Gospel of John, Ch.17

Gospel according to John, Chapter 17:  Read &/or listen from the Bible.

1/  Jesus prays for Himself            – Jn.17:1-5
2/ Jesus prays for His disciples  – Jn.17:6-19
3/ Jesus prays for all believers   – Jn.17:20-26.

1/  Jesus prays for Himself  – Jn.17:1-5

When Jesus spoke these words, He lifted His eyes toward heaven and said:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may also glorify You. 2 As You have given Him authority over all flesh, He will give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. 3 This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory which I had with You before the world existed.

The Lord had a life of prayer, He began His ministry by going to a solitary place to pray & many times he went to mount olive to pray and spent the night in prayer.

The Father always heard and answered Jesus’ prayer as He expressed it in John 11:41-42 “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I know that You always hear Me. But because of the people standing around, I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Jesus is our great intercessor & He still prays & intercedes for us today.

‘The hour has come‘ vs. 1, is talking about the hour to go on the cross. It was the hour when Jesus would pay for our sins. It would be the hour when all of God’s creation would see the love of God manifested, when Jesus would bear our sins, suffering a substitutionary and redemptive death, for you and me. However, His work would not end on the cross. It would end in the resurrection.

Eternal life is knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent.

2/ Jesus prays for His disciples  – Jn.17:6-19

6 “I have revealed Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they know that all things You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given them the words which You gave Me. They have received them and certainly know that I came from You, and they have believed that You sent Me. 9 I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me. For they are Yours. 10 All that are Mine are Yours, and all that are Yours are Mine. And I am glorified in them. 11 I am to be no longer in the world, though these are in the world, for I am coming to You. Holy Father, through Your name keep those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are one. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. I have kept those whom You have given Me. And none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

13 “But now I am coming to You, and I say these things in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word. And the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, so I sent them into the world. 19 For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Jesus is still in the world, ready to leave it and return to the Father where He came from, but makes clear He is NOT of the world. His disciples are those who receives the Word, believes & keeps it. We His disciples are not of the world either, reason the world hate us.

3/ Jesus prays for all believers   – Jn.17:20-26.

20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You. May they also be one in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me. 22 I have given them the glory which You gave Me, that they may be one even as We are one: 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfect in unity, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have 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 creation of the world.

25 “O righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You, and these have known that You sent Me. 26 I have declared Your name to them, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Jesus prays for His disciples but also for us those in the future who believe in Him through the Word. We are one in them the Father & the Son, that’s the perfect unity. But the unity the world proclaims with out Jesus nor the Father, & without believing nor keeping His Words is not a true unity is just a counterfeit.

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