The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus

Easter 2025: The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus

John 17

Brother Eric    4/17/25

         In just a matter of hours before Jesus is betrayed, arrested, crucified, and abandoned by His disciples, all of which He knows is coming, He is with His disciples giving them encouragement for the rough road ahead.  We have in John chapter 17 the longest recorded prayer of our Lord.  He knew His disciples, His closest friends, would soon be suffering grief, fear, and doubt.  So, He prays for them … and not just for them but for us as well.  This is a prayer that echoes (reverberates) throughout time: His words don’t pass away (Matthew 24:35).  And He prays for us here today just as much as He did for His followers 2,000 years ago.  Starting at verse 1 of John 17 in the New Living Translation:

¹After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son so He can give glory back to You.  ²For You have given Him authority over everyone.  He gives eternal life to each one You have given Him.  ³And this is the way to have eternal life – to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one You sent to earth.  ⁴I brought glory to You here on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.  ⁵Now, Father, bring Me into the glory We shared before the world began.

            “…Before the world began …” there was Christ.  We have here a clear claim of deity straight from Jesus.  And the work He was given to do was to pay the price for the sins you and I (and everyone) have ever committed.  Because of His divinity, the value of His sacrifice is infinite.  No matter how high we rack up the bill of sin, Christ has it covered.  … Continuing from verse 6:

⁶”I have revealed You to the ones You gave Me from this world.  They were always Yours.  You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  ⁷Now they know that everything I have is a gift from You,  ⁸for I have passed on to them the message You gave Me.  They accepted it and know that I came from You, and they believe You sent Me.

            Jesus reaffirms the way to eternal life through a relationship with Him and the Father … and faith in Him, who He is, and His word.  He’s talking about His disciples here even though He knows they will soon be scattered and Peter would deny Him.  It wasn’t until after, when He sent the Holy Spirit, that they would really understand God’s true plan.  … God sees more in us than anyone, even ourselves, can see.  He sees our potential.   And when we believe, He sees in us His Son.   … Picking up at verse 9:

⁹”My prayer is not for the world, but for those You have given Me, because they belong to You.  ¹⁰All who are mine belong to You, and You have given them to Me, so they bring Me glory.  ¹¹Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to You.  Holy Father, You have given Me Your name; now protect them by the power of Your name so that they will be united just as We are.  ¹²During My time here, I protected them by the power of the name You gave Me.  I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.

¹³”Now I am coming to You.  I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with My joy.  ¹⁴I have given them Your word.  And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.  ¹⁵I’m not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.  ¹⁶They do not belong to this world any more than I do.

            Jesus prays for us, for all who believe and all who will ever believe.  Even if you don’t believe yet, He knows if you will one day and is praying for you.  He prays for our protection, that we won’t be corrupted by the world while we’re in it.  As believers, we’re not citizens of earth; we’re citizens of heaven, ambassadors here to grow in faith, sow the gospel, be the very hands of God, and to glorify Him by our lives in the midst of suffering, troubles, and persecution in this world that hates us.  James tells us that “the prayer of a righteous man avails much” (it has great power) and here, Jesus, who has the very righteousness of God, prays for us, for our protection.  So, let’s always remember and take comfort in that.   … Continuing from verse 17:

¹⁷Make them holy by Your truth; teach them Your word, which is truth.  ¹⁸Just as You sent Me into the world, I am sending them into the world.  ¹⁹And I give Myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by Your truth.

            ²⁰”I am praying not only for these disciples, but also for all who will ever believe in Me through their message.  ²¹I pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are one – as You are in Me, Father, and I am in You.  And may they be in us so that the world will believe You sent Me.

            ²²”I have given them the glory You gave Me, so they may be one as We are one.  ²³I am in them and You are in Me.  May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as You love Me.

            Jesus prays for unity amongst believers.  Together, joined by our own common faith, we are the church.  We are one tree, but there are many branches, many denominations, but as long as we hold to the truth, God’s word, that Jesus lived a sinless life, was crucified for our sins, and was raised and sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven, then we will prevail.  … In verse 24 He says:

                        ²⁴Father, I want those whom You have given Me to be with Me where I am.  Then, they can see all the glory You gave Me because You loved Me even before the world began!

            He wants us to be with Him in heaven, to be free from pain and hardship.  As Paul said, ‘to die is gain,” but we have God’s work to do here on earth for the time being.  … From verse 25:

²⁵”O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know You, but I do; and these disciples know You sent Me.  ²⁶I have revealed You to them, and I will continue to do so.  Then Your love for Me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

            During this Easter holiday, let’s remember these words of Jesus and strive to grow together in unity and love with the help He gives through the Holy Spirit and the guidance He gives us through His word.