These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
John 17 is a pivotal chapter, often referred to as Jesus' "High Priestly Prayer." It comes at the close of Jesus' "Farewell Discourse" (John 13-16), his final teachings to his disciples in the upper room after the Passover supper, just before His betrayal and arrest. In the preceding chapters, Jesus prepared His disciples for the trials ahead, promising the Holy Spirit and emphasizing the importance of love. Now, in John 17, Jesus offers a profound prayer, not only for Himself and His immediate followers but also for all future believers. This prayer encapsulates the heart of Jesus' mission and provides invaluable insight into His relationship with the Father and His desires for His followers.
Jesus Prays for Himself (John 17:1-5)
Jesus begins by praying for Himself, demonstrating that it is appropriate to petition God on our own behalf, always seeking His will above our own. "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you" (John 17:1). He recognizes that "the hour" of His sacrifice has arrived, the culmination of His earthly mission to provide eternal life. This echoes earlier references to "the hour" in John's Gospel (John 2:4, 7:30, 8:20, 12:23, 27, 13:1), signifying a divinely appointed time. The glory Jesus speaks of is mutual; the Father glorifies the Son through the resurrection and exaltation, and the Son glorifies the Father through His obedience and completed work.
Jesus reminds the Father of the authority He has been given over all flesh, that He might give eternal life to all those the Father has given Him (John 17:2). As John has already made clear, everyone who believes in Jesus receives eternal life (John 3:16). The Father loves the Son so much that He desired to give this redeemed humanity to Him as a gift. The Father gave the Son authority over all flesh and then gave us to Him so that the King would have a people to rule.
He then defines eternal life: "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3). Eternal life is not merely endless existence, but an intimate, experiential knowledge of God through Jesus Christ—a relationship that deepens throughout eternity. This is the purpose for which we were created. To receive eternal life is to enter into the divine realm with the goal of experiencing an intimate relationship with God through Jesus, a relationship that will grow throughout eternity. It is the uninterrupted, deepening knowledge and experience of God.
Jesus declares that He has glorified the Father on earth by completing the work He was given to do (John 17:4). "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work" (John 4:34). We bring glory to God in the same way—by pursuing His will for our lives. Do you consider doing the will of God to be as desirous and life-sustaining as eating? He now asks to be glorified with the glory He had with the Father before the world existed (John 17:5), a clear affirmation of His pre-existence. Before the incarnation, before Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, before the creation week even began, God the Son eternally existed in the glorious presence of God the Father. And to this glory He would soon return.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples (John 17:6-19)
Next, Jesus turns His attention to His disciples, those whom the Father has given Him out of the world. "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word" (John 17:6). Jesus confessed that He had faithfully revealed the Father to His disciples, those who had kept His word (John 17:6). As a result, they believed that Jesus had been sent by God (John 17:7-8). He really was the Messiah, just as He claimed.
He emphasizes that He is praying specifically for them, not for the world (John 17:9). Jesus was glorified in them because they had received everything He revealed to them (John 17:10). As Jesus prepared to leave the world, He prayed that the Father would protect His disciples by His name (John 17:11)—that is, by the Father’s name. In Scripture, names do not merely identify people but speak of their character. Therefore, Jesus was asking that God would protect them by keeping them connected to their holy and righteous Father. Specifically, He asked that God would grant that Jesus’s followers might be one, as the Father and Son are. In other words, He prayed for the unity of His disciples—that they’d be unified in love in the same way that the persons of the Godhead are unified in love.
Jesus acknowledges that while He was with them, He protected them, and none were lost except the "son of destruction," Judas Iscariot, fulfilling Scripture (John 17:12). God knew far in advance that Judas would betray the Messiah. Nevertheless, Judas’s rebellion could not thwart the divine plan. On the contrary, it facilitated it. Understand that even wickedness falls under the sovereignty of God—not because God prescribes it, but because He uses it. How much better would it be for you to fulfill God’s purposes through your obedience than through your rebellion?
He speaks these things so that His joy may be in them, and that their joy may be full (John 17:13). Notice that it’s His joy. To experience peace in the midst of suffering is for Jesus to share His joy with you, and this comes by means of confidence in His word (John 17:14). But when one receives God’s word through Jesus, one also receives the hatred of the world. The world hates the followers of Jesus because they are not of the world, just as He is not (John 17:16). Yet Jesus does not pray that the Father would take them out of the world but that He would protect them from the evil one (John 17:15).
Christians must function in this world—in our families, neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, marketplaces, and civic arenas. Yet, we are not to adopt the world’s perspective or let it dictate our values. We must operate on earth from a heavenly perspective, God’s perspective. God’s Word is to determine our understanding of right and wrong. Though we are in the world, we must not be of it.
He prays, "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth" (John 17:17). To be sanctified is to be set apart for God’s purposes. This process happens through internalizing the eternal truth of God’s Word. Think of the Word like food. You can chew it all day, but unless you swallow it, you receive no health benefits from it. You internalize God’s Word, not by merely hearing or reading it, but by trusting and obeying it. Then its work of spiritual transformation is activated in your life.
Jesus was sending His disciples into the world (John 17:18)—that is, sending them on a mission. They would not be cloistered in a monastery but making their God-glorifying presence known in the culture. He said, "I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified in truth" (John 17:19). In other words, Jesus had set Himself apart to God’s will so that He might enable His followers to do the same.
Jesus Prays for All Believers (John 17:20-26)
Crucially, Jesus extends His prayer beyond His immediate disciples to include all who will believe in Him through their word (John 17:20). The disciples / apostles with Him that night would proclaim the gospel through their preaching and through their Holy-Spirit-inspired writings, which would become the New Testament. Therefore, “those who believe in [him] through their word” includes all those who have trusted in Christ down through the ages. This means that Jesus was praying here for you and me.
His central request is for unity: "that they may all be one, just 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 have sent me" (John 17:21). Legitimate unity is not uniformity or sameness. Rather, Jesus was talking about being unified in God and His purposes. That’s why He prayed, "May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me."
A football team consists of different players filling different positions with different roles. But the entire team has one purpose: reaching the goal line. Their unity consists of pursuing that one goal according to the rules of the game. The church of Jesus Christ is composed of people from every race, ethnicity, gender, and walk of life. But we have the common purpose of proclaiming the gospel and pursuing God’s kingdom agenda. Our effectiveness is determined by our unity. That’s why Satan works so hard at causing division among Christians and within churches. Unity in truth is critical to experiencing the presence and power of God. Illegitimate disunity disconnects us from God and causes us to be ineffective in our lives and in our prayers.
When legitimate unity is present, God’s glory is manifested (John 17:22)—that is, He advertises Himself to the world through us, so that even more people might come to know, love, and serve Him. Our unity makes it possible for the world to know that God the Father loved and sent Jesus (John 17:23). Our involvement in the church is not trivial, then. We are caught up in something much bigger than us. We are called to serve the Lord in unity so that the love and glory of our Trinitarian God is visibly and powerfully manifested to a watching world.
Jesus concludes His prayer, acknowledging that the world had not known God. That’s why the Father sent the Son (John 17:25), and that’s why the Son came. Jesus Christ made the name of God known so that God’s intra-Trinitarian love might be known and experienced by the world (John 17:26).
John 17 reveals the profound love within the Trinity and Jesus' deep desire for unity among believers. This unity is not simply a social ideal but a powerful witness to the world, demonstrating the love of God and validating Jesus' mission. As we study and reflect on this prayer, may we be drawn closer to God and to one another, fulfilling Jesus' ultimate desire for His followers.
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
John 17 is a pivotal chapter, often referred to as Jesus' "High Priestly Prayer." It comes at the close of Jesus' "Farewell Discourse" (John 13-16), his final teachings to his disciples in the upper room after the Passover supper, just before His betrayal and arrest. In the preceding chapters, Jesus prepared His disciples for the trials ahead, promising the Holy Spirit and emphasizing the importance of love. Now, in John 17, Jesus offers a profound prayer, not only for Himself and His immediate followers but also for all future believers. This prayer encapsulates the heart of Jesus' mission and provides invaluable insight into His relationship with the Father and His desires for His followers.
Jesus Prays for Himself (John 17:1-5)
Jesus begins by praying for Himself, demonstrating that it is appropriate to petition God on our own behalf, always seeking His will above our own. "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you" (John 17:1). He recognizes that "the hour" of His sacrifice has arrived, the culmination of His earthly mission to provide eternal life. This echoes earlier references to "the hour" in John's Gospel (John 2:4, 7:30, 8:20, 12:23, 27, 13:1), signifying a divinely appointed time. The glory Jesus speaks of is mutual; the Father glorifies the Son through the resurrection and exaltation, and the Son glorifies the Father through His obedience and completed work.
Jesus reminds the Father of the authority He has been given over all flesh, that He might give eternal life to all those the Father has given Him (John 17:2). As John has already made clear, everyone who believes in Jesus receives eternal life (John 3:16). The Father loves the Son so much that He desired to give this redeemed humanity to Him as a gift. The Father gave the Son authority over all flesh and then gave us to Him so that the King would have a people to rule.
He then defines eternal life: "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3). Eternal life is not merely endless existence, but an intimate, experiential knowledge of God through Jesus Christ—a relationship that deepens throughout eternity. This is the purpose for which we were created. To receive eternal life is to enter into the divine realm with the goal of experiencing an intimate relationship with God through Jesus, a relationship that will grow throughout eternity. It is the uninterrupted, deepening knowledge and experience of God.
Jesus declares that He has glorified the Father on earth by completing the work He was given to do (John 17:4). "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work" (John 4:34). We bring glory to God in the same way—by pursuing His will for our lives. Do you consider doing the will of God to be as desirous and life-sustaining as eating? He now asks to be glorified with the glory He had with the Father before the world existed (John 17:5), a clear affirmation of His pre-existence. Before the incarnation, before Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, before the creation week even began, God the Son eternally existed in the glorious presence of God the Father. And to this glory He would soon return.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples (John 17:6-19)
Next, Jesus turns His attention to His disciples, those whom the Father has given Him out of the world. "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word" (John 17:6). Jesus confessed that He had faithfully revealed the Father to His disciples, those who had kept His word (John 17:6). As a result, they believed that Jesus had been sent by God (John 17:7-8). He really was the Messiah, just as He claimed.
He emphasizes that He is praying specifically for them, not for the world (John 17:9). Jesus was glorified in them because they had received everything He revealed to them (John 17:10). As Jesus prepared to leave the world, He prayed that the Father would protect His disciples by His name (John 17:11)—that is, by the Father’s name. In Scripture, names do not merely identify people but speak of their character. Therefore, Jesus was asking that God would protect them by keeping them connected to their holy and righteous Father. Specifically, He asked that God would grant that Jesus’s followers might be one, as the Father and Son are. In other words, He prayed for the unity of His disciples—that they’d be unified in love in the same way that the persons of the Godhead are unified in love.
Jesus acknowledges that while He was with them, He protected them, and none were lost except the "son of destruction," Judas Iscariot, fulfilling Scripture (John 17:12). God knew far in advance that Judas would betray the Messiah. Nevertheless, Judas’s rebellion could not thwart the divine plan. On the contrary, it facilitated it. Understand that even wickedness falls under the sovereignty of God—not because God prescribes it, but because He uses it. How much better would it be for you to fulfill God’s purposes through your obedience than through your rebellion?
He speaks these things so that His joy may be in them, and that their joy may be full (John 17:13). Notice that it’s His joy. To experience peace in the midst of suffering is for Jesus to share His joy with you, and this comes by means of confidence in His word (John 17:14). But when one receives God’s word through Jesus, one also receives the hatred of the world. The world hates the followers of Jesus because they are not of the world, just as He is not (John 17:16). Yet Jesus does not pray that the Father would take them out of the world but that He would protect them from the evil one (John 17:15).
Christians must function in this world—in our families, neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, marketplaces, and civic arenas. Yet, we are not to adopt the world’s perspective or let it dictate our values. We must operate on earth from a heavenly perspective, God’s perspective. God’s Word is to determine our understanding of right and wrong. Though we are in the world, we must not be of it.
He prays, "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth" (John 17:17). To be sanctified is to be set apart for God’s purposes. This process happens through internalizing the eternal truth of God’s Word. Think of the Word like food. You can chew it all day, but unless you swallow it, you receive no health benefits from it. You internalize God’s Word, not by merely hearing or reading it, but by trusting and obeying it. Then its work of spiritual transformation is activated in your life.
Jesus was sending His disciples into the world (John 17:18)—that is, sending them on a mission. They would not be cloistered in a monastery but making their God-glorifying presence known in the culture. He said, "I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified in truth" (John 17:19). In other words, Jesus had set Himself apart to God’s will so that He might enable His followers to do the same.
Jesus Prays for All Believers (John 17:20-26)
Crucially, Jesus extends His prayer beyond His immediate disciples to include all who will believe in Him through their word (John 17:20). The disciples / apostles with Him that night would proclaim the gospel through their preaching and through their Holy-Spirit-inspired writings, which would become the New Testament. Therefore, “those who believe in [him] through their word” includes all those who have trusted in Christ down through the ages. This means that Jesus was praying here for you and me.
His central request is for unity: "that they may all be one, just 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 have sent me" (John 17:21). Legitimate unity is not uniformity or sameness. Rather, Jesus was talking about being unified in God and His purposes. That’s why He prayed, "May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me."
A football team consists of different players filling different positions with different roles. But the entire team has one purpose: reaching the goal line. Their unity consists of pursuing that one goal according to the rules of the game. The church of Jesus Christ is composed of people from every race, ethnicity, gender, and walk of life. But we have the common purpose of proclaiming the gospel and pursuing God’s kingdom agenda. Our effectiveness is determined by our unity. That’s why Satan works so hard at causing division among Christians and within churches. Unity in truth is critical to experiencing the presence and power of God. Illegitimate disunity disconnects us from God and causes us to be ineffective in our lives and in our prayers.
When legitimate unity is present, God’s glory is manifested (John 17:22)—that is, He advertises Himself to the world through us, so that even more people might come to know, love, and serve Him. Our unity makes it possible for the world to know that God the Father loved and sent Jesus (John 17:23). Our involvement in the church is not trivial, then. We are caught up in something much bigger than us. We are called to serve the Lord in unity so that the love and glory of our Trinitarian God is visibly and powerfully manifested to a watching world.
Jesus concludes His prayer, acknowledging that the world had not known God. That’s why the Father sent the Son (John 17:25), and that’s why the Son came. Jesus Christ made the name of God known so that God’s intra-Trinitarian love might be known and experienced by the world (John 17:26).
John 17 reveals the profound love within the Trinity and Jesus' deep desire for unity among believers. This unity is not simply a social ideal but a powerful witness to the world, demonstrating the love of God and validating Jesus' mission. As we study and reflect on this prayer, may we be drawn closer to God and to one another, fulfilling Jesus' ultimate desire for His followers.