John 17:1-19

Read John 17:1-19 Jesus prays for the disciples, that the Father will sanctify them as he sends them into the world

This prayer is sometimes called the “high priestly prayer”: Jesus praying for his disciples and us as the high priest interceded for the people.

In verses 1-2, Jesus prays for things that, from our perspective now, have already happened.  What was the result?  How did each of these requests turn out?

• How did the Father give glory to his Son?

• How did the Son glorify the Father?

• How do we see the Son having authority over all people?

• How did, or does, the Son give eternal life to everyone whom the Father gave, or gives, to the Son?

Verse 3, or perhaps just the phrase “Jesus Christ,” may have been added by John, since Jesus does not refer to himself as “Jesus Christ” anywhere else.

Verse 3 is a different way of summarizing what eternal life is.  What does verse 3 say that eternal life is?

Since verse 3 tells us that eternal life is “knowing” God and “knowing” Jesus Christ, that means that eternal life is not simply a place in heaven or a spiritual condition: eternal life is having a relationship in which we know the Father and the Son.  How does this insight that eternal life involves a relationship with God affect your thinking about eternal life?

In verse 4, Jesus says that he glorified the Father by completing the work the Father gave him to do.  This is a good way of evaluating ourselves as well.  How do we glorify God – by completing the work God has given us to do.  What is the work God has given you to do, and what progress are you making in completing it?

In verse 5, Jesus makes another explicit statement of his divinity, saying that he was with the Father in glory before the world began.  This means that he let go of the glory he already had in his divine state, in order to achieve his goal of saving us.  What does this tell us about Jesus?

In verses 6-8, Jesus describes the disciples.

• Where did the disciples come from?

• Who did they belong to?

• What is their relationship with Jesus?

• What do they now know, and what did they do to reach that state?

In verse 6, when Jesus says he revealed the name of God, he could be referring to his use of the “I AM” for himself as co-equal with God; but more likely the point he is making is that he has revealed the nature of God: who God is.

In verse 9, Jesus begins to pray for the disciples.  He begins by saying that they belong to the Father and to him (the Son), because everything that is the Father’s is his and everything that is the Father’s (verse 10).  He adds, “And I have been glorified in them.”  How is Jesus glorified in the disciples?

Jesus then notes that he will no longer be in the world, but they will.  So in verse 11 he asks the Father to “keep them in your name”?  What does it mean to keep them “in your name”?

The name represents the whole person.  Some people have jobs where they act in the name of their boss.  “In your name” here suggests that he is asking the Father to help the disciples to live in a manner consistent with the nature and character of God and according to the faith he has taught them, so that they are always act in accordance with his ways.

At the end of verse 11, Jesus identifies a goal: that the disciples “might be one, as we are.”  What would that kind of unity look like, among the disciples?

In verse 13, Jesus suddenly, surprisingly, interjects the word “joy.”  He has just mentioned his betrayer in verse 12, and in verse 14 he will say that the world hates them.  So where is there room for joy?  What is there to be joyful about?

Looking at verse 14, why does the world hate the disciples?

The disciples are in the world, but Jesus says in verse 14 and again in verse 16 that they do not belong to the world.  What does that mean?

In verse 15, Jesus says he is not asking the Father to remove the disciples from the world.  Why not?  Hy doesn’t God just take us out of this fallen world?

Since Jesus wants the Father to leave the disciples in the world, what does he ask the Father to do for them in verse 15?

We pray, almost exactly the same thing in the Lord’s Prayer: "Deliver us from evil."  In practical terms, what are we asking for when we pray that?

In verse 17, Jesus has more to ask from the Father.  He says, “Sanctify them (or consecrate them) in the truth.”  What does it mean to sanctify something or something, or for someone to be consecrated?

To sanctify is to make holy.  The Greek word used here is hagiazon, from the root word hagios, which means holy, set apart, sacred, devoted to the gods (or, in our case, to God).  We see the root word in the name of the ancient church known as the Hagia Sophia – “Holy Wisdom” – in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople).  The corresponding Latin word for holy is sanctus/sancta, from which we get our word “saint.”  A person is consecrated when they are wholly set apart for a holy purpose.

Jesus desires the same thing for us.  How can we live lives that are holy and consecrated or set apart to fulfill God’s purposes?

Considering that the word “holy” or “sanctified” can mean “set apart” for an intended purpose, if we are sanctified, what are we “set apart” from?

In verse 17, Jesus’s prayer asks that the disciples be sanctified “in truth,” and Jesus adds that God’s word is truth.  How does the truth help to sanctify us and make us holy?

How does God’s word help to sanctify us and make us holy?

In verse 18, Jesus says that, as he was sent into the world, he also sends the disciples into the world.  What does he mean?

How are we also “sent into the world” by Jesus?  And as people who are “sent,” what are we called to do?

How can we faithfully live in the world as people who are sanctified and consecrated and sent out into the world, but who do not belong to the world?

What does this passage call you to do, at this particular moment in your life?

Take a step back and consider this:

Although in some ways the calling of the first disciples was unique, every generation needs people who live for Jesus and recognize that God has sent them into their part of the world to make the truth and character of Jesus known.

We are not saved to sit; we are saved to be sent.  Being “sent” does not necessarily mean to some far-off country.  God desires to use us where we are, to bring his name, his character, his truth, his wisdom, his peace, and his hope to every situation we find ourselves in.

In order to do this fully, we must be consecrated to God – not in the sense of a formal ordination but in a personal commitment to our calling to be set apart and used for God’s holy purposes.

Are there ways that you are at risk of becoming complacent in your faith, looking mainly for how it can feed and comfort you and giving less attention to how you are called into the world to make the truth and character of Jesus present in the lives of others?

Alternatively, are you deeply involved in trying to make a difference in your world and need a reminder that being “sent” means that there is a power behind that sent you and that you are not alone and not expected to produce fruit by your own power?

In either case, verse 19 may be helpful.  Jesus says, “I consecrate myself so that they may be sanctified (or consecrated ) in truth.”  The process starts with Jesus.  He has taken the initiative.  He has acted first.  He is the source of our consecration.  He is the source of our sanctification.  He is the source of our truth.  How can you draw closer to Jesus as you go forth, so that you are more able to be wholly dedicated to the work he has set before you?