Read John 17:1-5. This prayer by our Lord, commonly known as the High Priestly Prayer, was made by our Lord as He walked with the disciples to the Mount of Olives. It seems to divide into three main sections: in verses 1-5, our Lord makes a request for Himself; in verses 6-19, His requests are for the eleven disciples and in 20-26 for all believers.
1. When our Lord says the hour, or the time, has now come, to what is He referring?
He is referring to the time of suffering and death, the crucifixion, that He will shortly undergo.
2. In verse 1, our Lord makes a request and then gives a reason for that request. He gives a second reason in verse 2. What is the request, and what are the two reasons?
a. The request is for the Father to glorify His Son.
b. The first reason is so that the Son may glorify the Father.
c. The second reason given is that the Son may give eternal life to all that the Father has given Him.
3. When our Lord asks that the Father glorify the Son, what do you think He is asking for? (See John 13:27-32 and Philippians 2:5-11.)
He is asking that God the Father give Him the strength as a man needed to go through the crucifixion, taking upon Himself the sin of all humanity. By doing this, giving Himself for all humankind, He will bring the Father unimaginable glory and honor and be able to grant eternal life to everyone the Father had given to Him. If He did not go through this suffering and death, there would be no glory given to God, and no one would ever be granted eternal life. By giving our Lord, in His humanity, the strength to endure the cross, He is restoring the glory our Lord possessed before He emptied Himself and took on human flesh.
4. What does verse 5 say about our Lord?
It clearly says that our Lord existed before the “being of the world.” It also puts our Lord sharing the glory of God before the world existed. These statements most strongly point at the deity of our Lord.
Read John 17:6-19. According to verses 6-9, Jesus is now asking on behalf of those men whom the Father had given Him. Here it refers to the twelve apostles less Judas. In the broadest sense, it applies to all those who had come to believe in Him and accept Him as the Messiah.
5. Our Lord states some things about the men God had given Him in verses 6-9. What things did our Lord state about these Men?
They were given to our Lord by the Father out of the world. They had kept the Father’s word. They have come to believe that all Jesus did and taught came from the Father. They have believed that Jesus was sent by the Father.
6. Jesus has yet to be arrested, tried, crucified, buried, resurrected and taken up into heaven. How can He, therefore, state that He is no longer in the world in verse 11?
It seems that in this statement and in many others in this prayer (verses 4, 11, 12, 14, and 24) are made by our Lord speaking as if His death were now an accomplished fact.
7. What three things does our Lord request of His Father on behalf of His eleven disciples? See verses 11, 15 and 17.
a. To keep them in His name
b. To keep them from the evil one
c. To sanctify them in truth
8. Our Lord asks the Father to keep these disciples in His name. He also states that while He was with them, He kept them in the Father’s name and guarded them (Verses 11-12). What does He mean then when He asks the Father to keep them in His name?
The word our Lord uses here is “tereo,” which watch over, guard, protect something in your possession or care so as to reserve or preserve it. These disciples were the possession of the Father, who entrusted them to our Lord during His stay on the earth. Our Lord “kept” them; that is, He watched over them, guarded them, preserving them. The only loss was Judas in order to fulfill the Scriptures. Now our Lord is leaving them, and He asks that the Father continue this watch and protection. This protection is complete coverage, encompassing body, soul and/or spirit. No others will be lost; all will be kept until the day of promise. We know that it does not mean He will protect us from all physical harm during this life. Look at the disciples who suffered persecution and ultimately martyrdom. But the Father did preserve them, keeping them secure until the day they stand resurrected before Him.
9. What does our Lord mean when He asks to keep them from the evil one?
When our Lord asked the Father to keep His disciples, the Father could have easily protected and preserved them by simply removing them from the corrupt system in which they lived, ruled by the evil one or Satan. But our Lord goes on to state that He is not asking the Father to take them out of the world but to protect and guard them in it by protecting them from the evil one, Satan. They would be facing an opponent far beyond their strength and ability. Without the supernatural protection of the Father, they would be lost.
10. What is our Lord asking for when He asks the Father to sanctify them?
The word in question is the Greek word “hagiazo” (ἁγιάζω), which means, as John uses it here, to separate from what is common, ordinary or profane and to set apart to God. John uses this word three times. First, in verse 17, He asks the Father to sanctify these disciples by or in the truth. Then in verse 19, He states that He sanctifies Himself that these disciples may be sanctified in or by truth. He lived a perfectly sin-free life unto God’s service. He is asking that the Father would protect these disciples, guard them against Satan’s attacks. Just as our Lord lived a life set apart to God being in the world, so also would the Father enable and allow these disciples to live such a life as they were in the world.
Read John 17:20-26. Now our Lord goes on to include more than just His immediate disciples in His prayer.
11. On behalf of whom does our Lord ask in verse 20?
He asks for all who have and will come to believe through the ministry of these disciples. This would include other believers in that day and all believers down through the years. It includes you and me and others who have yet to come to faith but who will in due time.
12. What is our Lord’s request of His Father for those for whom He prays in verses 21-23?
Our Lord asks that all who believe may be perfected in unity; that they may be one as the Godhead is one, that they may be in the Father and the Son. The extent and depth of this unity are yet to be fully comprehended.
13. What is our Lord’s request of His Father for those for whom He prays in verse 24?
His request is that they may be with our Lord where He is that they may see His glory given to Him by the Father.
The Applications:
What are the applications of these passages to our lives today? Identify as many as you are able.
1. When our Lord asks the Father to glorify Him, it is quite different than when we seek glory. Our Lord is asking for strength to carry out the work He was called to do, His suffering and death on the cross as a sacrifice for our sin, and so to gain glory by being obedient to His Father and giving up His life for us. We most often seek glory for ourselves without any thought of first submitting ourselves to our Father and giving up ourselves for His service. We want the gain without the giving! We want the respect and adulation of others without the humility, curses and taunting. We want to rule without first serving. Our Lord, in asking for the Father to restore the glory that was once His, is asking for the strength to do what comes first; to serve, to endure the humility, curses and taunting, to give Himself for us. For what do we ask when we pray?
2. Our Lord, when He asks for His disciples, does not ask that the Father take them out of the world. Our Lord has every right to expect that when He leaves the world, those the Father had given to Him will come with Him; after all, they belonged to Him. Instead, He asks the Father to keep them, that is, guard, protect and not lose what belonged to the Son in His absence. He asks the Father to protect them from the evil one, who would seek to steal and destroy what was the property of the Son. And He asks the Father to set them apart, keep them separate for His special use, while they were in the world.
One aspect of these requests impacts the discussion of eternal security. Just as our Lord lost none given to Him by the Father, except Judas, which was to fulfill the Scripture, so also we would expect the Father in protecting what the Son had given to Him to hold for Himself would lose none at all. All that the Son had given to the Father to hold and guard for Him would be kept safe for the Son! While this request was for the immediate eleven disciples, it also applies to us as well.
It is important to note that our Lord wanted His servants out in the world, not locked away from it. While they were to be in the world, in enemy territory, He wanted to protect them from the evil one, the god of this world, and He wanted God to set them apart for His special service. We are to be in the world, but not of it. There should be a special quality, not in outward appearance but in inward character, that sets us apart from those around us and points to our Lord.
3. A couple of things should be noted concerning our Lord’s request for all who would come to faith. First is that we have at present a limited concept or comprehension of what our Lord asked for us when He asks that we may all be one. Indeed, we know something of this, for the indwelling Spirit does give us a unity, or the basis for a unity that someday will be perfected. But it certainly is anything but perfect today! What this will be, how deep it will go, how it will affect our relationship with each other and what the physical, mental and spiritual ramifications will be are yet to be revealed or seen.
Will we be able to know each other telepathically, will be able to know another person as they know themselves? What will our relationship with our Lord be as human beings? What will our relationship with the Spirit be when we are perfected; what will our relationship with our Father be then? This request by our Lord of His Father has yet to be fully answered. We can only speculate what it will be, and even then, we probably can not even conceive of the full answer!
The second thing to be noted is that our Lord requested that the ones the Father had given Him be with Him where He was so that they may see His glory, which the Father has given Him. While this certainly does mean that those who belonged to our Lord would be with Him in heaven, it goes beyond this. The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ is nothing less than a depiction of our Lord’s coronation ceremony as it takes place in the throne room of heaven before the return of our Lord to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords to set up the millennial kingdom. It is here and at this time that our Lord is honored and glorified (See Rev. 5:9-14, for example). To even consider that the Father would exclude the church, the Bride of Christ, those that the Father had given to Him from witnessing this glorious event is unthinkable. It certainly would be a denial of this request made by the Son in this passage. Those who hold to a post-tribulation rapture would reject that the church is present during this greatest of coronations. Those who believe in a mid-tribulation rapture or a partial rapture would also exclude a portion of the church as well. The pre-tribulation rapture best fits with the fulfillment of this request by our Lord that all those that the Father had given to the Son, both the eleven disciples and all who would believe through their ministry, be present to witness the glory bestowed upon Son by the Father.