John 17
John 17 is often called Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer.” The whole chapter consists of a long prayer that Jesus offers to the Father just before He goes to the cross, leaving the disciples behind. It can be divided into three main parts:
- Verses 1–5: A prayer concerning Himself – Jesus prays that the Father would glorify Him in order to reveal the Father’s glory. This glorification includes the path of the cross, resurrection, and the glory Jesus shared with the Father before the world existed.
- Verses 6–19: A prayer for the disciples – Jesus intercedes for the disciples the Father gave Him, asking that they may be kept in truth and protected from evil.
- Verses 20–26: A prayer for those who will believe through their message – Jesus prays that future followers may be one and may share in God’s love and Jesus’ glory.
1verseJesus said these things, then lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;
2verseeven as you gave him authority over all flesh, so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
3verseThis is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
4verseI glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
5verseNow, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
6verse“I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.
7verseNow they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,
8versefor the words which you have given me I have given to them; and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.
9verseI pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
10verseAll things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11verseI am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
12verseWhile I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. I have kept those whom you have given me. None of them is lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13verseBut now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
14verseI have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15verseI pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one.
16verseThey are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17verseSanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.
18verseAs you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world.
19verseFor their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
20verse“Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word,
21versethat they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
22verseThe glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one,
23verseI in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me.
24verseFather, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25verseRighteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.
26verseI made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Overall Meaning and Core Message
This prayer of Jesus clearly reveals the essence of His love and mission. Jesus earnestly asks that He would carry out the mission He received (to reveal God to the world), and that the disciples and all future believers would be one. The words “oneness” (Unity), “truth” (Truth), “glory” (Glory), and “mission” (Mission) are repeated, showing that these are the very nature of the community Jesus leaves behind. Furthermore, Jesus prays that the disciples may live with a mission in the world while being set apart from it, and that they will not fall into evil. Through such prayer, believers can come to understand what kind of mindset they should always have in their relationships with God, with one another, and with the world.
Reflection Points
- What is the meaning of “oneness” that Jesus showed, and what challenge does it give to the church and the community today?
- What does living in truth look like specifically in our everyday lives?
- Take time to deeply reflect on the love and heart contained in the prayer Jesus left behind before the cross.
Apply It to Me
- I reflect on whether I, too, am interceding to God—just like Jesus—for my life and for my community.
- I think about whether I can put into practice a life that longs for love and oneness with one another, and that works for reconciliation and unity rather than conflict or division.
