John 17:1-26

John 17:1-26

1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 “Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 9 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12 “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

25 “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Before Jesus goes to the cross he prays for His disciples and for us.  His ministry was focused on these men and He wants to intercede on their behalf so the Father will strengthen them so that the message He left them would proceed to us and the generations after us.  It is safe to say that the Father answered this prayer.  I find it significant that Jesus felt the need to pray even being one with the Father, He still prays to the Father.  That in itself should be instructive to us.  I also find it interesting to see what Jesus prayed as they should define our priorities.  This is a longer passage than I generally treat it one post, but since it is one prayer, I think it is important that we keep it together.  The key word Jesus repeats in His prayer is “keep” so we will use that theme to see how the Son asks the Father to keep His followers through the power of the Spirit.

KEEP OUR IDENTITY WITH THE FATHER: Jesus and the Father are in a mutually glorifying relationship.  From that relationship flows eternal life for all that know the Father through the Son.  Christ and the Father are one and we are in Christ and Christ is in us, so we are in the Father.  Jesus has been on the earth revealing the Father to His followers.  As Jesus prepares to leave the world, He knows that His followers will remain in the world so He prayer that they would continue to keep His word in a hostile world and that they would be kept in the Father’s name.  Christ was not concerned that the Father would not be able to maintain our position or that our position could in some other way be lost.  I believe that Christ was praying that the Father would assist us in maintaining our awareness of this blessed and unique relationship and help us to live in light of it.  We live in a world that is constantly trying to take our attention away from the Father and all that is eternal.  Jesus is praying that will not happen in our lives.

KEEP OUR PURITY WITH JOY IN THE WORLD: Joy is one of the best promoters of purity.  We sin as a result of dissatisfaction in what the Lord has given us in Christ.  Even though Jesus was leaving earth, He was very aware that His disciples would stay behind.  He asks the Father that we would be kept from the evil one while we remain in this world.  Christ had been tempted by Satan and knows the difficulty better than any of us do.  He prays that we, like Him, would be preserved during these trials.  Our unity with the Father, Son and Spirit is the ultimate source of meaning and joy in a world that seems chaotic and full of sorrows.  Jesus is constantly praying for us that we will persevere through the difficulties we are called to face in a fallen world.  This is possible when we find our joy completely in Him.  When we are full of the joy of the Lord the temptations of this world pale in comparison.

KEEP OUR UNITY WITH ONE ANOTHER: Jesus is the Head of one body of believers that spans every culture and every generation.  He is praying for all of us no matter where we are from or when we have lived.  His request to the Fathers as that we be unified as the Trinity is unified.  Selfishness and self-centeredness come naturally to fallen men.  We all tend to look out for ourselves and forget that we belong to the body of Christ and are to love and serve one another.  We divide over frivolous things and Satan wants nothing more than to see believers fighting one another instead of working together to promote the glory of God in the world.  Christ prays that that Father will keep us united as we work together to become more like Jesus and share the love of Jesus with our neighbors and the nations.  Together we can effectively advance the kingdom for the glory of God and accurately reflect the love and loyalty of the Trinity.

KEEP OUR PROXIMITY WITH THE SON: Finally, Christ prays that believers will remember to abide in Him and always recognize that we are in Him and He is in us.  This relationship and our awareness of it is vital to our being able to live a life of obedience before God. Certainly, Jesus is referring to the ministry of the Spirit in our lives.  Perhaps the disciples would not readily understand what this meant immediately after the ascension.  It must have just felt like Jesus was gone because they had been in His physical presence for so long.  However, when the Spirit came upon them, the light must have come on as to what Jesus prayed here and how the Father had answered Him.  Jesus prays that they will recognize that He is still with them and that they are secure in Him.  We must appreciate the reality of this relationship even if it is hard for us to imagine.  This, by definition, is faith.  We don't see Him in us, and we don't feel like we are in Him but that is a spiritual truth that, if understood correctly, would revolutionize the way that we think and act.

APPLICATION:  The fact that Jesus has prayed for us in this way and continues to pray for us in this way should give us hope in any circumstance.  Focus on the fact that our identity in Christ is tied to the Trinity.  Rejoice in the Lord and our relationship with Him as it will spur us on to godliness and purity.  We cannot live this live on our own but need one another to help us live in unity with the Father, Son and Spirit.  Realize that we are never alone in this journey towards Christlikeness.  The Trinity and the body of Christ are with us.