Jesus prays in this chapter. The High Priestly Prayer in fact because He is our High Priest. And what He prays for is us. We can agree in with him, just pray. Read slowly. Listen.
Please read John 17:1-5
The High Priestly Prayer
1 When Jesus had spoken these things, He raised His eyes to heaven [in prayer] and said, “Father, the [a]hour has come. Glorify Your Son, so that Your Son may glorify You. 2 Just as You have given Him power and authority over all mankind, [now glorify Him] so that He may give eternal life [b]to all whom You have given Him [to be His—permanently and forever]. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true [supreme and sovereign] God, and [in the same manner know] Jesus [as the] Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You [down here] on the earth by [c]completing the work that You gave Me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory and majesty that I had with You before the world existed.”
He has power and authority over all mankind – thus He is always listening for you to pray. He’s also intervening in our lives all the time, if we ask. So listen, ask, seek, knock. All He says applies to what we can do to interact with Him. To experience Him.
So that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him – Eternal Life is the gift and that gift is to know God and Jesus and to become part of that Kingdom forever.
Please read John 17:6-8
6 “I have manifested Your name [and revealed Your very self, Your real self] to the people whom You have given Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept and obeyed Your word. 7 Now [at last] they know [with confident assurance] that all You have given Me is from You [it is really and truly Yours]. 8 For the words which You gave Me I have given them; and they received and accepted them and truly understood [with confident assurance] that I came from You [from Your presence], and they believed [without any doubt] that You sent Me.”
“For the words which You gave Me I have given them;
and they received and accepted them and truly understood that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.”
He gave us Words, (himself as Word) and we just have to believe it. Yes, with confident assurance believe. His words are all over the gospels and really all over the Bible. We would all do well to remember and study and read it all.
Please read John 17:9-11
9 “I pray for them; I do not pray for the world, but for those You have given Me, because they belong to You; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and [all things that are] Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them. 11 I am no longer in the world; yet they are still in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are.”
To be kept in Him even when He’s not in the world is how life should be, where we should want to be. Unity and Oneness with Him and everyone else who is His. The perfect unity.
Please read John 17:12
12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and protected them, and not one of them was lost except [d]the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
Guarded and protected, even now we are whether you notice it or not, we are shielded and watched over and God always knows exactly where you are and what kind of situation you are in. You can trust that. He’s always available.
Please read John 17:13-14
The Disciples in the World
13 But now I am coming to You; and I say these things [while I am still] in the world so that they may experience My joy made full and complete and perfect within them [filling their hearts with My delight]. 14 I have given to them Your word [the message You gave Me]; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world and do not belong to the world, just as I am not of the world and do not belong to it.
Full, complete joy and delight are available in Him. To have your heart full of that, full of Him, is really the best way to live.
Please read John 17:15-19
15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but that You keep them and protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth [set them apart for Your purposes, make them holy]; Your word is truth. 18 Just as You commissioned and sent Me into the world, I also have commissioned and sent them (believers) into the world. 19 For their sake [e]I sanctify Myself [to do Your will], so that they also may be sanctified [set apart, dedicated, made holy] in [Your] truth.
There’s this line of a song that says, ‘if it’s not good, then He’s not done with it’ because life is a sanctification marathon, it’s not a full one time and done thing. It isn’t finished till your life is finished. But the keeping and protecting is an always thing. Sheltered and Refuged, shielded and guarded all the time.
Please read John 17:20-21
20 “I do not pray for these alone [it is not for their sake only that I make this request], but also for [all] those who [will ever] believe and trust in Me through their message, 21 that they all may be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe [without any doubt] that You sent Me.
See, He is praying for all the believers then and now and for all time until He returns. So all this He is praying for is for you and me too.
Please read John 17:22-24
Their Future Glory
22 I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected and completed into one, so that the world may know [without any doubt] that You sent Me, and [that You] have loved them, just as You have loved Me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given to Me [as Your gift to Me], may be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
That is unity, Jesus in us, God in Jesus. All one in Christ Jesus. And He asks that we may see His glory.
Please read John 17:25-26
25 “O just and righteous Father, although the world has not known You and has never acknowledged You [and the revelation of Your mercy], yet I have always known You; and these [believers] know [without any doubt] that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them [overwhelming their heart], and I [may be] in them.”
Love, God is Love, and Jesus asks God to overwhelm our hearts in love. Being loved, not doing love. Christ in us via the Spirit is His main request through this prayer, the rest of it is like the effects of that request being granted. Because the Prince of Peace and the God of Love are together and having One, makes the others come too. Because God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit are the parts of the Triune God. Like Ephesians 3:19 says… and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].
Blessed be His Name.
Footnotes
[a] John 17:1 -the [a]hour has come- I.e. the time of Jesus’ death.
[b] John 17:2 -that He may give eternal life [b]to all whom You have given Him- A reference to election or predestination. Also see John 6:39; 17:6, 9, 24; Acts 13:48; Rom 8:29-33; Eph 1:3-6; 2 Thess 2:13; 1 Pet 1:2.
[c] John 17:4 -by [c]completing the work that You gave Me to do- Much of Jesus’ discourse and prayer in John 13-17 is reminiscent of God’s comparison of rain and snow to His word in Is 55:10, 11. Like God’s word, Jesus, who was introduced by John as the Word (John 1:1), comes from God (John 16:28; 17:8), accomplishes God’s desire (John 14:10; 17:4, 8) and then returns to God (John 13:33; 14:4; 17:13).The themes of joy and peace found in Isaiah 55:12 also resonate throughout John 13-17; joy (John 15:11; 16:20-24; 17:13) and peace (John 14:27; 16:33). Isaiah 55; 56 has many points of connection with John’s Gospel as a whole, most notably the invitations to quench thirst (Is 55:1; John 4:13, 14; 7:37) and receive bread (Is 55:2; John 6:26-35, 48-51). Other points of connection between Is 55; 56 and John include the tie between listening and living, appeals to witnesses, calls to obedience, the idea of a special window of God’s nearness, and the inclusion of the Gentiles in salvation.
[d] John 17:12 -was lost except [d]the son of destruction- Hebrew idiom for one destined to perish. The betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot was foretold in Ps 41:9; cf John 13:18.
[e] John 17:19 -For their sake [e]I sanctify Myself- Jesus’ sacrificial death allows Christians to be truly sanctified—set apart for God’s purpose.
Menu for this study.