The Word of Truth and the Unity of His People
Judas has gone out.
The cross is near. The Son now speaks to the Father.
John 17 brings us into holy ground.
The prayer is tied to the cross, the apostles, the word, and the church.
What does Jesus pray for when the cross is only hours away?
Jesus prays for glory, truth, holiness, unity, and final fellowship with Him.
Jesus prays for the Father to glorify the Son.
“Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You.”
John 17:1
Jesus prays for glory, not escape.
The cross is not outside the Father’s plan.
“You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.”
John 17:2
The authority of Christ is not symbolic.
The Son gives eternal life.
“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
John 17:3
No one knows the Father while refusing the Son.
How does John 17:3 correct vague religion that admires God but refuses Christ?
“I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.”
John 17:4
Jesus did not invent His mission.
He came from the Father and completed the Father’s work.
“Glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
John 17:5
This is not the language of a created prophet.
This is the language of the eternal Son.
Why does Jesus ask for glory instead of deliverance from the cross?
Jesus prays for the apostles whom the Father gave Him.
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world.”
John 17:6
The apostles were not self-appointed innovators.
They were men given to the Son by the Father.
“They were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.”
John 17:6
“The words which You gave Me I have given to them.”
John 17:8
The apostolic word is not religious opinion.
It comes from the Father through the Son.
What happens to the church when apostolic teaching is treated as optional?
“I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world.”
John 17:9
This prayer is first for the men who would carry His authorized witness.
“Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me.”
John 17:11
They could not preserve themselves by human strength.
They needed the Father’s keeping.
“Not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”
John 17:12
Judas was near holy things without a loyal heart.
“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them.”
John 17:14
The word separates disciples from the world.
The world hates what it cannot own.
“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”
John 17:15
How can Christians remain in the world without letting the world set the terms?
Jesus prays for sanctification in the truth.
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”
John 17:17
John 17 leaves no room for wordless spirituality.
A church is sanctified as it submits to the word of God.
What are common substitutes for Scripture in modern religion?
“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”
John 17:18
Faithful mission requires holiness in the middle of hostility.
Jesus prays for all who believe through the apostles’ word.
“For those also who believe in Me through their word.”
John 17:20
John 17:20 controls Christian unity.
We believe through the apostles’ word.
Why can unity not be separated from the word through which Christians believe?
“That they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You.”
John 17:21
Unity without truth is not John 17 unity.
Truth comes before the unity request.
What is the difference between biblical unity and religious compromise?
“I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am.”
John 17:24
The final hope is not merely relief from trouble.
The final hope is fellowship with Christ.
The church must honor what Jesus prayed for.
Eternal life is knowing the Father through the Son.
Hear. Believe. Repent. Confess. Be baptized. Live faithfully.
Live like the prayer of Jesus matters.