Jesus Prays for Himself
Study note
Jesus lifts his eyes to heaven and acknowledges that his hour has come. He asks the Father to glorify him so that he may glorify the Father in return, pointing to the cross not as defeat but as the means of glorification. He defines eternal life as knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. He declares that he has completed the work the Father gave him and asks to be restored to the glory he shared with the Father before the world began.
1 When Jesus finished saying all of this, he looked up toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the moment has arrived. Show the world the glory of your Son, so that your Son can show the world your glory." 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 "You have given him authority over every person on earth. You did this so he can give the gift of eternal life to everyone you have given to him." 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 what eternal life means: knowing you, the only true God, and knowing Jesus Christ, the one you sent." And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 "I have brought you glory here on earth by completing every task you gave me to do." I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 "And now, Father, give me back the glory I shared with you before the world even existed." And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
Study note
Jesus prays specifically for the disciples the Father gave him, noting that they have obeyed God's word and believed that Jesus came from God. He asks the Father to protect them by the power of his name so they may be united as Father and Son are united. He does not ask that they be taken out of the world but that they be kept from the evil one. He prays for their sanctification through the truth, declaring 'Your word is truth,' and commissions them into the world just as the Father sent him.
6 "I have introduced you to the people you pulled out of the world and gave to me. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have followed your word." 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 "They now understand that everything you have given me truly comes from you." Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 "I passed along the words you gave me, and they took them in. They know beyond any doubt that I came from you, and they believe that you are the one who sent me." 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 am praying for them right now. I am not praying for the world at large, but specifically for the ones you gave me, because they belong to you." I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 "Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine. And my glory shines through them." And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 "I am about to leave this world, but they have to stay here. I am coming home to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name -- the name you shared with me -- so that they will be united as one, just like you and I are one." 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, I kept them safe by the power of your name. I watched over every person you gave me. Not one was lost except the one who chose to be lost. That was to come true what the Scripture had said." 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 "Now I am coming back to you. I am saying these things while I am still in the world so that they can experience the same complete joy that fills me." 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 your message. The world has turned against them because they do not fit in with the world anymore. I do not fit in with it either." 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 am not asking you to pull them out of the world. I am asking you to shield them from the evil one." I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 "They do not belong to this world, just as I do not belong to it." They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 "Make them holy through your truth. Your word is the truth." Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 "Just as you sent me out into the world, I am sending them out into the world." As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 "I am setting myself apart for their sake, so that they too can be made truly holy through the truth." And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
Study note
Jesus extends his prayer beyond the present disciples to encompass all who will believe through their testimony -- every future generation of Christians. His central petition is for unity: that all believers may be one, just as the Father and Son are one, so the world will know that God sent Jesus and loves believers as he loves the Son. He desires that they see his glory and that the Father's love may be in them. This prayer reveals that Christian unity is not merely organizational but mirrors the divine communion within the Godhead.
20 "I am not praying just for these followers here. I am also praying for every person who will ever believe in me because of what these followers teach." Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 "My prayer is that all of them will be completely united -- just as you, Father, live in me and I live in you. I want them to live in us too, so that the world will believe that you truly did send me." 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 "I have shared with them the glory you gave me, so that they can be united as one, just as you and I are one:" And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 "I living in them and you living in me, so that they become perfectly united. Then the world will recognize that you sent me and that you love them every bit as much as you love me." 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 want the people you gave me to be with me where I am. I want them to see my glory -- the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world was created." 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 "Righteous Father, the world does not know you. But I know you, and these followers of mine know that you sent me." O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 "I have shown them who you are. I will keep showing them. I want your love for me to live inside them. And I want to live inside them too." 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.