Catholic Commentary on John 17

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." (John 17:20-21)

The High Priestly Prayer

John 17 is the most intimate chapter in all four Gospels. Before his arrest, before his trial, before the Cross, Jesus lifts his eyes to heaven and prays aloud. We are allowed to hear God the Son speaking to God the Father. There is no greater window into the inner life of the Trinity available to us in Scripture. St. Cyril of Alexandria called this chapter the holy of holies of the New Testament, and generations of saints have returned to it again and again as the deepest school of prayer.

Jesus begins by praying for himself: that the Father might glorify the Son so that the Son might glorify the Father. Then he prays for his disciples. Then, in one of the most astonishing verses in all of Scripture, he prays for us: I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message (v.20). Two thousand years ago, in the upper room, on the night of his arrest, Jesus prayed for you by name. Not by name in the sense of knowing the words, but in the sense of knowing the person. He saw you. He prayed for you. His prayer, offered by the eternal High Priest, is still active at the right hand of the Father.

That They May Be One

The content of his prayer for us is unity: that all of them may be one, as the Father and I are one (v.21-22). This unity is not organisational efficiency or theological uniformity. It is a participation in the inner life of the Trinity itself. The model for Christian unity is the love between the Father and the Son. The Catechism speaks of this prayer as the foundation of the Church's ecumenical vocation (CCC 820): we are called to visible unity among Christians precisely because Christ prayed for it and purchased it with his blood.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Jesus says in verse 3 that eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Not knowledge about God. Knowledge of God. The kind of knowledge that comes through relationship, through years of prayer, through suffering borne in faith, through sacraments received with love. Eternal life does not begin at death. It begins the moment we start truly knowing him. That knowing is the work of a lifetime, and it starts with the simplest act of prayer. Speak to him today. He is already speaking to you.

Prayer

Father, as Jesus prayed for us in the upper room, hear our prayer now. Make us one as you and he are one. Let the world see in the unity of your Church a sign of the love that holds all things together. And grant that we may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ your Son, with the knowledge that is eternal life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

17
Prayer for the Son
1 When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You. 2 For You granted Him authority over all people,* 17:2 Literally all flesh so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him. 3 Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on earth by accomplishing the work You gave Me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed.
Prayer for the Disciples
 
6 I have revealed Your name to those You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they know that everything You have given Me comes from You. 8 For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
 
9 I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You have given Me; for they are Yours. 10 All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine; and in them I have been glorified. 11 I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You.
 
Holy Father, protect them by Your name, the name You gave Me,† 17:11 Literally Your name, which You gave Me; TR Your name. These You have given Me; similarly in verse 12 so that they may be one as We are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected and preserved them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
 
13 But now I am coming to You; and I am saying these things while I am in the world, so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them. 14 I have given them Your word and the world has hated them; for they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
 
15 I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.‡ 17:15 Or from evil 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I have also sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify Myself, so that they too may be sanctified by the truth.
Prayer for All Believers
 
20 I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
 
22 I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one— 23 I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me.
 
24 Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
 
25 Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, I know You, and they know that You sent Me. 26 And I have made Your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love You have for Me may be in them, and I in them.”

*17:2 17:2 Literally all flesh

†17:11 17:11 Literally Your name, which You gave Me; TR Your name. These You have given Me; similarly in verse 12

‡17:15 17:15 Or from evil

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