We are on holy ground—the outpouring of the heart of the Son of God to His Father on His way to Calvary.
John chapter seventeen is one of the few prayers of our Lord that we have recorded in its entirety. It is indeed the true Lord’s prayer, and, being intercessory in nature, it is often referred to as His high priestly prayer. We need to approach it with unshod feet for we are on holy ground—the outpouring of the heart of the Son of God to His Father on His way to Calvary. He chose to speak these words in the hearing of His disciples. Yet He did not pray only on their behalf, but on behalf of all those who would believe on Him through their word.
The Son and the Father (vv.1-5)
In the first five verses, we have a beautiful example of holy communion as the Son lifts up His eyes to heaven to address the Father. It is the end of His earthly journey of rejection, humiliation, and persecution. The hour of His suffering had come. But here we see Him looking beyond the cross to the joy that was set before Him (Heb. 12:2). And what greater joy could He have anticipated than to be back in glory by the Father’s side? In light of the truth that the Son had glorified the Father on earth in all His ways, His words, and His works, He asks to be glorified.
Power over all flesh had been given Him, for He had power to raise the dead (Jn. 5:21) and power to execute judgment (Jn. 5:22,?27). Indeed, all power was given unto Him in heaven and on earth (Mt. 28:18). But our text specifically speaks of power to give eternal life to those who believe on Him. Believers are often spoken of in John’s gospel as being the gift of the Father to the Son (Jn. 6:39; 10:29; 17:2; etc.). This should bring great comfort to our hearts, for we see in that a guarantee of our eternal security. Could the faithful Son ever lose the
Father’s gift to Him (Jn. 10:27-28)
Verse three contains one of the Bible’s many definitions of eternal life: the saving knowledge of the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He had sent. Any faith system that claims to know the God without acknowledgement of Jesus Christ is a delusion that will ultimately lead its followers into the blackness of darkness.
The Son had finished the works which the Father had given Him to do, and the work of atonement would shortly be announced as “finished” as well (Jn. 19:30). In His incarnation, the Son, who never ceased to be God, added sinless humanity to His deity and veiled His divine glory with His flesh. Now, on His way back to heaven, He requested that that glory be restored to Him. Furthermore, as we carefully read His words, “Glorify Thou Me with Thine own self,” we can clearly see Christ’s equality with the Father. These are not the words of a mere man, no matter how great. Thus, by faith, we look up and see a Man sitting on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
The Son and the disciples (vv.6-19)
The eternal Son, who was in the bosom of the Father for all eternity, was the only One who could reveal Him (Jn. 1:18). Thus, He was able to declare the Father’s name to His own (vv. 6-8). The Saviour then recommended His own to the Father because they had received and kept His word. They had believed that Christ had received all things from the Father, and that Christ had surely come from the Father. By contrast, He had told the unbelieving Jews that they did not have the Word of the Father abiding in them, neither did they believe in the One the Father had sent (Jn. 5:37-38).
Now we come to the first intercessory prayer for His disciples (vv. 9-12). We see that there is a blessed combined ownership of them by both Father and Son, for the Lord doesn’t pray for the world but for those whom the Father has given Him out of the world.
While He was physically with the disciples, He had kept them in the Father’s name. Verses 13-19 introduce us to the means by which the Lord will keep His disciples safe after His departure:
• The joy of Christ, independent of circumstances, would be their strength in a hostile world.
• The Father’s words would be their sustenance, even though the world would hate them for keeping those words.
• Separation from the world, as a principle for life, would also help to keep them safe, for “they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (vv.14,16).
• Lastly, safety would flow from His prayer that they would be kept from evil in an wicked world.
The only exception to safe-keeping was the son of perdition, with the sole purpose of fulfilling the Scriptures.
The disciples were left to be His faithful witnesses where He was rejected and crucified. They were left in the world but they were not of it. They did not need to be conformed to it for they would be set apart from the world by the Word of God.
There are a number of applications that we can draw from the closing words of this section of Christ’s prayer. To begin with, we see that our mission in this life ought to be patterned after His own mission to a lost world. In every way we must follow the perfect example which He has left us (v.18). Secondly, what a stupendous thought it is that the Lover of our souls and the Great Shepherd of the sheep should consecrate Himself for His people’s welfare (v.19). Should not that be humbling to us? And lastly, here we learn that the occupation of our great High Priest, as He appears before God for us, is primarily to help our infirmities. Should that not capture our hearts and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ? Blessed be His name, such care crowns all the other means of keeping of His people safe!
The Son and the Church (vv.20-26)
In these closing verses, the Lord has the entire church in mind, and He prays for its unity which is to be patterned after the essential oneness of the Godhead. “That they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also might be one in Us” (v.21). The great blessing that would have accrued from this unity would have been a clear testimony to the Christ-rejecting world and an affirmation that the Father had indeed sent the Son. But, alas, the church has failed to reflect the light of her Master to a dark world and ended up fragmented and divided. Nevertheless, the gracious Lord, who received added glory from the Father as a result of Calvary, is willing to share that glory with His bride so that the world may know that the Father loves believers with that same love that He has for the Son (v.23).
In verse 24, we see the deep desire in the heart of the Son to have those that are the Father’s gift to Him be with Him where He is. Was not this His precious promise given to the disciples in the upper room, “that where I am ye might be also” (Jn. 14:3)? But now His desire is that they may behold His glory—the glory which was given to Him by the Father before the foundation of the world.
In contrast with the world, which has no knowledge of the Father, perfect knowledge of the Father has characterized the Son for all eternity (Jn. 10:15). He has imparted this knowledge to believers, for they have believed His mission, received His words, and had the Father’s name continually declared to them.
This brings us to the close of this lovely prayer. The last request of the Saviour in this prayer for His people is that the Father’s love may abide in them, as Christ Himself abides in them (see Jn. 15:9-10).
Yet it must be, Thy love had not its rest
Were Thy redeemed not with Thee fully blest;
That love that gives not as the world but shares
All it possesses with its loved co-heirs.
—J. N. Darby