How Jesus Prayed for You

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.