¹ Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You …”

John 17 is forever titled, “Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer.” Some have called it “the Lord’s Prayer,” as opposed to “the Disciples’ Prayer” (Matt 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4). It is the most intimate communication recorded in Scripture of the conversation the Son had with the Father. Though we only hear Jesus’ words, we sense from these 26 verses an intimacy that is unparalleled in all of literature. God pulls back the curtain of heaven and invites us to listen as Jesus pours out His requests and petitions.

On the one hand, we might study this chapter as a means to learning how to pray better, by imitating Christ (1 Cor 11:1). Or we could study it to understand our theology better, particularly the trinity and the relationship between the Father and Son. Finally, we might study with a view to knowing the heart of Christ—what concerned Him at the deepest level. We shall touch on all these as we progress through this pre-eminent prayer of the Bible.

Little did the disciples know when they had previously asked, “Lord, teach us to pray,” that the lesson was not a static ‘one time only’ deal, but that prayer was a way of life. They had heard Jesus pray on a number of occasions, for example when He thanked the Father for food (John 6:11) and when He addressed God at Lazarus’ tomb (John 11:41-42). And He would soon be praying in the Garden of Gethsemane during His final temptation, and finally on the cross where He prayed, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing,” and, “Into Your hands I commit my spirit.”

This Upper Room prayer, as with all His prayers, was perfect, for it was given by the perfect human. No second guessing, no doubts. Confidence bred from familiarity and intimacy and love. And His timing was impeccable (of course). The time for teaching was over, the only thing left was to pray, sing a hymn ((Matt 26:30)—and then the Passover meal would be finished. John, the inspired writer, is the only one to record this prayer, and it must have resonated in His life for the 50 plus years between hearing it and putting it to pen. It was one of the things “we have heard …we have seen with our eyes” (1 John 1:1). He was so transformed, he was infused with a driving passion to tell others about “the life [that] was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us” (1 John 1:2).

Lord, thank You for the privilege of hearing Your Son’s prayer to You.