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Juan 17

VBL · Chapter 17/21

1Cuando Jesús terminó de decir esto, levantó su Mirada al cielo y dijo: “Padre, ha llegado el momento. Glorifica a tu Hijo para que el Hijo pueda glorificarte.

2Porque tú le has dado autoridad sobre todas las personas para que él pueda darle vida eterna a todos los que tú le has entregado.

3La vida eterna es esta: conocerte, a ti que eres el único Dios verdadero, y a Jesucristo a quien enviaste.

4Yo te he dado gloria aquí en la tierra al terminar la obra que me mandaste a hacer.

5Ahora, Padre, glorifícame ante ti con la gloria que tuve contigo antes de la creación del mundo.

6“Yo he revelado tu carácter a aquellos que me diste del mundo. Ellos te pertenecían; me los diste a mí, y he hecho lo que tú dijiste.

7Ahora ellos saben que todo lo que me has dado viene de ti.

8Yo les he dado el mensaje que tú me diste a mí. Ellos lo aceptaron, estando completamente convencidos de que vine de ti, y ellos creyeron que tú me enviaste.

9Estoy orando por ello—no por el mundo, sino por los que me diste, porque ellos te pertenecen.

10Todos los que me pertenecen son tuyos, y los que te pertenecen a ti son míos, y yo he sido glorificado por medio de ellos.

11“Dejo el mundo, pero ellos seguirán en el mundo mientras yo regreso a ti. Padre Santo, protégelos en tu nombre, el nombre que me diste a mí, para que ellos sean uno, así como nosotros somos uno.

12Mientras estuve con ellos, los protegí en tu nombre, el nombre que me diste. Cuidé de ellos para que ninguno se perdiera, excepto el ‘hijo de perdición,’ para que se cumpliera la Escritura.

13“Ahora vuelvo a ti y digo estas cosas mientras estoy aún en el mundo para que ellos puedan compartir completamente mi alegría.

14Les di tu mensaje, y el mundo los odió porque ellos no son del mundo, así como yo no soy del mundo.

15No te estoy pidiendo que los quites del mundo, sino que los protejas del maligno.

16Ellos no son del mundo, así como yo no soy del mundo.

17Santifícalos por la verdad; tu palabra es verdad.

18Así como tú me enviaste al mundo, yo los he enviado al mundo.

19Yo me consagro a mí mismo por ellos para que ellos también sean verdaderamente santos.

20“No solo estoy orando por ellos, también oro por los que crean en mí por el mensaje de ellos.

21Oro para que todos puedan ser uno, así como tú, Padre, vives en mí y yo vivo en ti, para que ellos también puedan vivir en nosotros a fin de que el mundo crea que tú me enviaste.

22Yo les he dado la gloria que tú me diste, para que puedan ser uno, así como nosotros somos uno.

23Yo vivo en ellos, y tú vives en mí. Que ellos puedan ser uno completamente, para que el mundo entero sepa que tú me enviaste, y que tú los amas, así como me amas a mí.

24“Padre, quiero que los que me has dado estén conmigo donde yo esté, para que puedan ver la gloria que me diste—porque tú me amaste antes de que el mundo fuera creado.

25Padre bueno, el mundo no te conoce, pero yo te conozco, y estos que están aquí ahora conmigo saben que tú me enviaste.

26Yo les he mostrado tu carácter y seguiré dándolo a conocer, para que el amor que tienes por mí esté en ellos, y yo viviré en ellos”.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jesus offers a long prayer to the Father, known as the 'high priestly prayer,' asking for his own glorification, for the protection and sanctification of the disciples, and for the unity of all who would come to believe in him through their preaching.

Explanation

This prayer, offered shortly before Jesus' arrest, reveals his deep intimacy with the Father and his pastoral care for the disciples he would leave in the world. He asks not that they be taken out of the world, but protected from evil as they carry out their mission (v.15). The emphasis on the believers' unity ('that they may be one, even as we are one,' v.11, 21-22) reflects the desire that the church reflect the very unity of the Trinity as a witness to the world. The prayer also extends to future believers who would come to believe through the apostles' preaching (v.20), including all Christians of every age. The practical application today is to remember that unity among Christians is not optional but part of the testimony that proves the truth of the gospel to the world.

Fun facts

  • This prayer is traditionally called the 'high priestly prayer' because in it Jesus intercedes for God's people in a way similar to the role of the high priest in the Old Testament, who interceded for the people before God on the Day of Atonement.
  • The phrase 'that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent' (v.3) defines eternal life not merely as endless duration, but as a relationship of personal knowledge of God — a central idea in Johannine theology.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Juan 17:1This is the last time, at a crucial point, that the theme of Jesus’s “hour” appears, after being mentioned several times throughout the Gospel as something that had not yet come. Here, on the eve of His arrest and death, Jesus Himself declares that the moment has finally arrived.
  2. Juan 17:2Explains the basis of Jesus’s authority: it exists precisely so that He can give eternal life to everyone the Father has placed in His care.
  3. Juan 17:3The text defines eternal life not as something that only begins after death, but as a relationship of knowing God that can already begin in this life. It is a direct definition, right in the middle of a prayer, of what this expression means to the Gospel’s author.
  4. Juan 17:4Jesus speaks as though His mission were already complete, even before the crucifixion actually happens — a total confidence in what is about to be fulfilled.
  5. Juan 17:5Jesus is asking to receive back something that, according to the text, He already had before anything existed, a position prior to the very creation of the world. It continues the idea presented back in chapter 1, about the Word that was already with God in the beginning.
  6. Juan 17:6Describes Jesus’s ministry as revealing God’s own character to the disciples, who already belonged to God before being entrusted to Him.
  7. Juan 17:7Speaks of the disciples’ gradual understanding: they now realize that everything Jesus has comes originally from the Father.
  8. Juan 17:8Describes the chain by which the message was passed on: from the Father to Jesus, and from Jesus to the disciples, resulting in their faith that He truly came from God.
  9. Juan 17:9Jesus specifies whom He is praying for at this moment: not for the world in general, but specifically for the disciples the Father entrusted to Him.
  10. Juan 17:10Describes complete shared ownership between Father and Son, and explains that the disciples’ faithfulness, in some way, also glorifies Jesus.
  11. Juan 17:11Jesus already speaks like someone about to leave the world, even though still physically present, and asks the Father to protect the disciples, keeping among them the same unity that exists between Father and Son.
  12. Juan 17:12Jesus recalls that He personally watched over the disciples while He was with them, and that only Judas was lost — something that, He says, already fulfilled an ancient prophecy from Scripture.
  13. Juan 17:13Jesus ties this prayer, spoken out loud in front of the disciples, to the purpose that they might have His joy made complete within themselves.
  14. Juan 17:14Explains that the disciples will suffer the same rejection He suffered, because they share the same identity: not belonging to the world’s system of values.
  15. Juan 17:15Jesus makes clear that He is not asking for the disciples to be taken out of the world, but for them to be protected from evil while they continue living in it.
  16. Juan 17:16Repeats the same statement of identity: the disciples do not belong to the world, just as Jesus Himself does not belong to it.
  17. Juan 17:17Asks that the disciples be set apart through the truth, directly defining that truth as the very word of God.
  18. Juan 17:18Establishes a direct parallel: just as the Father sent Jesus into the world, Jesus now sends the disciples in the same way, carrying the same mission forward.
  19. Juan 17:19Jesus describes His own consecration, a reference to His coming death, as something done for the disciples’ benefit, so that they too may be sanctified.
  20. Juan 17:20Jesus broadens the scope of this prayer: it is not only for the disciples present, but for everyone who would come to believe in the future through their testimony — including, in a sense, every future reader of the Gospel.
  21. Juan 17:21Jesus is praying for unity among those who would come to follow Him, using the relationship between Him and the Father as the model. It is not a unity of agreeing on everything, but of purpose and connection, the same way He describes His own relationship with God.
  22. Juan 17:22Continues the theme of unity, now stating that Jesus shared His own glory with the disciples for the very purpose of making that unity happen.
  23. Juan 17:23Completes the image of a mutual union between Father, Son, and disciples, with a clear purpose: that the world may recognize that God sent Jesus and loved the disciples the same way He loved His own Son.
  24. Juan 17:24Jesus expresses a personal desire for the future: that the disciples be with Him wherever He is, beholding a glory that already existed before the creation of the world.
  25. Juan 17:25Draws a final contrast between the world’s general ignorance of God and the disciples’ particular recognition of Him, echoing the same theme already presented at the very beginning of the Gospel.
  26. Juan 17:26Closes the prayer by declaring an ongoing purpose: that the same love the Father has for Jesus may continue living in the disciples, together with the presence of Jesus Himself within them.

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