A Work in Progress Bible Commentary
By: Chip Crush

JOHN
CHAPTER 17

Jesus Prays for Himself

1After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: 2"Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6"I have revealed you[1] to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13"I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17Sanctify[2] them by the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus Prays for All Believers
20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

During the course of our journey through John’ gospel, we have also taken a journey through the tabernacle, and we have seen how all of its imagery is fulfilled in Jesus. He is the Lamb of God, offered upon the brazen altar at the entrance to the courtyard. He is the laver (ceremonial wash-basin) by which the priests were cleansed, and in Him is the water of everlasting life. He is the table of the bread of the presence, nourishing those who eat of Him with the true life of fellowship with God. He is the golden lamp stand, or candlestick, the tabernacle’s only source of light. And now, just before He offers Himself up for our sins, we see that He is likewise the fulfillment of the symbolism in the altar of incense.

This altar of incense, which stood immediately before the holy veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, unlike the altar in the courtyard, was overlaid with solid gold (Exodus 30:1-6). And, unlike the altar in the courtyard, it was not for the blood of burnt offerings, but for the burning of fragrant incense, which rose up as a sweet smell to God – with one important exception. Leviticus 4:1-12 tells us that, when the anointed priest of Israel sinned, he was to take some blood from the bull which he had offered on the brazen altar for his sin, and to place it on the altar of incense. So what does all this mean? Well, at least in the case of the anointed priest, the sweet smell of incense signified the pleasant and peaceful effects of the bloody sacrifice that had been offered. The brazen altar was a place of death and blood, and could not help but look and smell somewhat gruesome; but the effects were altogether lovely, for they included forgiveness and reconciliation to God. This sweet result of a bitter sacrifice was the symbolic intent of the altar of incense. But more than just that, the altar of incense also signified the prayers of the saints, rising up to God as pleas for forgiveness, grace, and deliverance from their enemies. Because the blood sacrifices had been efficacious, God was pleased with these prayers of faith, and willing to answer them. Revelation 8:1-5 contains a beautiful example of this symbolism.

Now, let us think of Christ, in relation to the symbolism of the altar of incense: just as the anointed priest, He had a sacrifice to offer – but His sacrifice was His own body! And just as the priest, He went before God on the basis of that sacrifice, and offered up His prayer for the people’s forgiveness. The priest put the blood of the sacrifice on the altar of incense, and said, as it were, “Now, because of this blood, forget the sin which I have brought upon this people, and hear my prayer for their reconciliation.” In the same way Jesus took His own blood and offered it up to God, saying, “Now, because of this blood, let Your people be reconciled to You!”

But how much greater is Jesus than the old High Priest, for He did not have to offer the same ineffectual offerings for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people; no, He offered up Himself, as the sinless sacrifice, to atone for His people forever (Hebrews 9:23-10:14). And, just as His atonement was effective, He likewise connected it with His effective intercession, so that we who have fled to Jesus for refuge might be doubly sure of our forgiveness and favor with God (Hebrews 5:5-10). He is the Lamb of God, who offered Himself up on the brazen altar as the effectual, atoning sacrifice for our sins; but He is also the priest who brings the blood of that sacrifice before God, as an effective, intercessory plea for the people. At the brazen altar, we see Jesus, our sacrifice; at the altar of incense, we see Jesus, our High Priest; and in the conjunction of His two, diverse ministries at these places, we have an immovable hope: we cannot fear God’s just wrath any longer, for the blood of Christ satisfies the strictest demands of justice; and we cannot fear that God will forget about the law-satisfying blood of Christ when He looks upon us, for Jesus continually offers it up to Him as the sweet smell of His accomplished reconciliation. We have rejoiced with John the Baptist in Jesus our sacrificial Lamb; now, let us rejoice before the throne of God in Jesus our intercessory High Priest!

And so we come to chapter 17, in which we have an amazing and precious glimpse of Jesus, standing in the tabernacle, and offering up the blood of His own self-sacrifice as a plea to God for His people’s forgiveness. This passage has long been called, most appropriately, “Jesus’ high-priestly prayer”; for in it He offers up His pleas to the Father in our behalf, as our own High Priest, the one who mediates, intercedes, and brings us to God. What could possibly be more comforting, more exhilarating, more practical for our everyday lives than to hear Jesus, who is One with the Father, and who is always heard and answered by Him (John 11:41-42), plead specifically for us with such strong devotion, asking for spiritual blessings beyond our wildest dreams? In this chapter, we can do that very thing: we can come into the holy place of the tabernacle and hear our great High Priest as He brings His blood before the Father, and intercedes for us on that basis. Let us be thankful for Jesus our High Priest as well as for Jesus our spotless Lamb!

  1. V1-5 - John, by declaring, “After Jesus said this,” is showing us that the proper course to follow upon learning doctrine (as Jesus had taught in this Upper Room Discourse) involves prayer. Knowledge is worthless apart from the blessing of God. Thus this prayer serves as a seal or ratification of the information He has revealed to His beloved disciples. Jesus prays first for Himself in v1-5. In v6-19, Jesus prays for the disciples, and in v20-26 Jesus prays for the people of God everywhere at all times – including us!

    Notice that Jesus looked to heaven. This could be to note the grandeur of creation, but we shouldn’t be caught up with the outward posture so much as with the inward posture. Jesus has set His heart on things above. In v2, notice that Jesus has authority over all people, but this authority is not for His sake. Think back to John 5:21. Jesus has authority, so that He may give eternal life to the elect, those whom God has chosen to give to His Son to win to glory. Calvin says, “The kingdom of Christ extends, no doubt, to all men; but it brings salvation to none but the elect, who with voluntary obedience follow the voice of the Shepherd; for the others are compelled by violence to disobey Him, till at length He utterly bruise them with His iron scepter.”

    In a sense, Jesus’ prayer summarizes everything that has gone before it. We see Jesus’ unswerving obedience to the Father; His oneness with the Father; His death that would bring glory to the Father and also to Himself; His role as the only One who truly reveals the Father to men; the fact that there is a certain group of people, called out from the world, whom God has chosen to give Him; the need for love and unity among the disciples; their mission to the world; and their final destiny in the Father’s presence. But I think it’s wrong to call this a summary. A summary is what an author does when he wants to review all the points that he has made; but in this case, it is quite the opposite. Here, Jesus is not reviewing anything, but pouring out His soul long before John ever wrote the gospel. The fact that all of Jesus’ specific requests, as to what precisely His imminent death and resurrection should accomplish, are things that John’s gospel has emphasized tells us that John must have considered this prayer so important that he intentionally designed his gospel account around fleshing out the truths which he had heard in Jesus’ prayer. This chapter is not the John’s summary; it is his foundation.

    Jesus begins by requesting glory to result for both the Father and Himself from His giving to the people whom the Father had given to Him “true life” – which is “intimate knowledge of and fellowship with the Father.” Back in the Garden of Eden, this fellowship is what man was created for; and until man has regained the purpose for which he was created, his life is just a state of living death – we are dead in our sins. True life, eternal life, is nothing but a restoration of that original purpose of knowing God – and this is what Jesus’ death would accomplish. If you remember from John 3, eternal life does not mean everlasting life, though it does last forever. Rather, eternal life speaks of the quality of life being true and perfect.

    Notice first that this whole process did not add glory to God, as if He were only somewhat glorious before, and He became more glorious after – no, Jesus prays that God would glorify Him with the glory that He already had before the world was created. God’s glory would not be added to, but the glory He already had would be displayed. Thus the purpose of redemption with respect to God is connected to the purpose of redemption with respect to man: man’s life, his eternal joy, and everything good consists in knowing God; and God’s glorification consists of His making Himself known for who He is, as the already infinitely glorious God. So, before we move on, let us briefly reflect on how this event displays who God is. First, the essential nature of God is complex and interpersonal; God is a Trinity, and within that inter-Triune relationship, the different persons of the Godhead are constantly fellowshipping with each other, loving each other, and bringing each other glory – but each in different ways. Humans cannot understand that abstract (but unimaginably beautiful) relationship without the help of some example; and the perfect example of how the Trinity naturally relates to each other is the practical outworking of their different roles in this central event of history, the redemption of man: in this work, we see how the Father relates to the Son, planning for Him a perfect work, which will bring great glory to Him, and promising Him, in exchange for that perfect work, a magnificent reward – namely, that He would give to Him a special people, and also bring all created things under His feet, as their Master and Lord (Psalm 2:6-8; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:18-20; Ephesians 1:10,20-23). We see how the Son relates to the Father, always in perfect accord with His will, and always obeying Him exactly. We see how the Spirit relates to the Father and the Son, proceeding from Them in order to bring to life those whom the Father and Son have chosen (John 5:21; 15:26). All of these actual realities mirror for us precisely what the triune God is in His essential nature. Without such a concrete example, we would never be able to comprehend the nature of God. And so, in the work of redemption, the triune God displays Himself for who He is, in all His glory – and we who have been called by Him get the unspeakable joy of seeing His glory in the accomplishment of this great work!

    And, besides the relationship of the persons of the Trinity, we can see innumerable attributes of the all-glorious God as we could never have seen them in any other way: we can see His wrath against sin, and His unyielding justice – for God was pleased to crush His own beloved and sinless Son, rather than turn His back on the terrible affront to His holiness which sin constitutes. We can see the depths of His love and mercy and grace in that God would be willing to undergo the horror of divine wrath, the consternation of inter-Triune separation and break of fellowship, the indignity and shame and reproach and pain of being numbered with sinners and suffering as a sinner deserves to suffer – all to bring back to God men who deserve nothing but what Jesus, undeserving as He was, actually underwent. And so we will continue for all eternity to marvel at the mystery and wonder of what God displayed of His glorious character when Jesus died.

  2. V6-9 – Again Jesus takes hope in God’s faithfulness to Him through the doctrine of election. The Covenant of Redemption is what brought Jesus to do the work God had for Him. There were a specific people Jesus worked for – not one less. And Jesus completed this work to perfection. He speaks in prayer here as if His work is already done. In fact, the active part (life) is done. Only the passive part (death) remains. We see a glimpse here of the ordo salutis – the order of salvation. First comes election. Second comes regeneration. Third comes faith and repentance; faith cannot be genuine apart from repentance. Fourth comes justification. Fifth comes adoption. The list goes on. Sixth comes sanctification; seventh is perseverance. Eighth is death and ninth is glorification.

    V9 is challenging to many. Jesus asks nothing but what is agreeable to the will of the Father, because He pleads with the Father on behalf of those only whom the Father Himself willingly loves savingly. He openly declares that He does not pray for the world, because He has no concern in salvation for the world – only for His own flock, which He received from the hand of the Father. But this might be thought to be absurd; for no better rule of prayer can be found than to follow Christ as our Guide and Teacher. Now, we are commanded to pray for all, (1 Timothy 2:8) and Christ Himself afterwards prayed indiscriminately for all, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). The prayers we offer for all are still limited to the elect of God. We ought to pray that this man, and that man, and every man, may be saved, and thus include the whole human race, because we cannot yet distinguish the elect from the reprobate; and yet, while we desire the coming of the kingdom of God, we likewise pray that God may destroy His enemies.

    There is only this difference between the two cases: we pray for the salvation of all whom we know to have been created after the image of God, and who have the same nature with ourselves; and we leave to the judgment of God those whom He knows to be reprobate. But in the prayer here related, there was some special reason, which ought not to be reproduced as an example; for Christ does not now pray from the mere impulse of faith and of love towards men, but, entering into the heavenly sanctuary, He places before His eyes the secret judgments of the Father, which are concealed from us, so long as we walk by faith. God chooses out of the world those whom He desires to make co-heirs with His Son of life and all creation, and this distinction is not made according to the merit of men, but depends alone on His good-pleasure and purpose. For those who think that the cause of election is in men must begin with faith. Now, Christ expressly declares that they who are given to Him belong to the Father; and it is certain that they are given so as to believe, and that faith flows from this act of giving. If the origin of faith is this act of giving, and if election comes before it in order and time, what remains but that we acknowledge that those whom God wishes to be saved out of the world are elected by free grace? Now since Christ prays for the elect only, it is necessary for us to believe the doctrine of election, if we wish that He should plead with the Father for our salvation.

    After laying out the basic intent of His prayer, Jesus begins to give the reasons for His praying in this way, and for these specific persons – and the fundamental reason goes back to the Father’s will, together with the effects that it has produced. Now, what has this will accomplished? First, as the Son is One with the Father, and always in perfect agreement with Him, the will of the Father has been brought to concrete reality through the effectual working of the Son. Remember in the prologue how Jesus, the “Word of God,” brings to reality God’s intention? So here, when God planned to redeem a wayward people to Himself, it was Jesus who actually redeemed them, and brought them back to a true knowledge of God: or, in His own words, He “revealed” the Father’s name to them. Within the Trinity there is always perfect unity – and so the Father’s will inevitably finds its concrete expression in the Son’s activity. So God’s will flows into Jesus’ life and death. The effects of the Father’s will do not stop with the Son’s ministry; for flowing down, from the Father through the Son, is the effect of this sovereign will on the people He has chosen. The Father selected a people, Jesus revealed the Father to them, and now they know that everything Jesus has done came from the Father. The words of God were in the Father’s heart and revealed through the Son’s ministry on earth; and now, they are received and held fast by the people God has chosen. We could sum this wonderful reality up by saying that everything good, in this life and the next, is from the Father and comes down through the Son, because of His work of redemption about to be accomplished on the cross. And this work is so powerful that it cannot fail to secure eternal life, which is nothing other than the true knowledge of God, for everyone for whom it was intended.

  3. V10-12 – Those whom the Heavenly Father has decreed to keep, He gives to Jesus – and as v10 declares, Jesus is glorified through them; through saving the elect, Jesus is glorified. That’s why He cares so much for us – He gets glory through us. God unites the elect, but it is not enough that men be agreed in some manner. We are to be unified as the Father and Son are unified. This truth has been difficult for me to process. I see the rest of this High Priestly Prayer having come true and clearly coming being answered, but the part dealing with the unity among believers seems anything but near fulfillment. Believers are very distant in doctrine and lifestyle application. Yet God is no less glorified.

    In v12, we see that as long as Jesus was on earth, He Himself was keeping His disciples safe in their knowledge of God – with the exception of Judas Iscariot, the Son of Perdition, concerning whom God had long before determined final apostasy and judgment, and recorded it in the Scriptures. As we have noted before, Jesus mentions Judas specifically, so that none of His disciples would think that Judas’ loss had been out of the Father’s will, and therefore, that their own preservation was uncertain. This revelation is for their benefit. Finally, some confusion has arisen here regarding the predestination of Judas to evil behavior. Some say that he is not to blame since his fall was foretold. But this is poor logic, for we do not suggest that the children of Israel were innocent in their repeated falls into idolatry on account of Moses’ prediction (Deuteronomy 31-32). Nor do we suggest that Isaiah’s prophecy that the people would see and hear but not perceive or understand gives them excuse for their stubbornness in rebellion. So, Paul’s conclusion on this matter in Romans 9-11 stands firm and true and helpful. Man is predestined, based not on God’s foresight but upon His purpose, and yet man is accountable for his sin. This is part of the mysterious plan of God to give all kinds of men over to disobedience so that He could have mercy on them – to the praise and glory of His grace.

  4. V13-19 – Jesus shows that the reason why He was so earnest in praying for His disciples was not that He was anxious about their future condition, but rather to provide a remedy for their anxiety. Jesus prays to His Father in the presence of His disciples, not because He needed any words, but to remove from them all doubt. This was for their joy, but Jesus says “My joy within them.” And that’s what we experience. Our joy is indeed His joy within us. Joy comes from Christ alone, and we receive it through faith alone.

    V14 teaches us the reason for Jesus’ prayer. Jesus prays for His disciples because the world has hated them. He says that His disciples are not of the world, because all those whom He regenerates by His Spirit are separated from the world. Calvin says, “God will not let His sheep wander among wolves without showing Himself to be their shepherd.” The preservation of the disciples was certain – for Jesus asked the Father to protect them once Jesus had gone back to heaven. Because this request came from the Father’s will, as we have already noticed, the Father could not refuse it. In fact, it was not for the Father that Jesus ultimately prayed – but for His disciples, so that they might hear Jesus’ prayer and so be filled with joy. God does not take His people out of the world, because He does not wish them to be effeminate and slothful; but He delivers them from evil, that they may not be overwhelmed; for He wishes to fight through them and to have them to fight for Him.

    The disciples are not like the world anymore, but like Jesus. Being like Jesus, the world will hate them just as it hated Him. But just as Jesus overcame the world, not by leaving it prematurely, but by finishing His course, even to the end of crucifixion, so the disciples would overcome, not by being plucked out of the world, but by God’s grace to protect them from the Evil One who rages against them and turns his children, the unbelieving world, to the hatred and persecution of all who would be like Jesus. Truly, the ancient Christian saying is faithful: “If we died together, we will also live together; if we endure, we will also reign together” (2 Timothy 2:11-12).

    Jesus has just prayed that the Father would preserve His people, so that, just as Jesus had overcome a hostile world, they would overcome that same hostile world. In v17-18, He asks that the Father would sanctify them, consecrate them entirely to Himself, and defend them as His sacred inheritance. The work of redemption begins with the Father’s plan, which sent Jesus into the world to accomplish redemption; but even though the Son fully accomplished redemption, the plan is not yet complete; for even as the Father sent the Son into the world, so the Son has sent us into the world. The Father sent the Son to accomplish redemption, and the Son has sent us to give the news of that redemption. The Father sent the Son to suffer for redemption to be accomplished; the Son has sent us to suffer so that the effects of redemption might be spread (Colossians 1:24). In all these ways, we, as believers, mirror the activity of Christ – what an amazing and undeserved opportunity has been given to us by divine grace! To suffer for the gospel is, as the early Christian believers found out, a most precious gift (Acts 5:41)! But we must not forget the way in which we are sanctified as the Son was sanctified; it is only through the Word of God (Ephesians 5:26). Let us be people of the Word! If we would be like Christ, let us be people of the Word! It is through the Word of God that the Spirit of God changes us into the glorious image of Christ Jesus our Savior.

    Finally, in v19 we learn that because Jesus consecrated Himself to the Father, His holiness comes to us; for as the blessing on the first-fruits is spread over the whole harvest, so the Spirit of God cleanses us by the holiness of Christ and makes us partakers of it. This is done by imputation (Jesus is our righteousness; we have become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)); but Jesus is also our sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30), because He has presented us to His Father in Himself, that His Spirit renews us to holiness. We are sanctified by faith.

  5. V20-23 – 20My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. 22I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are One: 23I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me. Up to this point, we have had no definite indication that Jesus meant to include us, rather than just the eleven disciples, as the subjects of His prayer; but He certainly had us in mind too, and now He makes this truth explicit, so that we might derive deep personal comfort from Jesus’ pleas just as the disciples did before us. How amazing it is to think that, when we were still children of wrath, and subjects of a hostile world, Jesus was already interceding for our final salvation! He already knew us by name, that according to the Father’s will we would soon be snatched from darkness and death and brought into the marvelous light of Jesus our Savior!

    The gospel would never have spread throughout the world if it had been a mere message, with no power to change lives. But Jesus declares that the world will believe in Him through the unity that believers share with God as a result of believing the message. The power of the message lies in God’s power to transform lives through union with Him by faith. If we as believers do not reflect the love and unity of the Trinity in our love for each other, then how will the world see who Jesus is, and believe that the Father has sent Him? Again unity is immensely important.

    Unity is certainly a gift of God. God’s love and inter-Triune unity is the essence of His glory, and a love and unity reflective of God’s is nothing less than the gift of God’s very glory, given to us! As astonishing as this doctrine is, we read it clearly in v22. A Christ-like love for each other, a unity representative of the inter-Triune unity of God, is what we ought to seek – and what we will achieve by the grace of God. The purpose of redemption is to display the glory of the true nature of the triune God – and we have been given the astonishing privilege of showing the divine nature to the unbelieving world. But how will we do this, if we are divided among ourselves? Is Christ divided? Is there no love between the Father, Son, and Spirit? We have been given the very glory of God; God’s Spirit has breathed into us His love and is forming within us the image of Christ. Let us display the love and unity with which we have been blessed. In this way, Jesus will gather the full fruits of His already-finished work.

  6. V24-26 – V24 is the culmination of this great prayer. We see the basis for Jesus’ prayer, the subject of Jesus’ prayer, and the focus of Jesus’ prayer. When Jesus says, “I want those You have given Me to be with Me,” He is revealing that He understands His role as Mediator, and He is praying to the Father with that as the basis, or at least one of the bases, for appealing to God. Another basis is also revealed here. Jesus can make this request of the Father on the basis of the Father’s love for Him, that eternal love. So Jesus’ divinely ordained role and certainty of loving support from the Father serve as the motives for this prayer.

    We also see the subject of this prayer – those the Father has given Jesus. This prayer is not for all men everywhere, nor for the world. It is limited to the elect. And this prayer can serve as our basis for missions. Think about fulfilling these words. What effect should Jesus’ prayer on behalf of His elect have on us this evening? It should promote humility. Those of us who believe are the Father’s gift of love to His Son. You are the Father’s gift to His Son. It should promote dignity. Have you ever been excited to hear that someone is praying for you? Well no one should excite you in this regard like Jesus. He has been praying for you, and He’s doing it now. You are precious in value. Have you ever told someone you’d pray for them and then forgot to do it? I have; I do it all the time. But Jesus never forgets, because you are of utmost value to Him. You have dignity. Finally, it should promote stability. When Jesus prays, He loses none. Of all the millions that His Father in heaven has gifted to His Son, He has lost none of them. Your on firm and solid ground; He’s got you and me brothers in His hands. No one can snatch us away – because He prays.

    Finally, note the focus of Jesus’ prayer from v24. “I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory.” The answer to the question, “Where is heaven?” is this: Heaven is wherever Jesus is. Think back to the beginning of John 13. In My Father’s house are many rooms. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will return for you, that you may be with Me, where I am. Jesus is praying here for the sanctification of His people. See v17. We can’t be with Jesus where He is while we are sinful. We must be made holy – sanctified. What does Jesus want from you? He wants you to be holy. Jesus is also praying here for our perseverance. In this world, we will have trouble. Jesus prays that we will be preserved and sanctified through these troubles. Romans 5:1-11 comes to mind again. Suffering brings perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope. Hope does not disappoint.

    Finally, Jesus’ glory has shone through a little bit here and there during His earthly ministry. But Jesus’ prayer is like this: “I want them to see Me as I really am, I want them to see Me in My glory, I in You, and You in Me, and Us in the Spirit, the glorious Trinity.” That’s what Jesus wants for us. Do you see what that’s saying to us? If glory is our destiny, if that is what God is preparing for us, that we might behold that vision of Jesus in all His glory, and share in it, shouldn’t we be preparing ourselves for that? Shouldn’t we be praying and living for that?

    This final segment of Jesus’ prayer is so deep and rich to do it justice tonight. Jesus sums everything up with a request that is the very essence and soul of the gospel and Christianity, what we were saved for – what constitutes salvation itself, and eternal life: and that is, that we, who have believed in Him, might be brought to be with Him, and to see His glory. There is no joy, no life, no good thing at all, apart from seeing the glory of Christ. People who speak of salvation and think only of escape from hell, and nothing of the wonder of seeing Christ’s glory, are self-deluded, and know nothing of salvation at all. Heaven will be a place for those who delight in seeing Christ. In fact, true salvation is nothing more than seeing Christ in all His glory. If He were not divinely great and majestic, we would soon be bored with the sight of Him, for God has placed eternity in our hearts, so that only infinite greatness can thrill us forever (Ecclesiastes 3:11). But if He were not meek and gentle, we would rather run to hell than stand before His righteous might, weak and sinful as we are. Show me Your glory! Send down Your presence. I want to see Your face. I can’t go on without You Lord.

Footnotes

  1. 17:6 Greek your name; also in verse 26
  2. 17:17 Greek hagiazo (set apart for sacred use or make holy); also in verse 19


Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

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