41. John 17:1-19 Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 6 “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. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 

9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 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. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

• God is a loving Father who shares His glory with the Son (v. 1–5).
• God gives eternal life through knowing Him (v. 3).
• God desires to protect and sanctify His people (v. 11, 17).
• God desires that we may harmony and unity in God, just as the Trinity is one in Him (v. 11).
• God desires to make us holy (v. 17).
• God sent Jesus into the world with a mission, and Jesus now sends His followers the same way (v. 18).
• God sent Jesus into the world out of love.  
  

• We belong to God (v. 6).

• We are “in the world” but not “of the world” (v. 14, 16).

• We are vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks and need God’s protection (v. 15).

• We are sent  with a mission into the world by Jesus (v. 18).
  
  

What did this passage mean to its original audience?

• Jesus prayed this just before His arrest and crucifixion. The disciples were about to enter a confusing and frightening time. This prayer would have later reminded them that Jesus wasn’t just leaving them. He was entrusting them to the Father and praying for their protection, unity, and mission. For Jewish ears, Jesus praying directly to God as “Father” with such closeness would have been deeply personal and even revolutionary. This was not a distant God. This was a loving Father intimately involved in the life of His people.

What does this passage impact my affections, attitudes and actions? 

This passage reminds me that I am deeply known and loved by Jesus. He prays for me, just like He prayed for His first disciples. That truth alone brings so much comfort. I am reminded that I do not belong to this world’s system; I belong to God.

Today, I want to focus on the fact that just as the Father sent Jesus into the world with a mission of love, He has sent me with the same mission. "Follow Jesus into the World" is the motto of Missio Seminary, where I graduated. As I reflect on this, I am reminded once again that I have been sent into the world as a missionary. I desire to live a missional life, showing others who Jesus is through my words and love.