This great prayer may be divided into three parts:

17: 1-6, referring to the earthly ministry of Jesus, coming to its end,

17: 7-19, intercession for the disciples, whom Jesus had called to serve him,

17:20-26, praying for the Church of the future.

Ideas found earlier in the gospel recur, such as the divine control of time, the Son's total obedience to the Father, the glorification of the Son in his death, Jesus' gift of eternal life to those who believe in him, the revelation of the Father in the Son, the divine love between Father and Son which flows out to mankind. There is no expression of sorrow in this last prayer of the Son to the Father because the Son is returning to him, his work accomplished.

As Jesus prays, he prepares himself for his sacrificial death, offering himself to his Father as the atoning sacrifice by which the sin of the world is overcome and the new Covenant between God and mankind sealed. As death comes near to Jesus we see him not as a helpless victim of evil men but as the Lamb of God (1 :29) who offers himself so that others might live. Jesus is both the sacrifice and the priest who offers it. In his prayer, Jesus brings his disciples and the future Church into the fulfillment of God's work in the world. He offers back to God the disciples whom God gave him, asking that they might be kept holy and safe from the Evil One. He prays for the Church of the future, all who will believe because of the message of the disciples; he prays that they may be one, in spiritual union with the Father and the Son, bound to them by the divine love.

As we have seen, this gospel speaks repeatedly of eternal life, as Mark's gospel refers repeatedly to the Kingdom of God. Eternal life is given a great definition in 17:3: 'Eternal life means knowing you, the only true God, and knowing Jesus Christ whom you sent.'

The universal mission of Jesus Christ is shown in 17 :2. 'You gave him authority over all mankind so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him.' In his prayer for the disciples Jesus asks for his Father's special divine protection for his followers who are about to be left to the antagonism of the world and the Devil (17: 11,15). It is made clear that Judas was lost to the Evil One because he rejected his election by God to serve his Son (17: 12). The Bible bears witness from beginning to end that in man, God's highest creation. there is the power to rebel against God and to turn against his love. From the beginning of John's gospel the rebellion of sin against God's love is emphasized in the symbolic use of the terms 'darkness' and 'light' (1:5, 8-9, 3:19-21). Judas' betrayal of Jesus was not the action of the most sinful of men, but the action of a man who could have become an apostle if he had not allowed the Devil to control him. The gospel records of Judas give a warning to Christians of all times that the fight against the Devil will not end until the Last Day.

In Jesus' great prayer it is shown that although the final home of the Christian is in heaven (17: 16) Christians have to live in this world and to fight the Evil One (17: 15). Jesus' prayer is for the Church in all generations. As the-Church spreads across the world, the need for unity becomes even greater than it was at first (17:20-21). In Christian unity is witness to the divine love in the world (17:23-26).

This prayer of glory, victory and love is the preparation for the divine sacrifice, about to be offered.

·