Return of the Believer: Studies in the Prayer of Jesus from the Gospel of John

By Terry L. Burden

Return of the Believer: Studies in the Prayer of Jesus from the Gospel of John is a theological study of the Prayer of Jesus specifically, the Gospel of John in general, and relevant topics in the Synoptic Gospel. The Prayer of Jesus contains twenty-six verses with each verse prompting broader applications for the Christian faith. The main title Return of the Believer implies an original express of faith in Jesus Christ by John the writer of the Gospel. The study accepts an apologetic value to the Gospel of John as it argues the importance of true faith through the acceptance of John’s interpretation of Jesus Christ. The Prayer of Jesus is a summary of John’s views of Jesus. The return of the believer is a call for a renewal of faith in the New Testament, especially the Gospel of John. This study reveals the Apostle John as the true believer and model for the Christian faith, and the Prayer of Jesus provides a summary of John’s teachings and the expressed will of God for the Church. Each verse is explained in the context of its surrounding verses, and important topics are addressed. The special feature of the Prayer is its prompting of related issues that appear elsewhere in the New Testament and the teachings of the Church. For example, the Prayer, and the Gospel itself, does not mention the birth of Jesus but, instead, focuses on the pre-existence of the Son as the eternal Logos or God. This study requires an explanation of the difference. Discussions of each verse invite the reader to engage in contemporary related issues.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9781973698432

Terry L. Burden

Terry L. Burden is assistant professor of comparative humanities at the University of Louisville.

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Return

of the

Believer

Studies in the Prayer of Jesus

from the Gospel of John

TERRY L. BURDEN

Copyright © 2023 Terry L. Burden.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

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except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Scripture quotations are taken from the Revised Standard Version of

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-9844-9 (sc)

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WestBow Press rev. date: 06/01/2023

About the Author

Terry L. Burden, M.Div., Th.M., Ph.D., is a Professor Emeritus of Religion and Culture at the University of Louisville. During his thirty-year residence, he inaugurated the Distance Education program in the Division of Humanities and continues to teach online today. His work in religious studies included a range of seminars offered in the Louisville area including appearances on local television. His skills in religion and culture included also Biblical Language Editor for Westminster/John Knox Press with work on the Old Testament Library and the New Testament Library Series. In the Indiana and Kentucky communities, Dr. Burden has also served as Pastor in local churches. A native of Kentucky, his teaching career has centered on the Old Testament, the New Testament, and religious traditions of the world. His published books include his recent The Word Among Us: Theologies of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and Between Two Creeks: The Mystery of the Blue Mist. Volume Two of Between Two Creeks is forthcoming. Other books include The Kerygma of the Wilderness Traditions in the Hebrew Bible and Handbook of Biblical Hebrew. His present monograph, Return of the Believer, reflects Dr. Burden’s passion for Gospel studies. He has also written book reviews, essays, and articles that explore various aspects of religion and society. For more information, visit his website at www.terrylburden.com.

For Dennis

my brother

Contents

About the Author

Introduction

Chapter 1     Life Can Make Sense

Chapter 2     The gift of eternal life

Chapter 3     Knowing the Only True God

Chapter 4     Bringing Glory to God

Chapter 5     Becoming God’s Person

Chapter 6     Being a Witness for God

Chapter 7     God, the Source of Truth

Chapter 8     Resolving Doubts through Christ

Chapter 9     Praying for Believers

Chapter 10   Glorifying Jesus Christ

Chapter 11   The Presence of God

Chapter 12   The Security of Faith

Chapter 13   The Joy of Christ Within

Chapter 14   Living for God

Chapter 15   Believers are Not Alone.

Chapter 16   Belonging to Jesus Christ

Chapter 17   The Foundation of Faith

Chapter 18   Being a Disciple for Christ

Chapter 19   The Work of Sanctification

Chapter 20   The New Testament Today

Chapter 21   Being One in Christ

Chapter 22   Unity through God’s Glory

Chapter 23   Sharing God’s love

Chapter 24   Being with Christ Forever

Chapter 25   Staying Close to God

Chapter 26   Making a Difference

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Our present study focuses on the Prayer of Jesus in the Gospel of John 17. We accept the view that the Prayer is of vital importance to the Gospel of John. No doubt, a common interest exists because of the uniqueness of John’s Gospel in comparison to other New Testament understandings of Jesus the Christ of the Christian faith. The Gospel of John takes the reader on a different journey through the adult life of Jesus. John’s story of Jesus is divided into two major sections. The first is the account of the public life and ministry of the adult Jesus covered iv twelve brief chapters. John 13 departs from the public setting in the life of Jesus and begins the passion of Jesus (John 13–21). The Prayer of Jesus in Chapter 17 serves as a link between the last supper event better known as the Farewell Discourse (John 13–17) and the actual passion and resurrection of Chapters 18–21.

In John’s bold version of Jesus’s life and death, we see the development of Christian thought beyond the versions laid down by other New Testament writers, in particular the Synoptic writers (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). One of the greatest mysteries surrounding the uniqueness of John’s Jesus, when we compare John to other New Testament writings, is the seemingly total acceptance of the Gospel by the Church and the Gospel’s interpretation of Jesus. Perhaps the most profound mystery of John’s influence is the Council of Nicea and its credal statement in 325 C.E. This suggests, among other witnesses in history, the almost immediate popular acceptance of the Gospel of John in the early Church. The Church’s doctrinal stance became synonymous with that presented in the Gospel of John.

A second consideration in the study of the Prayer of Jesus is both the similarities and the differences between John and the Synoptic Gospels. Given the belief that John’s Gospel is the latest of the Gospels and, in fact, perhaps among the latest of the New Testament documents altogether, we must ask about the nature and the reasons for these differences. The most profound difference, for example, is the nature and reality of Jesus as the Son of God. The doctrine of the preexistence of the Son is exclusively that of the Gospel of John and yet the Church has wholeheartedly accepted this rendering of the Son. Of course, this motif will be discussed in our study that follows.

In Context

The study of each verse in the Prayer of Jesus will begin with an introductory section called In Context. Our concern is to establish the overall context of each verse of study. The purpose is to avoid lifting any verse our of its immediate context as it relates to the flow of the Prayer. For the present introduction, In Context applies to how the Prayer of Jesus in Chapter 17 relates to the surrounding chapters.

The Prayer of Jesus in John 17 is presented as the conclusion to the Farewell Discourse (John 13–17). Each of the four Gospels has its unique shaping to the story of Jesus Christ. For example, Matthew contains the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) and Luke has the Jerusalem Document (Luke 9–19). And John has the Farewell Discourse. As the name implies, the Farewell Discourse was spoken during the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples when he gave them instructions about their continued work after Jesus departed from them. The Farewell Discourse has one central theme: what it means to be united with Christ (with Christ crucified and risen).¹ The Prayer of Jesus in John 17 is a summary of this theme while the balance of John is an elaboration of this theology.

The Prayer of Jesus

The discourse that began in John 13 and concluded with Jesus’s prayer in Chapter 17 occurred during an evening meal, on the eve before the feast of the Passover (John 13:1). The Prayer concludes the discourse, but we are not aware of any specific location that would be different from the place of the last supper. The traditional place would be the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prays his agonizing prayer requesting God that his cup be taken from him (Matthew 26:42, Mark 14:36, and Luke 22:42). But in John, the location is not stated; only after Jesus prayed the prayer, he and his disciples went into the Kidron valley to a garden. John does not record the agonizing prayer of Jesus as in the other three gospel accounts. Rather than a prayer of agony, John 17 is a prayer of victory. The reader can assume that when Jesus prays for his disciples in John 17 that his disciples are in his presence.

In the Gospel of John, the final prayer of Jesus plays a more dynamic role. Its length and theological content attest to the importance of the Prayer as a crucial message for his followers, even for all future believers. John’s Prayer of Jesus is much more detailed and theologically broadened than that of the prayer in the other Gospels. The theological motifs of this long prayer are consistent with the whole of the Gospel of John

Some scholars have identified the Prayer as a priestly intercessory prayer. The sixteenth-century Protestant theologian David Chytraeus (1531–1600) was the first to call the prayer in John 17 a high priestly prayer.² The book of Hebrews contains the only detailed teachings of the High Priest in the New Testament. Like the Gospel of John, the Letter to the Hebrews is a product of a later Church community when New Testament theology had evolved beyond the early Church. The Gospel of John is closely related to the Letter to the Hebrews in this regard more than any other book in the New Testament.³ The early Church also linked the priestly vocation mentioned in Psalm 110 to Jesus: "The

LORD

says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. . .. You are a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:1, 4). Examples of the priestly theme in John 17 include (1) Jesus directs his prayer to the Father before he brings his offering of himself, (2) Jesus asks God to sanctify his followers who are given to Jesus by God (John 17:17), (3) Jesus stresses their separation from the world (John 17:11ff), and Jesus sanctifies himself so that his followers can be sanctified (John 17:17–-19).⁴ The Prayer of Jesus may therefore be considered the high priestly prayer of Jesus.

While the Prayer is often considered a high priestly prayer, some disagree. There is no real prayer here. It was simply the form of a prayer.⁵ What is identified as a prayer could be regarded as prophecy. Further, the Greek text refers only to Jesus speaking rather than using the usual word for praying.⁶ In this sense, Jesus steps apart from the disciples, though they remain close by, and engages in a prayer voiced to God the Father. The Prayer is perhaps the first time we see Jesus paired with God the Father in contrast to being found in the human arena with the disciples, as we find in John 13–16. Choosing to speak in the form of a prayer, Jesus speaks of what God has given to him and what is to be given to his disciples now that he has finished his mission and must return to the Father. And yet other interpretations maintain the view that the Farewell Discourse, which includes the Prayer of Jesus are words of a good shepherd who is there to give his life for his own. To call the prayer ‘high priestly’ is un-Johannine because the Fourth Gospel sees Jesus not as a high priest, but as a Mosaic shepherd, greater than Moses.⁷ For our present study, considering the full Prayer has its own special form, the Prayer of Jesus is understood to be a theological summary of the Gospel of John.

A typical feature of the Prayer is its solemn tone centering upon the sacred purpose of the life of Jesus and his coming passion, crucifixion, and resurrection. The Prayer defines the life of Jesus from a priestly perspective; that is, from a strictly religious point of view.⁸ Perhaps this was John’s purpose, and the Prayer can become a universal model or pattern for the Christian life. No matter how we understand the Prayer, we must never disregard the solemn moment in the life of Jesus. He was truly within minutes of his passion where his life’s work would be fulfilled through his death and resurrection.

The Prayer is therefore not to be read as defeat but victory over that which hinders the will of God in the world. For John and many believers of his day, the Prayer of Jesus gave hope and lifted many out of present despair. Instead of the uncertainty of death without a reasonable explanation, John’s theology gave hope of eternal life. Jesus had already proclaimed to his disciples that he had overcome the world: I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world! (John 16:33). A contrast is being made between the way a believer will be treated in the world or the way a believer must live in the world as a citizen of another world, and the promise of eternal life where the trials and hardships are overcome. In this respect, to overcome the world is to embrace a new vision of life now that Jesus has lived among us. That new vision should be the same vision that Jesus revealed in his life. The Prayer of Jesus is the true vision of life for every believer. The word tharoeo in John 16:33, translated here as take courage, is also translated as be cheerful which portrays a changed attitude towards life, not because of a naïve optimism or carefree living but an attitude of hope because the believer knows the whole story and the outcome of the believer’s life. Jesus told his disciples to be cheerful in life, and the Prayer of Jesus must be read with this optimism.

The Prayer of Jesus continues the mood and intention of Jesus that was expressed at the beginning of the Farewell Discourse. The Farewell Discourse begins with the statement: Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. (John 13:1). This first statement by Jesus reveals that he is in full control of the events surrounding his life and the final hours, even his eventual death on the cross. By the last supper, the task of Jesus had been completed. In John 17:1, Jesus repeated his earlier statement in John 13:1 and said, The hour has come, further indicating his foreknowledge and command of the events of his life.

John’s Disciples

The prayer of Jesus portrays the disciples as mature believers, a state of faith that had not yet been achieved.⁹ According to the generally accepted view of faith, such a mature state would only be reached following Jesus’s resurrection. However, for John, the center of faith is the knowledge of the Son’s relationship to God the Father who sent the Son into the world. Faith in this respect has its reward of eternal life. The crucifixion and the resurrection, in John, do not play the same role as in the Synoptic Gospels. Apart from this apparent ambiguity, the Prayer, nevertheless, refers to believers who comprehend the many facets of faith as followers of Jesus. The disciples referred to in the Prayer appear to have reached a high spiritual maturity created by John to represent the ideal anticipated by Jesus. The content of the Prayer, then, reflects a later community of mature believers in a more general sense. This audience implied in the Prayer is most likely believers in the later times of John around the end of the first century CE.

John’s Purpose

What was the apostle John’s purpose for writing his Gospel? After all, other Gospels had already been written. John’s words clearly explain his purpose.

Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:29–31)

The dialogue between Jesus and Thomas is not just an interaction between Jesus and his immediate followers. John intends to draw all believers and non-believers into the story. The general purpose of John is revealed in John 20:31. John wrote his story of Jesus with the expressed purpose of helping his audience and future readers to believe in Jesus. Faith is founded upon what occurred during the life of Jesus and his disciples. According to John, a person does not have to have been with Jesus. The reader need not have seen his miracles, and heard his teachings, to believe. The reader can trust John’s witness to the truth about Jesus. Thus, the visual effects that were available to the immediate followers of Jesus in the first century are not the primary means whereby a person can be drawn to faith. Faith, according to John, is based upon the Gospel message proclaimed by him and the Church. John writes for you and me so that we too can believe. The Prayer of Jesus in John 17 must therefore be read with this universal intent. The Prayer of Jesus can be a devotional guide and should be read again until the eventual salvation of the believer when all believers will be with Jesus Christ in paradise and behold his glory.¹⁰ As in the role of the Gospel of John in creating faith, the Prayer helps the believer grow into a mature Christian.

The Purpose of the Prayer

John seldom recites other Gospel events and sayings. When he uses popular material from other Gospels, such as the feeding of the thousands in John 6, he has his own unique purpose and message, such as the I am the bread of life teachings following the feeding. The same can be said of the Prayer of Jesus. The very popular Lord’s Prayer is found in Matthew 6:7–13. The Prayer of Jesus in the Gospel of John does not respond to the question Lord teach us to pray. Instead, John’s concern is the passing of Jesus and the continued work of his disciples once he is no longer with them. The general concern expressed in the Prayer is found in John 17:15–17.

I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from evil. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

These words reveal Jesus’s primary concerns for his disciples and, implied, all future disciples. First, believers in Jesus shall live their lives in the world without Jesus visibly present. Second, believers are no longer in the world because of their knowledge of the truth that is revealed by Jesus. Third, believers are sanctified for the work of God in the world. Fourth, the most basic underlying force or power of truth in the world is the Word of God. This fourth concern of Jesus, the Word of God, is and shall always be the support in the work of the Church.

A Prayer for Unity

The Prayer of Jesus is further evidence of Jesus’s concern for future individuals who respond in faith. Thomas, the doubting disciple is simply used by John to represent any and every person who has difficulty believing the story of Jesus without having witnessed firsthand the life of Jesus and the events surrounding his public ministry. One of the important concerns in the Prayer of Jesus is summed up in the words of Jesus: I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:23). The key word in this sentence is unity," but the concept must be understood by the model provided by the relationship between God the Father and Jesus the Son. Unity (teleioo) is expressed as a oneness: "The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them, you in me" (John 17:22–23a). Teleioo is used in the Prayer of Jesus in two ways. In John 17:4, Jesus refers to the completion of his work on earth now that his fate is soon before him. To be complete implies in this usage the accomplishment of purpose in life. God’s purpose for all human life is perfection. That goal of perfection is the primary purpose of the Prayer itself, as expressed by Jesus in John 17:23. Unity in faith is the bringing of faith to perfection.

The unity of Christians had not yet been realized by the end of the first century nor even in modern times, but this unity is to be grounded in the unity of God the Father and Jesus the Son.¹¹ Christians should strive for this unity; a unity that will convince the rest of the world that Jesus came from God. John’s opponents argued that Jesus lied about his relationship to God. And the Church accepted this lie. No other issue fills the Gospel of John more than the fact that Jesus is the Son of God who was sent into the world by God the Father. Jesus had already expressed a concern for unity in his early discourse: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34–35). Unity is evidence of the success of the Gospel message and the power of God in the world. John suggested that even during his time, believers were not united in their faith.¹² Lying, then, at the heart of Jesus’s message, especially his Prayer in John 17, is believers’ unity in the world. By unity all believers seek the well-being of all other Christians, by this, the world will know the Church is the true disciple of God on earth.

In his Good Shepherd discourse (John 10), Jesus claimed that he had other followers that were not among his audience who would also listen to him (John 10:16). Other texts in the Gospels also suggest that early Christianity was not a united religion (Mark 9:38–40). Unity, therefore, implies two important considerations. Firstly, a unity among believers and, secondly, a unity between believers and God. The latter is the prerequisite of the former. Being in someone is more than united as in a common purpose, but a unity of mind and spirit; a unity made possible only through the acceptance of the truth of the Gospel and divine love which creates fellowship among all believers. As the following topics hope to demonstrate, unity is an inner experience of divine presence, a life with a sanctified purpose, and a shared love of God who is revealed through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Prayer of Jesus teaches us how to be a believer in a world that does not know these essential ingredients.

Return of the Believer

The present study of the Prayer of Jesus makes a distinction between the use of the designations Christian and believer. The notion of Christian can imply a range of meanings. We learn in the history of the Church and society that being a Christian can have political implications. The use of Christian can also identify a person’s social standing and relationships. The word Christian can be used to designate a people’s relationship to non-Christian cultures. A person and a community can be Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and so on. In the discussions that follow, the use of believer is more specific in relation to the role of faith. In other words, a disciple of Jesus is synonymous with a believer in Jesus. In broader usage, a Christian may not be a disciple due to the range of meanings and applications associated with the word Christian.

The followers of Jesus Christ were first called Christians (Christianos) in Antioch (Acts of the Apostles 11:26, 26:28). It was in Antioch that Christianity was born.¹³ The first followers of Jesus were predominately Jewish, and for several years this early Church was considered a sect within the Judaic religion. With the spread of the Church into non-Jewish communities the followers of Jesus assumed its own unique identity. This early movement had no specific name. Early Christians were called believers, and disciples, among other names. Followers of Jesus were eventually called Christians because they stood out from among their Jewish counterparts. However, the earliest references to the followers of Jesus Christ were called believers. Our study of the Prayer of Jesus is an invitation to our readers to return to this early expression of faith as believers in Jesus Christ.

As to the general understanding of the value of the Gospel of John, the Gospel provides a model and guideline for faith in Jesus Christ. John’s interpretation of Jesus Christ for the Christian faith is an explanation of what it means to be a believer in Jesus Christ. Rather than John intending to provide yet another historical account of Jesus, his work provides spiritual insights into what it means to be a believer. In the truest sense, as our study implies, a return of the believer is an invitation to embrace the spiritual side of faith, and John provides a blueprint for the Way to eternal life through belief in Jesus the Son of God the Father.

The Great Invitation

The Gospel of John is very different from the other three canonical Gospels. Anyone attempting a comparison between John and the Synoptic Gospels will soon discover a difference in presentation.¹⁴ The three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) offer a record of the public life and ministry of Jesus. This period was no more than three years. We learn many facts about Jesus and his relationship with other people. From the Synoptic Gospels, we learn about his birth, his public activities, what he said, and what he did. For John, the need for an explanation of the meaning behind the person of Jesus seems to occupy his purpose. John’s concern is the defense of the Church’s faith in Jesus Christ, especially against opposition from the Jewish community. A critically important statement by Jesus sums up John’s intentions. Speaking to his disciples who were themselves Jews, Jesus said, Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. This statement for John can be interpreted as a great invitation. The assumption in John’s Gospel is a faith in God in which believers in Jesus Christ are participants.

In the chorus of voices of apostles and evangelists John’s voice. . .. does sing a new and surprising melody.¹⁵ In other words, the Synoptic Gospels give the picture on which the assertion that Jesus is the Christ is based, while the latter (John) gives the elaboration of this assertion and its implications for Christian thought and life.¹⁶ Readers of the Gospel of John are invited into the community of faith in Jesus Christ who is the Logos, the incarnated Son of God the Father.

The reader might begin reading the Gospel of John even with knowledge of other Gospel accounts of Jesus and still receive an even greater experience and challenge to faith, as though returning to a new fullness of faith. The Prayer of Jesus, then, calls for a return of the believer to a richer life of faith. For John’s Gospel, considering his work is one among many in the early years of the Church, his voice speaks a message we might label as an invitation to a deeper and more meaningful faith. The Prayer of Jesus stands as a constant reminder that no matter how a person might define himself or herself as a Christian, the root of faith must be founded upon how John defines a believer. He invites both believers in God, such as the Jews of the Jewish faith, even Christians, and the non-believer to accept the Gospel message which centers on the belief that Jesus is the Son of God who was sent to earth by God the Father with a message of truth and the promise of eternal life.

For John, this bringing people home into full communion with God is the real theme of Jesus’ prayer to the Father.¹⁷ John’s efforts in bringing people into full communion with God have tremendous implications. Communion is essentially a union between the believer and God the Father and the Son, forming a triune relationship that is eternal. The unity of the Son and God the Father is presented as a standard of faith for the community of John. This union of the Son and God the Father establishes the identity and authority of Jesus, but the central theme in this relationship is the sending of the Son into the world. The Johannine incarnational theology is the center of the faith for the true believer. Instead of birth, as Matthew and Luke have it, John introduces Jesus as the eternal Logos, the same as God who is revealed as the Son. For John, the sending of the Son is critical for establishing the authority of Jesus who is the source of divine revelation. This sending of the Son is the essential act by God that will allow the believer to experience full communion with God the Father.

We believe John’s invitation is also presented in defense of various attacks by local Jews and others who challenged the teachings of the Church. In this apology, John addressed his immediate problems. At the heart of John’s defense is his repeated stress on the relationship between Jesus Christ the Son and God the Father. To add to this defense, John interprets the role and purpose of the Son as an agent of God the Father who sent the Son to earth to reveal the truth about this relationship. We can see that John challenges popular views that reject both the divinity of Jesus and his relationship to God.

Use of the Prayer Today

Some scholars have noted the Prologue (John 1:1–18) appears to be an adaptation of an early Christian hymn or credo.¹⁸ This could be said of many passages in the New Testament writings. Likewise, the Prayer of Jesus is believed to have been recited or sung in Christian Eucharistic celebrations.¹⁹ The use of the Prayer in worship suggests the Prayer should be recited frequently and studied for a fuller knowledge of the Son and God the Father. John links this knowledge to eternal life. The recollection of the work of God through Jesus the Son is preserved in the Prayer of Jesus. While we recognize the genre of John 17 as a prayer, the greater value of the Prayer is its theological teachings. The Prayer of Jesus, therefore, has the spiritual power to correct falsehoods and the power to draw individuals closer to God with a new and richer faith.

The Word of God

The Prayer of Jesus is a summary of the Johannine discourses and in this respect a counterpart to the prologue.²⁰ The public ministry of Jesus in the Gospel of John is bracketed by the Prologue (John 1:1–18) and the Prayer of Jesus (John 17). The theological and historical issues hotly debated by students of the Gospel of John can have the Prayer of Jesus as their starting point. The entire Prologue is presented as though certain events and facts have already occurred and the reader has prior knowledge of Jesus though that knowledge may not be accurate or incomplete. John sets out to supply important information about Jesus and correct misunderstandings. John simply assumes the reader will bring to the Gospel some knowledge of Jesus Christ and the Church.

As beautifully written as the Prologue, John excludes much information about the identity of the Logos. For example, when John writes that the Word was in the world, but the world did not know him (John 1:10) there is no mention of Jesus. Jesus is first mentioned in John 1:29 when John the Baptist proclaims "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). The genius of John is evident. He begins with Logos and finally introduces Jesus as the Lamb of God. Readers know the identity of the Logos and the Lamb. The main point can be made that if we only have the Gospel of John, then much of the information about Jesus would be missing. The full Gospel of John is, then, John’s story of Jesus which implies a vast amount of information about Jesus from the other three Gospels and other sources.

In the Gospel of John, we encounter the use of the proper noun Word. This concept of a very familiar term carries a range of meanings. In John 1, Word (Logos) is the equivalent of God. However,

"John does not say ‘the Logos of God’, but, in absolute terms, ‘the Logos’. The statement, ‘Jesus is the Logos’, is not a pointed expression or a rhetorical exaggeration: it is meant literally as a direct description of the nature of Jesus. All other Christological titles in John serve in the end merely to interpret this one fundamental title."²¹

The Word of God is incarnate in human life as Jesus of Nazareth. And this incarnate Word is none other than the encounter between the divine and the human. Incarnation for John is the experience of the divine in the person of Jesus Christ. This experience lies at the heart of John’s Gospel. For traditional Judaism, the experience of God is dependent upon the Torah, the revealed Word of God in written form which has implications for daily life for the Jew. For John, the encounter with God is made possible in the person of Jesus Christ who is the Word (Logos) of God in human-divine form as incarnation.

Reading the Gospel of John

Because of the emphasis on the Word in the Prayer, we notice the absence of the name Jesus Christ until John 17:17. This mentioning of the Son by name suggests a prior knowledge of the subject of the Prologue. Also, the first sixteen verses imply a level of knowledge of Jesus through the masculine pronoun he. The last words of the Prologue are in a grammatical past tense Jesus who has made God known (John 1:18). This acknowledges the work of Jesus by John. The reader of John, then, is aware of the life and work of Jesus Christ and the witness and teaching of the early Church. Further, the famous final words of Jesus in John’s Gospel assume prior knowledge of the various versions of the passion, and John makes the last words of Jesus a concluding statement reflecting John’s unique understanding of Jesus’s mission which included virtually all aspects of the Church’s knowledge and beliefs about Jesus. Jesus’s last words on the cross are It is finished (John 19:30). The antecedent of it is debatable. Could this refer to the mission of Jesus? Or could Jesus have been referring to his final hour when his mission on earth was complete? Jesus could have envisioned his last action that made it possible for him to return to God the Father.

This prior knowledge of the life and work of Jesus Christ and the Church is a key to understanding the Gospel of John, especially the Prayer of Jesus. John is not attempting to introduce the reader to Jesus Christ in a manner that other Gospels had done. Rather, since John is not concerned necessarily with recounting in detail the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth, then his intentions lie elsewhere. For the reader, the reading of John’s Gospel will achieve something other than the historical and yet not entirely excluding history.

Now, what is the reader reading in the Gospel of Matthew or that of Luke and Mark? Matthew’s story of Jesus is about how he fulfilled ancient prophecy and the role of Moses and the predicted prophet who became the Jewish Messiah (Deuteronomy 18:18). A reading of Matthew must therefore consider the Gospel’s Jewishness. For Luke, Jewishness fades into the background to surface only when something Jewish needs explanation. A reading of Luke can be seen through the eyes of a reader who has little knowledge of the Jewish tradition. Now Mark’s version of the life and work of Jesus is almost entirely focused on the passion of Jesus. The reader, then, is led through the events of the public ministry of Jesus as a road to Jerusalem and his fate on the cross. Everything for Jesus points to his death on the cross. In each of these three Synoptic Gospels, the reader will gain considerable knowledge of the historical events in the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. John’s Gospel assumes this prior knowledge, all the while, offering his own collection of stories about Jesus and even his own interpretation of the life, work, and death of Jesus of Nazareth. The Prayer of Jesus, to state this Johannine point clearly, is the summation of John’s interests. This point leads us to The Seven Necessities in Life.

The Seven Necessities in Life

The Prayer of Jesus can be divided into seven sections with each division providing a logical progression of information about the nature of Jesus and his work. The Prayer also reveals the nature of the ministry of the Church. Each of the seven divisions in the Prayer provides a guide for the life of faith for every believer.

1.Life should be lived for God. (John 17:1–5) The beginning of the Prayer of Jesus is addressed to God. Jesus reflects upon his mission and purpose in life. Because Jesus is the incarnation of the divine on earth God the Father has entrusted him with the important task of the revelation of the relationship between the Son and God the Father. At the core of this revelation is God the Father sending the Son to earth. The intimacy shown between Jesus and God the Father mirrors the same relationship every person can have with Jesus Christ and God the Father. A person’s sense of purpose in life is dependent upon a daily communion with God. The same applies to the role and purpose of the Church in the world today.

2.Life should be lived for others. (John 17:6–10) Jesus directs his Prayer to God the Father and then he prays for his followers. He desires the protection of his disciples against those who inevitably oppose them in the world because of their faith in God and belief that Jesus is the Son of God. A meaningful life is always dependent upon human relationships, and just as Jesus was concerned about the well-being of his disciples, his love for all believers should be the model by which believers relate to each other.

3.Life should be lived with confidence. (John 17:11–12) Jesus calls upon God the Father to protect his followers who will continue to live in the world. To be protected in God’s name is to be assured of God’s love and presence in the believer’s life. The life of every believer should be lived with the confidence of God’s abiding presence.

4.Life should be lived in the world. (John 17:13–19) The believer in Christ is faced with a dilemma. How are believers to live in a world that rejects the message revealed by Jesus Christ? The life of a believer is a life with a task. Believers are sent people who are to live in the world just as Jesus had lived and yet with a message and a mission. Living in the world challenges each believer to remain focused on his or her commitment to God, and this is not easy.

5.Life should be concerned with the future. (John 17:20–23) Not only did Jesus pray for his disciples who were with him, but Jesus also prayed for future generations who will come to faith through the preaching and teaching of his immediate disciples. With the continuing witnessing of the Gospel message, believers should strive for unity of faith. One of the most difficult challenges a person has in life is to remain consciously aware of how one’s life in the present can influence the lives of people in the future. Jesus reminds us that our lives are not fleeting moments that end with our passing. Our lives of faith impact the world in ways we cannot imagine.

6.Life should behold the glory of Christ. (John 17:24) The glory of Christ is seen and experienced in life in two distinct ways. On the one hand, Christ’s glory is manifest in the work of Christ in the world through the life of each believer. To see Christ in the work of the Church is to see the glory of Christ in the world. And yet, on the other hand, as John 17:24 states, to see the glory of Christ is a lasting hope for each believer to be with Christ in the eternal realm. Jesus wishes that all believers be with him and to behold his glory, and in so witnessing this glory the believer will be witness to the eternal bond between God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son.

7.Life should have meaning and purpose. (John 17:25–26) Prayer is a time to reflect upon the life of faith. The Prayer of Jesus concludes with a reflection upon what Jesus had accomplished. Jesus has revealed God the Father to the world but only a few accept this revelation and believe. Jesus has accomplished his task. The world is given the way of truth that could save the world and unite all of humanity. The life of Jesus equaled his purpose. The life of each person should be measured by the love of God revealed in the Son. The Prayer of Jesus teaches that every person is born into this world with a purpose.

The Prayer of Jesus: A Summary

The Prayer calls all believers to the Son who is the true revealer of God the Father. The message of John goes out to believers in God and not necessarily the non-believer. The Gospel’s evangelical purpose, then, is to call all believers in God to faith in the Son through whom all believers can come to know intimately as God the Father. In so coming to faith in Christ, the hope is that others may come to faith in the Son through the disciple’s witness. The progress in the spread and growth of the Church begins with the believer in God who comes to faith in the Son through John’s message.

The first stage is the immediate disciples who are eyewitnesses to the life and work of Jesus Christ. The second stage is the life and work of the disciples who testify to the truth of Jesus Christ. Future believers create a third stage in the work of Christ in the world. They are who come to faith through the work of Jesus’s immediate disciples. John’s concern is with how future generations will hear the Gospel message revealed by Jesus. The witness of the apostles in the early Church continues in the inspired writings of the New Testament. Through the preserved message of the apostles in the New Testament, the revelation of Jesus Christ continues to be revealed for each generation of believers throughout history even into the world of today.

The Prayer reminds all future believers that their fate rests not in their own hands but with God the Father and the Son. The Prayer, then, is spoken by the Son to God the Father in this heavenly discourse on behalf and in the hearing of the disciples. Their fate, and the fate of the Church, is the primary topic of concern in the Prayer. The reader of the Prayer is also being drawn into a heavenly discourse just as the first disciples were witnesses to this heavenly exchange. With its canonical shaping, thereby making it possible for future individuals to hear and read the words of the Prayer, the witnesses to Jesus’s discussion with God the Father have broadened beyond the immediate confines of the disciples to include an unlimited number of witnesses. The community addressed is actually joined more closely to heaven than to earth.²² John has taken the intimacy of the moment and introduced the Prayer to the world through the skill and artistry of John’s pen. The canonical Gospel of John pulls the reader into the Prayer. Today, God the Father still draws individuals to the Son, and the Prayer of Jesus remains an important part of God’s work.

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11. C. H. Dodd, The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1953), 418.

2. Oscar Cullmann, The Christology of the New Testament (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1963), 105.

3. Ibid.

4. Cullmann, The Christology of the New Testament, 106.

5. Theodore of Mopsuestia, Commentary on the Gospel of John, trans. Marco Conti (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2010), 141.

6. Ernst Haenchen, John 2: A Commentary of the Gospel of John Chapters 7–21, trans. Robert W. Funk (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984). 150.

7. Edward Schillebeeckx, Christ: The Experience of Jesus as Lord (New York: Crossroad, 1981), 401.

8. Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Company, 1995), 634.

9.     D. Moody Smith, John (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999), 309.

10. F. B. Meyer, Gospel of John (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1970), 296.

11. R. Alan Culpepper, Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel: A Study in Literary Design (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983), 66.

12. Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (New York: Doubleday, 1997), 356.

13. Dale T. Irvin, History in Encyclopedia of Christianity, ed. John Bowden (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 537–575.

14. C. J. den Heyer, Jesus and the Doctrine of the Atonement (Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 1998), 90.

15. Ibid.