Jesus’ Prayer: The Glorification (v. 1-5)
What follows is traditionally called Jesus’ “high priestly prayer”. In dogmatics this is called “Jesus’ high priestly office”, which includes sacrificing himself for us and praying for us. Here Jesus offers a prayer for his own, at the same time he sanctifies himself as a sacrifice for them; hence the name of this prayer.
Jesus prayed out loud, as one usually did at this time. John must have heard him pray often, so he gives us an image of how his Master prayed. It is a conversation with God where the Son brings forth his desires, thoughts, needs, and memories before his Father. Sometimes they are turned into direct prayers, sometimes they are only put forth as they are. They are examined in light of God’s will, and he sees the Father’s intentions.
This is a prayer in the presence of death; “the hour” has come. The suffering is coming, but it is still only a glimpse in the background. It is part of the glorification. To “glorify” and “exalt” usually means to praise someone. For Jesus it meant to be raised on the cross and to give his life for others, so that he could reveal God’s love and create a kingdom full of praise and joy. The Son has been given “authority over all the living”. It is his task to give a life that can never die. And this is eternal life: to believe in the only true God and his Son. This is not something that awaits us after we die, it begins already now. The mission of Jesus here on earth was to make this possible, and it required him to “make himself nothing, taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2:7). Now he may regain his glory - but only by walking the hardest part of the road left of his mission; however, he does not mention this.
It is strange that Jesus says “Jesus Christ whom you have sent”. Many exegetes thinks that this an explaining note in the margin or part of early Christian liturgy which has been moved into the text.
Jesus’ Prayer: The People Whom You Gave Me Out Of The World (v. 6-8)
“He came to his own, and his own did not receive him”, it is said in the prologue. This is the situation in which Jesus is now praying. He appears to have failed. God’s own people have rejected him, but he knows that this is the way it has to go. When the light came into the world, one could see who belonged to God and who wanted to know the truth. They came to Jesus, or more accurately: God gave them to Jesus. God has drawn them to him (6:37, 44). They received the word and held onto it. This does not only mean that they understood it with their reason and held it to be true, but also that they received it into themselves and it became one with them. To “keep the word” is to receive it with one’s whole being, as something indispensable, creating and life-giving. Then one may “completely” - or “truly” - understand what is says about the most fundamental thing: not some moral lesson, but that Jesus is God’s Son and the only way to God.
Jesus’ Prayer: The Preservation (v. 9-13)
Now Jesus is praying for them. He no longer prays for the world which has rejected him and is already convicted in rejecting the Son. Of course, this does not say anything about those who still may be won. It is for them Jesus is dying, for them he sends out his apostles, and for them he is praying (v. 20). But now it concerns the disciples who will be left alone. As long as he was with them, he kept them “in your name, which you have given me”. That means on God’s behalf, according to his will, and in the power of the mission to do God’s work in the world. God’s name is not only a term or a label, but is holy, stands for God himself, and brings his power and love. Jesus had been given that name. He was able to say I AM about himself, with a meaning that no other human being could add to those words.
Jesus does not ask for something specific about what the Father may do to keep the disciples. He only puts forth the fact: they are yours and the belong to us. That is the most powerful thing a Christian can appeal to in his prayers to be kept: “Keep what belongs to you”, as it is said in a well-known hymn. But one is not automatically preserved. No one can keep oneself safe. Scripture itself tells us that Judas was lost. On the other hand, we are supposed to trust in this: that we belong to our Lord. Therefore, Jesus lets the disciples know that they belong to God. That assurance rests on a promise of God, which will fill their hearts with joy.
What follows is traditionally called Jesus’ “high priestly prayer”. In dogmatics this is called “Jesus’ high priestly office”, which includes sacrificing himself for us and praying for us. Here Jesus offers a prayer for his own, at the same time he sanctifies himself as a sacrifice for them; hence the name of this prayer.
Jesus prayed out loud, as one usually did at this time. John must have heard him pray often, so he gives us an image of how his Master prayed. It is a conversation with God where the Son brings forth his desires, thoughts, needs, and memories before his Father. Sometimes they are turned into direct prayers, sometimes they are only put forth as they are. They are examined in light of God’s will, and he sees the Father’s intentions.
This is a prayer in the presence of death; “the hour” has come. The suffering is coming, but it is still only a glimpse in the background. It is part of the glorification. To “glorify” and “exalt” usually means to praise someone. For Jesus it meant to be raised on the cross and to give his life for others, so that he could reveal God’s love and create a kingdom full of praise and joy. The Son has been given “authority over all the living”. It is his task to give a life that can never die. And this is eternal life: to believe in the only true God and his Son. This is not something that awaits us after we die, it begins already now. The mission of Jesus here on earth was to make this possible, and it required him to “make himself nothing, taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2:7). Now he may regain his glory - but only by walking the hardest part of the road left of his mission; however, he does not mention this.
It is strange that Jesus says “Jesus Christ whom you have sent”. Many exegetes thinks that this an explaining note in the margin or part of early Christian liturgy which has been moved into the text.
Jesus’ Prayer: The People Whom You Gave Me Out Of The World (v. 6-8)
“He came to his own, and his own did not receive him”, it is said in the prologue. This is the situation in which Jesus is now praying. He appears to have failed. God’s own people have rejected him, but he knows that this is the way it has to go. When the light came into the world, one could see who belonged to God and who wanted to know the truth. They came to Jesus, or more accurately: God gave them to Jesus. God has drawn them to him (6:37, 44). They received the word and held onto it. This does not only mean that they understood it with their reason and held it to be true, but also that they received it into themselves and it became one with them. To “keep the word” is to receive it with one’s whole being, as something indispensable, creating and life-giving. Then one may “completely” - or “truly” - understand what is says about the most fundamental thing: not some moral lesson, but that Jesus is God’s Son and the only way to God.
Jesus’ Prayer: The Preservation (v. 9-13)
Now Jesus is praying for them. He no longer prays for the world which has rejected him and is already convicted in rejecting the Son. Of course, this does not say anything about those who still may be won. It is for them Jesus is dying, for them he sends out his apostles, and for them he is praying (v. 20). But now it concerns the disciples who will be left alone. As long as he was with them, he kept them “in your name, which you have given me”. That means on God’s behalf, according to his will, and in the power of the mission to do God’s work in the world. God’s name is not only a term or a label, but is holy, stands for God himself, and brings his power and love. Jesus had been given that name. He was able to say I AM about himself, with a meaning that no other human being could add to those words.
Jesus does not ask for something specific about what the Father may do to keep the disciples. He only puts forth the fact: they are yours and the belong to us. That is the most powerful thing a Christian can appeal to in his prayers to be kept: “Keep what belongs to you”, as it is said in a well-known hymn. But one is not automatically preserved. No one can keep oneself safe. Scripture itself tells us that Judas was lost. On the other hand, we are supposed to trust in this: that we belong to our Lord. Therefore, Jesus lets the disciples know that they belong to God. That assurance rests on a promise of God, which will fill their hearts with joy.
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