We take special note of the last words of those who are leaving us in death. They tend to mark the heart of the dying one and expose whatever may be there for all to see. John seventeen is a prayer to His Father. It is addressed to the Father, spoken in the light of His going away from the earth. Only He could pray such a prayer. He taught His disciples what to say in prayer but some of those things He did not pray Himself. He could never have said, "Forgive us our trespasses." He never trespassed. He never invited His disciples to join Him in this prayer.

We may well suppose Jesus was speaking aloud so that the disciples could hear. We know He wanted the record of these words preserved for his disciples, else that record would not be in our Bibles, but since it is a record for disciples right through this age we may well presume it was for those disciples to whom He specifically referred in the prayer. If Jesus taught His disciples to pray we are sure He had no objection to their hearing Him pray, but there seems to be something amiss about His praying with them.

His work on earth was just about done for He says (v. 4), "I have finished the work which thou gayest me to do." He had eaten the Last Supper with them, giving them the signs by which they could remember Him as their Lord and Master. What He was about to do was most important for them to remember. Next to this was the lesson He wanted them to get -- that they should be one with Him-until He should return in glory. He had shown them His love in so many ways while with them. Now He would give Himself for them.

It seems to me that this prayer is recorded as an example of those things which He continues to ask His Father, and our Father, during the time of His absence. He is our High Priest and this is a priestly prayer.
"These words spake Jesus." What words? Evidently those words preceding in that lengthy bit of instruction we find in chapters fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen. His love for them and His care of them are evident in these chapters as in no others. These are preparation for their hearts and lives during His absence. A loved one who cares likes to leave with His loved ones those things most important for their welfare.

FOR THEIR SAKE HE PRAYED
1) He told them Who He was.
"Have l been so long time with you, and hast thou not known me Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" (John 14:9)

2) He explained why He must leave them.
"I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2)

3) He told them He could still hear their petitions in prayer.
"Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it" (John 14:13, 14)

4) He had told them how He loved them.
"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you" (John 15:9)

5) He assured them lie would come back again.
"If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself: that where I
am, there ye may be also" (John14:3)

6) He told them of the Comforter Whom He would send.
"I will pray the Father, and he shall you another Comforter that he may abide with you forever" (John 14:16)

7) He told them of His eternal identity with them as His church whether He was present in body or absent.
"I am the vine, ye are the branches" (John 15:5)

8) He told them of something else He would leave with them.
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you." (John 14:27 ; John 16:3)

All such promises should afford us the comfort, the strength, the assurance we need. But there were also words of warning. He knew the risks we face in the world and wanted us to know how to prepare for them, at least to know that the dangers would come.

FOR THEIR SAKE HE TOLD THEM
Little is mentioned in the prayer of that sorrow which His own heart must have felt at departing from them, or of that which He felt as He knew that one of His own disciples was about to betray Him. Not only did He know of this but He wanted the others to be prepared, so that when it should happen they would be supported by the assurance that He knew about it in advance. Note the great theme of the prayer is that they might all be One with Him as He was One with the Father. Nothing which had happened through all of His ministry, and nothing would happen even at the cross, which could change that fact concerning His relationship to them. He knew of the prospect of sorrow which they faced, so He wanted them to have all the comfort and assurance which it was possible for them to have.

There was nothing more He could tell them, nothing more He needed to do for them except that original purpose for which He came to earth-give His life for them. All was finished. Finished on earth. He could only lift His eyes to heaven and address His Father on behalf of the unity of those about to be left. He could ask for their protection from the obvious dangers. He had come from heaven. Now He must go back there. "The hour is come."

Two things must be held in mind:
1. Christ prays for His own disciples, a petition touching all of them for all the age (John 17:20). He had covenanted with the Father for all the things which He would give to His disciples, even for the disciples that He might bring them to God, so now He prays that God will bring to pass all those things which He had set in motion for His own glory. He had taught the disciples all things which the Father would have Him give them. Now He speaks to the Father of those disciples. What confidence we may have. He taught us all; He beseeches all on our behalf! He is so faithful that He will never say anything to us that He will not say for us. He had frequently spent the night in prayer for those disciples. He now sets before them the pattern of His ministry as a priest through the ages. "Lord, teach us how to pray."

2. The basis of His prayer. "Father!"
He knew the Father's heart. Who knows how that cry thrilled the Father's heart!

Those disciples were the children. God was the Father. Need there be any stronger argument for His getting what He asked, or for their expectation of those requests?

"Little flock!" What a designation for the church! Not all believers are disciples. And not all believers make up His beloved little flock. Not every believer thinks of God as Father. Listen to yourself pray. Do you not too often say, "0 Lord…," "0 God…" or any number of other titles, forgetting how Jesus taught His disciples to pray. In John 17 He came again and again with that title to His Father.

Finally, "The hour is come!" There is no hour like that one. Many things have transpired which move the whole of humanity in some small way. But that hour in which He was caused to be sin for us is such as to move the whole race. God's love for the whole race is seen there. His power to redeem all men is manifested there. How important that the rapport between the Father and the Son be maintained in that hour! The Psalmist said it:

The hour was God's to prove His love. It was Christ's to fulfill the Father's purpose. It was Satan's hour of failure. It was the hour in which His covenant people experience the ultimate victory.