The High Priestly Prayer

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Introduction

Briefly introduce the context: Jesus’ farewell discourse (John 13–16) leads to His high-priestly prayer (John 17).

This idea is tied to the Jewish tradition, but it would be more sensible to call it a Pastoral Prayer. Maybe even a prayer of consecration.

We don’t have good answers as to where this prayer took place, whether the Upper Room following John 13, or maybe at the temple, or maybe on the way to Gethsemane.

Unlike OT priests who offered sacrifices yearly, Jesus offers Himself and prays for His people (Heb. 7:25).

Jesus Prays with Authority

John 17:1–2 HCSB

Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said: Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You, for You gave Him authority over all flesh; so He may give eternal life to all You have given Him.

Jesus knows two things that we see at the beginning of the prayer:

He’s the Son and God is the Father.

"The hour has come" – Jesus’ crucifixion is the moment of His glorification (John 12:23-24).

Glorification requires a sustaining power that the man Jesus, the human Jesus, didn’t have.

As High Priest, He has authority to intercede (Heb. 5:5-6).

The purpose of the request was that the Father would be glorified by the Son, that God’s wisdom, power, and love might be known through Jesus.

It is important for us to the mutual glorification in these verses. Jesus glorification will bring honor to the Father. This mutuality is possible because God has given Jesus authority over all people (all flesh in verse 2) to give the life of the age to come which God has given Him.

B. His Work of Redemption (vv. 2-4)

As the High Priest, Jesus has authority over the redemption.

As the high priest had authority over sacrifices and atonement in the Old Testament, Jesus has true authority over redemption.

He gives eternal life (v. 2) – the goal of His priesthood (Heb. 9:12).

He defines eternal life as knowing God (v. 3) – relational, not just doctrinal.

He completes the Father’s mission (v. 4) – the perfect obedience of our High Priest (Heb. 10:5-10).

C. His Shared Glory with the Father (v. 5)

Jesus’ pre-existent glory (Phil. 2:6-11) is restored through the cross.

If you connect John 16 and 17, you see Jesus’ focus on the return to an Eden, a perfect state. But His prayer isn’t just about himself.

Transition: Jesus’ prayer reveals His heart for His people.

Jesus Prays for His People

A. He Prays for Those Given to Him (vv. 6-8)

John 17:6–8 HCSB

I have revealed Your name to the men You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they know that all things You have given to Me are from You, because the words that You gave Me, I have given them. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from You. They have believed that You sent Me.

They belong to the Father (v. 6) and have received Christ’s word (v. 7).

Jesus prays for His disciples, who God gave to Him. In John, the words name and glory are used interchangeably. This was also a common priestly connection going back to Moses.

God’s glory was revealed to Moses in terms of God’s name, which implies His character, eternal existence, and work of salvation. And, He is still using His name to reveal Himself today.

In the OT, God’s name dwelt in the temple, along with His glory. It filled the temple in 1 Kings 8:10-11.

Jesus made known God’s name in the sense He revealed Himself as the temple where God put His glory.

Their faith is evidence of His effective priesthood (Heb. 7:25).

B. He Prays for Their Preservation (vv. 9-11)

Jesus commends His disciples for understanding God as the origin of all gifts, and one of the greatest gifts Jesus gave those disciples were His words because they were God’s words.

Jesus intercedes specifically for His disciples (v. 9), not the world (cf. His prophetic role for the world).

Jesus’ prayer is focused on the disciples because they are ones that have covenanted with Him. They are the ones whom God has declared His, and by design, also Christ’s. They, and us, His people today, have been grafted into the life-giving fountain of Christ and from Him we draw our strength, our identity, our purpose and our love.

But why not pray for the world? Its because the world is in rebellion against Him! Why would He pray to preserve something that is in rebellion against Him? No,

His prayer is for the ones whom He called and sent into the rebellion that they would be empowered to share the Gospel, breaking through the rebellion.

Jesus’ recognized that the disciples belonged to God, and His prayer reveals the unity of God the Father and God the Son.

John 17:10 HCSB

Everything I have is Yours, and everything You have is Mine, and I have been glorified in them.

the disciples brought glory to God through their believing relationship, about who God is, about who Jesus is, and about each other.

Peace in Unity

He prays for their unity (v. 11) – a mark of His priestly care (John 10:28-29).

Do we seek unity with the same end - that God would be glorified through unity? When people outside of a group see a group, what do they think? I wonder how to get in? I wonder what they share in common? I wonder if they’ll let me in. Etc.

Jesus’ prayer is not one of desperation, like He doesn’t believe in God’s power to answer. But He does pray for protection. How He seeks protection is quite interesting:

John 17:11 HCSB

I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name that You have given Me, so that they may be one as We are one.

In verse 11, Jesus prays for two things: that God would “keep” his followers and that God would unite them. First, Jesus prays for our continued persistence in the truth. In essence, he asks for our protection. What a comfort to know that Jesus himself is praying for our safety and our endurance in him! Second, Jesus prays for unity amongst his followers.

The only way to secure real, meaningful unity in the church is by choosing to focus on the essentials of the apostolic proclamation.

and the kerygma of Christ—being careful not to get lost in secondary and tertiary items and unnecessary theological arguments that cause divisions and strife. The lack of unity in the church remains a scandal to the world. It is an insult to the Spirit of unity who unites Father and Son in eternity and reconciles God and the world in Christ.

7. Just as Christ intercedes for the church before God, so we are to intercede for others before God. Prayer should not involve petition alone, but also intercession.

III. Application: The Comfort of Christ’s Intercession

Challenge:

Are you relying on the power of Christ’s intercessory prayer?

For the Doubting: If you belong to Christ, He is praying for you (Luke 22:31-32).

For the Weary: His prayers uphold you in trials (Heb. 4:14-16).

For the Church: We reflect His glory as we walk in unity and mission (v. 11; John 13:35).