Why It Matters //
As Jesus prays for us we gain insight of his priorities; his last words on Earth; the things he wanted his followers to pay attention to. Jesus focuses on his communion of love with the Holy Spirit and the Father and that we as his followers would be brought into this reality. That we would understand the love that exists in the triune reality: Father, Son, Spirit and that we have been invited into this love by Jesus. The reality of this communion with the trinity should impact greatly the way we love God, the way we love ourselves and the way we love others.
What It's Talking About //
The Gospel of John, like Matthew, Mark and Luke, tells the story of Jesus, highlighting more of the personal encounters and conversations people had with Him. John also captures intimate moments between Jesus and his Father, where Jesus prays for strength and for his Father’s will to be done. In this well-known passage, Jesus prays not only for his own life and purpose, but for the lives of his treasured disciples, that they would remain “one as we are one.” Through these prayers, Jesus entrusts the Father to care for and protect them even after he departs from the world.
John 17:1-11 NIV
1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.
2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing 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 began.
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.
7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.
8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.
9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.
11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.