am gone, please protect their faith, keep them united, and enable them to live as witnesses to Your love. Sanctify them through Your truth.”
“To make holy” means to be set apart for God’s special service. Only God’s love, His Word, and His truth can transform us into holy people. What is God’s work? Verse 18 states, “As the Father has sent me into the world, I have sent my disciples into the world.” We are sent into the world to proclaim the gospel of God’s love and salvation revealed in Jesus’ cross and resurrection—the gospel of eternal life.
In the first part of the prayer, verses 1 through 5, Jesus prays to God the Father for Himself. Yet this is not a self-centered prayer. Nor is it evidence that He loved Himself more than His disciples. Certainly, the prayer of one who thinks only of himself and loves only himself is a long prayer filled with self-concern. But Jesus’ prayer here is the shortest when it comes to Himself. The longest part is His intercession for His disciples, and His intercession for the Church.
Now, what were the first words Jesus spoke to God as He looked up to heaven? He said, “Father, the hour has come.” This “hour” signifies the time when He would be crucified in place of us sinners, laying down His life to atone for sin, and the time when He would give new life—eternal life—to those who believe. It means the time has come for God’s will, His desire, to be fulfilled. It meant God’s love would be clearly revealed. Therefore, Jesus prayed, asking for help so that He could faithfully carry out the Father’s will right up to the very end. Because He loved us and wanted to save us, Jesus prayed, seeking the Father’s presence and help. He was never praying just for Himself.
Now let us listen to the part where Jesus prayed for the church. In verses 20 and the first half of verse 21, Jesus asks God: “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. Father, may they all be one, just as you are in me and I am in you.” Interestingly, when we read verses 21 through 23, Jesus uses the phrase “one, united” four times. This shows that it is Jesus’ desire and God’s will for us who believe in Him as Savior to become one church, and for all churches to unite and cooperate. The purpose of our unity is for the sake of evangelism and to glorify God.
Then, how do we become one? We need that “way,” but it has already been given to us. The “way” is Jesus Christ. For us to become one church, each of us must wholeheartedly believe in Jesus, live within God and Jesus just as God is in Jesus and Jesus is in God, trust in the Lord, walk in His presence, and live daily listening to and obeying His Word. Jesus prayed to God, “May they also be in us.” Our prayer too should be that we may live remembering we are sustained daily by God’s love, praying for one another that we may not succumb to Satan’s temptations and stray from God. Remembering and praying for the small and weak, for all churches, and encouraging them—this is the desire of God and Jesus.
In verse 23, Jesus prays, “So that the world may know that you sent me and that you loved them even as you loved me.” He says that when we Christians and the church demonstrate our unity, the world will open their hearts to Jesus, come to believe in him as Savior, and this will bring glory to God and please him. In verse 26, let us pray that God’s love for Jesus may be in us, and that Jesus may also dwell within us. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us earnestly pray for God’s love and mercy.