John Chapter 17

A. Jesus Prays Concerning Himself

1. John 17:1a – Introduction

“Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:”

The seventeenth chapter of John records what is often called the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. This prayer is unparalleled in all of Scripture, being the longest and most profound prayer of our Lord preserved for us in the Bible. The Scriptures are filled with remarkable prayers, such as Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8, Abraham’s intercessory prayer for Sodom in Genesis 18, and Moses’ pleading for Israel in Exodus 32. Yet none of these reach the sublime height of intimacy, majesty, and depth that we find in John 17. This prayer unveils the heart of Christ on the eve of His crucifixion, when He turned His full attention toward His Father.

When Jesus “spoke these words,” it was the conclusion of His farewell discourse in John 13–16. Having comforted His disciples, warned them of persecution, and promised the coming of the Holy Spirit, He now directed His focus heavenward in prayer. This movement reminds us that true ministry flows out of communion with God.

The prayer itself is the only long, continuous prayer of Jesus recorded in the Gospels. While Jesus prayed often, the Spirit preserved this particular prayer so that believers throughout all ages could peer into His intercession. The sentences are simple in form, yet they contain layers of divine truth that stretch into eternity.

Philip Melanchthon, the Reformer, said of this prayer: “There is no voice which has ever been heard, either in heaven or in earth, more exalted, more holy, more fruitful, more sublime, than the prayer offered up by the Son to God Himself.” Indeed, it is a sacred privilege to hear the Son speak directly to the Father.

This prayer gives us a unique window into the inner life of the Trinity. In prayer, a person’s innermost being is often revealed, and here we see the very heart of the Son of God. The themes that run throughout John’s Gospel—glory, the mission of the Son, belief, the world, sanctification, and love—are all interwoven here. John 17 serves as both a summary of Christ’s earthly ministry and a preview of His ongoing heavenly intercession.

There are strong parallels between this prayer and what is often called the “Lord’s Prayer” in Matthew 6:9-13, which in reality is better called the “disciples’ prayer.” Both prayers are directed to the Father, both emphasize reverence for God’s name, both show concern for His kingdom, and both ask for deliverance from evil. However, John 17 is distinct in that it is not a model prayer for believers but the actual intercession of the eternal Son.

As Richard Trench noted, “The request of our Lord thus given in John’s seventeenth chapter is clearly no prayer of an inferior to a superior: constantly there is seen in it the co-equality of the Speaker with the Father. The Two have but one mind. Where the Son speaks He is not seeking to bend the Father to Him; rather is He voicing the eternal purpose of the Godhead.” Thus, we do not see Jesus begging His Father but aligning with Him in perfect unity.

The New Testament also makes clear that Jesus continues this ministry of intercession. Romans 8:34 says, “It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Likewise, Hebrews 7:25 declares, “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” John 17, then, is not only a historical record of what Jesus prayed on the eve of His passion, but it also reflects the ongoing reality of His priestly work for His people in heaven.

When John tells us that Jesus “lifted up His eyes to heaven,” he is describing the physical posture of our Lord in prayer. While modern custom often associates prayer with bowed heads and closed eyes, in the Jewish culture of the time it was common to pray standing, with eyes and hands lifted heavenward. For example, in John 11:41 we read, “And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.’” Similarly, Mark 7:34 records that when Jesus healed the deaf man, “Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’” The psalmist also prayed in this manner, “Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens” (Psalm 123:1).

Charles Spurgeon noted the significance of this: “In the sacred record, however, much more space is taken up by our Lord’s intercessions as He nears the end of His labors. After the closing supper, His public preaching work being ended, and nothing remaining to be done but to die, He gave Himself wholly unto prayer. He poured out His soul in life before He poured it out unto death.”

The upward gaze reflects more than posture; it reveals the spirit in which Jesus prayed. His eyes lifted to heaven indicate a prayer of confidence and triumph, not despair. As Leon Morris observed, this prayer is not gloomy but victorious. It flows directly from His preceding words in John 16:33: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The prayer is anchored in victory, not defeat.

What is most striking about this introduction is that Jesus makes no mention of His impending suffering, betrayal, or death. His focus is entirely on the Father’s glory and the salvation of His people. His heart was fixed on heaven, not on His earthly trials. This teaches us that true prayer does not dwell on self-pity but on the will and purposes of God. Even as the cross loomed large, Jesus pledged Himself to the absolute fulfillment of the Father’s will, regardless of the cost, so that eternal life could be secured for those who believe.

2. John 17:1b – Jesus Asks to Be Glorified

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You.”

When Jesus addressed His Father with these words, He acknowledged that the long-anticipated hour had arrived. Earlier in the Gospel, we are repeatedly told that His “hour” had not yet come. At the wedding in Cana, Jesus responded to His mother, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). When His brothers urged Him to reveal Himself at the Feast of Tabernacles, He replied, “You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come” (John 7:8). On another occasion in Jerusalem, His enemies sought to seize Him, but were restrained because “no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come” (John 7:30). Again, in the temple treasury, John records that “no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come” (John 8:20). Yet when the time of His passion drew near, He openly declared, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified” (John 12:23). Here in John 17, on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus finally affirms, “Father, the hour has come.” The decisive moment of His redemptive work had arrived.

The form of this prayer is deeply relational. Notice the progression of words: “Father... Your Son... Your Son... You.” It is a prayer saturated with intimacy between the Father and the Son, yet it also demonstrates the perfect order within the Trinity. Though coequal and coeternal, the Son willingly submits Himself to the Father’s will. Jesus prayed with the full assurance of sonship, drawing near with confidence. Charles Spurgeon comments, “In all times of tribulation let us fall back upon our sonship, our adoption, and the fatherhood of our great God. To our Father let us go, for to whom else should a child so naturally fly?”

The phrase “the hour” is noteworthy. Spurgeon also observed that Jesus counted His sufferings as but an “hour.” The agony of Gethsemane, the scourging at dawn, the long hours on the cross—all of this He reckoned as brief compared to the eternal joy set before Him. His labor pains would bring forth salvation for the world, and the sorrow of that hour would yield eternal rejoicing. This perspective reveals both the steadfast love and the unshakable patience of Christ.

When Jesus prayed, “Glorify Your Son,” His request was not self-serving. Unlike human prayers that so often revolve around our own exaltation, Jesus’ petition was directed toward the glory of the Father. He desired that through His death, resurrection, and exaltation, the Father’s plan of redemption would be accomplished and His divine character displayed. D. A. Carson rightly noted, “It will bring no glory to the Father if Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is not acceptable, or if the Son is not restored to His rightful place in the presence of the Father’s unshielded glory. That would mean the divine mission had failed, the purposes of grace forever defeated.”

To glorify the Son was to make plain His true identity as the God-Man. Richard Trench explained it this way: “Make plain to these there that the Man Jesus is also the God-Man; make it plain by His resurrection and ascension.” James Dods adds that this glorification encompassed His death, His resurrection, and His session at the right hand of God as Mediator. In other words, glorification was not a single moment but the entire redemptive event culminating in His exaltation.

Jesus also grounded His request in several reasons. First, because the hour had come (John 17:1). Second, because the Father Himself would be glorified (John 17:1). Third, because authority had already been given to the Son to grant eternal life (John 17:2). Fourth, because eternal life is found only in Christ (John 17:3). Fifth, because this prayer anticipated the completion of the mission for which the Father had sent the Son (John 17:4). In this, Jesus provided a model for our prayers: if the Son Himself presented reasons to His Father, how much more should we, as children, learn to offer thoughtful grounds for our petitions.

The words “the hour has come... glorify Your Son” point unmistakably to the cross. Earlier, Jesus had said, “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again’” (John 12:27-28). The cross was the world’s ultimate picture of humiliation, yet in God’s wisdom it became the instrument of exaltation. The apostle Paul captures this paradox in 1 Corinthians 1:18, 23-25, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Leon Morris rightly observed, “To men the cross appeared an instrument of shame. To Christ it was the means of true glory.” This prayer was answered at Calvary, for even as the Father struck His Son, He glorified Him. Spurgeon beautifully explained, “Yes, the Father glorified His Son, even when it pleased Him to bruise Him and to put Him to grief. With one hand He smote, and with the other hand He glorified.”

How different this is from our own prayers. F. B. Meyer remarked that many of us, in one form or another, cry out, “Glorify me, O Father.” We seek recognition, advancement, or influence, yet Christ sought none of these. His singular aim was that the Father would be glorified through His obedience unto death.

The final purpose of Jesus’ request is stated plainly: “that Your Son also may glorify You.” The Son glorifies the Father by revealing His sovereignty over evil, His compassion for humanity, and the finality of redemption. In the cross, God’s justice and mercy kissed. The Son’s obedience magnified the Father’s love and wisdom. As Tenney summarized, “The Son glorified the Father by revealing in this act the sovereignty of God over evil, the compassion of God for men, and the finality of redemption for believers.”

Here we also find a principle for our prayers: we must ask for blessings not to elevate ourselves, but to glorify God. Spurgeon exhorted, “When you ask a blessing from God, ask it that you may glorify God by it. Do you pine to have your health back again? Be sure that you want to spend it for Him. Do you desire temporal advancement? Desire it that you may promote His glory. Do you even long for growth in grace? Ask it only that you may glorify Him.”

Thus, in this brief yet profound verse, we see the heart of Christ: a desire for His own glorification only as it served to glorify His Father. The cross, resurrection, and exaltation would together magnify both the Son and the Father, displaying to the world the wisdom, power, and love of God.

3. John 17:2–3 – Jesus Speaks of the Source and Nature of Eternal Life

“As You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

Jesus declared that His Father had granted Him absolute authority over all flesh. This is a staggering claim, one that no mere man could make truthfully. The Son exercises divine authority, not in a limited sense but universally, over every human life and destiny. As Tasker observed, here Jesus claims “authority to determine the ultimate destiny of men.” Such an assertion is nothing less than a declaration of His deity.

This authority also infuses evangelism and missions with confidence. Since Christ has authority over all flesh, no person lies beyond His reach. Even those who are currently hardened, resistant, or ignorant of the truth are still under His dominion. Therefore, we pray with boldness, asking that the risen Christ exercise His saving authority in the lives of the lost, knowing that “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

The apostle Paul affirms this universal dominion in Philippians 2:5–11, where he exhorts believers to follow Christ’s humility: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This passage demonstrates that all humanity will ultimately recognize Christ’s authority—some in salvation, others in judgment.

The believer takes comfort in Christ’s authority, especially when considering the alternative. As James Boice observed, men cannot function without authority. If one rejects divine authority, human tyranny will soon arise to fill the void. Therefore, Christ’s lordship is not oppressive but liberating, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30).

Jesus further declared that His purpose in possessing such authority was “that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.” Here we see the Father’s role in salvation: He gives certain people to the Son, and the Son, through His redeeming work, grants them eternal life. This reveals a beautiful Trinitarian cooperation in redemption. The Father gives, the Son secures and grants, and the Spirit later applies. D. A. Carson reminds us, “Christians often think of Jesus as God’s gift to us; we rarely think of ourselves as God’s gift to Jesus.” Believers are the Father’s gift to His Son, the fruit of His redemptive mission.

Spurgeon noted the balance in this text between Christ’s general authority and His particular work of redemption: “As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, they are all under Christ’s mediatorial government by virtue of His matchless sacrifice; but the object in view is specially the gift of everlasting life to the chosen people: ‘that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him.’” Thus, while Christ is Lord of all, eternal life is bestowed particularly upon those given to Him by the Father.

Jesus then defines eternal life in verse 3: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Eternal life is not merely endless existence but a quality of life rooted in the experiential knowledge of God. The Greek verb ginosko denotes intimate, relational knowledge, not simply intellectual awareness. To know the Father and the Son is to enter into fellowship with them, which is the very essence of salvation.

Leon Morris points out that in this world we often regard it as a blessing to know certain people, but how much greater is the blessing of knowing God Himself. Merrill Tenney adds that life is always defined by environment: physical life is involvement with the physical environment, and death is the cessation of such involvement. Eternal life, then, is active engagement with God and His spiritual reality. If one is unaffected by God’s presence, living as though He were absent, that person exists on the level of animals and is spiritually dead. But to know God and Christ is to live in the sphere of divine reality, animated by His presence.

Tasker further notes that the verb “know” is in the present subjunctive, indicating an ongoing, growing experience. Eternal life is not static; it is a continual deepening of our relationship with the Father and the Son. Thus, salvation is not simply the avoidance of hell or the promise of heaven, but the present enjoyment of fellowship with God that will continue and expand into eternity.

4. John 17:4–5 – The Request Restated: Glorify Me

“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

Jesus began by affirming that His earthly life had already glorified the Father. “I have glorified You on the earth” encompasses His entire incarnate existence. From the earliest days, even as an infant brought to the temple to be circumcised and dedicated (Luke 2:21–23), His life was ordered by the Father’s will. Through the hidden years in Nazareth, where He lived in submission to Joseph and Mary (Matthew 2:23; 13:55), Christ glorified God in obedience and holiness. During His public ministry, every sermon preached, every miracle performed, every act of compassion shown, and every confrontation with religious hypocrisy was a radiant testimony to the Father’s character. The Son revealed the Father perfectly, so much so that He could declare, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Jesus then declared, “I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” Though the cross was still ahead, He spoke with divine certainty. In one sense, the work was not yet complete, but in the eternal counsel of God it was already accomplished, for Jesus is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). The obedience, teaching, and miracles of His earthly ministry were completed, and His path now led directly to Calvary, where the climactic act of redemption would be fulfilled. This confidence also reminds believers that God views His work in us as complete in Christ. Paul echoes this assurance: “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Leon Morris observed, “There is a quiet recognition that Jesus has completed His task adequately, and brought glory to the Father in the process.”

The petition then rises: “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself.” Unlike the selfish cries of men who seek glory for themselves, Jesus’ request is anchored in union with the Father. He did not ask for glory apart from or independent of the Father but rather to share in the Father’s glory in perfect unity. His desire was not separation but communion, not independence but eternal fellowship. This reflects the heart of the Son, who always glorifies the Father and in turn is glorified by Him (John 13:31–32).

Finally, Jesus appealed to His preexistent glory: “with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” This statement is a profound declaration of His deity. Before creation itself, the Son shared the eternal glory of the Father. No created being could truthfully make such a claim. The Old Testament makes clear that Yahweh shares His glory with no one: “I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images” (Isaiah 42:8); “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; for how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another” (Isaiah 48:11). If the Father and the Son share glory, then both are indeed Yahweh, coequal and coeternal.

Tenney rightly summarized this petition: “He had one main petition: that the Father would receive Him back to the glory He had relinquished to accomplish His task. This petition for a return to His pristine glory implies unmistakably His preexistence and equality with the Father. It confirms His claim that He and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

The Gospel of John has highlighted the glory of Jesus throughout. John testified, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). His first miracle at Cana “manifested His glory” (John 2:11). He insisted that He sought only the Father’s glory (John 7:18; 8:50). At Lazarus’ tomb, Jesus declared that faith would lead to seeing the glory of God (John 11:40). He spoke repeatedly of His death as the hour of His glorification (John 7:39; 12:16, 23; 13:31). In John 12:28, the Son prayed, “Father, glorify Your name,” and the Father answered from heaven, affirming His glory. Thus, in John 17:5, the Son’s request was not new, but the culmination of His life’s mission: that the eternal glory of the Father and the Son might be displayed in perfect unity.

B. Jesus Prays Concerning the Disciples

Having taught and encouraged His disciples as much as possible on the eve of His arrest, Jesus now performed the greatest act of love for them: He committed them to the Father in prayer. Having washed their feet, instructed them, and comforted their troubled hearts, He now interceded for them, knowing that the storm of despair and confusion was about to descend upon their souls.

1. John 17:6–8 – Jesus Speaks of His Mission Among the Disciples and Their Reception of It

“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.”

Jesus reflected upon His earthly ministry with His chosen disciples and summarized it by saying, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.” To manifest God’s name is not merely to teach about His character but to reveal it in action. In biblical thought, the “name” of God refers to His nature and attributes. Jesus did not simply describe the love, grace, holiness, and righteousness of the Father; He embodied and displayed them. Richard Trench explained, “I manifested Thy Name, i.e., I revealed Thy nature. For any adequate name of a person or thing is the complete connotation of that person or thing.” Through His words, deeds, and very being, Christ made the Father known.

This same responsibility extends to believers today. The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:2–3, “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” Just as Jesus manifested the Father, Christians are called to manifest Christ to a watching world, so that God’s character may be seen in their lives.

Jesus then referred to His disciples as “the men You have given Me out of the world.” When He chose them, He did so after an entire night spent in prayer, demonstrating His full dependence upon the Father (Luke 6:12–16). Thus, while Jesus chose them, He could also rightly say that the Father gave them to Him. Their origin as His disciples lay not in human initiative but in divine election. Notably, Judas had already departed from them earlier that evening (John 13:26–30), so that when Jesus spoke these words, the eleven who remained were truly those whom the Father had given Him.

He continued, “They were Yours, You gave them to Me.” This shows again the cooperative “division of labor” within the Trinity regarding salvation. The disciples first belonged to the Father, who then gave them to the Son. This divine transaction demonstrates that salvation is rooted in God’s eternal purposes, not in human merit.

Jesus further affirmed, “They have kept Your word.” Though the disciples had many faults—fear, misunderstanding, pride, and even denial—Jesus saw beyond their failures to the genuine faith that God had worked in them. He generously judged them, acknowledging their obedience to God’s word at a foundational level. F. F. Bruce observed, “He looked at them with the insight of faith, hope, and love, and realized their present devotion and their potential for the future.” Christ sees His people not only as they are, but as what His grace will make them.

Jesus also declared, “Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.” This truth He had pressed upon them repeatedly. Earlier He said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14:10). Likewise, He taught them in John 8:28–29, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” The disciples had finally come to grasp that everything Jesus said and did flowed directly from the Father.

Jesus continued, “For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.” This verse shows the chain of divine communication: the Father gave the words to the Son, and the Son faithfully gave them to the disciples. They, in turn, received those words and believed. Though their understanding was imperfect, their faith was genuine. They were convinced of Christ’s divine origin and authority.

Carson rightly noted, “It is a rare and holy privilege to observe the divine Son of God not only formulating His prayers but formulating the grounds for His petitions. These grounds reflect the essential unity of Father and Son, and reveal that Jesus’ prayers for His followers trace their argument back to the inscrutable purposes of Deity.”

Finally, Jesus summarized their response: “They have believed that You sent Me.” Here we see the twofold perspective on salvation. From God’s point of view, John 17:6 emphasizes election—“the men You have given Me out of the world.” From humanity’s perspective, John 17:8 emphasizes faith—“they have believed that You sent Me.” Both are true, and both harmonize in the mystery of God’s saving work. Divine sovereignty and human responsibility meet in perfect unity in the saving purpose of God.

2. John 17:9–10 – Jesus Directs His Prayer

“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.”

Jesus now made clear the specific focus of His intercession: “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.” At this moment, He set His heart on His disciples, those whom the Father had entrusted to Him. The word “I” is emphatic, as Trench noted, stressing that Jesus Himself personally and intentionally intercedes for His own. He did not here pray in a general way for the world, not because He lacked concern for it—indeed, He is the “Savior of the world” (John 4:42; cf. John 3:17; 12:47)—but because the salvation of the world depended upon the testimony of these disciples. G. Campbell Morgan explained, “He was praying for the instrument He was creating, through which He would reach the world.”

F. F. Bruce likewise observed, “If He does not pray for the world, it is not because He had no concern for the world; the salvation of the world depends on the witness of those whom the Father has given Him ‘out of the world,’ and it is they who need His intercession at this juncture.” Thus, His prayer was concentrated upon them, for through them the gospel would spread to the ends of the earth. Adam Clarke drew an analogy to the Old Testament high priest: just as the high priest on the Day of Atonement first offered sacrifice for himself and then interceded for the priests—the sons of Aaron—so Jesus here prays for His disciples, the future priests of the New Covenant.

When He said, “but for those whom You have given Me,” Jesus affirmed again the Father’s sovereign role in salvation. These disciples were chosen out of the world by the Father and entrusted to the Son. While He prayed specifically for the eleven present with Him, His prayer also anticipates the wider scope revealed in verse 20: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.” Thus, He was praying not only for them but for all believers in every generation who would come to faith through their witness. Spurgeon gave a striking illustration: “There is an old proverb, and I cannot help quoting it just now; it is, ‘Love me, love my dog.’ It is as if the Lord Jesus so loved the Father that even such poor dogs as we are get loved by Him for His Father’s sake. To the eyes of Jesus we are radiant with beauty because God hath loved us.”

Jesus continued, “And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine.” This echoes the earlier petition in John 17:5, where He spoke of sharing the glory of the Father. Now He emphasized the mutual possession of the redeemed. Believers belong equally to the Father and to the Son, demonstrating the unity and equality of their divine nature. Tenney commented, “Each has full title to the possessions of the other; they share the same interests and responsibilities.” Here is a claim that no created being could truthfully make. Any man may say to God, “All mine are Yours,” for everything we have belongs to Him, but only the eternal Son can add, “and Yours are Mine.” This statement is one of the clearest affirmations of Christ’s deity and co-ownership of all things with the Father.

Finally, Jesus declared, “and I am glorified in them.” This is not merely a statement of His indwelling presence in the disciples but of His glory being displayed in and through them. To be a Christian is to have Christ glorified in one’s life, for salvation means not only being forgiven but also being transformed into a vessel of His glory. Leon Morris noted, “Just as the world’s values were all wrong concerning the cross, so were the world’s values all wrong concerning the apostolic band. In them the Son of God, none less, was actually glorified.”

The Apostle Paul later expressed this reality with profound clarity: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Furthermore, the Spirit is actively at work in believers, moving them progressively “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Christ is not satisfied to merely dwell in His followers; He seeks to be glorified in them, shining forth His presence and character. This stands in stark contrast to earthly leaders, who often glorify themselves through their followers. For the believer, no one but Christ must be glorified.

3. John 17:11–12 – Jesus’ First Request for the Disciples: Father, Keep Them

“Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”

Jesus prayed these words with His imminent departure in mind. He acknowledged, “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.” Though still physically present, He spoke as though His departure were already accomplished, for His mission was drawing to its close. His disciples, however, would remain in the world without His bodily presence, exposed to hostility, temptation, and persecution. They therefore required special intercession. They needed prayer because the unique three years of intimate discipleship were ending. They needed prayer because the events of betrayal, arrest, trial, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension would shake them to the core. They needed prayer because He would no longer be with them physically to protect and guide them. Most of all, they needed prayer for the Spirit’s empowering presence, without which their mission would fail. As James Dods noted, “Jesus is no longer in the world, already He has bid farewell to it, but the disciples remain in it, exposed without His accustomed counsel and defence.”

Jesus then addressed His Father directly: “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me.” This is the first explicit request in His prayer for His disciples, and it is deeply significant. He appealed to the holiness of the Father, asking that His disciples would be preserved by the full weight of God’s character and authority. Spurgeon said, “You have been redeemed; but you must still be kept. You have been regenerated; but you must be kept. You are pure in heart and hands; but you must be kept.” Believers are not left to keep themselves by their own strength; they are preserved by the intercession of Christ (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). If we remain in Him, it is because He has prayed for us, “Father, keep them.”

This request for keeping touches on several areas:

• Keeping from division: “that they may be one.”

• Keeping from error: that they may remain grounded in the truth.

• Keeping from sin: that holiness might characterize their lives.

• Keeping from hypocrisy: that their devotion may be genuine.

Jesus did not pray that they be kept through angels, church leaders, or their own efforts, but “through Your name.” The keeping of believers is so profound that it requires the very authority and nature of God Himself. Some textual debate exists as to whether the phrase should be read, “keep through Your name those whom You have given Me,” or “keep through Your name which You have given Me.” Richard Trench summarized Westcott and Hort’s view that the second rendering emphasizes Christ as the embodiment of the divine name, meaning “keep them in Me who am Thy name.” In either case, the keeping is bound up in the reality of God’s name and nature.

The purpose of this keeping is “that they may be one as We are.” The unity of believers is not organizational or superficial but spiritual and organic, modeled after the unity of the Father and the Son. As Tenney explained, “The unity mentioned here is not simply a unity achieved by legislation. It is a unity of nature because it is comparable to that of the Son and the Father.” Such unity would not be natural for the disciples, who might otherwise scatter after Jesus’ death. Their unity must be the supernatural work of God, producing one heart, one spirit, one purpose, and one destiny. This does not mean uniformity, for just as the Father and Son are distinct Persons, so believers retain individuality, yet in the Spirit they are one.

Jesus continued, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept.” For three years, He had faithfully protected and guided His disciples, exercising stewardship over them as the Father’s gift. He relied fully on the Father’s authority, not His own independence, in guarding them. Cyril observed that Christ here compares His keeping to that of the Father, a claim that can only be accounted for if both are of equal power and dignity. F. F. Bruce added, “By the Father’s power, imparted to Jesus, Jesus Himself has guarded them as a treasure entrusted to Him by the Father, and now He gives an account of His stewardship.”

Yet Jesus acknowledged one tragic exception: “and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Judas was the one who perished, not because Jesus failed to keep him, but because Judas himself was characterized by “lostness.” As Alford remarked, “It is not, ‘I lost none, but the son of perdition.’ Christ did not lose him, but he lost himself.” The word perdition comes from the same root as perish, meaning Judas’ very nature was marked by destruction. Leon Morris explains that “the son of perdition” describes character more than destiny—he was defined by corruption and betrayal.

This fulfilled the Scriptures. The treachery of Judas was prefigured in the betrayal of Ahithophel, David’s counselor, who turned against him. Psalm 41:9 says, “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” Likewise, Psalm 109:8 says, “Let his days be few, and let another take his office.” Peter quoted this passage in Acts 1:20, applying it directly to Judas’ betrayal and replacement. Thus, even in his treachery, the hand of God’s sovereign plan was at work.

4. John 17:13–16 – Jesus Elaborates on the First Request: Keep Them in My Joy and Away from the Evil One

“But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

Jesus once again declared, “But now I come to You.” As He had prayed earlier in verse 11, this statement reflected His awareness that His earthly mission was nearly complete and His return to the Father was at hand. His prayer was saturated with the reality of the cross, resurrection, and ascension. Every word was offered with His imminent departure in view, ensuring that His disciples would be equipped for life and ministry without His bodily presence.

He then prayed, “that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” Jesus’ concern was not only for the preservation and unity of His disciples but also for their joy. He desired that His own joy would be reproduced and completed in them. This was no shallow or circumstantial happiness, but the deep and abiding joy that sustained Him even as He faced the cross. Though Isaiah calls Him “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3), His life was marked by unshakable joy. His joy was rooted in unbroken fellowship with the Father, strengthened by unwavering confidence in His Father’s promises, and expressed in delight over the works of God’s power. Unlike us, His joy was never diminished by sin, never eroded by deception, and never tainted by yielding to Satan’s temptations.

Because Christ prayed for joy to be fulfilled in His disciples, believers can be assured that joy is central to God’s design for their lives. As Carson observed, “Their joy will be greater for remembering that Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, prayed for His followers.” Though the world, the flesh, and the devil insist that following Christ robs life of joy, Jesus prays for the opposite—that His disciples may have joy in abundance.

Next, Jesus affirmed, “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” He faithfully delivered the Father’s revelation to His disciples. This was not only the oral teaching He gave them but the entirety of God’s truth revealed in His words, actions, and person. As Trench noted, it was “the whole revelation of the Father as manifested in the words and acts and personality of Jesus Christ.” Spurgeon commented, “See how the Lord Jesus Himself takes all His teaching from the Father. You never hear from Him any boast about being the originator of profound thoughts. No, He just repeated to His disciples the words He had received from the Father.”

Yet, because they received the Word, the world hated them. Their identification with Christ set them apart, just as Christ Himself was hated because He was not of the world. Believers should expect the same treatment. To bear the Word is to bear reproach, for the message of the cross remains foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Jesus then prayed, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” His prayer rules out Christian isolationism or withdrawal from the world. We are not called to monasteries or cloisters, but to faithful witness in the midst of a hostile environment. As Jesus Himself said earlier, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). If believers were removed from the world, its darkness would deepen. Without our presence, the world would have no witness, no warning, and no opportunity for salvation. Furthermore, if believers were removed, they would be denied the chance to serve Christ in the very world where they once sinned, the opportunity to grow in grace through trials, and the privilege of displaying God’s preserving power in the midst of difficulty. Job, Moses, Elijah, and Jonah all at one point prayed to be taken out of the world, but God refused; His design was for them to endure and complete His work.

Jesus’ request was not for escape but for protection: “that You should keep them from the evil one.” The Greek could be translated either “from evil” or “from the evil one,” but as Bruce notes, the context strongly points to Satan, who has already been identified in this Gospel as “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Jesus prayed that His disciples would be preserved from apostasy, worldliness, and unholiness, not from hardship or suffering. Carson emphasized that “the evil one, apparently, often operates through the hatred of the world; and the disciples are going to need protection against such malice.”

This keeping applies to every season of life. Young believers must be kept from youthful lusts, older believers from pride, complacency, and moral collapse. Scripture gives us examples of young men who resisted temptation—Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon—but records the falls of older men such as David, Solomon, and Lot. Sin is no respecter of age; all need to be kept. Spurgeon, preaching on this text, illustrated the deceptive nature of sin with the image of a bucket in a well: “When it is full of water, you can pull it easily so long as the bucket remains in the water; but when it gets above the water, you know how heavy it is. It is just so with you. While you are in sin, you do not feel it to be a burden; but if the Lord once draws you out of sin, you will find it to be an intolerable, a heinous evil.”

Finally, Jesus repeated, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” Because He had set them apart, He could speak of them as being distinct from the world. His prayer was not that they would become different but that they would live according to the new identity He had already given them. Their separation from the world was to mirror His own—rooted in His nature, mission, and character. This separation is not about being odd or strange but about reflecting the holiness, truth, and love of Christ in the midst of a fallen world.

5. John 17:17–19 – Jesus’ Second Request for the Disciples: Sanctify Them

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”

Jesus’ second great petition for His disciples was their sanctification. “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” To sanctify is to set apart for God’s special possession, purpose, and use. It involves separation from the corruption of the world and dedication to God’s holy service. Richard Trench explained, “The word hagios (rendered ‘sanctify,’ ‘hallow,’ ‘consecrate’) means to set-apart-and-devote-to-God: whether it be things, or sacrificial animals, or men for His service.” The word carries the idea of holiness, not in abstract moral perfection, but in practical consecration to God.

Importantly, Jesus did not command the disciples to sanctify themselves but prayed that the Father would sanctify them. Just as their preservation required divine keeping, so their sanctification requires divine working. This sanctifying work is not left to human effort alone but is accomplished by God in them and through them. As Paul later wrote, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24).

Jesus declared the means of this sanctification: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” The Word of God is the instrument of sanctification. It is truth itself—not simply containing truth, but being truth in its essence. Leon Morris remarked, “Sanctification is not effected apart from divine revelation.” Spurgeon added, “The more truth you believe, the more sanctified you will be. The operation of truth upon the mind is to separate a man from the world unto the service of God.” The reading, hearing, believing, and applying of God’s Word is the dynamic that shapes and purifies the believer’s life. This aligns with Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12:2: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Jesus then connected sanctification with mission: “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” The disciples were not sanctified merely for personal holiness but for service in God’s mission. Just as Jesus was sent into the world as the great Missionary of the Father, so His disciples were commissioned as His witnesses. As Henry Alford noted, “He does not merely leave them in the world, but sends them into it, to witness to this same truth of God.” James Boice explained that even the very word “mission” comes from the Latin mittere, meaning “to send.” Believers are not passive inhabitants of the world; they are active ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Spurgeon rightly called Christ the great Missionary: “Christ was the great Missionary, the Messiah, the Sent One; we are the minor missionaries, sent out into the world to accomplish the Father’s will and purpose.” Though Christ’s commission was unique—He was sent as the propitiation for sin and covenant Head—our sending mirrors His in character, if not in scale. He came not as a philosopher, inventor, or conqueror, though He excelled above all; He came as a Teacher, a Servant, a Sufferer, and a Redeemer. He lived among us, bore witness to the truth, and gave His life to rescue the lost. In the same way, His disciples are sent to live among men, to bear witness to truth, and to labor for the salvation of souls.

Finally, Jesus declared, “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” This does not imply that Jesus was ever unsanctified or in need of purification. Rather, it points to a new stage of consecration as He prepared to lay down His life on the cross. He set Himself apart fully for the Father’s redemptive purpose. John Trapp commented that He did this “as both priest, altar, and sacrifice; and this Christ did from the womb to the tomb; at His death especially.” Bruce noted that Chrysostom paraphrased, “I sanctify Myself” as “I offer Myself in sacrifice,” a Johannine parallel to Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer.

Thus, Jesus’ sanctification of Himself on the cross secured the sanctification of His disciples. His atoning death made the Word of God fully effective in their lives. His obedience unto death consecrated them to God, and by the truth of His Word they would be purified and empowered for their mission.

C. Jesus Prays Concerning All Believers

1. John 17:20 – Jesus Broadens the Scope of His Prayer

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;”

Up to this point, Jesus’ prayer had been focused on His eleven disciples. Now He extended His intercession beyond them to include all who would come to faith in Him through their testimony. This means that Jesus prayed not only for the apostles but also for every believer throughout history, including us today. The scope of His prayer transcended time and geography, reaching all who would be gathered into His flock.

Morgan beautifully captured this truth: “He prayed for them. He prays for us. He knew His intercession for them would prevail. He knows His intercession for us will prevail. Then let us rest in Him, with the rest of loving obedience and of surest confidence.” This is a source of profound comfort. On the night of His betrayal, with the cross looming before Him, Jesus prayed for us by name, knowing His prayer would prevail.

The phrase “those who will believe in Me through their word” highlights the chain of witness by which the gospel has spread. Jesus recognized that though His disciples would soon stumble in fear, their failure would be temporary. After the resurrection, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they would proclaim His truth with boldness, and through their testimony multitudes would believe. As Tenney noted, “The last section of Jesus’ prayer shows that He expected the failure of the disciples to be only temporary. The entire tone of the farewell discourse is built on the assumption that after the resurrection they would renew their faith and carry on a new ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Bruce remarked, “By worldly standards of success Jesus had little to show for His mission.” At the time of this prayer, Jesus had a small band of followers, many of whom would abandon Him within hours. Yet He looked ahead with full confidence in the enduring work of God through them. His confidence was not in human strength but in divine purpose. He went to the cross assured that His work would bear fruit through the testimony of His disciples, passed down through the centuries, until it reached us.

2. John 17:21 – Jesus Prays for Unity Among All Believers

“That they all may be one, 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.”

Jesus prayed that all believers, across all times and cultures, would be united. His vision encompassed the great multitude described in Revelation 7:9–10: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” This unity was not to erase diversity but to rise above differences in nation, language, and culture, drawing all into one family in Christ.

It is as if Jesus prayed, “Father, I have prayed for the unity of these disciples You gave Me—men from Galilee who share the same background. But soon, disciples will come from every nation, every language, every culture, and every generation throughout history. Father, make them one.”

Spurgeon warned that unity should not be pursued at the expense of truth, nor should it be disrupted by needless division: “We are to be faithful to truth; but we are not to be of a contentious spirit, separating ourselves from those who are living members of the one and indivisible body of Christ. To promote the unity of the church, by creating new divisions, is not wise. Cultivate at once the love of the truth and the love of the brethren.” He also rightly observed, “Why are we not one? Sin is the great dividing element. The perfectly holy would be perfectly united. The more saintly men are, the more they love their Lord and one another; and thus they come into closer union with each other.”

Jesus prayed that this unity would mirror the unity of the Father and the Son: “as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You.” This is not a call to organizational uniformity or institutional mergers, but to a spiritual unity grounded in the life of God Himself. Bruce explained, “If the Father is in Him and He is in them, then the Father is in them: they are drawn into the very life of God, and the life of God is perfect love.” Our unity has the same foundation as that between the Father and the Son—equality of person and shared love. At the cross, all believers stand on level ground, equally redeemed and equally embraced.

Spurgeon added that this unity is not sameness or uniformity: “Beloved, those in whom Christ lives are not uniform, but one. Uniformity may be found in death, but this unity is life. Those who are quite uniform may yet have no love to each other, while those who differ widely may still be truly and intensely one. Our children are not uniform, but they make one family.” True unity is the fruit of shared life in Christ, not outward conformity.

Jesus prayed further, “that they also may be one in Us.” The true basis of Christian unity is not human agreement or institutional structure but union with God the Father and God the Son through the Spirit. Paul described this as “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). This unity already exists in Christ; our task is to recognize and walk in it.

Finally, Jesus declared the purpose of this unity: “that the world may believe that You sent Me.” In other words, the visible unity of the church serves as a testimony to the reality of Christ’s mission. Jesus gave the world permission to judge the validity of His ministry based on the unity of His people. Division within the church obscures this testimony, while genuine unity magnifies it. Carson noted, “Even when He prays for their unity, He looks beyond their unity to the still unconverted world which stands in need of the witness generated by that unity.”

3. John 17:22 – Jesus Prays That the Church Would Be Marked by Glory

“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.”

Jesus continued His intercession for all believers by declaring, “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them.” Just as the Father shared His glory with the Son (John 17:5), so the Son imparts glory to His people. This is an astonishing truth—that the eternal Son of God would bestow upon redeemed sinners a share in His own glory.

There are many ways in which Jesus gives His glory to His people: the glory of His abiding presence, the glory of His Word, the glory of His Spirit, the glory of His power, the glory of His leadership, and the glory of His preservation. Each of these is a manifestation of the divine presence. Throughout Scripture, whenever God reveals His glory, it is tied to His presence. When the tabernacle was completed, “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34). When Solomon dedicated the temple, “the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:11). In Christ, this presence became incarnate: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). To receive His glory, then, is to receive His presence in us, shining out in transformed lives.

Paul grasped this truth when he wrote, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Just as God’s glory shone forth at creation, so now His glory shines in the hearts of believers through Christ. This glory is not theoretical but transformative, marking the church as distinct in the world.

Yet, it is crucial to understand the kind of glory Jesus gives. “The glory which You gave Me” was not self-exalting glory, but glory that often appeared humble, weak, and suffering. It was the glory of the cross. Repeatedly, Jesus referred to His passion as His glorification: “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39). Again, “His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him” (John 12:16). And most plainly, “But Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified’” (John 12:23).

Leon Morris explained, “Just as His true glory was to follow the path of lowly service culminating in the cross, so for them the true glory lay in the path of lowly service wherever it might lead them.” This is the opposite of worldly glory, which seeks recognition, applause, and dominance. The glory of Christ is displayed in humble service, sacrifice, and obedience to the Father, even unto death.

The purpose of this bestowed glory is “that they may be one just as We are one.” Glory unites. When God’s glory is truly present among His people, petty divisions fade into the background. Where there is a sense of God’s majesty, disputes over status, personality, or preference lose significance. The shared participation in Christ’s glory draws believers together into genuine unity, reflecting the unity of the Father and the Son.

This is why the church is most united not when it focuses on external structures or enforced uniformity, but when it is consumed with the presence and glory of God. When believers are captivated by Christ and His glory, they are lifted above personal agendas and brought into one heart and one mind in Him.

4. John 17:23 – Jesus Prays for a Unity Founded in Love

“I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

Jesus deepened His prayer for unity by saying, “I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one.” Here He described the living, organic union between Himself, the Father, and His disciples. This is not a unity of coercion or external control, nor is it a shallow unity born of compromise or institutional conformity. Rather, it is a unity that flows from the indwelling presence of Christ. Because He is in believers, and the Father is in Him, the unity of the church is nothing less than participation in the life of God.

This unity is dynamic, both accomplished and still advancing. Carson observed, “Like sanctification, this oneness is simultaneously something already achieved and something that needs perfecting.” Believers are already one in Christ, joined to Him by faith and sealed with the Spirit, but they are called to grow in the lived expression of that unity, maturing into greater love, holiness, and fellowship.

Jesus then stated the purpose of this unity: “that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” Earlier, in verse 21, He had prayed, “that the world may believe that You sent Me.” Here He repeated the same truth but expanded it. Not only would unity testify that Jesus was sent by the Father, but it would also reveal that the Father loves believers with the same love He has for the Son.

The repetition underscores how vital this truth was to Jesus. The visible love and unity of His people were intended to be a public testimony of His divine mission and His love. The world was to look at the church and conclude: Jesus truly came from the Father, and Jesus truly loves His people.

This prayer reminds us of the seriousness of Christian unity and love. Jesus essentially gave the world permission to doubt both His mission and His love if His people do not display unity and love. While disunity and bitterness among believers grieve the Spirit and obscure the gospel, unity and love shine as the greatest apologetic for Christ’s truth.

Yet this is not without difficulty. Some Christians justify harshness, criticism, and division as a form of love: “I demand that you be exactly as I am because I love you.” Others neglect the reality that rebuke and correction, when done in truth and humility, are also necessary expressions of love. Furthermore, we recognize that unbelief has many causes beyond Christian disunity. Paul explained that some are blinded by sin and hardened in heart: “But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ” (2 Corinthians 3:14). He also described unbelievers as walking “in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God” (Ephesians 4:17–18). And in Romans 1:20–21, Paul declared that people suppress the truth in unrighteousness, even though God’s existence and power are clearly revealed in creation. Thus, while unity and love are vital to Christian witness, rejection of the gospel ultimately stems from human sin and rebellion.

Nevertheless, believers bear a weighty responsibility to reflect the love of Christ to the world. As Spurgeon warned, “Sin is the great dividing element. The perfectly holy would be perfectly united. The more saintly men are, the more they love their Lord and one another; and thus they come into closer union with each other.” Trapp added with grief, “What a sad thing was it, that a heathen should soon after have cause to say, No beasts are so mischievous to men, as Christians are to one another.” Such words are a sobering reminder that the failure of the church to love can dishonor Christ and give occasion for the world to scoff.

5. John 17:24 – Jesus Prays to Be with His People, and for Them to See His Glory

“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

Jesus now prayed for the eternal destiny of His people, saying, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am.” This request reveals His longing for the consummation of all things. The phrase “I desire” is strong—it shows that Jesus’ heart yearned for His people to be gathered to Him in heaven, to share in the eternal fellowship of glory. He had promised them earlier, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2–3). Now, in dependence upon the Father, He prayed for that very promise to be fulfilled.

Even though He had not yet ascended, Jesus spoke as if already enthroned in heaven: “where I am.” His prayer was so lifted into the reality of the Father’s presence that He spoke as though He had already passed through Gethsemane and Golgotha. Spurgeon remarked, “He had prayed Himself into such an exaltation of feeling that His prayer was in heaven, and He Himself was there in spirit.” In the same way, believers are called to live with a heavenly perspective, for Paul reminds us that God “has raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).

Jesus added, “that they may behold My glory which You have given Me.” The supreme occupation of heaven will not be streets of gold or gates of pearl, but beholding the glory of Christ. His glory is so vast, so enthralling, and so inexhaustible that it will captivate the saints for eternity. This is the same glory John described at the beginning of his Gospel: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). In heaven, believers will see that glory unveiled, no longer through the dimness of faith, but in full, transforming vision. As John later wrote, “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

Finally, Jesus grounded this request in the eternal love between the Father and the Son: “for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” This reveals that the glory of the Son is inseparable from the love of the Father. Before time began, before creation itself, there existed a perfect love relationship within the Trinity. Micah 5:2 speaks of the eternal nature of the Son: “Yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” John declared plainly, “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). Since love requires an object, the eternal fellowship of Father, Son, and Spirit demonstrates that God has always been love, even before creation.

The Triune nature of God is not only a revealed truth of Scripture but also a logical necessity. If God is eternal and God is love, then within the Godhead there must have been eternal communion and love. Without the Trinity, God could not eternally be love. Thus, Jesus’ statement here confirms both the eternal preexistence of the Son and the eternal relationship of love within the Trinity.

6. John 17:25–26 – The Triumphant Conclusion to Jesus’ Prayer

“O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Jesus ended His high priestly prayer with a cry of devotion: “O righteous Father!” As He prepared to go to the cross, to endure betrayal, humiliation, and agony—all of which had been decreed in the eternal plan of God—Jesus still proclaimed the Father’s righteousness. His love and reverence for the Father were undiminished, even as He faced the full measure of suffering. The acknowledgment of God as righteous at this very moment demonstrates His perfect trust. As Paul later wrote, “Let God be true but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). Jesus knew that His impending pain in no way diminished the holiness or justice of the Father.

He then contrasted the world’s ignorance with His own intimate knowledge: “The world has not known You, but I have known You.” Humanity, blinded by sin, remained estranged from God. Paul described this condition: “the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God” (Ephesians 4:17–18). Yet Jesus, the eternal Son, fully knew and revealed the Father. His knowledge was not partial or progressive but perfect, flowing from His divine nature and eternal communion with the Father.

Jesus added, “and these have known that You sent Me.” This repeated the confession found earlier in verse 8: “they have believed that You sent Me.” Despite their weaknesses, fears, and misunderstandings, the disciples grasped this essential truth: Jesus was sent from the Father. Their faith was fragile, but it was real. Jesus acknowledged this before the Father, affirming their genuine, Spirit-born belief.

He then declared, “I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it.” With these words, Jesus ended His prayer in triumph and assurance. His entire earthly mission could be summarized as declaring the name of the Father—revealing His character, attributes, and purposes. As the writer of Hebrews explained, Jesus is “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3). Even though the world called Him a blasphemer (John 10:33), a glutton and a drunkard (Matthew 11:19), demon-possessed (John 8:48), and illegitimate (John 8:41), He knew that none of these accusations were true. He could stand at the end of His earthly ministry and confidently say, “I have declared to them Your name.” Furthermore, His work was not finished at the cross. After His resurrection and the sending of the Spirit, He would continue to declare the Father’s name in greater fullness, opening the disciples’ eyes to understand all that He had accomplished.

Finally, Jesus prayed the climactic petition: “that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” The eternal love that the Father has for the Son was to be poured into the hearts of believers. This was no small request. Jesus asked that the very love that sustained Him throughout His earthly life—love from eternity past—would become the sustaining power of His people. Love, then, is central to Christian identity. Remove love, and everything else collapses: take love from joy, and you have hedonism; take love from holiness, and you have self-righteousness; take love from truth, and you have harsh orthodoxy; take love from mission, and you have conquest; take love from unity, and you have tyranny.

Jesus concluded with the promise of His presence: “and I in them.” His disciples would not only be filled with divine love but also indwelt by Christ Himself. This echoes His earlier teaching that night: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The abiding presence of Jesus in His people secures their perseverance, empowers their mission, and guarantees their eternal joy.

Thus the prayer closes on a note of triumph. Though Jesus was about to be arrested, mocked, and crucified, He ended His prayer not in despair but in victory—confident in the Father’s righteousness, the certainty of His mission, the continuation of His work, and the indwelling love and presence that would sustain His people forever.