Gospel of John
John 17
Jesus Prays for His Own
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Before you Read
John 17 allows us to listen as Jesus prays just before His arrest. He prays for Himself, for the disciples who have walked with Him, and for those who will later believe through their testimony. As you read, notice what Jesus asks the Father to protect, preserve, and accomplish in His people—and how deeply His prayer centers on truth, unity, love, and belonging to God.
Read John 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, 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, 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.
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.”
Footnotes:
17:2 Literally all flesh
17:11 Literally Your name, which You gave Me; TR Your name. These You have given Me; similarly in verse 12
17:15 Or from evil
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A Word Worth Knowing
Sanctify — ἁγιάζω (Hagiazō)
The Greek word hagiazō means “to make holy,” “set apart,” or “consecrate.” In John 17, Jesus uses this word as He prays for His disciples and asks the Father to sanctify them in the truth.
To be sanctified is not simply to become more religious. It means being set apart for God and shaped by what is true. Jesus connects that process directly with God’s word.
Throughout John 17, Jesus prays that His followers will remain faithful while living in a world that does not always welcome them. Their holiness is meant to grow from belonging to God and being formed by His truth.
So when Jesus asks the Father to sanctify His disciples, He is praying that their lives will be increasingly set apart for God and shaped by the truth they have received.
Look for This as You Read
What Jesus asks the Father for His disciples.
The meaning of being sanctified in truth.
Jesus’ prayer for unity.
His words about being sent into the world.
His prayer for future believers.
Take This With You
Reflection:
What does Jesus’ prayer in this chapter teach you about what He desires for His followers as they live in the world?
Step Into Their World
Jesus prayed for His disciples as those set apart for God
In John 17, Jesus prays that His disciples will be protected as they continue living in the world after His departure. When He asks the Father to “sanctify them in the truth,” His Jewish disciples would have understood the language of being set apart for God.
Throughout Israel’s Scriptures, people, places, and objects could be consecrated—set apart for God’s purposes. Priests, for example, were consecrated for their service to God. Something holy belonged to Him and was meant to be used according to His purposes.
Jesus applies that language to His followers.
He is not asking the Father to remove them from ordinary life. In fact, Jesus says, “As You sent Me into the world, I have also sent them into the world.” They are being set apart while also being sent out.
That helps us understand biblical holiness differently. Being set apart for God does not mean withdrawing from everyone who is different from us. Jesus prays for His disciples to live faithfully in the world while belonging fully to God.
Their lives are to be shaped by His truth, His love, and the mission for which He sends them.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) printed 2016, 2020, 2022, 2025 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, unfoldingWord, Bible Aquifer, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain. Free downloads and unlimited usage available. See also the Berean Literal Bible and Berean Interlinear Bible.