Jesus Prays for His Disciples (John 17:6-19)

In these verses, Jesus summarises what he did when he was his disciples during the three years that were drawing to a close. He states that he is only praying for them in this section of the prayer. We are not to read from this that Jesus never prayed for unconverted people. He prayed for such on the cross, and later in this prayer he mentions he prays for some who were at that time unconverted – those who would yet believe in him through the word of the apostles. His words highlight the features of his mission among the apostles and what he was preparing them for. Some of the details only concern them and are not relevant to Christians in general whereas other details would be common to all Christians. 

 

Giving and taking

Jesus mentions that the disciples were given to him by the Father (v. 6). This giving does not mean that they ceased to belong to the Father because Jesus says they still belong to the Father (‘for they are yours’, v. 9). The reason for that is because the Father and the Son share everything (v. 10). They were given to him to redeem from the prison of sin.

 

We can see that Jesus describes what he did for them and he also says what he wants the Father to do for them now that the work of Jesus has been completed. This does not mean that Jesus will not do more work for them, but his words indicate that his preparatory instruction of the disciples has come to an end and he will no longer be physically with them.

 

What had Jesus done?

The Saviour states his role in verse 6: ‘I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.’ He told them about the Father, and he did so by using the words that the Father gave him. There is a prophecy of the Messiah in Isaiah 50 that predicted he would have daily interaction with God, and that he would be able to pass on what he learned to others. ‘The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.’ Everywhere Jesus was, he was revealing the Father. Indeed, he said on one occasion, ‘He who has seen me has seen the Father.’ 

 

Jesus also mentions that he had protected the disciples when he was with them. He points out that none had been lost apart from Judas, although he had never been a genuine disciple. The fact that Jesus had to guard them indicates that they were under Satanic attack at times, even although they probably did not know it. Maybe that is where their temptation to be greatest came from, or their expressions of self-confidence, and their reluctance at times to accept the truth. We know that Jesus mentioned the devil when Peter objected to the cross, and how Jesus prayed for Peter to be safe when he was sifted by the devil after denying Jesus three times.

 

In the main, however, the disciples had grasped who Jesus was, that he was the Son of God whom the Father had sent. We have an example of this awareness when Peter confessed at Caesarea Philippi that Jesus was the Son of the living God. Although they were slow to learn at times, Jesus is pleased with their progress because he mentions that ‘they have kept your word’ and realised who Jesus was and that he was engaged in a mission from God. 

 

Jesus also says that he is ‘glorified in them’. What does this mean? A joiner is glorified when he does a good job and fulfils his task. A teacher is glorified when her pupils make progress. Jesus is glorified in this sense when sinners experience salvation, when his people make progress and are sanctified in mind and heart as well as behaviour. This is a reminder that progress or lack of it not only says something about us, it also indicates that Jesus is not getting as much glory as he deserves.

 

What did Jesus pray for?

In this section of his prayer, Jesus mentions several matters concerning his disciples now that he was going to leave them. First, he prays that the Father would keep them from succumbing to the devil (v. 15). This does not mean that the devil would be kept from harassing them, but it does mean that he would be kept from overthrowing them. 

 

The keeping is connected to spiritual union with one another (v. 11). Jesus says that the union of the disciples is like the union of the Father and the Son, which could mean that the union is intended to be permanent. Judas had seemed to have been part of that union of disciples, but the devil tempted him, and his response showed that he was not a real believer. The devil will tempt all who profess Christ to deny him in one way or another, whether or not they are real disciples. Jesus asks the Father to keep his genuine followers from denying him. 

 

How would the Father do this? Jesus asks the Father to keep them in his name and in the name he had given to Jesus (v. 11). Often, ‘name’ was used to summarise a person’s character and abilities. So Jesus is asking that divine attributes would be used to keep the disciples, and as far as the internal keeping of believers is concerned, they are delivered through various workings of the Holy Spirit. External keeping can be done in numerous ways – by God stopping opponents in his providence, by confusing them, by dividing them, by overpowering them, by removing them, by converting them. Yet when God does not prevent external activity by the world and the devil, he still provides internal protection by the Holy Spirit. 

 

Jesus also asks that his disciples would be sanctified even although they would remain in the world, a world that would be opposed to them at all times. He was sending them into that hostile environment, and the way to cope with that was for them to progress in sanctification. How would they be sanctified and how would they know that they were being sanctified? The answer is by using the word of God. For the disciples, much of that would occur when the Spirit would bring the teachings of Jesus to their memories as well as helping them to rightly apply the Old Testament.

 

A third matter that Jesus mentions in his prayer is that the disciples would have his joy experienced by them. The fact that Jesus mentioned this detail indicates how important it was to him. Although he was sending his disciples into difficult situations, he did not want them to be miserable about it. Rather, he wanted them to have supernatural joy which was not disrupted by adverse circumstances. He had mentioned this to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount when he said that they should rejoice when persecuted; he had told returning disciples who had gone on a successful mission that they should rejoice that their names were written in heaven; and he had told the disciples in the upper room that his joy was available for them in the future even although he was going away.

 

What did Jesus promise?

In verse 19, Jesus says that he is consecrating himself as he sends out his disciples into the world. This obviously applies to the immediate group of apostles. They are going out under his authority and conscious of his affections for them and his abilities to help them. After all, that is how Jesus was sent by the Father. Jesus came as the Father’s servant, obedient to his will, conscious of his Father’s love and presence, and aware of the Father’s help. Jesus came humbly and hopefully, because he knew his mission would be successful even although the work required of him would be very difficult. His disciples have to serve as he did, humbly and hopefully. 

 

The reason why they can be hopeful is because Jesus is determined to continue his mission. He consecrates himself here for the remainder of human history. His consecration included the cross and what he has done since his ascension. This consecration helped the initial apostles, and it has helped all who believe in him and become his witnesses. His consecration is expressed in heaven, but its effects are seen on earth as his people expand numerically and increase in sanctification through the word that the Father gave him. 

 

Applications

While much of this section applies to the original disciples, there are various applications that we can draw from what Jesus said. First, there is a great privilege we possess which is that we belong to the Father and the Son and that they together consider their people (no doubt, the Holy Spirit does as well). You can never say that no one thought about you today if you are a Christian because the Godhead did.

 

Second, there is the great protection we have as we live in a world full of powerful enemies led in one way or another by the deceptive devil. In ourselves, we are no match for him. But then he is no match for God. We are protected by the Almighty, the one who slumbers not, who grips his people with his omnipotent arm, and whose eye always knows where we are and what threats we are facing.

 

Third, there is the great purpose we have, which is to be his witnesses. He has not sent us into all the world, but he has sent us into the world. Wherever we are at any given time is our world, the world to where he has sent us. While we are there, we can remind ourselves of the consecration of Jesus, that he is always engaged in every aspect of his mission performed by his disciples on earth.

 

I read this comment by an author Charles Ross regarding how Jesus prayed here: ‘It is a beautiful, as well as a most significant fact, that Jesus never asks anything from the Father for them, without having done everything that depended on himself for the fulfilment of his request.’