John 17

Chapter Introduction

The High Priestly Prayer (contrast to the synoptic prayer of “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”)

This chapter serves to transition from the farewell discourse to the passion week. It is intimately connected to John 14-16. The prayer summarizes the messages Jesus delivered in His farewell discourse. This section also moves the narrative to the arrest and trials of Jesus.

This prayer is between the Passover meal and Jesus’ arrest in the garden. Jesus has had much to say to these eleven imperfect men. At the end of chapter sixteen, we saw them make a declaration of faith as if they suddenly understood what Jesus had been telling them. They may well have come to a deeper meaning, but they still had no concept of what was about to happen.

It was good that they believed because the time had come when they would be scattered. They would need their belief to anchor them to Jesus across the following few days. Jesus had built them up, prepared them, and warned them of the tribulation that was ahead and how the world would hate them. They would be scattered. They would leave Him. But He had given them all they needed to know to survive this time without stumbling so that when they saw Him again, they would be filled with joy.

In this chapter, we get a glimpse into the prayer life of Jesus. This is a phenomenal insight. God the Son is praying to God the Father. This had been a common thing, but this was the first time we got to hear the content of one of those prayers.

Jesus offered a prayer for Himself
He offered one for the disciples
And then one for all believers.

Within these transitional chapters, we can zero into this prayer as a specific time of that transition from earthly ministry to the intercession ministry of Jesus. Hebrews 7:25 speaks of Jesus as our High Priest. Because He is eternal, His priesthood is unchangeable. Then it says:

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

We see that very thing reflected in these prayers.

Jesus was mere hours from the cross and a brutal, horrible death, yet He spoke of overcoming the world as if it had already happened. His obedience to the Father was sure and trustworthy. This work is what makes that peace available to us when we walk in this world.

John 17:1-5

He finished speaking the words of warning, encouragement, and confidence to His disciples. Then lifted His eyes to heaven. Notice His prayer posture (somebody forgot to tell Him He was supposed to bow His head!)

The first prayer Jesus offered was for Himself.

Jesus had told the disciples that He was going away, and when He did, they would be sorrowful. But that sorrow would soon be turned into joy. The very thing that caused the sorrow would become their great joy. Likewise, the world would rejoice at the death of Jesus; that same cause of rejoicing would be their source of discomfort and conviction. That very cross that was a symbol of shame and horror that caused sorrow was about to be turned into a symbol of eternal hope, forgiveness, and eternal life.

The time had come. This cross would glorify Jesus. In that, the Father would be glorified. This glory is the "giving honor to" or "recognizing". The amazing grace of God is revealed on the cross. The Son goes to the cross in obedience to the Father and love for those whom the Father had given Him. At any time, He could have decided not to die on the cross. Being at one with the Father and love for us kept him on the cross.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;

He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul an offering for sin,

He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,

And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.

By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,

For He shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:10-11)

***

Adam and Eve were originally given authority over the earth. They were to act as the heirs and stewards over God’s creation. They failed at this when they sinned. Jesus, Paul referred to as the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45), came to redeem man. All authority was given to Jesus. He came to restore mankind to its original position. But, to do that, sin had to be dealt with. Death would have to be overcome.

And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (1 Cor 15:45)

The Father gave the Son authority over all flesh that He may give eternal life to all that are given to Him. Jesus paid the penalty so He could offer eternal life to all of mankind. However, many will leave this gift of eternal life unclaimed.

The hour of Jesus’ death had come and He would be glorified in it. In the future, millions would look to that death on the cross and glorify Jesus as their redeemer. By that, the Father would be glorified. They would know eternal life by knowing the Father. Truly knowing God is to know eternal life. This is an ancient idea. This eternal life is that men and women who had been tainted by sin and were without hope came to know God.

To know the Father was to be in His presence.

To be in His presence one must know the Son.

The good news is basic. It's simply good news. We don't need to make it any harder than that. We were created in the image of God and by the forgiveness of our sins through Christ, we may return to our Maker and know Him.

One commentator put it this way:

“The deepest passion of the heart of Jesus was not the saving of men, but the glory of God; and then the saving of men, because that is for the glory of God” (G. Campbell Morgan; The Crisis of the Christ, p. 270).

Jesus had put aside His glory to become a man and to glorify the Father by saving us. He didn't set aside His deity, He didn't stop being God, but He did His greatest miracle in becoming a man. When His work was complete, He would return to that glory at the right hand of the Father.

This is amazing and should excite each one of us as one day we will stand in His presence in that same glory.

John 17:6-8

The second prayer Jesus offered was for the disciples.

Kept from the World & the Devil.
Unity
Joy
Sanctified

As Jesus prayed for the disciples, He spoke of the work He did in revealing the name of God to them. We might remember that God told Moses to reveal His name to Israel (Exodus 3:13,15). In the revealed name, His character and attributes are revealed. In His name, they would come to know holiness, sacredness, justice, and righteousness. God said, “I Am that I AM” was His name. He was self-defined, self-existent, relying on no one or no thing. He wasn’t like any other God. This is all wrapped up in His name.

Now Jesus, the ultimate fulfillment of the prophet like Moses (Deut 18:14), would speak forth the word of God. He was the word that was made flesh, God in the flesh. He was the manifestation of the Father. If men looked upon Him, they looked upon the Father.

Israel was chosen by God to reveal the Father to the nations. The disciples were now given the same charge. They were characterized as those who had kept His word. The disciples came to know that all they saw in Christ was from the Father. They had made the connection of the Son to the Father and vice versa.

These men received Jesus, the Word of God. Jesus gave these men the words of God, and they received them.

Note: Jesus presents the disciples as believers having seen Jesus and believed and having received the Word of God. Yet, we saw so much of them as being confused, not understanding, trying to figure out what was going on. This gives me hope.

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:4)

John 17:9-19

The prayer for the disciples continues. His prayer was not for the world but for those who believed in Him and trusted in Him. The work of Jesus is not universal in that everyone automatically receives the benefits of his life, death, and resurrection. Many teach this. The free gift of grace is available to everyone but only comes by looking to Jesus Christ, calling on His name, and repenting of your sins.

The believers are the ones given to Jesus. They were given because they were the Fathers. Those men who had previously thought they knew the Father truly came to know Him through the Son. They came to the Father through the Son, and both are glorified.

Jesus anticipated the state of things after His crucifixion by saying he was no longer in the world. The disciples remained in the world when Jesus went to the Father. Jesus prays that the disciples be kept through the Name. The Jews would say the name is Yahweh. But Jesus declared His equality with God in the I Am statements. How are we kept through His name? The culmination of the thought is the disciples would be one with the Father, and Jesus was. This is fellowship as God intended in the garden at creation.

The cross is just hours away, and the disciples would need these prayers when they saw their Lord crucified. Surviving that dark time would not occur by happenstance, luck, good friends, money, prestige, education, or anything else. Their world would be shattered, so they needed the assurance that all this was ordained by God. We can have the same assurance in our lives. We have the words that the Father gave the Son, and we can receive them and believe them. There is not one facet of your life that is out of the reach of God. Nothing you are going through is a surprise to Him, either. God's not wondering how things will turn out. But He's asking you, through your circumstances, "Do you trust me with this?"

When Jesus walked with the disciples, He kept them. None were lost to apostasy but Judas. It’s as though Jesus were giving them back to the Father and noting one was lost at the fulfillment of prophecy.

Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,

Who ate my bread,

Has lifted up his heel against me. (Psalm 41:9)

Jesus gave the reason for the prayer. He prayed that they may have His joy fulfilled in themselves. He was informing them ahead of time, so when He was crucified, they would understand. What is this joy?

His joy is that complete consciousness of God which is to be imparted to them by the Holy Ghost, as the source of the most untrammeled vital movement in their spirits.

Lange, J. P., & Schaff, P. (2008).

A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: John (p. 519).

Logos Bible Software.

It was the joy that was to come on the other side of the cross. It was the stark contrast to the pain and sorrow they were about to experience.

Jesus was about to ask the disciples if they trusted Him. When He was taken away and beaten, tortured, mocked, and crucified, would they still believe it was for their advantage? Would they be tempted to stumble, to arrive at a place of utter unbelief? Apostasy is always near. It’s always beckoning to us. It's out there. People fall into that pit constantly, not because it makes sense but usually because of being overwhelmed by life and the inability to control the circumstances of their lives.

For those who followed Christ, there would be an inevitable conflict with the world. Jesus gave the word of the Father to these disciples. They believed and received. This put them in fellowship with God and set them apart from the world. It also puts them at enmity with the world.

Jesus prayed for the disciples to be removed from the world and for them to be kept from the evil one. They would be sealed by the Holy Spirit, marked for God, and set apart from the devil.

The word of God is the truth of God, and it sets us apart from the world. It sets us apart for eternity. The disciples are sent into the world. For their sake, Jesus sets Himself apart for them by going to the cross.

***

He gave us His word and this becomes evidence we are not of this world. (See also Isaiah 50:4.) The world hates us for being different. The difference in us is the testimony of Jesus Christ and that conviction from the Holy Spirit. This is the conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It's through us that the Holy Spirit brings that conviction, and the sinful fallen world isn't happy about it. I remember the day I wasn't happy about it. I was a pride-filled sinner who played a religious game by going to church once in a while. I kept my distance from those committed Christians. Those were those "born again" people who took it seriously.

We are no longer part of the world any more than Jesus was. The world is under the dominion of Satan, who is the prince of this world. Jesus prays for our protection from Satan. We are to go out to the world not be removed from it. We take the place of Jesus.

John 17:20-23

Jesus offered the 3rd prayer for all believers.

Unity
Love
Knowledge of the Father.

Jesus prayed for you and all those who will believe from that day forth. All the future believers would come to faith by hearing the gospel word flowing from the disciples through the ages. His prayer for the future believers was for unity. The Lord prayed we would be unified together under Christ for the glory of God. That we would be in the God and God in us as Jesus was in the Father and the Father in Him.

Jesus gives us the glory given to him. We are given the glory, the joy, Sonship, inheritance, etc. In all our shortcomings, in our sin and stumbling through life, in spite of all our failings, we represent the glory of the holy Son of God! God can say, I saved that stumbling, bumbling boob, that's how awesome I am; that's how amazing My grace is.

What was this glory that the Father gave Jesus that He passed on to us? Jesus prayed He would be glorified, and it would glorify the Father. The glorification of Jesus was being nailed to the cross and then rising again. Is our glorification then not dying with Christ on the cross, going to the grave with Him, and then rising again? Is this not dying to ourselves and living in Him?

Jesus prayed for the state of glorification for believers. It is having Christ in us by way of the Holy Spirit. It is the full fellowship of His glorified state. It is the inheritance of future glory when we will be as He is (1 John 3:2). It is oneness of will and spirit. This glory would facilitate unity.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Romans 8:16-17)

Can believers focus on the central figure of Jesus Christ while having differences? It’s hard sometimes. Jesus desired to be in us as the Father was in Him so that the world would know Jesus and the love of the Father. The world is to know us by our love.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. ¹⁴But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. (Colossians 3:12-14)

There are certain things we should hold fast to and from which we should never waiver. The things that divide the body of Christ are often times petty.

In a passage concerning communion, the Didache says:

We give thee thanks, our Father, for the life and knowledge which thou didst make known to us though Jesus thy child. To thee be glory for ever. ⁴ As this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains, but was brought together and became one, so let thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into thy kingdom, for thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever.” ⁵ But let none eat or drink of your Eucharist except those who have been baptised in the Lord’s Name. For concerning this also did the Lord say, “Give not that which is holy to the dogs.”^{^[1]}

Clement I, P., Ignatius, S., Bishop of Antioch,

Polycarp, S., Bishop of Smyrna, & Lake, K. (1912–1913).

The Apostolic fathers (K. Lake, Ed.; Vol. 1, p. 323).

Harvard University Press.

John 17:24-26

The desire of the bridegroom is that his bride be with him. We know this prayer will be answered if we are in Christ and He is in us. It’s hard to imagine. As the Father is seated at the right hand of Jesus, we will be present with Him. We will be where Jesus is. We will be righteous.

The love of the Father for the Son was present before the foundations of the world. Their fellowship and mutual glory are eternal.

The world doesn’t know God, but He will be made known to the world through Jesus because He is in us, and we are in Him. The only way the world will know Them is through us. Jesus and God are one, and Jesus says we can become one with Him. Wow! That truly is good news.

***

The world is Satan's temporary domain. Many people make their home in this world as if it will always be the same. But Jesus sets us apart from the world, yet we are to be in it. Our walk, words, work, and testimony are to be a witness to the world, that they may see that God is awesome and mighty to save.

Jesus prayed we would be Kept.

Kept in the grip of God, not faltering or stumbling, but maintained in this walk of faith.
Kept in the sense of being provided for, fed, clothed, and spiritually healthy.
Kept in that God that we would be protected from His enemies, which are our enemies. Satan would snatch us away if He were able. But God doesn't allow that. We are Kept in Him.

Soon, we will go home to the presence of God, where those who trust in Him and are saved in Him belong. And we will behold His glory for all eternity.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

^{^[1]} Clement I, P., Ignatius, S., Bishop of Antioch, Polycarp, S., Bishop of Smyrna, & Lake, K. (1912–1913). The Apostolic fathers (K. Lake, Ed.; Vol. 1, p. 323). Harvard University Press.

John