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
Yeshua said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you; ​
2
even as you gave him authority over all flesh, he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
3
This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Yeshua the Messiah. ​
4
I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do. ​
5
Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed. ​

Jesus Prays for His Immediate Disciples

6
I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word. ​
7
Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,
8
for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.
9
I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. ​
10
All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11
I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are. ​
12
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ​
13
But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
14
I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15
I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. ​
16
They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.
17
Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. ​
18
As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world. ​
19
For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. ​

Jesus Prays for Future Believers' Unity

20
Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who believe in me through their word, ​
21
that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. ​
22
The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one; ​
23
I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me.
24
Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. ​
25
Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.
26
I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you 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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