JOHN CHAPTER 17 - JESUS' HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER

Wed 7/13 - John Chapter 17 – Lesson 1

The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus

The highest earthly spiritual authority for the Jews was the High Priest; and for Christians, Jesus is the chief apostle and intercessor. The unnamed author of Hebrews declares this truth in Hebrews 3:1 “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus…”  Here Jesus is identified as Chief Apostle, High Priest, Chief Intercessor, and the Son of God. In the seventeenth chapter of John, we find Jesus sharing His last supper with His disciples and as their High Priest praying a prophetic prayer for Himself, His disciples, and all present and future believers.

The MacArthur Bible Commentary:

This chapter (John 17) is transitional, marking the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry and the beginning of His intercessory ministry for believers (Hebrews 7:25).

John 17:1 (ESV) When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,

Jesus’ hour had finally come. After sharing with the disciples that their sorrow at His leaving would be turned to joy and they could take heart during persecution from the world because He had overcome the world, Jesus looked up and prayed. God’s purpose for the Son looked as if He were defeated. Nothing was glorifying about the position of Jesus naked and exposed on the cross. I know this was ultimate victory, but it didn’t look like victory at the time. We know Jesus was conquering sin because we know the rest of the story. The faithful eleven apostles must have really questioned His sacrifice and death at the time. Jesus knew the truth of what He had taught earlier:

John 12:32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”

He knew that His death was necessary to atone for the sins of those who would come to Him, and that this ultimate demonstration of His love would draw people to receive and trust in Him as their Savior. Afterward, He would be resurrected and returned to His full glory in Heaven.

John 17:2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

Salvation begins with the Father. Jesus had taught several times that He did not come to speak or teach in His own authority but was granted authority by the Father. God gave Jesus authority to grant eternal life in the presence of God to all those the Father had led to Him. The Father, through the Holy Spirit, draws men to begin a relationship with Jesus. All a person must do is surrender to that call. It cannot be earned because it is a free gift from the Father.

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Eternal life originates with God the Father, but He gave Jesus the authority to bestow that gift of eternal life. Jesus defines eternal life as knowing God in an intimate relationship. God does not want us to know about Him with intellect or head knowledge, but yearns for us to know Him personally. John 17:3 is the scriptural definition of eternal life. Eternal life is not something that happens someday when we die. It begins as soon as we come into an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus and, through Him, with the Father. We can have peace knowing we are in right standing with God, not because of anything we have done, but because of everything Jesus accomplished for us by His death on the cross.

John17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

The work the Father had given Jesus was completed by His death on the cross. Prior to His death, He was to cultivate the disciples in order to share His message with the world. He was to introduce men to the Kingdom of God so that after His death and resurrection, they would be drawn to the Father. Because of His teaching and the time invested in the disciples, they would in turn point others to the Father.

John 17:5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Jesus was eager to go back home. He was ready to return to His royal privileges. Jesus completed His earthly purpose, ascended to heaven and is now able to enjoy the next level, His glorified purpose. Jesus went from the cross, to the resurrection, to sitting down at the right hand of God, taking His position as High Priest, our chief intercessor. Now He exercises His kingly and priestly authority. So Jesus, who is God, continues levels of purpose and fulfillment; and we can believe that when we get to heaven, we also will continue in our next level of purpose, being active and engaged in eternity forever.  Remember, the eleven were present and listening to this prayer. This would remind them of Jesus’ deity and that He was deserving of glory and worship.

Q – Jesus no longer walks beside us on this earth. Does that mean He is far away? Certainly not. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, He is with us at all times. God is only a prayer away. Are you troubled about events in our world? Jesus told us there would be trouble, but take heart in the fact that He is at the right hand of God’s throne interceding for us. We have a High Priest who has experienced all we go through as men and women, so we have confidence He is advocating for us. Hebrews 4:15 (NIV) Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. We can have peace in the middle of turmoil when we cast our cares on Him. 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Fri 7/15 – John Chapter 17 – Lesson 2

Out of This World

John 17:6 (ESV) “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

Jesus came in part that we would have a better grasp of not just what God looks like but His character, personality, the core of Himself, who He is. Jesus revealed the true nature of God to those whom God had chosen out of the world, the elect. We were the Father’s treasured possession before we were the Son’s. God had chosen us from the foundation of the world before we were ever born to be His own children. Jesus had explained God’s purpose and will to His followers. Here Jesus was talking about the apostles, and they had obeyed what He had taught them about the Father. The main way the disciples had kept God’s word was by acceptance of the One He had sent, the Messiah, Jesus.

John 17:7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

As Jews, the disciples knew much about God the Father, but they did not know Him. The disciples did not know the truth about God before they began to follow Jesus, but now that they had heard and obeyed His words, they understood. Belief in what Jesus had said to them and trusting that His words were given to Him by the Father, was how the disciples had obeyed God’s words. Since the disciples were chosen by God, they were enabled to believe and trust, and in return surrendered their lives to Jesus’ control. Their obedience was evidence that they belonged to God and had trusted Him.

John 17:9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

Jesus, as our High Priest, was praying for believers, those chosen by God. He was not praying for every person in the world, only those whom God had chosen out of this world. He was praying for His “brothers and sisters,” the familyship of God. As you will see, the things Jesus was praying could only apply to those in intimate relationship with the Lord. The whole predestination vs. free will debate is very complex. The Bible clearly teaches that God chose us from the beginning of the world, but there are also verses the say we must believe in order to be saved. God chooses me so that I can choose Him. We will not try to take a side on that question here. Suffice it to say that God knows how He works our will to be in conformity with His. People have spent their entire doctoral thesis on this issue. I will not attempt to explain it in a brief study. I simply trust God that He knows.

John 17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

Those who belong to God belong also to Jesus and vice versa. This is because Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are ONE GOD. Jesus’ life glorified the Father on earth, and He prayed He would be glorified in His followers.  Jesus is glorified when those that are His followers live as He lived, loving and doing for others. He wants the lives of His disciples to reveal His character and presence to the world. We bear this image of God to the world through our relationship with Christ.   

Q – God has chosen a remnant of people out of this world to become a part of His eternal family. Jesus prayed that those who followed Him would exemplify His character to the world. If you are a believer, ask yourself whether or not you are glorifying Jesus in your words and actions. If you struggle in some area, confess it and ask the Lord to cleanse and change you (1 John 1:9). Remember you are “Out of This World” even though you are still on this planet.

                       Mon 7/18 – John Chapter 17 – Lesson 3

In This World, Not Of It

John 17:11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

As Jesus prays prophetically, “Now I am no longer in the world, and I come to You…,” He sees His earthly mission as being accomplished. He has reflected and exalted the Father and revealed Him to His disciples so they believe His word. Jesus asks the Father to keep His disciples eternally secure by the power of His name. We do not earn salvation, nor do we have the power to keep ourselves “saved.” The Father holds us firmly in His grasp and will not let us go (John 10:29). The key to immeasurable joy is to live intimately connected with the source of all joy. It’s Jesus’ personal joy to give us oneness/ecstasy with the trinity. Jesus desires His church to be one with Him in an unbreakable unity as exists between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

John 17:12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Again Jesus spoke prophetically, for as we will see in John chapter 18, Jesus made sure that only He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He guarded His disciples physically and spiritually. Only one soul was lost, Judas Iscariot, who did not believe and repent. Judas could have had the same forgiveness as the thief on the cross if he would have come to Jesus in repentance and asked for it. As Jesus protected the disciples, the Father continues to keep us in His care while Jesus intercedes on our behalf.

John 17:13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

Jesus demonstrated faith that the Father would give Him the power to overcome. Jesus trusts His Father’s plan is best even though it is difficult in His humanity. Difficult may be an understatement. Stay with us through the rest of the story to see why I say that. He knows He is soon to be back in the Father’s presence. He has prayed for the unity of His disciples, that they will experience oneness with the Trinity and with each other. Being intertwined with God will bring them fullness of joy for as Susan said earlier, He is the source of joy. 

John 17:14 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.

We grow in our new life with Christ through reading the Bible. His word centers us so we are not like the world seeming to be a roller coaster or yo-yo (up and down). The word of God targets our thinking and renews our minds to think like He thinks. Jesus’ words gave the disciples strength and sustained them through persecutions. However, it was their trust and adherence to Jesus’ teachings that placed them in the position of being persecuted, hated by the world. Even so, by the power of the Holy Spirit within them, they were able to stand firm after some initial fear when Christ was arrested and crucified. The world hates Christians because Christians’ values differ from those of the world. Since Christ’s followers don’t cooperate with the world by joining in their sin, they are living accusations against the world’s immorality.

Q – Have you ever just wanted the Lord to take you right out of this world and into His presence? I remember when my dad was dying of cancer, one night after a particularly bad bout of pain, he turned to me and said, “Beam me up, Scotty.” I told him he could beam up any time he was ready, but he wisely replied, “You can’t beam up until the Captain gives the order.” Our Captain is God the Father and until He calls you home, He has left you here for a purpose. There will be trials and even persecution in this world, but Jesus prayed for the Father to sustain us while we are serving Him here. We all desire to go Home to be with our Lord, but He calls us to minister here for now. Study the word to be encouraged and pray to the Lord to strengthen you to face each new day.

Wed 7/20 – John Chapter 17 – Lesson 4

Sent into the World

John 17:15 (ESV) I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

Jesus didn’t ask God to take His believers out of the world but to use them in the world. We shouldn’t try to escape from the world or from relationships with non-Christians. Jesus prayed the Lord would protect us from the Evil One, i.e. Satan. Since we are to serve Jesus here on earth until He calls us home to be with Him, we will be confronted by evil. However, Satan can do only that which God allows, and if God allows something it is ultimately for the believer’s good and God’s glory. Also, God tells us that there are ways to resist the temptations that we all face.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (Complete Jewish Bible) No temptation has seized you beyond what people normally experience, and God can be trusted not to allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. On the contrary, along with the temptation he will also provide the way out, so that you will be able to endure.

Our Jesus not only did everything necessary to save us from our sinfulness, but He also is the one who enables us to turn from sin and pursue Him wholeheartedly.

John 17:16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Because we follow Christ, even though we are in the world, we are not like the world. We have been called out of the darkness into the light.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

We are different from the world because salvation makes us different as we follow the narrow path of God, not the wide path of sin. When I was a child, I loved the gospel song with the lyric, “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through.” As we allow the Lord to minister through us in this crazy, sinful world, we do well to remember that this is a temporary situation. This life is but a breath when compared to eternity with Jesus.

James 4:14 (NASB) Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

For those who trust in Jesus, after the vapor of life here dissipates, there will an eternity of incomparable joy. The problems we face here will be wiped away and we will share in the glory radiating from our Lord.

Romans 8:18 (NASB) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

With this in mind, I can continue to serve the Lord with gladness here and now. I believe that this is true, but sometimes in the temporal moment, I am not experiencing it as “light.” When you are in the throes of temporary difficulties that feel permanent, it is hard to remind yourself that it is just a vapor of affliction. I believe that is why God put it in writing in His love letter to us, so we could be reminded that the One who keeps His promises is true; and we can bank on glory and joy that will surpass in intensity anything painful we have experienced.

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

We become sanctified (set apart for sacred use or holy purpose, cleansed) through believing and obeying the Word of God by the power of the connection of our relationship with God. We are sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling us enabling us to understand the truth and apply it in our lives. We are called to live holy lives, but our holiness comes from Christ living in us and through us. Sanctification is a lifelong process that will not be completely finished until we are with the Lord, but the Christian should be experiencing a transformation even now.

John 17:18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

The Father sent Jesus to redeem His people, gather disciples, and help believers understand the way to live. Jesus sent His believers to finish the work of that gathering. We are called to be “the salt of the earth and the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16). Jesus radiated the Father’s glory, and we reflect Jesus. As the moon reflects the sun, Christians reflect the Son. We must abide in Christ. In this intimate, holy relationship, the Holy Spirit will flow out of our lives to others. Jesus consecrated Himself to be the perfect, sinless sacrifice to provide the way for believers to be made clean and to be continually set apart to serve Him in this world. The Holy Spirit’s work in our lives enables us to be witnesses for Jesus as we are sent out into this hungry and dying world.

Q – Have you experienced the cleansing that comes from surrendering your life, your entire existence to Jesus? Are you being sanctified, made to look more and more like Him? If so, you have been sent out to serve God in this world. That does not mean that every Christian will be a full time vocational minister. What it does mean is that as we go about our daily business on planet earth we are to reflect the SON to those around us, to share His gospel with our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc. We are to carry the love of Jesus wherever we go.

Fri 7/22 – John Chapter 17 – Lesson 5

Jesus Prayed for Future Believers

John 17:20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Jesus prayed not only for the apostles and other disciples who walked beside Him during His time on earth: He prayed for us! He prayed for those who would come to know Him through the testimony of His disciples throughout history. The Lord prayed that the church, including the modern church would work in unity, that we would be one with God and each other. In this manner, we would be an earthly reflection of the harmony that the Trinity enjoys. Our unity, our love for one another, our ability to work toward the common goal of making Jesus known is a powerful testimony to unbelievers.

John 17:22 The glory that 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 become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Jesus prayed for unity among the believers based on their oneness with Him and the Father. Christians can know unity among themselves if they are living in union with God. God has given us the capacity to be in agreement, one with the Father, son, and Holy Spirit. The church is built on the rock of truth that Jesus is the Son of God, and He is the head of His body, the church. As we submit to the head, everyone plays an equal, vital part in the body. Cooperation and teamwork build the Kingdom of God. The process of becoming the church happens as we develop our relationships with Him and each other. As believers are unified, we become a powerful witness to the reality of God’s love. 

Q – Ask yourself the question, “Am I helping to unify the body of Christ, the church?” Ways of doing so include praying for other Christians, avoiding gossip, building others up, working together in humility, giving of your time and money, exalting Christ, and refusing to get sidetracked arguing over divisive matters.

Mon 7/25 – John Chapter 17 – Lesson 6

One in His Love

John 17:24 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.

Jesus prays for us to be where He is and to see His glory; He prophetically marks our citizenship in heaven. He anticipates our being with Him and wants us to experience and share His exaltation. Jesus will be the first-fruit of the resurrection and sees the resurrection of the saints in the future.

Ephesians 2:6 But God…raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Jesus was praying for those the Father had given Him which includes believers of all time, so He was praying for us as well. The pre-incarnate Jesus has been a part of the God-Head for all eternity, so He said the Father had loved Him from the foundation of the world. The Trinity, the Father, Son, and Spirit are perfect love personified.

John 17:25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.

The disciples, and ultimately all who would believe due to their testimony knew the Father sent Jesus. Therefore, they and we, are able to have an intimate relationship with the Father through His Son, Jesus. The world may acknowledge that there is a supreme being and an intelligent design; but unless a person has trusted Jesus, they cannot have an intimate relationship with that being (God).

John 17:26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Our nature should show we are the children of God. Ministry to others should flow from our relationship with God and from His heart of love. We should be leaving a legacy of love because Jesus said people would know we are Christians by our love (John 13:35). Love should be a neon sign we raise, witnessing that Jesus is the way for the lost to come to the Father. Our intentions and motivations matter and should glorify God. There is no place for selfish plans to gain power, glory, fame, money, or position. God is interested in how we are treating one another, not in how big our ministry is or how popular we are. He desires us to hear His voice and obey Him, to be one with the Lord in our purpose. Our purpose is to glorify God and evangelize, to bring others to Him. As children of our Lord, we can only achieve His goals when we operate in unity. We must be one with the Lord and with each other.

Q – Are you at odds with another believer? Do everything within your power to rectify the situation. Romans 12:18 (NIV) If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. If you know you have offended a brother or sister, make it right. Matthew 5:23-24 Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. There are principles to follow if someone in the body is in obvious sin which are found in Matthew 18:15-17. Loving families are not perfect. Conflicts will arise in the family of God. When they do, we need to peacefully resolve them, continue to love each other, and thereby maintain a strong witness to the world.