Jesus’s “high priestly prayer” in John 17 is worth a lifetime of reflection as we get to “listen in” to the Son’s prayers to his Father. I once tried to break down the petitions and organize them a bit:
| The Father Gave the Son… | John 17 |
|---|---|
| authority to give eternal life | v. 2 |
| people out of this world | vv. 2, 6, 9, 24 |
| work to accomplish | v. 4 |
| words | v. 8 |
| his name | vv. 11, 12 |
| glory | vv. 22, 24 |
| The Son Gives Believers… | John 17 |
|---|---|
| eternal life | v. 2 |
| Father’s word | vv. 8, 14 |
| manifestation of Father’s name | vv. 6, 22 |
| glory | v. 22 |
| The Son Asks the Father to… | John 17 |
|---|---|
| glorify him | vv. 1, 5 |
| keep believers in the Father’s name | v. 11 |
| keep believers from the evil one | v. 15 |
| sanctify believers in the truth | v. 17 |
| make believers one | v. 21 |
| Jesus’s Followers | John 17 |
|---|---|
| are sent into the world | v. 18 |
| are in the world | v. 11 |
| are not of the world | v. 16 |
| are hated by the world | v. 14 |
| have unity with each other and union with God—which may cause the world to believe that the Father sent the Son | v. 21 |
One of the things that Jesus teaches here is that various “indwellings” serves the cause of unity. For example:
- The Father is in the Son (John 17:21, 23)
- The Son is in the Father (John 17:21)
- Believers are in the Father and the Son (John 17:21)
- The Son is in believers (John 17:23, 26)
If we do not recognize that these are different sorts of “indwellings,” we’ll quick descend into heresy! But it still may be instructive to see this illustrated:
Jesus’s high priestly prayer is worthy of our greatest study, as we seek to learn from and imitate our great co-heir as he approaches our Father.
