Jesus Prays For Future Believers
JESUS PRAYS FOR FUTURE BELIEVERS
JOHN 17:20-26
Jesus prays that we might know the same sort of loving oneness that he had with the Father.
If the prayer had earlier been confined to the disciples as against the world (17:9), now it is extended to future generations of believers. The faith which they will have is expected to come through the word of the apostles. The prayer, for what will in due course become a very diverse company, is for their unity. It was to be a unity with its origin in the unity of Father and Son. It would be sustained by a continuing relationship to Father and Son and its object would be that the world should believe in the mission of the Son from the Father.
Even the glory which belonged to God is in some way passed on to the disciples to assist the perfection of unity and the demonstration to the world that they are recipients of God’s love. So he prays that they may see his true glory. Because he has known the Father and they have known the mission of the Son, he has made the Father’s name known to them and will continue to make it known. This revelation of the Father’s character was to further their experience of the Father’s love of the Son and deepen the Son’s unity with them.
Notes 17:20: his own mission to the world was to evoke faith in response to his word (12:47f.). The apostles were to bring men to faith through the apostolic preaching (kerygma). 17:21: the reference is to a unity of will and purpose rather than one of organization. The dynamic relationship of Father and Son is the pattern. Mutual love and joint action are the best answer to this prayer, and when those are showing themselves, separate organizations will become irrelevant. It must never be forgotten that the object of church unity is the glory of God and the evangelization of the world rather than administrative tidiness or comfort for Christians. 17:24: the disciples cannot fully follow yet (13:33,36) but there would be a foretaste of his glory before the full enjoyment of it (cf. Ephesians 2:6). 17:26: “in them”—not only as individuals but in their midst also.