Jesus Prays for Us – John 17:1-11

A text – John 17:1-11

17 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, ² since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. ⁵ So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

⁶ “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, ⁸ for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹ I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰ All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹ And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

A reflection:

This section of John’s gospel is set at the Last Supper. Jesus knows that this night he will be handed over to the Jewish authorities, who will demand that the Roman governor Pilate kill Jesus in the public Roman way.  Jesus knows he will die, for certain. But he also believes that God will raise him from the dead and that his death and resurrection will begin God’s new kingdom on earth, God’s New Creation. He is praying that God will look upon his disciples as knowing the truth – that Jesus is God’s son, and that whatever their shortcomings have been, they belong to Jesus just as Jesus belongs to God.

Jesus says in verse 3: “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” When Jesus says “that they may know you” he means he wants them to be and to remain in relationship with God, be part of God’s life forever. Jesus doesn’t say they will have this life in God far away for eternity. Jesus says, again in verse 11, “…Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” He wants the disciples to be protected and kept together, not only with one another, but inside God’s life as well so they can live out the mission Jesus is giving them.

Jesus was praying to the Father in full hearing of his chosen disciples, commending them to the protection of the Father on a night he knew they would scatter and be filled with fear. He knew his death would test their faith, but he believed God would walk with them through the events of his death and burial and help them to come out the other side even more filled with faith. Jesus prays for us, too – he does not want any of us to be without the love and presence of God in our lives and he wants us tied to God, so that when evil or other painful things happen, we turn ever more to God instead of turning away to someone or somewhere else for help. When we do turn to God and believe God is our refuge, that is all God needs at that moment: our faith. It is simple: God is already protecting us, helping us to choose God.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for your son, Jesus, who showed us over and over the way to come back to you whatever is happening. Help us to remember to turn to God and remain enfolded in God, as Jesus wanted. Amen.