John 17
The High Priestly Prayer
1Jesus said these things, then lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;
2even as you gave him authority over all flesh, so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
3This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
4I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
5Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
6“I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.
7Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,
8for the words which you have given me I have given to them; and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.
9I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
10All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. I have kept those whom you have given me. None of them is lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
14I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one.
16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.
18As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world.
19For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
20“Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word,
21that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
22The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one,
23I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me.
24Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.
26I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Jesus offers his High Priestly Prayer, interceding with the Father on behalf of his disciples before his crucifixion. He prays first for his own glorification through the cross, then for his disciples' protection and sanctification in the world, and finally for all future believers who will come to faith through their witness. This intimate prayer reveals Jesus' divine relationship with the Father and his deep concern for the unity, holiness, and mission of his followers.
Context
This prayer concludes Jesus' farewell discourse (chapters 14-16) and precedes his arrest and crucifixion in chapter 18.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-5Jesus Prays for His Own GlorificationJesus asks the Father to glorify him through the cross, having completed his earthly work.
- 6-8Jesus Reports on His MinistryJesus describes how he has revealed the Father to his disciples and they have received his words.
- 9-19Jesus Prays for His DisciplesJesus intercedes for his disciples' protection, unity, joy, and sanctification as they remain in the world.
- 20-26Jesus Prays for Future BelieversJesus extends his prayer to include all who will believe through the disciples' testimony, emphasizing unity and glory.
The High Priestly Prayer
17:1–17:26Jesus prays to the Father for his own glorification and for the protection, unity, and sanctification of his disciples, asking that they be kept from evil while remaining in the world.
person_contrast
Jesus uses the word "glory" (δόξα) seven times in this prayer—more than in any other single discourse—transforming it from divine attribute into relational exchange between Father and Son.
John 17:1
Mark 13:32lexical“But of that day or that hour no one knows—not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
John 12:23lexicalJesus answered them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Hebrews 5:5lexicalSo also Christ didn’t glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I…
Matthew 5:16lexicalEven so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
John 12:28lexicalFather, glorify your name!” Then a voice came out of the sky, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it agai…
John 17:2
Galatians 6:8lexicalFor he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit…
John 6:54lexicalHe who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 12:50lexicalI know that his commandment is eternal life. The things therefore which I speak, even as the Father has said to me, so I…
John 10:28lexicalI give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
1 John 5:11lexicalThe testimony is this: that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
John 17:5
Ephesians 1:4lexicaleven as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in lo…
John 13:1lexicalNow before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the…
John 8:54lexicalJesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is…
John 17:8
1 Thessalonians 2:13lexicalFor this cause we also thank God without ceasing that when you received from us the word of the message of God, you acce…
John 3:34lexicalFor he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.
Mark 12:2lexicalWhen it was time, he sent a servant to the farmer to get from the farmer his share of the fruit of the vineyard.
John 16:27lexicalfor the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God.
John 17:11
James 1:27lexicalPure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, a…
John 15:10lexicalIf you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his…
Revelation 3:8lexical“I know your works (behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut), that you have a little power, an…
Ephesians 1:4lexicaleven as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in lo…
John 17:12
John 18:9lexicalthat the word might be fulfilled which he spoke, “Of those whom you have given me, I have lost none.”
Revelation 3:8lexical“I know your works (behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut), that you have a little power, an…
John 16:24lexicalUntil now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.
John 17:13
John 15:11lexicalI have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.
2 John 1:12lexicalHaving many things to write to you, I don’t want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and to speak fac…
John 17:23
John 14:31lexicalBut that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let’s go from h…
1 John 4:17lexicalIn this, love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even s…
John 17:24
1 Peter 1:20lexicalwho was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake,
Ephesians 1:4lexicaleven as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in lo…
John 13:1lexicalNow before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the…
John 3:16lexicalFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have ete…
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