Bible Study John 17
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John 17 · WEB

Jesus' High Priestly Prayer

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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Jesus said these things, then lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;
2even as you gave him authority over all flesh, so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
3This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
4I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
5Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
6I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.
7Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,
8for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.
9I pray for them. I don't pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
10All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
14I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one.
16They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.
17Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.
18As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world.
19For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
20Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who believe in me through their word,
21that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
22The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one;
23I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me.
24Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25Righteous Father, the world hasn't known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.
26I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them."
✶

Summary

Jesus prays aloud to the Father in the hearing of his disciples — first for himself, that the Father would glorify him as the hour of the cross arrives; then for his disciples, that the Father would keep them, sanctify them in the truth, and protect them from the evil one as he sends them into the world; and finally for all who would later believe through their word, that they would be one as the Father and Son are one. The unity he prays for is missional — its purpose is "that the world may believe that you sent me" — and the prayer ends with his longing that his people see his eternal glory and share the love the Father has had for him since before creation.

Themes

  • The mutual glory of the Father and the Son
  • Eternal life as relational knowledge of God
  • The Father's keeping power over Jesus' disciples
  • Sanctification by the Word of truth
  • Christian unity as a missionary witness

Key verses

  • John 17:11 — “Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.”
  • John 17:17 — “Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.”
  • John 17:21 — “That they may all be one... that the world may believe that you sent me.”
  • John 17:3 — “This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”

Context & background

Likely prayed in or near Jerusalem (modern Israel), possibly in the Kidron Valley or near the entrance to Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, Thursday night before the crucifixion, c. AD 30. This is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus and has been called the "High Priestly Prayer" since the time of the Reformer John Calvin, because in it Jesus mediates for his people as the great High Priest the night before he offers himself as the sacrifice. The threefold structure — for himself (vv. 1-5), his disciples (vv. 6-19), and future believers (vv. 20-26) — mirrors a priest interceding for the people on the Day of Atonement. "The son of destruction" (v. 12) refers to Judas. The unity Jesus prays for (vv. 21-23) is not organizational but the shared life of love and truth grounded in the unity of the Father and Son.

Cross-references

  • 1 John 1:3 — "Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son" — the relational knowledge of v. 3 in apostolic experience.
  • 2 Thessalonians 2:3 — Paul borrows the same phrase "son of destruction" for the man of lawlessness.
  • Ephesians 4:1-6 — Paul's plea for unity grounded in "one body, one Spirit, one Lord" echoes Jesus' prayer.
  • Hebrews 7:24-25 — Jesus "always lives to make intercession for them" — the prayer of John 17 becomes the ongoing ministry of the risen Christ.
  • Psalm 41:9 / John 13:18 — The "son of destruction" reference connects to Judas' betrayal.

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    How does Jesus define eternal life in this prayer?

  2. Observe

    In the third section of the prayer (vv. 20-26), what specific outcome does Jesus say the unity of his people is meant to produce?

  3. Interpret

    How does Jesus' definition of eternal life as "knowing" God differ from the common assumption that eternal life is simply about living forever?

  4. Interpret

    What kind of unity is Jesus praying for in verses 20-23, and how is it grounded?

  5. Apply

    Jesus prays that the Father would "keep them from the evil one" in the world rather than take them out of it (v. 15). What does this say about how Christians should relate to the world around them?

  6. Apply

    Jesus prays "Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth" (v. 17). If God's word is the primary instrument of sanctification, what does that imply for how a believer should treat Scripture?

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