1. The Subjects (verses 6-10)
2. The Requests (verses 11-19)

One of the greatest privileges that a believer in Jesus Christ has is that Jesus prays for us. Right now. In heaven. Jesus is praying for us. He is praying for those of us who believe in him.

How he prays for millions (and perhaps even billions of people), all at the same time, is impossible for me to comprehend. But Jesus is God. Jesus is always praying for those who believe in him.

Jesus "always lives to make intercession for [us]" (Hebrews 7:25). Praying for us is the full-time job of Jesus. Jesus is making intercession for us. That is, Jesus is praying to the Father on our behalf. Jesus "intercedes" for us. Jesus goes between us and God. Jesus advocates on our behalf.

In 1 John 2:1, we read, "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." That is, Jesus is our defense attorney. When we sin, Jesus will advocate our case before the Father, like any lawyer would before the judge. In our defense, Jesus doesn't advocate our innocence. Rather, he advocates on the ground of his righteousness, that by dying on the cross for us, Jesus fully satisfied God's divine justice, thereby paying the full penalty of our sins. And that we should be forgiven of our sins.

Paul says it with these words in Romans 8:34: "Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." That is, present tense, Jesus is right now, praying before the Father on our behalf.

I would love to hear what Jesus is actually praying for us. I would love to hear what Jesus is actually praying for me. But, unfortunately for us, Jesus is in heaven, and we can't hear what he is praying. Further, Jesus is at the right hand of God, as if he has approached the judge, and even the courtroom in heaven can't hear his full discussion with the Father. Now, the good news is this: In the Bible, we have a record of how Jesus prayed for us while on earth. This record is found in John, chapter 17. This morning we will look at verses 6-19.

Last week, we looked at verses 1-5, in which Jesus prayed for himself. In his prayer, Jesus prayed for his own glory. "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you" (John 17:1). We found out last week that this glory that Jesus requested was connected with the work that Jesus did upon the cross. "I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed" (John 17:4-5). Indeed, this prayer has been answered. Jesus is glorified right now, seated at the right hand of God, in God's presence, right where he was before the world even came to be.

Beginning in verse 6 of John 17, we see a transition. Jesus is no longer praying for himself. He begins praying for his disciples. He is praying for those who believe in him. For the entire rest of the chapter, we get to hear what Jesus prays for those who believe in him. In this sense, John 17 is (as John MacArthur called it), "Pre-cross preview of his post-cross work."^[1] That is, for all of us who wish that we could hear what Jesus is praying for us, get a taste of it in John, chapter 17.

As we look at verses 6-19, we see Jesus praying for his apostles. That is, the twelve (minus Judas), who Jesus gathered and taught while upon the earth, who Jesus will send into the world (verse 18). The title of my message is "Jesus Prays for His Apostles." Let's read our text.

John 17:6-19
"I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth."

This prayer is divided into two parts. In the first part, Jesus identifies who he is praying for. In the second part, Jesus makes his prayer requests. So, let's look at our first point.

1. The Subjects (verses 6-10)

That is, the subjects of this prayer of Jesus. In verse 6, Jesus identifies them twice as the ones who the Father "gave" to Jesus. Look again in verse 6.

John 17:6
I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

Jesus is referring to his disciples here, the ones who are in earshot of him. I have called them "His Apostles." Jesus understands them as a gift to him from his heavenly Father. The Father gave them to the Son.

Note here how Jesus doesn't identify them as those who chose to follow Jesus, but as those who were given to Jesus. This is because Jesus had told these very disciples, "You did not choose me, but I chose you" (John 15:16). When you track through the gospels, you see that Jesus spent a night in prayer on a mountain, and at the end of his night in prayer, he came down from the mountain, and chose the twelve disciples, and called them to follow him (Luke 6:12-15). I believe that the night that Jesus spent in prayer was spent seeking to know who it was that God had given to Jesus, to be his disciples. Jesus chose the ones whom the Father had given to the Son.

In all reality, this is how any of us come to Christ. We come to God, because God gives us to Jesus. That's from the divine perspective. From the human perspective, we respond in faith and obedience to what we know of Jesus. This is exactly what Jesus says about these disciples. In verse 6 he says, "I have manifested your name to [them], and they have kept your word." To "manifest" means to "show." Jesus showed them the Father, and they followed in obedience to the word of God.

In verse 7, we see Jesus describing these apostles. He says,

John 17:7
Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.

I love how D. A. Carson expands upon this. He says, "They may not have understood that their Messiah had to die and rise again; They may not have grasped how he was to embrace and fulfill in his own person Old Testament motifs of kingship, sacrifice, priesthood and suffering servant. But they had come to the deep conviction that Jesus was God's messenger, that he had been sent by God and that all he taught was God's truth."^[2]

In other words, these disciples hadn't come to fully understand the mission of the Messiah. They were in process. They simply knew that Jesus was sent from God and spoke the truth of God. We see this in the next verse.

John 17:8
For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

Again, Jesus carries on the theme. It's not that these disciples had fully understood all of what was about to take place when Jesus would be arrested, tried, and sentenced to death upon the cross. We know this, because at the moment of his arrest, the disciples fled into the night. But they had faith that was from God. And at this point in redemptive history, it was enough for Jesus to care for them, by praying for them. Again, D. A. Carson says this, "The disciples accepted [the words of Jesus]. They may not always have understood them, but so attached had they become to Jesus that they accepted his words as true revelation from God."^[3]

This is so helpful for all of us. When we come to God's word, we need to come with an attitude of faith and acceptance. We may not know it all. We may not understand it all. But we must embrace it all. That's no excuse for ignorance. Nor is it any reason not to be daily reading and meditating upon God's word. Because, in just a few days, these disciples would come to embrace the reality of the centrality of the cross of Christ, and how he died upon the cross in our place for our forgiveness, and how he was raised up from the tomb in victory! And their understanding, (after Jesus spent 40 days with them after the resurrection,) would come to full bloom. As Peter would preach his sermon on the day of Pentecost, clearly preaching that forgiveness of sins comes through belief in the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross for our sins.

But that's not where these apostles were when Jesus prayed these words of John 17. They didn't have a full-orbed understanding of the gospel. Rather, they had a knowledge and conviction that all that Jesus said was true, even if they didn't understand it all. This past week in our Bible reading, we have been in the book of Acts. We read in Acts 18 of Apollos, who was "mighty in the Scriptures" (Acts 18:24). Yet, he only knew of the baptism of John, and not the ministry of Jesus. But when Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and "explained to him the way of God more accurately" (Acts 18:26), Apollos believed in Jesus, embracing the grace of Jesus fully.

We saw the same thing in Acts 19, with the disciples of John the Baptist who were at Ephesus. They were believing in John's message, of the baptism of repentance. But they did not know that John told the people "to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is Jesus" (Acts 19:4). Upon believing, "they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 19:5). That's right where these disciples were. They knew that Jesus had come from God. They knew that his words were true. But they hadn't yet fully embraced his leaving them to die. They were in this "in-between-time." They would come to full-knowledge later, in God's time. But their hearts were prepared to embrace everything Jesus said.

Now, in verses 9 and 10, we see Jesus clarifying the subjects of his prayer.

John 17:9-10
I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

Here is where Jesus explicitly says that he's only praying for the apostles. Jesus wasn't praying for Nicodemus, who came to him by night, who had shown interest in Jesus, but, from all we know, wasn't yet believing. Jesus wasn't praying for the woman he met at the well, or the Samaritans. Jesus wasn't praying for the 5,000 men he had fed, or the blind man that he healed. Jesus wasn't praying for Pharisees. He wasn't praying for the chief priests or the Sadducees. He wasn't praying for the Gentiles or for Pilate or for Caesar.

Jesus here was praying for those who were given to him by the Father (verse 6). Jesus here was praying for his apostles. Jesus understood that his glory would come about through them (verse 10).

2. The Requests (verses 11-19)

By this, I mean, what Jesus asks of the Father for them. It's not exactly clear how many prayer requests that Jesus makes for his apostles. You can number them in various ways. I will put forth four main requests that Jesus makes. Any other requests are merely subsets of these four main requests.

The good news is this: What Jesus prayed for the apostles, he is surely praying for us as well. Because all of these things are applicable to us as well. What Jesus prayed for the apostles is surely what we need as well.

Keep them in your name (verses 11-12).

Here is the first thing that Jesus prays. We see this in verses 11 and 12.

John 17:11
And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

Jesus prayed this, because he would soon no longer be able to do this himself, as he was leaving the world. In fact, Jesus says, "I am no longer in the world." This is just like last week, when Jesus said (in verse 4), "I have accomplished the work that you gave me to do." That was before Jesus finished his work on the cross. He saw it as good as done.

So likewise here, Jesus says, "And I am no longer in the world," as if he has already departed. I think Jesus said it this way, because it's as good as done. Jesus is, in some way, already checked out of this world. He knows that his death is coming. He feels as if it is already accomplished, and that he is no longer in the world. Yet, Jesus is aware that he isn't there yet. He says in verse 12, "I am coming to [the Father]." So it's not that Jesus is fully gone yet. He just speaks as if he is not in the world.

Yet, Jesus is fully aware that the disciples aren't in the same situation. "But they are in the world." This stirs the prayer request. How good it is for us that Jesus, the word, became flesh and lived among us. He knows what it's like to live in the world. He knows that if we are to endure in our faith, we need the Father to act on our behalf. This is one of the reasons that the Bible gives for why Jesus is praying for us. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). This is why, in the next verse, we are exhorted to come to our heavenly high priest: "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

Jesus knows what it's like to live in the flesh. Jesus knows the temptations that come. So, he prays, "Holy Father, keep them in your name." The "name" of God is often a shorthand for God himself. In fact, the Jews today, when they speak about God, they consider God's name too holy to say. So, when talking about God, they often call him, "Hashem," which means "the name." The idea here is that Jesus is praying that his Apostles would endure in their faith, endure in God's name. That they would endure together in unity, being one, even as the Father and the Son are one.

Jesus prayed this, because he would no longer be able to do this by himself. Look at verse 12,

John 17:12
While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

While on the earth, Jesus was able to keep. Jesus guarded them while on the earth. Think about it. While Jesus was on the earth, he could direct many things about the lives of the apostles. He could tell them where they should go. He could debrief with them after encounters with the Pharisees. He could stand up for them when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus (see John 18:8).

But while gone, Jesus was no longer able to do this. But God is able to keep us. "Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen" (Jude 24-25).

Now, the seeming exception to this was Judas. It seems as if Jesus failed in keeping him. "I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled." Yet, as Mickey Klink says, "In order to make clear that the loss of Judas was not based upon incompetent protection, Jesus adds that his particular departure actually took place 'so that Scripture might be fulfilled.'"^[4] That is, it's not as if Jesus wasn't powerful enough to keep Judas. Rather, it was that Psalm 41:9 might be fulfilled. "Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me."

This brings us back to the Passover meal, when Jesus quoted this passage at the meal: "Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, 'He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me'" (John 13:16-18). This was when Jesus "dipped the morsel" and "gave [the bread] to Judas" and said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly" (John 13:27).

This was all by design. Jesus needed a close friend who would betray him. It was no surprise to Jesus that Judas was the one. It was not because Jesus lacked the foresight about Judas. Jesus knew from the beginning who would betray him. Jesus didn't try and fail in "losing" Judas. He went his own way. But Judas shows us how needy we are of God's work to keep us in his name. I love the quote of Richard Sibbes, "When the child falls not, it is from the mother's holding the child, and not from the child's holding the mother. So it is God's holding of us, knowing of us, embracing of us, and justifying of us that makes the state firm, and not ours."^[5] We may cling to God, but it is his hand (in the end) that upholds us. "My soul clings to you; Your right hand upholds me" (Psalm 63:8).

Give them joy (verses 13).

That's the first prayer request. Let's look at the second. Jesus prays for joy. "Give them joy" he says.

John 17:13
But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

I love this command. I love joy. I would love nothing other than that our congregation would be filled with joy! We are commanded to be joyful people. "Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!" (Psalm 100:1-2).

I believe that Jesus was a joyful man. In fact, I believe that this verse shows it. Jesus is pleading with the Father that the joy of Jesus would be in the apostles. The only way to make such a prayer is if Jesus was a joyful man. I was reading this week from Jon Acuff's book, "Stuff Christians Like." It's a satirical book making fun of the foibles of Christians. He talked about "Somber Christian Syndrome" (SCS). That is "a disease that tells you that to be considered a good Christian, you have to be serious all the time. That to really reach people for God's kingdom, you have to be holy and reverent, and instead of laughing out loud, you have to quietly remark, 'That's funny. I see the humor in that situation'"^[6]

Acuff was poking fun at the Christians who live like this, thinking that being somber is the path to true spiritual maturity. But it's not! Jesus prayed here for his disciples to have joy! I firmly believe that joy is the very thing that will keep you in the faith, realizing, as Psalm 4:7 says, "You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound." In other words, when the world is pursuing their greatest source of joy, as believers, we will out-joy them! I believe that God's joy is the fuel that will strengthen us to persevere through the hard time.

Nehemiah faced a bunch of opposition from those opposing the building of the wall in Jerusalem. He told the people, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). God's joy is our strength. Jesus knew that. That's why he prayed to his Father for joy for his apostles.

The third request that Jesus prays comes in verses 14-16,

Keep them from the evil one (verses 14-16).

John 17:14-16
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Jesus prays, "Keep them from the evil one." There are many who think that the key to spirituality is to stay out of the world. Stay in your church bubble. Stay in your home-school bubble. Keep away from all evil people. Don't talk with non-Christians. Don't watch non-Christian movies. Don't listen to non-Christian news. In many ways, this is why monasteries were started. So that monks could keep themselves from the world.

But the reality is this: We are in the world. Jesus says, (in verse 15), "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one." That is, we are in the world, but we are not to be "of the world." There is a big difference between the two. Corinth messed up with this command. Paul had written to them about mixing with those who are worldly. He had to clarify the situation in 1 Corinthians, chapter 5.

1 Corinthians 5:9-11
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

That is, when it comes to non-Christians, you must associate with the ungodly of the world. To them, your light must shine. Yet, when it comes to Christians, we cannot tolerate such behavior in our church. We cannot tolerate such behavior in our friendships with professing Christians. Because, the reputation of Christ is at stake! But in living in this world, Jesus prays for his apostles: "Keep them from the evil one" (verses 14-16). This is super-important to Jesus, because he even taught us to pray (in the Lord's prayer), "Deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6:13).

This only takes place as we pursue sanctification in our own lives, which is the final request that Jesus makes in verses 17-19.

Sanctify them (verses 17-19).

John 17-19
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Jesus wants a holy people. That's what "sanctification" means. It means that we are holy and pure, set apart and distinct. Jesus wants this because in it we reflect the Father. God is holy. We are called to be holy. We are called to be sanctified. "For this is the will of God, your sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

Jesus prays for this. That's how Jesus begins his prayer request in verse 17. That's how Jesus ends his prayer request in verse 19. "Sanctify them in truth." It's a sort of "sanctification sandwich."

This leads us to the best way to be sanctified: "in the truth." That is, knowing and obeying the truth is the only path to be sanctified. That's one of the reasons why we push Bible reading so hard at Rock Valley Bible Church. We want you to be reading the Bible daily. We are trying to do everything we can to make it super easy for you to hear the word of God daily in your life.

It's because the truth of God's word is the path to purity. You can't obey the Lord if you don't know what he wants of us. You can't simply say, "I believe the Bible" without knowing what it says. So read it. Believe it. Follow it.

So, how does it work? I think it works on many levels. First of all, it works by reading broadly. Read the entire Bible. Read all of scripture. The promise of all of scripture is that it will equip you and train you for righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Reading all of Scripture will sanctify you. So read broadly.

But also read repetitively. Read the Bible over and over again. One of the best ways to study the Bible is to take a passage of Scripture and read it every day for a month, until you're so familiar with it that you can almost know everything it says and where it is on the page. You could read a Psalm every day for a week. You could read an epistle through and through for a month. Just read repetitively.

Knowing the Bible is like advertising. They say, that for advertising to be effective, you need to see the same product advertised many times before it sinks in and you are aware of the product. So it is with God's word. You need to be exposed to God's word many, many times until it gets into your heart and soul. Read repetitively.

But also read slowly. Take a verse. Take a proverb. Read it over and over. Memorize it. Meditate upon it. Think about it. A proverb is like hard candy. It's like a watermelon flavored Jolly Rancher that you suck on and suck on. As you do, the flavor keeps coming upon your tongue. Sanctification works through this process of of thinking and praying through passages.

Jesus says, "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." So read the Scripture to know and obey. The Scriptures teach us what we are to believe, which will have it's sanctifying effect. For instance, in Ephesians 2, we read of how we were dead in our sin (verses 1-3) and the work of Christ to awaken us (verses 4-7). Continuing on in verses 8 and 9, we discover how we are saved by grace through faith, which is not our own doing. It's God's grace. Continuing on to verse 10, we see that God saved us for a purpose: to do the works that he prepared beforehand for us to do. Taking this passage as a whole, we see how God grace empowers us for the good works. So, think through passages of scripture like that and see how it works in your life.

One of the ways that it worked out in the lives of these Apostles is that they would go into the world to spread the gospel. Jesus says,

John 17:18
As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

These Apostles were called to be missionaries. They were to bring the light into the world They were to bring the message of Christ to those who had never heard. This was formally laid out in Matthew 28:18-20, which is known as "The Great Commission," which has bearing upon all of us. We are all called to go and make disciples of all the nations, by telling them what God's word says.

So, I encourage you to be speaking with others about Christ. Tell them of the forgiveness that comes through him by faith. Let the Lord work in their hearts. The Lord is in this work. Jesus says,

John 17-19
For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Jesus is alluding to the cross here. He says, "I'm going to the cross. I have been pure for their sake. And my sacrifice is going to be the pure sacrifice that they need to go."

What a privilege we have. These are the sorts of things that Jesus prays for us. Let us embrace them and be kept in his name, that we would have joy and kept from the evil one, and that we would be be sanctified.

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on January 18, 2026 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.

[1] John MacArthur, "Jesus Prays for His Disciples, Part 2: John 17:11-17" (sermon delivered at Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, CA, 16 January 1974).

[2] D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 559.
 
[3] Ibid., 560.

[4] Edward W. Klink III, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 719

[5] Richard Sibbes, Complete Works, Volume 6 (Edinburgh: John Greig and Son, 1863), 439.

[6] Jon Acuff, Stuff Christians Like: Sometimes the Stuff That Comes with Faith Is Funny (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 14.