The Gospel According To JohnSample

Preparation and High Priestly Prayer: John 15:1-17:26

After comforting his disciples, Jesus prepared them for his departure and for their future ministries in John 15:1–16:33. 

At the end of the previous section, Jesus and his disciples left the place where they had been, and Jesus began a new section of his discourse. He began by describing himself as “the true vine” in John 15:1-8. This metaphor appealed to Psalm 80:8 and Isaiah 5:1-7, where the nation of Israel was pictured as a glorious vine. Because of failure and sin, Israel was later called a “corrupt, wild vine” in Jeremiah 2:21. But Jesus used this imagery to assure his disciples that he himself was reconstituting a true and faithful nation for Israel, and that they were part of this grand plan. Consider what Jesus said in John 15:1-5:

I am the true vine . . . I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.

By claiming to be the true vine, Jesus was saying that in an important sense, he himself was Israel. Jesus represented Israel, and he fulfilled Israel’s destiny. Israel had failed to establish God’s kingdom on earth, but Jesus was succeeding. And his disciples were the branches of the vine. They were a part of the people of God, and the agents through whom God would carry out his plan for the ages. 

But Jesus also knew that the world would hate his disciples, because it already hated him. So, he assured them that he was opening the door of prayer to the Father for them. They were his ambassadors, his authoritative representatives on earth. And because of this, the Father would heed their prayers as if Jesus himself had prayed them. As he told them in John 16:23-24:

I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

After preparing his disciples, Jesus prayed for them in John 17:1-26. 

Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is often called his High Priestly Prayer because he interceded for his followers in priestly ways. In particular, Jesus prayed that the Father would protect his disciples so that many others might come to faith through them. He prayed that they and their own disciples would be protected from the forces of the world, that their unity would strengthen them, and that their lives would glorify God.