How is it possible that the people of God can ever make it safely through the tumultuous waves of sin, sorrow, and Satan? Many times we wonder how the church can continue amid the attacks and the sin around and in us. It is an absolute impossibility from man's side. Only from God's side can her preservation be explained – specifically through the work and prayer of Christ, the Mediator. He glorified His Father on the earth, and earned a complete redemption for the whole church of all times and places.

Christ prays in John 17 as the Son of God in our nature, the second Adam, the Lord of heaven. His prayer is gloriously answered in the glorification of Himself and the final glorification of all His people. In fact, this is the focus of the whole prayer: He asks for this glory of God for Himself (vv. 1-5), for His disciples (vv. 6-19), and for all His future disciples as well (vv. 20-26).

Glory for Himself⤒🔗

This prayer is mysterious. Though He speaks consciously of His death on the cross, Christ mentions neither the words cross or death, and makes no reference to the great wickedness of people that will be evidenced in and around His cross. Even though great suffering awaits Him and His mind is deeply troubled, He cares for His children so much that He prays for their safekeeping and their glory through Him. The Darling of heaven, the Glory of eternity, prays that He would have what He had before the world began, and that He would have His people as well. Amazingly, He prays for those who, when it comes down to it, took His glory away from Him.

If Adam had withstood the temptation in Paradise and beaten the sly serpent who tempted him to fall, he might also have been able to have prayed something like this: "Glorify me." He would have earned a final state of glorification for himself, Eve, and all his posterity, because he would have conquered the temptation. But Adam failed and so could never rightly pray this prayer. Glory was taken from him and all his descendants. He had failed to glorify God, and therefore he and his descendants failed at the purpose for which they were made.

On the basis of the work He will accomplish, Christ prays: "Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee" (v. 1). The Father and the Son will now be glorified by the work of Christ, and His sacrifice for the sinful world. The Son cannot glorify Himself, but the Son will glorify the Father, and the Father will glorify the Son.

While Christ is praying for the Father to glorify Him, He shows us what it means to truly live. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (v. 3). Only when we know God are we truly alive, forever. No wonder that Christ had a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in doing what God gave Him to do. "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do" (v. 4). His mission was accomplished! "For the joy that was set before him (He) endured the cross, despising the shame" (Heb. 12:2). That's the attitude we see in this prayer. He has the joy before Him; despite the terrible suffering that awaits Him, He sees the glory through it all.

Glory for His Disciples←⤒🔗

Christ stands on the threshold of His own sacrifice, but He holds His church close to His heart. He knows all that awaits His people, and He knows they are weak in themselves. The world will want to draw them away from their mission. Like a wolf, Satan will want to use the physical absence of Christ to try to snatch a few sheep, especially some of the weak ones.

Christ's prayer provides, first of all, an explanation of how they became His disciples. It all happened because God the Father gave these people to Christ (v. 6). They are His own. Christ revealed the Father's name to them, and these disciples have kept the Father's word. What a glorious view of the people of God, so weak, helpless, and foolish from their side! Even more astounding is the fact that we hear Christ saying that He is glorified in them (v. 10). That's not what it looks like from the outside, but Christ sees perfectly.

Secondly, Christ's prayer for His disciples focuses on two specific points. First, their preservation: "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me" (v. 11). Christ knows the threats and the weakness of His disciples. He puts them into the strong arms of His Father, that He might preserve, hold, love, and cherish them. "They are thine and all mine are thine," Christ says (vv. 10-11). If it weren't enough to belong to Him as Son of God, Christ's people belong also to the Father! Such safe-keeping is a great comfort for believers. Satan and evil can't touch them, since they are Christ's.

Next, Christ prays for their sanctification. Remarkably, Christ says, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world" (v. 15). Christ wants us to be in the world, though not of it. He wants us to be a visible demonstration of His work in us in the midst of a dark world. His glory must now shine through the works of His children. What will sanctify them? God's Word, His truth (vv. 17, 19).

Christ prays for the preservation and sanctification of His people because His glory will be manifest in them as they live in this world. Those around them will see as His disciples experience His joy. "These things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves" (v. 13). God's people are preserved by God and consecrated to Him, and thus they can be joyful even in the midst of suffering and great sacrifice. They can have Christ's own joy! This is not a joy that the world knows, for the world sees joy related to certain circumstances. The joy of the Lord is a joy that is fixed in God.

Sometimes we wonder how the church of Jesus Christ could thrive throughout the centuries after the death of Christ. It is because the Father heard the prayer which Christ prays here. This prayer is certainly answered as the Father upholds the church, keeps them safe in this world, and protects them from the deadly hands of Satan.

Glory for All His Future People←⤒🔗

All believers of all times and places were in the heart of Jesus and on His lips as He prayed this prayer of consecration. "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word" (v. 20). Though He is about to suffer, Christ has all His people on His heart. This shows His great care and concern for them – not just for their physical protection but all their needs. It is like Christ finds it difficult to part from His children, leaving them by themselves. He prays for them with all His heart, knowing that the Father will hear.

Christ's mission will continue through His disciples. Many Jews and Gentiles will believe through the testimony of the original disciples. Christ's desire is that they may be one, united in Him. This unity doesn't mean a unifor­mity or an institutional unity, but that all the divisions that come about through pride, error, prejudice, selfishness, and lovelessness will not triumph. In this vein, Paul instructed us to "keep the unity in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3). We don't need to construct this unity; it is already there, even when we don't see it. For Christ, this unity is so important that we need to make sure we guard it, and treasure it, and uphold it. Where it has broken down, we need to remove the causes through forgiveness, peace, and love, and fervent prayer. Whenever we sense true unity in Christ, despite many outward differences, we ought to see it as an answer to Christ's prayer for unity. He wants us to know the unity that the Father, Son, and Spirit have in love, and to share in that (v. 23, 26). We are His own, and Christ still prays for us to the Father. We are safe, in His arms, forever.

Questions←⤒🔗

1. What is eternal life, according to verse 3? How is this understanding of eternal life richer than what we typically think of?
2. Why is glorifying God so important? How did Christ do what we failed to do? How do we again glorify Him through Christ?
3. How can Christ's prayer give us a view of what we need to be in the world (vv. 15-16)? Why did He not pray that the Father would take us out of the world? Is the world then not a threat?
4. How does truth sanctify us (v. 17)? What does this look like practically?
5. Why is being "one" (v. 21) so important to Jesus? What did he pray for when he prayed that "they may be one"?