The “high priestly prayer” of John 17 has always been of utmost interest to me out of all of Jesus’ prayers, probably because it’s the one in which I see him praying for me directly. When you’re part of the story instead of outside of it, you become a lot more invested in it, after all.
We remember that one of Jesus’ roles is that of the high priest, clarified in Hebrews 4:14-16:
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
The high priest in the Old Testament was the spiritual leader of the people who made sacrifices on behalf of the people’s sins and interceeded between them and God. Of course, the OT high priest was a fallible human and was limited in his role to making the same sacrifices, day in and day out, because he was but a shadow of the real high priest that was to come in Jesus.
And so in John 17, Jesus fully steps into the role of the high priest and gives this wonderful, heart-felt prayer for his disciples of all ages. You can sense the power, authority, and honesty here as he prepares for the culmination of not only his earthly life’s work, but God’s long-running plan to redeem the world.
In the first five verses, Jesus gives glory to the Father while asking for glory in return. The persons of the Trinity can and indeed do glorify each other. Jesus’ work on earth was good and gave great glory to the Father, and the Father’s work in heaven was good and gave glory to the Son in his hour of triumph.
Then the great high priest starts to pray for and about believers:
- He says that he has revealed God to those that God has set apart (the elect) and made it clear that Jesus’ power and authority is from God (vv.6-8)
- He says that this prayer is not for the world but for his disciples (vv.9-10)
- He prays for unity among believers (vv.11,21)
- He asks God to “keep” us in his name (v.11)
- He promises that believers will have “my joy fulfilled in themselves” (v.13)
- Jesus expresses concern for believers because the world will be against them and will hate them, but while he doesn’t ask for God to whisk us away to safety, he does pray for protection from Satan (vv.14-15)
- He clarifies that by believing, we are no longer part of this world; we are set apart in holiness as Jesus is set apart (vv.16-19)
- He commissions us to go into the world (v.18)
- Jesus specifies that this prayer is not just for his current crop of disciples, but those who “believe in me through [the disciples’] word” (v.20)
- He shares his glory with us (v.22)
- He illustrates the unity that believers will have with him — “perfectly one” — and says that through this unification, everyone will see that God loves and has sent his disciples to the world (vv.21-23)
- Jesus clarifies that he was with God before the world was created (v.24)
- Jesus wants to share knowledge and love of God with us continuously (v.26)
One of the coolest verses, in my opinion, is John 17:24, because it concerns the believer’s ultimate destiny:
“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
So Jesus’ desire on the eve of his own sacrifice is that we will be with him in heaven and will see his glory fully revealed. He’s so incredibly excited about it, about being with us forever and us being with him forever, with no barriers in our relationship. This verse is so comforting to believers who might be facing death with fear and apprehension, because it gives a glimpse of what’s to come — and that glimpse is all good.
In fact, just hours later Jesus was hanging on a cross when a nearby crucified thief called out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
In light of the prayer Jesus had prayed, you can hear the triumph and excitement and hope that comes with Jesus’ response: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:32-43)
Belonging to God 