Continuing on in John 17 and Jesus’ prayer, there are 7 specific things He prays. But first let me establish context of His prayer. In verses 6-8 Jesus is talking to the Father about His disciples. “I have manifested Your Name to the men You have given Me out of the world.” (Verse 6) Here, “manifested” is phaneroo, to reveal or make visible. What did Jesus “make visible” to His disciples? It was the Father’s “name”. Again, this is onoma, the same word with the same meaning as we’ve discussed before looking at the phrase “in My Name” (John 14:13, 14; 1516; 16:23, 24, and 26). It still stands for all a name implies, authority, power, character, majesty, etc. (compare John 5:43, 10:25)
When we get to verse 9 He says, “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given Me, because they belong to You.” We should not misunderstand what Jesus means when He says He’s not praying for the world. That He had a worldwide vision and wanted all to hear the Gospel of the Kingdom is clear (look at verses 20, 21 and 23). But we have to remember these last several chapters have been devoted to Jesus preparing the disciples for His death, resurrection and eventual departure when He returns to the Father. So, as we look at these 7 things Jesus prays for, keep in mind they all pertain to His disciples.
1. The first is that they would be kept from “evil”. (Verse 15) Poneros is spiritual wickedness. And the source of spiritual wickedness is Satan (Matthew 6:13; Ephesians 6:16). Poneros describes someone who is not content unless he is corrupting others to draw them into the same destruction as himself. This is the work of Satan, to change the truth into a lie, to deceive others, to draw them away from God. Also notice Jesus does not pray that the disciples should be taken out of the world, or that they should seclude themselves in monasteries or communities as some religions do (compare Matthew 5:16 or Philippians 2:15).
2. This is why Jesus prays for the disciples to be in unity, as He and the Father are in unity. (Verses 11, 21-23) As you read these 3 verses, you will find Jesus repeating this desire for unity 5 times. As already discussed, when you are en Jesus (in unity with Him), you aspire to His mind, His character and His obedience to the Father. This will be essential for the disciples to survive what lies ahead for them, as we will see in the Book of Acts.
Now, I have to stop here and make what I believe is an obvious application. In verse 21 you see, “that they also may be one in Us, so the world may be convinced that You have sent Me”. Is the world convinced? Considering all the different religions in the world that deny Christ, and all the different groups who claim Christ, but cling to their own, divergent ideas of Who He is and what He taught, it is clear there is no unity in the world. There is, in fact, the evident seduction of poneros, leading most religious people in the world to destruction. I underline “most” simply to remind you of what Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14 and Luke 13:23-28. There will be no unity in the world until Jesus returns to establish His Millennial Kingdom and these different religions and religious ideas are banned (Isaiah 2:2-4, 11:9).
3. Then Jesus prays that His joy would be made complete in them. (Verse 13) “Joy” is from chara, and here describes the feeling of happiness or bliss that comes from a sense of well-being. Back in John 16:20-22 Jesus tells His disciples that they will have sorrow, but it will be turned to joy. He uses the example of a woman giving birth. There is pain and anguish during the birth, but she soon forgets that and experiences joy in the child that is born. There is a double meaning here. The disciples will be sorrowful at His impending death, but will have joy at His resurrection. Likewise, believers will experience sorrow and pain in life, but it only enlarges their capacity for joy at their own resurrection to life with Him.
4. In verses 17-19 Jesus prays for their sanctification. Here the verb form hagiazo is used and means to separate ones self from fellowship with the world to fellowship with God and to His purpose. Jesus draws 2 examples to make His point. First He says He’s sending them into the world just as the Father had sent Him into the world. Then He says He has sanctified Himself as an example to them (“and for their sakes”). He’s getting ready to completely fulfill the Father’s will in His death. As we will see, His example has a profound effect on them, as they will soon be willing to follow Him to their own death.
5. The next thing Jesus prays is that His disciples would be reunited with Him. In their current state of mind I don’t know if they remembered what Jesus had previously promised them in Matthew 19:28. “Jesus said to them, I’m telling you the truth, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man will sit on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” The “regeneration” is from palingenesia, a renewing. This refers to the events following His second coming when He establishes His Millennial Kingdom and during that thousand year reign renews the earth in preparation for the eternal state and the coming of the Father to the earth to make His abode with men. This will be examined in detail in future lessons.
6. Also in verse 24 Jesus prays that the disciples will see His glory. In the last lesson we saw the verb doxazo. Here is the noun, doxa. If you remember, doxazo meant, “to see someone as they really are”. The noun means the same thing. Only here Jesus makes reference to His pre-existence (compare verse 5). He wants them to see Him as He really was and will be again, in all His glory as the Son of God. No one has seen this yet, but will at His coming (I Timothy 6:15-16).
7. Then, finally Jesus asks, “that the same love You have for Me will be in them.” (Verse 26) I John 4:7-8 tells us true love comes from God and those who love do so because they know and understand Him. The lesson we have to glean from this is the fact that real love is the demonstration of God’s character and nature towards others. Only as we emulate Him can we love. The world’s phony, fleshly and deceitful ideas of what love is must be rejected. There is only one standard by which true love can be known.