Read the Passage: John 17

Listen to the Redeemed Mind Podcast: John 17

For Himself (17:1–5)

John 13 begins an account of Jesus’ teachings to His disciples as He spoke to them in the upper room, and John 17 concludes this narrative. While Matt. 6:9–13 and Luke 11:2–4 convey what has become known as the Lord’s Prayer, those two passages do not record a literal prayer of Christ, rather they give a model of how believers can pray, which Jesus demonstrated for His followers. John 17, however, reports an actual prayer of Christ that He spoke just prior to His arrest and crucifixion. This one prayer contains three main sections in which Jesus prays for Himself, for His disciples, and for all future believers. Five times in this Gospel, John had recorded that Christ’s hour had not yet come (cf. John 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20). Now, with His atoning death being only hours away, Jesus looked to heaven and declared, “Father, the hour has come” (John 17:1; cf. John 12:23; 31:1).

As He had taught earlier (cf. John 13:31–32), so at John 17:1–5 Jesus prayed that He might be glorified by the Father. The Son’s glory would then, in turn, glorify the Father. The way that Christ would be glorified was through His atoning death. Consequently, the Father would be glorified for His redemptive plan through the Son. In His prayer Jesus recognized that He has “authority over all flesh,” as well as over granting “eternal life” (John 17:2). At John 17:3 Christ defined eternal life as knowing the Father and the Son, and at John 17:4 He observed that salvation brings glory to God on the earth. Just as at His death Jesus would declare, “It is finished” (John 19:30), so here at John 17:4 Christ told the Father, “I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” Since Jesus set aside His glory before His birth (cf. Phil. 2:5–8), He now asked for it to be restored.

For His Disciples (17:6–19)

In John 17:6–19 the focus of Jesus’ prayer changes from Himself to His disciples. Part of the work that Christ finished (cf. John 17:4) was to manifest the Father to the disciples. Just as the Father had given the Son those to be saved (cf. John 17:2), so He had given Jesus the disciples to be His followers (cf. John 17:6a). Next, Christ teaches that before the twelve were given to Him, they belonged to the Father (cf. John 17:6b). The idea that the as-yet unsaved disciples belonged to God is a challenging teaching, but this is taught elsewhere in Scripture too (cf. Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 14:8; Acts 18:9–10). This affirms the biblical concept of the elect being chosen “before the creation of the world” (Eph. 1:4; cf. 1 Pet. 1–2). Next, Jesus affirms His disciples’ salvation, as they kept God’s Word (cf. John 17:6), received God’s Word (cf. John 17:8a), and believed in Christ (cf. John 17:8b).

In John 17:11–18 Jesus disclosed the motivation for His prayer for the disciples—that is, the fact that he’d soon be departing. Observe that a focus of Jesus’ prayer to the Father is that the disciples “may be one as We are” (John 17:11). The idea of an inter-Trinitarian type of unity will arise later in Christ’s prayer, too. In referring to the indwelling Holy Spirit, Jesus expressed His desire for the disciples was “that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:13). This joy would be the result of Christ’s spoken Word and the Holy Spirit’s illumination of that Word. John 17:15 is an important teaching, as here Jesus says, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” This emphasizes that Christians ought not to focus on separation from the world, nor accommodation to the world, but transformation of the world via the gospel.

For His Followers (17:20–26)

John 17:20–26 is an important passage, as these verses reveal the only specific prayer in the Gospels that Jesus offered for all future believers. Of all of the things that Christ could have asked the Father on behalf of Christians, John 17:21–23 reports that His one prayer is that believers might have an inter-Trinitarian type of unity. Jesus’ rationale for this request is “that the world may believe that You sent Me . . . and that the world may know that You have sent Me” (John 17:21, 23). In other words, loving unity between Christians validates the gospel message. Furthermore, observe in this passage that Christ not only prays for all future believers, but also He prays for all believers’ future. Jesus prayer here is, “I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory” (John 17:24). This prayer will be fully answered in heaven.

Application Questions:

1. If you knew for certain that your death was imminent, for what and for whom would you pray?
2. Was Jesus always aware of the Father’s sovereign timetable? Was Christ fully aware of His impending death?
3. What did Jesus mean when He said that He would “give eternal life to as many as [the Father has] given to Him” (John 17:2)?
4. Have you ever been encouraged by reading or hearing about the prayers of another believer?
5. Why is there a general lack of unity among Christians? How can greater unity be promoted within the church?