When you pray, it is best to consider the occasion so that you can pray appropriately.
Young Jeremy had only heard his grandfather pray at Thanksgiving, Easter, and other special occasions. At those times, and to his grandmother's chagrin as the food cooled off, he typically said a long prayer. One night, after an enjoyable campout and fishing trip, to Jeremy's surprise his grandfather said a very brief blessing. With a gleam in his eye, the boy grinned at his grandfather and said, "You don't pray so long when you're hungry."
When you pray, it is best to consider the occasion so that you can pray appropriately. "Jesus' High Priestly Prayer" in John 17 demonstrates his consideration of the occasion before his arrest and execution so he could pray appropriately. The prayer is the "solemn consecration" (Morris 1971:716) of his disciples as his earthly ministry draws to a close.
This passage is unique to John's gospel. While there are other references to Jesus' prayer habits, this one includes the only extended transcript of what he says. There are several exhortations for disciples to pray as well as some instructions about what to pray but few actual illustrations of prayer, certainly none with this detail. The chapter provides a rare glimpse of how Jesus prays, and of how he prays for his followers in particular.
I. Jesus prays that God will vivify them (vv. 1-5).
John 17:1 Jesus...looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Generally prayer is personal and private. It is not a public activity but a conversation between an individual and God. There are examples of corporate prayer and of some people leading others in prayer but with the assumption that those others are adding their own expressions of petition or contrition. While prayer is most often a solitary activity, it is not one-sided with only a single party participating. It is interactive between an individual and God, as it is here between Jesus and his Father. Nevertheless, on this occasion Jesus vocalizes aloud his prayer so that the disciples can appreciate what he is saying on their behalf. Although John does not record the Father's response, it is certainly positive.
A. He is the purveyor of eternal life.
God's purpose is not simply to extend the quantity of life, but to increase the quality of life. So Jesus defines eternal life as knowing "the only true God" (v. 5). While Jesus presumably prayed for his disciples throughout his ministry, now facing death, he wants them to receive the benefits that come from his intercession.
Jesus is clear about his responsibility...
B. He is the promoter of divine glory.
The sage says: "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth" (Prov. 27:2a), advice Jesus follows here by cultivating the Father's praise. While others may exhibit it (e.g., "heavens" Ps 19:1; "angels" Luke 9:26), asserting God's glory is the Son's primary duty. No one and nothing advances His glory to the same extent.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes see the pdf here.
Application: You will not advance God's glory as much as the Son does, but you are still responsible to promote it whenever you can. As David says several times: "Let your glory be over all the earth" (Ps 57:5, 11; 108:5). So doing, you are in line with God's program.
II. Jesus prays that God will multiply them (vv. 6-12).
John 17:6 "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
Jesus expresses his desire to enlarge the movement he began by spreading its message (gospel), not merely by expanding dissemination of the message but by realizing a positive response (obedience) from those who hear it. He notes the increase in confidence that followed for those who embraced the message ("they knew with certainty" v. 8), and those respondents are the focus of his petition.
A. He asks God to receive them.
God has a general concern for everyone—"God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son" (John 3:16)—yet He knows not everyone wants a relationship with Him, which Jesus recognizes in his prayer here. Jesus' focus is on "those whom you gave me out of the world" (v. 6). They have distinguished themselves by their positive response to the gospel: "I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them" (v. 8). Consequently, Jesus is quite discriminating about the subjects of his intercession: "I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me" (v. 9), and it is they he asks God to accept.
B. He asks God to protect them.
Disciples face many difficulties that can derail their service to God, and Jesus prays not that God will spare them from such hardship but that He will keep them safe despite it (also Westcott 1881:252). Indeed, God has promised that kind of security, especially mentally or psychologically: "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you" (Isa 26:3).
Application: Some churches are fixated on numbers, on increasing the turnout at their services, as if such statistics were important to God. While He is concerned about numbers, it is not how many people are on the role of a particular congregation but the general progress those people are making toward completing His program. God has determined (but not specified) the level of non-Jewish involvement in His plan: "Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in" (Rom 11:25). It is important for Christians, as they are able, to communicate the gospel and to increase their number, but the success of God's plan does not depend on it. In other words, He is quite capable of fulfilling His quota without their help.
Some Christians think that the completion of God's plan depends on them, that it will not find fulfillment apart from their involvement. While God does have a role for you to play, the completion of His program does not succeed or fail according to your participation. As Jesus observed, "God Doesn't Need You": "If [people] keep quiet, the stones will cry out" (Luke 19:40). Should you not meet God's expectations for you, He can assign your role to someone else or do it Himself without detracting from His goal in the least.
III. Jesus prays that God will carry them (vv. 13-19).
John 17:13 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
The time for Jesus' arrest is almost at hand. His followers will scatter perhaps never to assemble again. What can he say to encourage them that this is not the end of the movement they began together?
A. He asks God (again) to protect them.
During Jesus' earthly sojourn he defended disciples from attack by the evil one. When Satan threatened Peter, Jesus interceded for him: "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail." (Luke 22:31-32a) Upon Jesus' return to heaven, disciples will no longer have that same immediate protection, and it is them he asks God to protect. They will still have resources, but they must employ them: "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes" (Eph 6:11).
B. He asks God to sanctify them.
Jesus notes that his followers are markedly different from the corrupt environment in which they live—"They are not of the world" (vv. 14, 16)—yet he does not ask God to change their situation, to remove them from it but to protect them in it from the malevolent attacks they will encounter.- He also asks God to use them primarily for His service: "That they too may be truly sanctified" (v. 19).
Application: There may come a time when you are tempted to give up on God, when the demands of discipleship are too great, too overwhelming.- Remember His promise to His people: "The Lord...will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deut 31:6, 8). Remember Jesus' promise to his disciples: "I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matt 28:20). God will not give up on you, and you must not to give up on Him.
IV. Jesus prays that God will unify them (vv. 20-23).
John 17:20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Jesus knows his impending death will not mark the end of the movement his ministry began. He fully anticipates that his disciples will continue to propagate the message about the kingdom and that new disciples will replace current ones. Yet each new generation will tend to present what it receives differently and will introduce changes, be they slight or significant. Only divine oversight will provide the cohesive force necessary to keep the movement from fragmenting and falling apart. Each generation of disciples will need God's help to keep it together, "that all of them may be one" (v. 21).
A. He asks God to invigorate them.
Jesus describes propagation of the gospel as is a circle of faith that God spreads outward from the disciples, ultimately "that the world may believe" (v. 21). Jesus also wants others to appreciate that his mission is not just his own personal endeavor but represents a larger plan ("you have sent me" v. 21). It is not random but represents God's agenda. To that end it requires divine support, His empowerment: "I in them and you in me" (v. 23).
B. He asks God to reveal them.
Jesus wants his disciples' mission to be obvious, "that the world may believe that you have sent me" (v. 21) and "to let the world know that you sent me" (v. 23). Theirs is not a covert assignment.
Application: Faith must be personal, a decision to follow God that each person makes, but faith must not be private, a decision to follow God that each person makes and keeps to himself. Jesus instructed his disciples to "Go into all the world and preach the good news" (Mark 16:15). Even Christians whose spiritual gift is not evangelism must tell others about what they believe.
V. Jesus prays that God will display (for) them (vv. 24-26).
John 17:24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
Although the disciples will scatter when soldiers come to arrest Jesus, their disappointment and dispersion will be temporary when they realize that he is still with them.
A. He asks God to include them.
Jesus' petition for his disciples' unity extends also to their unification with him and with the Father, and it will include a privilege few have had: "to see my glory" (v. 24). They will see Jesus' condition as it was "before the creation of the world" (v. 24).
B. He asks God to infuse them.
As Jesus concludes his prayer he acknowledges that most people do not know God: "The world does not know you" (v. 25). Nevertheless, the situation is not hopeless because God has revealed Himself through His Son, and His Son has revealed himself through the disciples. Moreover, this knowledge is not just about the person of God, which is certainly important; it is about the love of God, love that has purpose: "that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them" (v. 26). It is also knowledge that increases. Jesus "will continue to make [God] known" (v. 26). What disciples know about Him now is not as much as they will know about Him later.
Application: What do you look forward to in the future? Finishing school? Getting married? Going on a vacation? Retiring? What you most anticipate should be where you most participate (outside of work). At the top the list of what you anticipate most should be actually meeting God. To be sure, there is an initial part of that encounter you may dread, as each person will receive "what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad" (2 Cor 5:10). There is another aspect, however, that promises to be fabulous: "His servants will serve him, [and] they will see his face" (Rev 22:3c-4a). God's people will see Him at last. Are you looking forward to that in the future?
"Jesus' High Priestly Prayer" reveals his parting wishes for the disciples, both for those who started with him and for all who would follow them. He will soon leave the eleven for his heavenly posting, but he does not want them bereft of the help they will need in his absence, and he petitions God on their behalf.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes see the pdf here.
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Jim Skaggs