Jesus' Prayer - John 17

Jesus Prays for Himself

1.     Jesus spoke these words, lifted up HIS eyes to heaven, and said:

2.     “Father, the hour has come.

3.     Glorify YOUR Son, that YOUR Son also may glorify YOU,

4.     As YOU have given HIM authority over all flesh,

5.     That HE should give eternal life to as many as YOU have given HIM.

6.     And this is eternal life,

7.     That they may know YOU, the only true God,

8.     And Jesus Christ whom YOU have sent.

9.     I have glorified YOU on the earth.

10.  I have finished the work which YOU have given ME to do.

11.  And now, O Father, glorify ME together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with YOU before the world was.

Jesus Prays for HIS Disciples

12.  “I have manifested YOUR name to the men whom YOU have given ME out of the world.

13.  They were YOURS,

14.  YOU gave them to ME,

15.  And they have kept YOUR word.

16.  Now they have known that all things which YOU have given ME are from YOU.

17.  For I have given to them the words which YOU have given ME;

18.  And they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from YOU;

19.  And they have believed that YOU sent ME.

20.  “I pray for them.

21.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom YOU have given ME, for they are YOURS.

22.  And all MINE are YOURS, and YOURS are MINE, and I am glorified in them.

23.  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to YOU.

24.  Holy Father, keep through YOUR name those whom YOU have given ME, that they may be one as We are.

25.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in YOUR name.

26.  Those whom YOU gave ME I have kept;

27.  And none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

28.  But now I come to YOU,

29.  And these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.

30.  I have given them YOUR word;

31.  And the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

32.  I do not pray that YOU should take them out of the world,

33.  But that YOU should keep them from the evil one.

34.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

35.  Sanctify them by YOUR truth.

36.  YOUR word is truth.

37.  As YOU sent ME into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

38.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

39.  “I do not pray for these alone,

40.  But also for those who will believe in ME through their word;

41.  That they all may be one, as YOU, Father, are in ME, and I in YOU;

42.  That they also may be one in Us,

43.  That the world may believe that YOU sent ME.

44.  And the glory which YOU gave ME I have given them,

45.  That they may be one just as We are one:

46.  I in them, and YOU in ME;

47.  That they may be made perfect in one,

48.  And that the world may know that YOU have sent ME,

49.  And have loved them as YOU have loved ME.

50.  “Father, I desire that they also whom YOU gave ME may be with ME where I am,

51.  That they may behold My glory which YOU have given ME;

52.  For YOU loved ME before the foundation of the world.

53.  O righteous Father! The world has not known YOU,

54.  But I have known YOU;

55.  And these have known that YOU sent ME.

56.   And I have declared to them YOUR name, and will declare it,

57.   That the love with which YOU loved ME may be in them,

58.   And I in them.”

If you examine the core of this prayer, you’ll realize that although JESUS prayed for Himself, He was talking about HIS Father’s will to be done in Himself as a Son, so it could reflect The Father onto the world. First He reminds The Father the authority HE had given to HIM, to pass not only the knowledge of the True GOD, but also the eternal life. Then HE reminds HIM that the work that HE was sent to do, has been done, and looking forward to complete the assignment which until then, the hardest part hadn’t come in yet.  

When the prayer is for HIS disciples, again Jesus recognizes that those called disciples had been given by The Father with a purpose, and HE had taught them according to The Father’s will. Jesus is confident in what HE passed onto these men, and so specifically itemizes what He taught them.

These disciples recognized that JESUS came from The Father and all HE is and has comes from The Father as well. And at this point JESUS makes an interesting distinction, HE is not praying for the entire world but for The Father’s chosen, revealing to us that HE knows who HE is and what HE came to do. He also reminds The Father about that son who will betray Him to fulfill what has been written.  If you notice He also, mentions that HIS nature IS NOT like ours, because we are in the world while HE is not.  Is like He is thinking about that near future when HE will leave these disciples to go to be with The Father and He wants HIM to remember they need help, so Jesus is asking to keep them even after He is gone. Jesus is assuring us that we will be hated because we are in this world but we aren’t of it. This is not for The Father to get us out of here because HE knows that we still will have a work to do, which is representing HE who sent HIM.  But, in the opposite He’s requesting The Father to keep us from the evil one. Jesus requests The Father to make us holy because of HIS truth, and HE explains what is the truth, which is none other than The Father’s word, as well as the great commission passed onto those disciples.

The last prayer here is for all believers but if you carefully read and go over that fortieth point, you can realize He is not only talking about those are believers until that point but He includes the lost that will eventually believe. And HE request The Father that just as the disciples believed these that will eventually will believe also live recognizing HIM, and The Father who sent HIM. All for the glory of The Father. At the end, Jesus recognizing His Father’s righteousness, stating that He has and will continue to declare and to give the glory to The Father who sent HIM, zeroing that the same love HE received and gave those who accepted HIM, may remain with them.

In a nutshell, we pray for the calling God had given us; for those who had answer the called we passed, and those who will eventually will answer that call. Because no matter how the world around you go, one thing remains, and the truth is The Father already has planned for the lost to be saved, despite the chaos around us. So let’s keep our eyes in the calling and the assignment God has given us, for HIS glory, and this is my prayer in JESUS name, AMEN!