John 17:1-25 Jesus starts off the prayer by saying “Father the time has come.” Time is important because in all the chapters before this we remember Jesus saying many times “my time has not yet come” but here we are and his time has finally come. We know what this means but I guarantee his disciples did not, we know that Jesus’s “time” was him dying on the cross. He then goes on to pray that God uses him to the fullest, to “glorify your son.” In the book “Journey to Faith” by Bruce McLarty (which is my old college president), he writes this,
“When Jesus spoke of “glory”, He knew what He was saying. He remembered the glory He had experience with the Father “before the world was” (17:5), and He also knew that glory would again be His when He returned to the Father. Consequently, both heaven and the cross were in Jesus’ mind when He prayed “glorify Thy Son.”
When I read verses 6-19, I like to think he’s praying this about me. I like to put myself in their shoes because I too am a disciple of Jesus. This prayer is beauful and it brings comfort. Jesus asks the Father to protect his disciples because he will no longer be able too. You can tell Jesus has great concerns for his disciples because they were remaining in the world and he was leaving it. But even though they were in the world they were not apart of the world, that’s like us today. Yes, we are in the world but we are not a part of it.
Jesus then goes on and prayers for all believers. He prays this in verse 21 “that they may all be one, Father just as you are in me and I am in you” McLarty says this about Jesus’s prayer about being one:
“It is often thought that being “one” means that Christians “get along” with each other, that they enjoy peace and have no raging conflicts. The oneness that Jesus prayed for, however, is much more than this. True oneness is what is demonstrated by the Father and the Son (17:21). Jesus wanted to be one with us as the Father was one with Him (17:23). Christian unity comes from being united with the Son and with the Father in such an intense and consuming way that we become one with everyone else who has done the same. To use the language that is sometimes heard these days, oneness is a spiritual “group hug” involving the Father, the Son, and every Christian.”
I don’t know about you but a big group hug with God and Jesus and all my brothers and sisters in Christ sounds really cool and I would join in in a heartbeat.