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The Scriptorium

Three Themes

Jesus' prayer shows us the heart of God.

The Gospel of John: John 17.1-26

Read and meditate on John 17.1-26.
Three themes dominate Jesus’ prayer in John 17. In these themes, the heart of God is revealed, not only for understanding Jesus’ prayer, but for understanding all of Scripture.

                                                1And then
He spoke, and lifted up His eyes to heav’n,
and said, “Of Father, now the hour has come
for You to glorify Your only Son,
that He may glorify You also. 2You
have given Him authority to do
Your will, in giving life eternal to
all those whom You have chosen, and whom You
have given to the Son. 3And this is life
eternal, that they may know You, and Christ,
Whom You have sent. 4Now I have finished all
the work that You have given as My call
on earth, and I have glorified Your Name
5Now glorify Me, Father, with the same
eternal glory which I had with You
before the world began. 6For I have, to
the men You gave me from the world, made known
Your Name. You gave them to Me, who Your own
men were, and they have kept Your Word. 7And they
know You have given Me all things. 8I say
to them the words that You have given Me,
and they received them; and assuredly
they know that I came forth from You,
and they believed that You have sent Me to
them. 9And I pray for them. I do not pray
for this world. But the men You gave Me, they
are Yours, and I pray for them. 10And all Mine
are Yours, and all who are Yours, they are Mine
as well. And I am glorified in them.
11And they are in the world, although I am
no longer in it, and I come to You.
O holy Father, keep I pray, keep through
Your Name those You have given Me, that they
may all be one, as We are. 12In Your Name
I kept them while I was with them. Those You
have given Me, them I have kept unto
You. None of them is lost, but only one,
he who is everlasting judgment’s son,
that Scripture all might be fulfilled. 13But now
I come to You, and all these things, and how
I speak them in the world, is so that they
may have My joy fulfilled by what I say.
14And I have given them Your Word; therefore,
the world has hated them, because they are
not of the world, as I am not. 15I do
not pray for them, that they from this world You
should take, but that You should protect them from
the evil one. 16Like Me, they are not from
the world. 17So sanctify them, Father, by
Your truth. Your Word is truth. 18And just as I
was sent to this world, so I also to
this world have sent them. 19So that in the truth
they may be sanctified, I sanctify
Myself. 20I pray not for them only; I
pray also for all those who will believe
in Me because of their word. May it please
You, Father, 21that they may be one; as You
are in Me, I in You, so let them, too,
be one in Us, so that the world may know
that You have sent Me. 22Father, make it so,
that may be one just as We are. I
have given them Your glory. Glorify
Yourself, and make them one with Us: 23I
in them, and You in Me, that they may by
their oneness perfect be, and that all men
may know You sent Me, and that You love them
as You have loved Me. 24Father, those whom You
have given me, I want them with me, too,
where I am, that they may behold in Me
the glory You have given unto Me
before he world began. 25The world has not
known You, O righteous Father, as it ought
to have, but I have known You; and these men
have known that You have sent Me. 26And to them
I have proclaimed Your Name, and will proclaim
it, that the love You have for Me, the same
may be in them, and I in them.”

- John 17.1-26

Reflect
1. The three themes that recur throughout this prayer are the glory of God, the redemption (including sanctification and glorification) of God’s people, and Jesus’ work in accomplishing that redemption and glorifying God. Read through the prayer and note for each theme the verses where they occur. You’ll need to have these before you to work through the remaining questions. Complete this prayer: Lord Jesus, open my eyes to see into Your heart, so that my heart…

2.  The dominant theme of Jesus’ prayer, and of all Scripture, is the glory of God. Jesus came and fulfilled His work so that God would be glorified, that God would glorify Him, and that the glory they enjoy together they will share with the people God has given to Him. Summarize the teaching of Jesus’ prayer about the glory of God. How can you see that this is also a dominant theme of all Scripture? Father, I would know You in Your glory, and glorify You in my life. Help me to…

3.  The second theme focuses on the people God gave to Jesus – all who believe in Him and receive His Word. You should be able to identify all three of the major aspects of our salvation in this prayer – justification, sanctification, and glorification. Summarize what we learn about God’s people from Jesus’ prayer. How can you see that this, too, is a primary theme of all Scripture? Thank You, Father, that You have saved me, are saving me, and will…

4.  The final – and central or operative theme – of Jesus’ prayer, as of all Scripture, is the work Jesus came to do. How would you summarize His work as He prays about it here? How can you see that this is also a primary theme of all Scripture (recall Jn. 5.39)? Thank You, Jesus, that You have…

5. Review questions 3-4. Summarize in a single sentence the primary themes of Jesus’ prayer. These themes represent the heart of God, and are the primary themes of all Scripture. How should knowing this help us in reading the Bible? Bring together into one prayer the prayers you composed for questions 1-4.

Summary
“But how else is the love with which the Father has loved the Son in us as well, except because of the fact that we are his members and are loved in him—since he is loved in the totality of his person as both head and members? Therefore he added, ‘and I in them,’ as if he were saying, ‘Since I am also in them.’ For in one sense he is in us as in his temple. But in another sense, he is also in us because we are also [part of] him, since, when he became man and our head, we became his body. And so, the Savior’s prayer is finished, his passion begins.” Augustine (354-430 AD)

Jesus’ prayer can guide us in our calling as His friends and followers. How shall we seek to know God’s glory, and to glorify Him? What progress are we realizing in our salvation? How can we keep Jesus always before us, and know His presence with us always? Meditate on these questions.

Closing Prayer
You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.
My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
For the kingdom is the LORD’s,
And He rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.

Psalm 22.23-31

Psalm 22.29-31 (Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth)
All the prosp’rous of the earth shall before His mercy fall;
Bending low before His worth, hear them humbly on Him call.
Even those low in the grave He will by His mercy save.

Let the generations all witness to His saving grace;
Let them to all nations call, “Bow before His holy face!”
Let the children of the earth hear of Jesus’ saving worth!

T. M. Moore
We are happy to offer each week’s Scriptorium studies in a free weekly PDF, suitable for personal or group use. You can download all the studies in our series on the Gospel of John by clicking here. Need help learning to pray the psalms? Order the book, God’s Prayer Program, and discover why and how to realize the power of the psalms to transform your prayer life (click here).

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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