Jesus: Prays for His disciples; Pt. I

1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.

John 17:3–4 NASB95

3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.

John 17:5 NASB95

5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Jesus with eyes lifted to heaven said it is time, the hour has come

What hour? The glory hour, time to glorify the Son who has glorified the Father.

What hour? The hour that they are to know that He came to give them eternal life and that eternal life came from the Father.

What hour? The hour they know He has accomplished the work the Father has given Him to do.

What hour? The hour the Son says glorify the Son with the glory that was before the world was.

What hour? The hour of glory! He looked at the cross as already a done deal. What hour? The hour that sinful man could be reconciled to holy God.

Jesus came to give eternal life (17:2). He also came to give them revelation knowledge of the Father (17:6) and he has done this. He revealed the Father through him. as the

Great I am (Exo3:11-4)

The bread of life (Jn6:35)

The Good Shepherd (Jn10:11)

The Light of the world (Jn18:12, 9:5)

Weirsbe claims: “Jesus revealed the Father’s gracious name by showing His disciples that He was everything they needed.”

Jesus had comforted the troubled hearts

Jesus had prepared them with knowledge of what was coming for Him; and for them so they would not be surprised.

(Transition) Jesus knew the despair, discouragement, worry they would be feeling, so now He commits to the Father in prayer for them, we will look at it tonight and next week.

I have made You known (our passage)

John 17:6 NASB95

6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.

John 17:7–8 NASB95

7 “Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

John 17:9–10 NASB95

9 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.

John 17:11 NASB95

11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.

John 17:12 NASB95

12 “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

What do you see as the “theme” in this part of the scripture?

Jesus had manifested the Father, made the Father known to them. Everything the Father gave to Him, He gave to them.

What did Jesus accomplish (v.6)? And, what were the results?

Manifested the Father to them.

They kept the word of the Father given to Jesus that Jesus gave to them.

What has Jesus made known (vv.7-8)? And, what were the results?

EVERYTHING, everything the Father gave, Jesus revealed to them and the results were they believed the Father sent Him.

Who are the those whom You have given Me (v.9)?

It was the disciples that the Father gave to the Son. For they were the Fathers.

What is the request Jesus makes of the Father (v.11)?

Keep them in Your name

Keep them that they may be one, just as We are One.

What did Jesus say He did while He was with them (v.12)?

He kept them in the Fathers name

He guarded them

Jesus kept to mission

Jesus manifested Your name (v.6)

Manifested (phaneroo) translated means “to shine forth.” (consider 1Tim3:16)

Guzik: “Manifested: It doesn’t mean so much declaration as it does illustration.” - Jesus did not just preach it verbally, he lived it out literally.

1 Timothy 3:16 NASB95

16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.

Jesus manifested the Father, we too are to manifest, manifest the Son (see 2Cor3:2-3)

2 Corinthians 3:2–3 NASB95

2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

We are to manifest the character and the nature of God through how we live as Christians.

The disciples were of the world, but the Father took them and gave them to Him. After night of prayer (consider Lk6:12-16)

Jesus knew He would be denied (13:38); He would be abandoned and all would scatter (16:33). Yet in their imperfection they kept His word.

They knew, now Jesus tells the Father they understand He came from Him and was returning to Him. You can look back at (14:10-11, or 8:28-29) where Jesus had previously said that.

D.A. Carson said this about this portion of the prayer:

“It is a rare and holy privilege to observe the divine Son of God not only formulating his prayers, but formulating the grounds for his petitions. These grounds reflect the essential unity of Father and Son, and reveal Jesus’ prayers for his followers trace their argument back to the inscrutable purpose of Deity.”

Boice says this on (vv.6-8):

“Jesus looked at salvation from two points of view here. Each is true from its point of view. (17:6) explains their salvation in the election of God, from God’s view. (17:8) explains their salvation in their faith, so from humanities view.”

Jesus directed purposed prayer

John 17:9 NASB95

9 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;

World, it is not the planet (Job37:12)

World here is not the people (Jn3:16)

It is the world system, the system of belief.

Jesus is interceding like a High Priest would.

Jesus prays for protection of them since they are in the world (people, system) They had a great task ahead of them and they needed the Fathers protection over them, let them be as one!

One mind, the mind of Christ (1Cor2:16); and that means the mind of the Father whom the Son manifested. Since they are One, in equal.

Jesus said He had been glorified in them (17:10), how you may ask?

Glorified in them by their faith, glorified in them by their obedience, glorified in them by their sacrifice to pick up cross and follow Him. Will be gloried when the Holy Spirit is sent and is in them.

Paul understood the glory (Col1:27; 2Cor3:18)

Colossians 1:27 NASB95

27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

and look at

2 Corinthians 3:18 NASB95

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

I do suggest you go to those verses and look in context to get a richer understanding.

Jesus first plea, request

With the cross before Him and the time of teaching and ministry behind Him. He has the disciples and the mission for them in mind and continues to pray for them.

John 17:11–12 NLT

11 Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. 12 During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.

Jesus first plea, request is for the Father to protect them (keep them).

I love how Guzik summarized this plea.

Prays knowing time of unique discipleship was over, earthly ministry done

Prays knowing the circumstances surrounding His departure; betrayal, arrest, trial, beatings, crucifixion, resurrection and the ascension

Prays knowing He is returning to the Father and will not be bodily with them any longer

Prays for them knowing whom He would send to help them. The Holy Spirit.

“Jesus is no longer in the world, already He has bid farewell to it, but the disciples remain in it, exposed without His accustomed counsel and defence.” (Dods)

Know we are in Jesus hand because the Father gave them (Jn10:28-29). Now he departs and asks the Father to protect them and keep them as He had kept them.

John 10:28–29 NASB95

28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Satan wants to destroy (Jn10:10); Jesus gives life and wants us to be protected (Jn17:11-12)

Our challenge as protected Christians, in the Fathers hand, manifested in the love of Christ is to

Walk in the Light (1Jn1:7)

Proclaim His excellencies (1Pt2:9)

Walk in His love (Jude24)

Share it with others (Mt28:20)

(Pray) (Exit)

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