John 17:1-26

Third Section: 17:1-26. The Prayer.

The shout of victory with which Jesus closed His conversations with the disciples was an anticipation of faith. To transform the victory which was announced into a present reality, nothing less was needed than the action of the omnipotence of God. It is to Him that Jesus turns.

This prayer is ordinarily divided into three parts: 1. The prayer for His own person, John 17:1-5; John 2. The prayer for His apostles, John 17:6-19; John, 3. The prayer for the Church, John 17:20-26. And this is indeed the course of the prayer. But the thought is one: when Jesus prays for Himself, it is not His own person that He has in view, it is the work of God (see on John 17:1-2); when He prays for His apostles, He commends them to God as agents and continuers of this work; and when He extends His regard to all believers present or future, it is as if to the objects of this work, in other terms because these souls are the theatre where the glory of His Father is to shine forth; for His work and the glory of the Father are for Him one and the same thing. The framework of the prayer is accordingly that which is indicated by the generally adopted division, but the single thought is that of the work of Christ, or the glory of the Father. This prayer is thus throughout an inspiration of the filial heart of Jesus.

This prayer is more than a simple meditation. Jesus had acted (ch. 13) and spoken (chs. 14-16); now He uses the form of language which is, at the same time, word and act: He prays. But He does not only pray, He prays aloud; and this proves that, while speaking to God, He speaks also for those who surround Him; not to show them how He prays, but to associate them in the intimate communion which He maintains with His Father, and to induce them to pray with Him. It is an anticipated realization of that communion in glory which He asks for them in John 17:24: “ That they may behold the glory which thou hast given me; that where I am, they also may be with me. ” He lifts them to the divine sphere where He Himself lives.

This prayer has been called sacerdotal. This is, indeed, the act of the High-Priest of mankind, who begins His sacrifice by offering Himself to God with all His people present and future.