The passage of chapter 17 verses 1-26 in the book of John is widely known as the “High Priestly Prayer.” Within these verses Jesus is praying to the Father. “Though this prayer, unlike the one found in Matthew, was not spoken deliberately for the purpose of giving instruction in this spiritual exercise, it never the less was a witness to the disciples and a revelation of the mind of Christ” (Harrison 99). All through Jesus’ ministry He spoke of His unique intimacy with the Father. “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27). This prayer confirms His testimony. “Four words summarize the main requests in this prayer: glory, security, sanctity, and unity” (Wiersbe 14). The prayer could be outlined into three sections: Jesus prayed for Himself (1-5), Jesus prayed for His disciples (6-19), and Jesus prayed for the whole church (20-26).
In verses 1-5, Jesus is praying for Himself. He is requesting that the Father grant Him the glory that He once had before the world was, but emptied Himself of when He came to the world, to identify with humanity. In verse 1 we see five main points. “Lifting up His eyes to Heaven…” This statement implies that our posture in prayer is not important. The verse doesn’t tell us whether Jesus was sitting or standing. All it says is that He lifted His eyes to heaven. He is also found communing with the Father as He raises His eyes to Heaven in John 11:41. “Most people bow their heads and close their eyes when they pray, but Jesus lifted His head and focused His eyes on Heaven. Most people fold their hands to pray, but I don’t find this practice anywhere in scripture” (Wiersbe 23, 24). There are many different postures recorded in scripture and they are all acceptable. Daniel prayed while kneeling. “…and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously” (Dan. 6:10). David sat while praying to God. “Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me this far” (2 Sam. 7:18)? Abraham stood while standing. “…while Abraham was still standing before the Lord…and said…” (Gen. 18:22-23). Wiersbe suggests that the important thing is the posture of the heart. “It is much easier to bow the knees than to bow the heart in submission to God” (Wiersbe 24). The Pharisees were always practicing outward rituals, showing that they were the most religious. Our outward posture can sometimes express the emotion of our heart, but that is not always the case. Many times the Pharisees would practice the outward emotions without flaw, but their heart was not in it. Prayer is between us and our Father, not the person next to us or in the pew behind us. We should not be praying under compulsion or for sordid gain, but voluntarily. These are the people the Lord is speaking to when He says, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say” (Luke 6:46)?
The very first word in Jesus’ prayer is the salutation of “Father.” This is very important that we realize what Jesus is saying here. “God is not someone afar off whose attention must be won by fanatic appeal” (Harrison 99). Jesus taught His disciples how to pray to the Father. We are to talk to God in such comfort as we talk to our earthly father. Although I would not be dogmatic about this, I believe saying “Father” at the start of each sentence in prayer is a bad habit that we should try to cure. When we pray, we are to direct it to our Father. God calls us to have an intimate relationship with Him. Taking this passage in John into consideration, I don’t think it is wrong to use father at the start of every sentence, but “we must be careful to mean what we say and not overdo it” (Wiersbe 24).
Still in verse one, we will look at the phrase, “the hour has come.” Through a quick study of this phrase, we will see that we must be yielded to God’s will when we pray. Jesus is speaking of the hour for which He had come into this world. Jesus knew the hour was approaching when He would be crucified, yet He still prayed for God’s glory through this defining moment. Jesus yielded to His Father’s will. When we pray, we must also be yielded to God’s will. This is a big cause of unanswered prayers. We are not making God’s will our own. When we delight ourselves in the Lord His desires become our desires. When our desires become His desires our praying reflects God’s own heart. Most people are scared to pray in God’s will because they are afraid to pay the price it may cost. We are afraid to give up our possessions if that’s what it might take. We are afraid to let God handle the situation instead of us being so independent. We are to be dependant…on God! Look at the price Jesus was about to pay. He was about to pay the ultimate price and still prayed in the Father’s will. In 18:10-11 the Roman army is seeking to arrest Jesus and kill Him, but Peter pulls out his sword to protect Him. Look at what Jesus said to Peter. “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it” (John 18:11)? “The will of God has a purpose and an objective” (Gutzke 170). Jesus was about to receive the cup from His Father’s hand and went willingly because He knew the purpose and the objective that would be finished.
The glory of God should be the main motive behind all of our prayers. Jesus prayed, “…glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You.” This is also seen in the Lord’s Prayer when Jesus tells us to “Hallow” God’s name and to pray for His will to be done before we pray about our daily needs, forgiveness, and protection. “When we center our prayer on the glory of God, we see our needs and requests in proper perspective. Matters that seemed so important have a tendency to shrink to their proper size when measured by the glory of God” (Wiersbe 29). When we say a whole prayer and do not even acknowledge God’s glory, we are belittling Him. We are saying that our earthly needs are more important that giving Him glory. We need to elevate our thinking and set our eyes on things that are not of this world. “Jesus was invoking something that would enable Him to glorify the Infinite Father. The glorifying of the Father by the Son is the manifestation of God’s glory in the completion of the Messianic glory by the mission of the Advocate, and the future victories of the church” (Thomas 69). “The cross, as He knows full well, is to be the vehicle to that glory, and He prays that He may so except it as to bring glory to the Father in turn” (Bruce 329).
In verse 2 we will examine what I call the three incredible gifts. These three gifts derive from the three key words in verse 2: gave, given, and give. Let’s look at what is being given here. The first gift we will look at is God gave the Son authority. We see this gift in the phrase “… even as You gave Him authority over all flesh…” This statement raises the question of Jesus’ part in the Trinity. If Jesus is part of the Trinity, why would He have to be given the authority? Why wouldn’t He already have it? Paul teaches through the Holy Spirit in Philippians 2:7 that Jesus “…emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of man.” Jesus had full authority equal with God the Father in Heaven before the world began, but emptied Himself of His Heavenly authority to identify Himself with the human race. No one took away from Him what He was, but being God Himself, He voluntarily emptied Himself. In this verse we see that God the Father gave Jesus the authority to do what He did on earth. God gave Jesus the authority and power to die and be raised again. He was also given the authority to give eternal life. Jesus has the power and authority to be Savior and Judge. “Those who do not receive Him as Savior must face Him as Judge” (Wiersbe 35).
The second gift we will look at comes from the phrase “…to all You have given Him…” This gift is that the Father gives people to the Son. “Theologians call this the doctrine of “divine election” (Wiersbe 35). Some will hear the Word and it will harden their hearts. Others will hear the Word and take it in like a seed being planted in moist soil. Jesus is referring to the chosen people, the church. Paul teaches us in Ephesians 1:4 that Christ chose the “elect” before the foundation of the world. “…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…” (Ephesians 1:4). By us knowing that God has an “elect people” in this world should give us great encouragement and enthusiasm for ministry. Wiersbe points out five great special blessings that belong to those who have been given to the Son by the Father. The first blessing is eternal life. We see this right in verse two. “…to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life” (John 17:2). We can live with joy in the present and look forward to eternity. All people will have eternal life, but the question is where. God’s people will eternally be in Heaven praising the Lord. The second blessing is our knowledge of the Father. We see this blessing in verses 6-7. The lost people do not know nor understand the fullness of God (v.25). When you are a Son of God you don’t only know about the Father, but you know Him personally. The third blessing is Christ’s intercession on our behalf. When Christ was with His disciples He prayed for them often. Now He prays for all believers and is the High Priest whom we pray through to the Father. John 14:6 tells us, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” The fourth blessing that Wiersbe points out is divine protection in this world. God guards His people physically and spiritually. “The believer today has a threefold protection from the world on his pilgrim pathway: The indwelling Holy Spirit in his heart as a garrison, the Word of God in his hand as a guard, and the interceding of Christ on the throne as a guarantee of his safety and preservation” (Wilson 85). The fifth and last blessing is eternal glory. We see this blessing in verse 24 which gives us total assurance that Christ is seeing to it that we are in Heaven with Him.
The third gift that derives from verse 2 is the greatest gift all. This is the greatest gift that any person could ever receive. The Son gives eternal life to those who are given to Him. This is clearly stated when Jesus says, “He may give eternal life.” Eternal life is more that just everlasting life. Like we mentioned before, even the lost will have eternal life, but they will be separated from God. Eternal life is not a quantity of time, but the quality of our life once we receive Christ as Savior. Just like the eternal Father is outside of time, so is eternal life. You receive eternal life immediately after giving your life and heart to the cause of Christ. That is why Christ said, “I come that you may have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). There are two different “lives” being talked about hear: The earthly life and the eternal life. When we were physically born, we were born sons of Adam and therefore sinners. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The curse of this sin is death. Romans 6:23 tells us, “The wages of sin is death…” Our second birth, spiritual birth, makes us the sons of God therefore settling the problem and taking away the curse of death. The end of Romans 6:23 tells us, “…but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” “No church can give eternal life. No priest can grant it. The only salvation that comes to man is through Christ Jesus” (Ford 129).
Let’s go onto verse 3. This verse should be interesting to all believers because it describes eternal life for us. The part of the verse we will focus on is “This is eternal life, that they may know You…” Jesus explained eternal life with the term “…that they might know You.” We must understand that this is not merely knowing about God, but knowing Him personally. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word used for “know” is only used in an intimate setting, usually with husband and wife. The New Testament Greek word for “know” refers to knowing with experience. To know God, you must be experiencing Him. There is a changed pattern of life when you surrender to God. Marcus Rainsford writes,
“Life is the perfection of being; eternal life is the perfection of life; all life has its fountainhead in God; He is, and He alone, the living One: natural life, spiritual life, and eternal life, all flow from Him. Natural life is His creation; spiritual life is His inspiration; eternal life is His gift, possessed and enjoyed in union with Himself, and in the knowledge and fruition of Himself and Jesus Christ whom He has sent” (Rainsford 56, 57).
Eternal life will never be fully understood by the human mind. God is too big and too complex for our pee brain minds. Anyone who says they fully understand eternal life is worshiping a false god because the One true God is un comprehendible. We must be careful not to add or take away from what the text reads. So therefore, eternal life is to know God. Paul teaches in Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
In verses 4-5 Jesus talks about the things “…before the world was.” Wiersbe points out several facts that emerge from the scripture to help us figure this out what went on “before the world was.” The first fact that comes out of the text is that Jesus existed as eternal God. We know that all three members in the Godhead existed before the world was, but our main focus along with John’s in John 17 is on Jesus. Jesus also affirmed His own deity in John 8:58, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” One of John’s main focuses is throughout the whole book of John is Jesus’ Deity. The second fact is that Jesus shared the Father’s glory. This also shows the divinity of Jesus by telling us that Jesus is equal with the Father. Jesus laid aside His glory, literally emptied Himself, and died so that sinners might receive that glory. The Bible teaches that those of us who trust Jesus as our Savior already posses this glory. “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them” (John 17:22). The last fact that we will extract from the scripture is that the Son covenanted to die for sinners before the world was. Calvary was not “plan b” made by a frustrated and confused God. Calvary was all a part of God’s eternal plan. In Acts 2:23 Peter preached a sermon mentioning that Jesus was “delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.” Wiersbe writes,
“Yes, there are some profound truths in these verses. When we, with human minds and hearts begin to think and meditate on what happened “before the world was,” we soon find ourselves beyond our limit. These truths were not given so that we might debate, but that we might surrender and worship” (Wiersbe 54).
Verses 6-8 start a new section of this “High Priestly Prayer.” In the first five verses Jesus was praying for Himself. In this section Jesus is praying for His disciples. In verses 6-12 Jesus is praying for their security. In verses 13-19 Jesus is praying for their sanctity. Let’s look at the phrase is verse 6 that says, “…they were Yours and You gave them to Me.” The disciples belonged to the Father first because we are the creature and He is the Creator. They also belonged to the Father because of them being of the Jewish nation which was God’s chosen people. The text tells us in verse 8 that the Father gave His words to the Son. Jesus kept in constant communion with the Father. The text goes on to say that the Son gave these words to His disciples. God is revealed to the world through Jesus Christ by His Word. The Word is a precious gift from God whom paid a price for us to have it. “When we cease to appreciate the Word of God as a precious gift, we will also cease to appreciate to appreciate the Word of God as the nourishment of our souls and the guide for our lives” (Wiersbe 59). The Word does three amazing things for us. The Word creates and sustains our faith. Faith comes through the Word of God. God’s Word is called the “Word of faith” (Romans 10:8). The Bible teaches that “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The Word also reveals Christ to us. The whole Bible from front to back, Old Testament to New Testament, reveal the Son of God. Though He is portrayed in many different aspects to capture certain audiences, He clearly states, “And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27). The Word gives us assurance. Most people who struggle with their salvation also struggle with reading the Word of God. The Word is what gives us the assurance of our faith. The disciples received the Word and believed. Like I mentioned before, some hear the word and it hardens their heart. They end up rejecting the word. Others hear the word and it pierces their heart. These people plant the word in their heart and it grows and multiplies and bares fruit. The Word is like a seed that the Holy Spirit will use, when appropriate, to convict and rebuke the person being sanctified. God will force you into a situation that will make you have faith and depend on the Word of God that is planted in your heart. As you mature in Christ this seed grows and eventually bares fruit, which would be your own disciples discipling others.
Through verses 9-12 we are going to look at many key parts of this prayer. The first is that Christ prayed for us. “Surely no greater incentive is needed for a life of devotion and obedience” (Gutzke 172). He prayed, “I ask on their behalf…Holy Father, keep them in Thy name…” This gives me great hope and should you too. The Father always answers the Son’s prayers. Jesus says in John 11:41-42, “Father, I thank Thee that Thou heard Me. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always…” This is great news! The Son prayed for us and the Father answers Him always. The Father will also grant Him whatever He asks for according to His will and we know that it is unthinkable for the Son to even ask for anything outside of the Father’s will. Wiersbe points out that the word “keep” that Jesus uses in His prayer towards us means to literally “watch over, guard, to care for, and to preserve.” This tells us that God will always watch over, care for, guard, and preserve us! “If Christians could only grasp this fully, believe it implicitly, rest on it confidently, what a change in their experience” (Gutzke 172). Another key part of these verses is that Jesus still prays for us today. In verse 11 He prays, “I am no longer in the world…I come to You.” When Jesus was with His disciples He prayed for them, but even now that He isn’t in the world He still prays on behalf of all believers. Jesus prays for the unity of the church. “Holy Father, keep them in My name…that they may be one, even as we are.” This also shows emphasizes the separateness and intimacy of the Father in the same sentence. The word “Holy” separates Him from all of humanity because none of us can ever be holy. That is why we are separated from God. Only through Christ can we come to the Father. Jesus Christ is the perfect and holiest Sacrifice to make us right with God. The word “Father” shows His intimacy with His children. We are to call out to our “Father.”
These next verses will start a new section of Jesus’ prayer. He is still praying for His disciples, but the focus goes from their security to their sanctity. As we examine verse 13-16 we will see that Christ provides all of the spiritual resources we need to overcome the world. The first thing we see in verse 13 is that He provides us with His joy. Jesus is often thought about as the “Man of sorrows.” That is true, but He is also filled with the joy of the Lord. To have joy doesn’t necessarily mean there will be an absence of sorrow. Wiersbe gives a good illustration. He says, “The Arabs have a motto, “All sunshine makes a desert” (Wiersbe 88). Heaven is the only place where joy resides without sorrow and Hell is the only place where sorrow resides without any joy. “Jesus gives us joy by transformation; the world gives us joy by substitution” (Wiersbe 89). The second spiritual resource He provides is His Word. The text reads, “I have given them Your Word.” His Word created us and sustains us. It created every material thing and sustains every material thing. Verse 15 tells us that He provides His intercession on our behalf. Verses 14 and 16 both show us our identification with Christ.
In verses 17-19 we are going to focus on the word sanctification. This word is used three times within three verses. Sanctify means “to be separated from.” We are to be separated from this world. We are not of this world, but most people live like they are. Paul teaches that we are ambassadors for Christ. This tells us that this earth is not our homeland as believers. Our homeland is Heaven. As ambassadors, we are to set our selves apart from this earth and stand out. We are to be counter cultural and represent where we are from. “He separates them from the world for himself, that they may die thenceforth to themselves and to the world, deny their self-love, and begin to love God and their neighbor from the heart” (Payton 29). In verse 18 we see a snip it of the great commission. “Jesus affirms a parallel between His sending of the disciples into the world and the Father’s sending of Him. Nothing glorifies the mission as much as this epochal fact” (Harrison 103). Just as Jesus knew His mission and did not let anything take Him off track, we need to be the same way. Although we are not perfect and we will get discouraged, we must remember God’s provision. God provides the materials we need to conquer this world for Christ. We must take this commission seriously. Morrison writes,
“As God sent the Son, so Jesus sent those who believed, bestowing upon them the same glory that he received from the Father. As Jesus glorified God by accomplishing his work, so they glorify the One who sent them, maintaining the integrity of the one mission from Father and Son through the church” (Morrison 263).
Now we will turn our focus to the unity of the church. In verses 20-24 we see that that is Jesus’ main focus. Regardless of religious doctrine on baptism and the last supper, Jesus gives us encouragement for spiritual unity by showing us the bonds that weave us together. We trust the same Savior. It is faith in Christ that makes someone a Christian not our different doctrines about certain passages. To have unity we must have fellowship. Fellowship means “to have in common.” Obviously, believers cannot be one with either the Father or the Son in every way the persons of the Godhead are one with each other because we are not God. On the other hand, the unity among Christians is more than the invisible oneness of all believers. It is something that demonstrates itself in outward, tangible, loving cooperation for powerful evangelistic purposes and results. Laskey agreed with Martin Luther when He said, “What keeps this union of Christ’s people intact is "by abiding in that Word we have received from Christ” (Laskey 207).
In these two closing verses of Jesus’ prayer, “He simply reaffirmed that the Father was righteous and that the Son had done in the world what the Father sent Him to do: reveal truth and love” (Wiersbe 123). Most prayers today are cluttered with requests of our own needs and wants at the closing. God knows our heart and our needs. We should be glorifying the Father in our prayers. Although this prayer was not recited for instruction, we can still draw several examples for our own priorities in prayer. “Luther saw the whole of this prayer as a model and warrant for Christian prayer” (Laskey 205).
Jesus often spent time feasting on God the Father in prayer. When the crowds of people wanted to make Him king, He went away to a secret place of prayer. Before He chose His disciples, He spent a night in prayer. He would often spend time in prayer on the mountainside before the disciples awoke. Before He raised Lazarus from the dead, He prayed. Even to the point of dying on the cross, He took time and prayed for His enemies. This specific prayer shows Jesus’ compassion for the Father and His disciples. It shows us Jesus’ heart and also gives us an example and reality check when measured to our prayers to the Father. “It is the mission of the Son to proclaim the Father, to make him known, and in this proclamation the Father is glorified” (Laskey 205).
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