Jesus' Prayer For His Disciples (Part 2)

JESUS’ HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER

(Part 2b – Jesus’ Prayer For His Disciples)

John 17:6-19

John 17:6-19 records the second main section in the Lord’s High Priestly Prayer. In the first five verses Jesus prayed for Himself; then in verse 6 the Savior transitions from praying for Himself to praying for His Disciples. In the following verses we will hear Jesus’ specific prayer for those men who had left everything behind to follow Him.

In part one of this message we covered the fact that Jesus manifested the Father to the Disciples and He gave the Father’s Word to the Disciples and verses 9-10 show us that:

3. JESUS PRAYED FOR THE DISCIPLES

v9 I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.

John 17 is certainly not the first time that Jesus prayed for His Disciples; He had prayed for them in the past, He was praying for them in the present, and He would pray for them in the future. The same can be said for those of us who are followers of Christ today.

In this prayer Jesus was praying as the One who represented true believers before the throne of God. As we have seen throughout this prayer, Jesus is the Divine Son of God and co-equal with the Father. If He were not God in the flesh He would not have been able to proclaim “all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine”

Jesus points out the fact that He is praying not for the world, but for His Disciples. This doesn’t mean that the Savior was unconcerned with the people of the world or that He never prayed for them. We know that He did; even in His dying moments He cried out: “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). But in the context we are studying Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. As the Great High Priest, Jesus was representing His Disciples before His Father in Heaven. In spite of all their faults and failures, Jesus reminds the Father that the Disciples belong to Him. He said, “all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine”. He also declares that they have glorified Him; He says, “I am glorified in them.”

Jesus stated in v4 that He had glorified the Father by “accomplishing the work that He gave Him to do”. A major part of this “work” was manifesting the Father’s name to the people that God had given Him out of the world. Jesus revealed the character and presence of God to His Disciples. The Disciples would in turn reveal the character and presence of Christ to lost men and women in the world. Their evangelistic work would glorify both the Father and the Son.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said to the Disciples – “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

This small group of faithful followers brought Him glory. They did this in part because they received the Word that He delivered to them. Soon, these men would be entrusted with the responsibility of reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The words that the Apostles shared were the words that they received from Jesus.

After Pentecost the members of the early church “continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine” (Acts 2:42). The Apostle’s doctrine was Christ’s doctrine; the words they had received from Him is what they shared with others. Jesus said that He was “glorified in them” (His Disciples), we can glorify Him as well if we will hear His word, believe it, keep it and share it!

- Verse 12 shows us something else that Jesus did for His Disciples:

4. JESUS KEPT THE DISCIPLES IN THE FATHER’S NAME

v12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

While He was present with the Disciples Jesus kept them in the Father’s name. He did this with the power and authority that He possessed. Because of His sustaining power, these fallible men remained true to Him, even when others turned away.

Jesus proclaims that He lost none of them except for the “son of perdition”. This is a reference to Judas Iscariot. This does not mean that Jesus didn’t have the power to keep Judas; the issue was that Judas was never a genuine disciple. The Lord also points out the fact this happened so that “the scripture might be fulfilled”. Jesus said He kept those whom the Father had given Him, in this Judas did not qualify! The title “the son of perdition” means Judas was relegated to eternal condemnation. This does not mean that Judas was destined to betray Christ in order for prophecy to be fulfilled; the reality is that Judas himself chose to betray Jesus and as a result the scripture was fulfilled.