Chapter 46: Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer (John 17)

“1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. 6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. 9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” John 17.

For the sake of clarification, the prayer we know so well that is regularly prayed in churches, which begins “Our Father which art on heaven …” (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4), I will refer to as the disciple’s prayer, since this is what Jesus taught his disciples to pray when they asked Him “teach us to pray”. The prayer Jesus prayed for His disciples, including those who follow Him today, just prior to Him being taken, tried and crucified, and which takes up the whole of John 17, is what I will refer to as the real Lord’s prayer or given the theme of this book: Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, since Jesus did precisely what the Aaronic High Priests were meant to do – represent the people before God.

One of the many remarkable things about this prayer was that it was prayed just hours before Jesus was arrested, which he knew beforehand was going to happen, knowing too that it would lead to His execution. Rather than make His escape or call on the Angels to come to His aid, He went through it all – for us. As a priest of the Order of Melchizedek, not only did He offer a sacrifice like the Aaronic priests, but He was that sacrifice, made in order to redeem us. What is remarkable was that He was thinking of His followers, which include those of us who believe through their preaching, recognising He was leaving them in a hostile world and praying they be kept by God and they be His effective followers, and especially that they will be united in His love, the best way to convince unbelievers. One might say this also relates to the Christian calling concerning the Priesthood of All Believers.

From the time I become a Christian in my teens, until the present day, I have been intrigued by two texts that I came to see as being particularly important: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” John 13:34 and “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” John 17:20,21. It seemed to me that if Christians really did love one another, people who weren’t Christians will be identify those who were and, moreover, they would come to believe as a result. While I have seen many good examples of Christians (often unassuming) loving each other and being, spiritually speaking, one, I have lived long enough to have noted countless examples of this not being the case, and here I am talking about real Christians and just not just those in name only. It has long bemused me why this is so especially, if love and unity were the norm, people would be able to identify who the real Christians are and become true believers.

My own introduction to the faith, and with which I was associated for a good part of my life, was with the Plymouth Brethren (PB). I learned early there were three main groupings of Christians: Evangelical, Liberal and Catholic – and arguably a fourth one – the sects, who reject historical Christianity. The PBs were firmly in the Evangelical group, although many were suspicious of other Evangelicals, let known these other groupings who they would often not regard as being truly Christian. But even in this tight circle, love and unity was often missing. Having been around a long time, I have seen too many examples of disunity among professing Christians, including among those whose Christian commitment I have no reason to doubt. Sometimes it can be put down to doctrinal disagreement but often it is down to personalities. I have seen too examples of those who get the significance of Jesus’ High Priestly prayer and are part of the problem, and that may include me!

Many PBs believed in the “Rapture” (discussed in Chapter 47), when Jesus comes in “secret” to whisk away true Christians, before coming again openly so all eyes will see Him; not this time as a suffering servant but rather as the King of glory. Among other things, He will sit down at His “marriage supper” (described in Revelation 19) with His prepared Bride, the true Church (comprising His followers): “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (19:7,8).

But I would like to make the point that since when Jesus prayed His prayer, we would expect it would be answered and His Bride would be indeed ready – yet it seems things have gotten worse unity wise and many elements of today’s church would seem to resemble that of the church at Laodicea, Jesus addressed his letter to in Revelation (and I speak to myself), in its lukewarmness, and needs to take to heart His words: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” Revelation 3:18.

We can easily think of reasons for this lack of unity and arguably, in the case of our (all of us) inability to agree on what we consider what truly matters and put aside differences, it is difficult to see how significant, meaningful, progress can be achieved, given the division sometimes masqueraded by respectability. As far as many of my early PB mentors were concerned, how can we be united with those who teach a false gospel? I feel I have gone full circle. By this, I mean, I began by going along with my early PB mentors and steered clear of those deemed to be unsound. But later I found myself associating with non PB types and trying to distinguish between beliefs that were essential (and trying to be flexible) and those that were not. I later went out of my way to engage with those not in my theological camp, mindful of this prayer and the need to work together for the common good.

While my current pessimism is partly borne out of hopes dashed, disillusionment with institutional church and personal falling outs, including those who are looked on as leaders in the church, I see many signs of life, sometimes among Christians who are not to be found in my own theological camp and, dare I say it, it is often so in some third world countries, and especially in times of persecution. Nowadays, I resonate more with those who see themselves among the remnant, which respectable Christians might wrongly dismiss as being among the deplorables. While I can’t say the institutional church as altogether irrelevant, what is most relevant is the Church comprising real Christians.

Now I see the whole shebang as rather more complex and do not wish to claim special spiritual superiority, for no Christian, ever, has got things 100% correct. Sometimes it is down to people having different spiritual journeys, perspectives, differences in gifting, experiences and personalities. It is not that we cannot dismiss differences when to comes to preaching on sin, righteousness and judgment (three things the Holy Spirit was sent in the world to convict people of), although some wrongly argue we should ignore differences because it is more important to be united. Yet there are all sorts of issues Christians see differently that are not strictly speaking essential as far as salvation and real fellowship is concerned and all too often true fellowship doesn’t happen as a consequence.

Neither is it regarding a whole raft of issues that come under the social justice umbrella – LBGTQ rights, racial justice, climate change – to name but three and getting involved in our wider communities. Nor is it the three biggies that have got Christians worked up and have fallen out over in recent years: Brexit, Trump and things to do with Covid-19 and more recently who is right in the War in Ukraine. These are matters that should not divide Christians but all too often they do. Before people think I am into self-justification, some of it is down to me not responding well enough to the challenge of doing what Jesus would do in my place and thinking it is more about me whereas at best I am merely His unprofitable servant, getting a right balance between truth and grace.

The upshot is Jesus prayed one thing and that is what we ought to be seeing now. This should not detract from some of the remarkable content of the real Lord’s prayer. After all, He prayed it hours before he was taken, fully knowing what laid ahead yet thinking of those he prayed for – His disciples at the time and you and me brother / sister! Then there was the sense he had done all he was meant to do barring being that ultimate sacrifice, which all too soon would happen, followed by rising from the dead in triumph – evidence His prayer had been heard. Then there were the things He prayed for – what He really wanted to see especially was “that the world may believe that thou hast sent me”. We need to remind ourselves that our Great High Priest continues to intercede for us as if it were to will us on to be effective having been sent by Him into an all too often hostile world.

But the big question is what does one do about it (with the Lord’s help). It is a mistake to ignore or fail to respond biblically to what is going on in the world. It is a mistake to lose our nerve in order to appease a loud group of God haters and fail to recognise our commission is to make true disciples of Jesus, and that involves gospel proclamation.  It is a mistake to think the only part of “church” that matters is the section we belong to (assuming we do) for our concern should be for all brothers and sisters and Christ and to help them be part of that radiant Bride for when He returns to planet earth.

It is a mistake to elevate many areas of minor disagreement as matters to irrevocably fall out over, but then what is minor? Christians who give the matter thought differ in which way the world is heading. All of this is in the Lord’s hand and if the Book of Revelation meant anything at the time, it was to prepare the church for tribulation, in the sure knowledge that in perseverance and endurance there will great reward, for God wins in the end. Whichever way the world is heading in the short term, we are called to put our trust in the Lord and heed the call for unity with our brethren.

Finally, it is a mistake to let egos get in the way; in the final analysis we are, after all, the Lord’s unprofitable servants, and that involves serving His Church rather than take umbrage over people or things upsetting us. While some pragmatism is necessary given present realities, including focusing on what I can / should do / change and leaving the rest with the Lord, there is much in the words of the following scripture we would do well to dwell upon and practice. Maybe, we might wish to sing one of the songs often associated with the Jesus Movement of the 1960’s and 70’s (still valid imho), with all its hopes and optimism: “They’ll know we are Christians by our love”.

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord;

We are one int he Spirit, we are one in the Lord;

And we pray that all unity will one day be restored.

Chorus: And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,

yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand;

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand;

And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land.

We Will work with each other, we will work side by side;

We will work with each other, we will work side by side;

And we’ll guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride.

All praise to the Father, from whom all things come;

And all praise to Christ Jesus, His only Son.

And all praise to the Spirit who makes us one.

On a related note, we do well to ponder: “1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” Philippians 2:1-11.