Jesus Prays for the Disciples

John 17:6-12

What do you tell someone who says, “If God already knows what I need, then why do I need to pray?”

In the final hours of His life, The Messiah, the Savior of the world, someone with the power to do anything He thought necessary and needed to be done, choose to pray.

That tells us just how important prayer is to God. Prayer is not just something we are commanded to do but, it is a privilege given to the children of God. It is the way we communicate with the Father who wants to hear our concerns, listen to us confess our sins, voice our complaints, and thank Him for His provisions.

We are studying the Lord’s prayer in John 17. It is often referred to as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus and is the longest recorded prayer of His public ministry.

Jesus is praying a loud, before His disciples, so they can hear His prayer and record it for us. There is so much we learn from this prayer about the relationship between the Father and the Son, the relationship between Jesus and the disciples, the relationship He wants them to have with each other.

Last week we studied Vs. 1-5. We seen Jesus praying for Himself. We talked about the timing of His prayer in Vs. 1. He said, “the hour is come,” pointing us to the cross and the completion of His mission in the world.

At the end of Vs. 1 we saw the request of His prayer. He asked the Father to glorify Him, so that in return, He could glorify the Father. And truly they were both glorified by the work of redemption, that took place in the cross and the resurrection.

In Vs. 2-4 we saw the foundation for Jesus request. He had been given authority to grant eternal life to all the Father had given Him.

Then finally in Vs. 5 Jesus repeats His request for glory on this time He is asking to be restored to the glory He shared with the Father in eternity.

That brings us to our passage tonight. In Vs. 6-19 Jesus prays for His disciples, but I choose specifically to look at Vs. 6-12, and see what we can learn from this prayer.

John 17:6–12 KJV

I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Background and Context

Who is talking in this passage?

Who is He talking to?

What is He saying?

Where is He saying it?

When is He saying it?

It is the middle of the night, Jesus and His eleven remaining disciples are on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He will be arrested, put on trial, and crucified, within hours.

He has already announced to them, one will betray Him, Peter will deny Him, and the others will abandon Him. He has told them He will be leaving this world.

But He has also filled them with promises, He is going to prepare a place for them, the Holy Spirit will be coming to them, and He will return.

Now, with nothing left to say, all instructions have been given, He turns to the Father in prayer. He intercedes for His disciples and in the same way He intercedes for us today.

I. Jesus prays for His disciples because they are gifts from God.

Right away in this passage we learn the disciples belong to the Father and were gifted to Jesus.

Look at the beginning of Vs. 6, “I have manifested thy name unto the men, “which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me;”

How did Jesus manifest the name of the Father to the disciples?

The word “Manifest” means to reveal or make known. And the phrase “Your name” we commonly see throughout John’s gospel speaks of a persons nature or character, and in this case we are talking about God the Father.

Jesus in His incarnation revealed the very Character and nature of the Father to these men, but not only these men but to all who witnessed Him. In fact, He still reveals the character and nature of God to us today through the scriptures.

John 14:8–9 “Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

John 1:18 “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

Now, look at Vs. 6 again, “I have manifested thy name unto the men, “which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me;”

Notice Jesus is speaking in the past tense here.: “Thine they were.” When did they belong to the Father?

In one sense all men and women belong to God because He is the Creator. John 1:9 “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.”

But to be given to Christ, means they were chosen for redemption. They have been set apart from the world and chosen by the Father.

This speaks of divine election. Remember John 15:16 when Jesus said, ““You did not choose Me but I chose you.” Truly they had been chosen by the Father.

It was God who gave Jesus the believers who were shown and taught about the Father. God in His sovereignty led Jesus and the disciples together. He stirred the hearts of the first believers to follow Him. They learned of God-of His person and nature, of His love and salvation- because God drew them to His Son.

We learn from John 6:44 that a person must be drawn by God, to come to Jesus. It is the doctrine of predestination that is just as true for us today: everyone whose name is written in the Lamb’s book of life is chosen by God. Rev. 20:12-15.

So, we see Jesus praying for His disciples because they were gifts from the Father.

How should we as believers react to the fact that we are gifts to Jesus from the Father?

II. Jesus prayed for His disciples because of their response to the Word.

In these next few verses we see Jesus having confidence in the disciples because of their response to the Word of God.

Look at the end of Vs. 6 -8, they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

According to the end of Vs. 6, what did the disciples do?

The word “kept” means they guarded and protected the Word. In other words, these men obeyed and did exactly what Jesus commanded them.

That is an interesting statement to me. Because Jesus knows Peter is going to deny Him. The rest of the disciples will abandon Him. Yet, ultimately God will use these men in a powerful way to become faithful.

That tells me there is hope for all of us who fail God. If Jesus can speak of these men, as keeping guard of the Word of God knowing how they will fail in just a few hours, there is hope for all of us, because Jesus doesn’t just look at where we are in our walk, but He looks at the potential of what we can become.

John 17:7 says, “Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.”

What do you think all things is referring to?

What had the disciples seen?

The Father had given Jesus the power to heal the sick, cleanse the Leper and raise the dead. He had the power to love and accept people the world had rejected.

Think about the woman at the well who had five husbands. Think about the woman caught in adultery the Jews wanted to stone. Remember the demoniac who was out of his mind, living in the tombs until he met Jesus.

The disciples had witnessed the power of God in Jesus Christ and now, they understood, this was no magic show. This was the divine attributes of God at work in His Son. Now the disciples had confidence in Christ and Christ had confidence in the disciples.

That phrase “now they have come to know” stands out to me. Because before now, the disciples had very little understanding. Time and time again Jesus would say, “O ye of little faith, and have you become so dull in your hearing.”

But now, Jesus has confidence in them. They have an understanding they didn’t have before. And notice it was specifically that Jesus was the Son Of God. That all things which He had were given by God.

Then Jesus gives us the reason He has such confidence in the disciples. Look at Vs. 8, “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.”

What did Jesus give them?

Where did these words come from?

How did the disciples respond to them?

The words the Father gave me, means the message, the teaching of the gospel. Specifically, that Jesus is the Son of God, sent into the world by the Father, to deliver and redeem His people.

Notice the disciples responded in three ways to that message. They recieved them They “have known surely” which means they understood, and they believed.

The word “receive” means to take away with or to get a hold of. It suggests they did more than just hear what Jesus said, they took it to heart.

The phrase “ have known surely” Means they understood it, and have resolve in what Jesus was teaching them. They were sure of it. They now knew His origin: He had come out from God.

And the word “believe” means to entrust ones self to Christ. It is more than a mental ascent. They trusted and had confidence in who Jesus was.

They believed God had sent Him, and that He had come forth as an Ambassador of God to proclaim salvation to the world.

Jesus had been teaching them this from the beginning. John 6:38 ““For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

BTW, This is the place we all must come to as disciples of Christ. We must take up the message of Christ to ourselves-understand it with resolve and confidence, and trust it with our heart. Believing is more than head knowledge all though it requires it, but it should affect our heart and be evident in our life.

How can we grow closer to God and have more confidence in Christ? By keeping the Word, receiving it, understanding it and believing it.

So, we have seen Christ praying for His disciples because they are gifts from the Father, and for their response to the Word.

II. Jesus prays for His disciples because they need protection in the world.

Here we see the exclusiveness of His prayer.

Look at Vs. 9-10, “I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.”

Who was Jesus not asking on behalf of? The world here is not speaking of creation as a whole but of people. It’s not that He and the Father do not love the world they do. John 3:16.

And it’s not that the world didn’t need prayer, it did. Jesus would pray for the forgiveness and conversion of men on the cross. Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

There are four reasons Jesus was exclusively praying for His disciples.

They had been given to Him by His Father. Vs. 9,” them which thou hast given me”

They were disciples of Christ but they were gifts from the Father and He was responsible for them, so He is asking the Father to give them special strength for the coming days.

2. The Disciples belonged to Both the Father and the Son.

Vs. 10 says, “all mine are thine, and thine are mine; ”

So, the disciples belonged to the Father, but all disciples of God, belong to Jesus. There is a mutual possession of all believers.

They both minister to us and are concerned over our lives, and because they are both concerned with us, Jesus can be our advocate. He can intercede for us with assurance.

That’s why He could say in John 10:29 ““My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

3. The third reason Jesus exclusively prayed for His disciples is because Vs. 10, “ He was glorified in them.”

They lived for Christ by obeying His Word and exalting Him before the world. They were faithful in proclaiming Him as the Savior. So, He is glorified, honored and praised in them. So, Jesus prayed for them exclusively, that they might become a strong witness for Him in the world; and they did.

4. The fourth reason Jesus prayed exclusively for His disciples was because He was leaving the world, and returning to the Father.

Look at Vs. 11, “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.”

Who was no longer in the world?

Jesus going away meant the whole mission of spreading the gospel was going to depend on His disciples. They were the ones who going to become the Ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.

They were going to need to be equipped and strengthened for the task because they were going to face incredible hostility from the world. And that why we see Jesus praying and asking God to keep them and protect them in His name.

The whole mission of God depended on their faithfulness and ability to persevere. So, they needed prayer.

In Matthew 28:19–20 Jesus gives the disciples their marching orders and our mission as a church. He says, ““Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

Notice also at the end of Vs. 11 Jesus calls for unity among believers. He says, “that they may be one, as we are.”

Just as the Father and the Son are one, we as the children of God are to be united as one. We are to seek to live in peace and harmony with each other. And not just with each other hear at North Country but with believers everywhere, all over the world.

What we need to recognize is this was on the heart of Christ on the night before the cross. This is of the upmost importance to the Son. Why? because He knew the divisiveness of the world we live in. He knew the divisiveness that lives in our heart. Jeremiah 17:9 ““The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”

So, Jesus prays for the hearts of the disciples then and now. For believers to be united in nature, character, and purpose.

A believer is a person who has been born again. 1 Peter 1:23 “for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”

A believer is someone who has been made a new creature 2 Cor. 5:17. A believer is someone who has become a partaker of the divine nature. 2 Peter 1:4.

The bible also refers to us as a new body of people, a new family, a new temple, a new race of people, the church. So, you can see how important our unity is to God. That means we cannot allow, grumbling, griping, complaining, criticizing, envying, and gossiping to infiltrate and take over our life.

Notice Vs. 12, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”

What did Jesus do while He was with them?

It is important we understand the keeping power of God does not mean that God delivers us from the trials we face in the world. It means that God delivers us through the trials we face in the world.

As believers we are guaranteed victory if we are believers in Christ for two reasons.

God is bound to answer the prayers of His Son.

The Father has given all believers to Christ.

This is a fact that is repeated six times in this chapter alone. Vs. 2, Vs. 6, Vs. 9, Vs. 11, Vs. 12, Vs. 24. God will absolutely allow nothing to separate a believer from Him.

Paul teaches us that in Romans 8:38–39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

According to John 17:12. How many of those the Father gave Jesus did He lose? Who is this referring to?

Why did He lose Him?

Jesus had been the good shepherd who took care of the Fathers sheep, but Judas was the exception. The “son of perdition” means the one doomed for destruction. The word perdition means ruin or wasted and that’s what Judas did with His life.

He was never a true sheep, he was a goat. The scripture he fulfilled points us to Psalm 41:9, Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.

This scripture was speaking of David being betrayed by a friend but has become a Messianic Psalm speaking of Jesus.

But the important lesson in this for us is even people, who are seemingly acting according to their own plans and will, are under the direction and influence of our sovereign God.

So, what do we take away from this scripture? Jesus prayer for the disciples is the same way He prays for us today. He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God forever interceding on our behalf.

He is praying for us to receive the Word, understand the Word, believe the Word and keep the Word.

He is praying for us to become united with the Father and Son in will and in purpose. He is praying we would become united with one another and become the church He wants us to be, and continue the mission of Christ in the world.

The mission of sharing Christ with our words and our life, the story of the redeemed. The mission of glorifying Christ in the world.