John17

Jesus prays to the Father, seeking glorification after completing His earthly work, and desires to return to His pre-existent glory. He then intercedes for His immediate disciples, asking for their preservation, unity, and sanctification through truth, as they are in the world but not of it. Finally, He extends His prayer to all future believers, requesting their perfect unity with each other and with the Father and Son, so the world may believe.

Jesus Prays for His Glorification

1
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: ​
2
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. ​
4
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. ​
5
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. ​

Jesus Prays for His Immediate Disciples

6
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. ​
7
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9
I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. ​
10
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. ​
12
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. ​
13
And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. ​
16
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. ​
18
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. ​
19
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. ​

Jesus Prays for Future Believers' Unity

20
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; ​
21
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. ​
22
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: ​
23
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
24
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. ​
25
O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26
And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. ​

Study Notes for John 17

Verse 1

The “hour” refers to the climax of Jesus’ ministry—the cross, resurrection, and ascension—which brings ultimate glory and completes the Father’s plan.

Verse 3

This verse defines eternal life not merely as endless existence, but as a relational, intimate knowledge (Greek: *ginōskō*) of the Father and the Son.

Verse 4

Jesus declares his earthly mission completed, having fully revealed the Father and accomplished the redemptive work required of him.

Verse 5

This is a profound declaration of Jesus' eternal pre-existence and deity, requesting restoration to the divine glory shared with the Father before creation.

Verse 6

To 'manifest the name' means to reveal the Father's character, nature, and purpose, which Jesus did through his teaching and life.

Verse 9

Jesus clarifies that this specific, foundational prayer is focused on those already entrusted to him, preparing them for the mission ahead, rather than the 'world' (humanity hostile to God).

Verse 11

Jesus prays for the disciples’ unity, modeled after the perfect unity (perichoresis) of the Father and the Son, emphasizing shared purpose and love.

Verse 12

'Son of perdition' refers specifically to Judas Iscariot. His betrayal was not a failure of Jesus’ keeping, but a tragic fulfillment of Scripture (e.g., Psalm 41:9).

Verse 15

Jesus recognizes that the disciples must remain in the world to carry out their mission, but they require spiritual protection from the moral and spiritual evil (*ponēros*) inherent in the world system.

Verse 17

To 'sanctify' means to set apart for sacred use. This process is accomplished through God's truth, which Jesus explicitly identifies as God's Word.

Verse 18

Jesus models his disciples’ mission (apostolic sending) after his own: they are sent *into* the world, not to be *of* the world.

Verse 19

Jesus sets himself apart (consecrates himself) for the sacrificial work on the cross, establishing the means by which the disciples can be truly sanctified and set apart for service.

Verse 20

The prayer now expands dramatically to include all generations of believers who would come to faith through the apostles' testimony (the universal Church).

Verse 21

The ultimate purpose of Christian unity is missional: that the world may observe the Church's harmonious love and believe in Jesus as the one sent by the Father.

Verse 22

The 'glory' shared is not necessarily divine omnipotence, but the revealed character, love, and mission of God, which enables believers to reflect His unity.

Verse 24

This final request expresses Jesus' desire for his followers to share in his eternal presence and to witness the glory he possessed before the foundation of the world (an eschatological hope).

Verse 26

The goal of Jesus’ declaration of the Father’s name is the indwelling of divine love (the love with which the Father loved the Son) and the abiding presence of Christ in the believer.

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