These small group studies of John contain outlines, cross-references, Bible study discussion questions, and applications.  Visit our library of inductive Bible studies for more in depth inductive studies on this and other books of the Bible you can use in your small group.

John 17 Inductive Bible Study

  1. Jesus prays for Himself (1-5)

  2. Jesus prays for His disciples (6-19)

    1. Jesus reviews His work already accomplished with the apostles (6-10)

    2. Jesus makes requests on behalf of His apostles (11-19)

      1. He asks the Father to keep them (11-16)

        1. He asks the Father for their unity (11)

      2. He asks the Father to sanctify them (17-19)

  3. Jesus prays for the believers in the future (20-26)

    1. He prays for unity for believers (20-23)

      1. He asks for unity so that the world may believe in Christ

    2. He prays that He can be together with believers (24)

    3. He reviews the work He had done in the disciples’ lives (25-26)

Here are cross-references which can be used in each of the three sections in this passage.

I.

Matthew 28:18 – Jesus has authority over everything.

Colossians 1:15-20 – Verses on Jesus’ supremacy and authority.

1 John 2:3, 4:7 – Verses showing that knowing God is a little deeper than just head knowledge.

1 Corinthians 2:12-14 – A natural man cannot know spiritual things, for they are foolishness to him.

Philippians 2:4-11 – Jesus gave up His glory, but would be glorified again.

II.

Matthew 16:16 – Peter recognized that Jesus came from God.

Philippians 1:6 – He who began a good work in us will complete it.

John 10:28-30 – Eternal security.

1 Peter 1:3-5 – We are protected by the power of God and our inheritance will not fade away.

Psalms 41:9 – A prophecy about Judas.

1 John 5:18-19 – God keeps us from the evil one who controls the world.

1 Peter 5:8 – The evil one seeks to destroy believers.

1 John 4:4 – Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Titus 2:12 – We should deny worldly desires.

James 1:27 – We must keep ourselves unstained by the world.

1 Thessalonians 4:3, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Hebrews 12:14, James 1:21 – Verses on sanctification.

III.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 – We are all baptized by one Spirit into one body.

Ephesians 4:1-6 – Great verses on the unity we have and how to treat others in the body.

Ephesians 2:14-22 – Jesus unified us, breaking down the barriers and we are built on His foundation and the apostles.

John 13:35 – The world would know the disciples were of Christ because of their love.

Verse by Verse Commentary

This chapter could be called the Lord’s Prayer. What we normally call the Lord’s Prayer was actually His model prayer to disciples, but here is the only place a lengthy prayer of Jesus is recorded. As such, it gives us a lot of valuable insight into the close relationship Jesus had with the Father and His submission to the Father. It also shows us the kind of things Jesus often likely prayed about. Part of the prayer is Jesus’ talking with the Father about His mission and what He was doing, etc. The rest is Jesus actually praying for the disciples and all believers from later generations. The things Jesus prayed about to the Father were very close to the heart, especially since this would be one of the last times on earth Jesus would pray. So the requests He asks of the Father on our behalf are also very important. The chapter can be divided into three parts, Jesus’ prayer for Himself, His prayer for the disciples, and His prayer for all believers.

  1. 1-5

What did Jesus mean asking the Father to glorify Him (Jesus)?

Why did He want the Father to glorify Him?

What does the last part of verse 2 mean “that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life”?

Does verse 3 mean simply knowing God exists is enough to have eternal life? How would you define the “know” in verse 3?

Explain verse 5.

1 Jesus asked God to glorify Him, but notice that the purpose is still to bring ultimate glory to the Father. In what way would Jesus be glorified? Jesus’ death and especially His resurrection brought great glory to Himself and to the Father as millions of believers have worshiped Him and praised Him for the two millennia since then. It will also bring even more glory in the end when every knee has to bow to Jesus.

2 Jesus does have authority over everything, Matthew 28:18, Colossians 1:15-20. There is an idiom that “power corrupts”. This is generally true for human authorities. Once they get a lot of power their sin nature takes over and they abuse it. But Jesus always used His authority for our good and the Father’s glory.

Also from verse two we see election/predestination taught once again. Those whom the Father gave to the Son would be given eternal life. The elect whom were chosen before the foundation of the world would receive eternal life. It is God’s choosing and calling.

3 Only a person who is a true believer, adopted by God, and possesses eternal life can possibly “know” God. This knowing isn’t just being able to list some facts. From James we know that even the demons believe and tremble. They not only know God, but they believe Him. Yet their belief is not enough. Neither is just a surface knowing. Read cross-references on knowing. This knowledge of God goes deeper. It comes as we obey His commands, therefore seeing His promises come true in our life. It comes as we have faith in Him and see Him answer our prayers and take care of us throughout our lives. It comes as we experience His working in our lives. Remember that the word “know” in the Bible has different depths of meaning. It also has different depths of meaning even in normal language. The way I “know” Michael Jordan and “know” my wife are not the same. The way believers “know” God is deep, intimate, personal, and also experiential. It’s the kind of knowledge that a wife and husband have after living together for a long time. It is often said that you don’t truly “know” somebody unless you live with them for a while even in some difficult situation.

4 Jesus’ earthly life was driven by the desire to obey God’s will and glorify Him in all that He did. Here near the end of His life Jesus can report that it was a job well done.

5 From Philippians 2 we know that Jesus gave up His glory as God when He came to the world. Here He asks to have it again once He finished the task of dying and resurrection.

Matthew 28:18 – Jesus has authority over everything.

Colossians 1:15-20 – Verses on Jesus’ supremacy and authority.

1 John 2:3, 4:7 – Verses showing that knowing God is a little deeper than just head knowledge.

1 Corinthians 2:12-14 – A natural man cannot know spiritual things, for they are foolishness to him.

Philippians 2:4-11 – Jesus gave up His glory, but would be glorified again.

  1. 6-19

Who did the Father give Jesus out of the world (6)?

In verse 9 Jesus says, He asks for something for the disciples. What does He ask for?

What did Jesus mean in verse 11 “I am no longer in the world.”

What danger did the disciples face now that Jesus would no longer be with them?

Who is the son of perdition and how was Scripture fulfilled in him?

In verse 15 Jesus says He doesn’t ask to take them out of the world, but in verse 16 says they are not of the world. What does this mean?

6-10 In these verses Jesus reviews the work that He has accomplished the Father. He reviews His mission’s success up to this point. We see that Jesus showed the Father’s name to the disciples and taught them the Father’s words. On the disciples part they had kept His word, come to believe that Jesus was from the Father, received the Father’s words, and understood the Father’s words.

We also see in these verses Jesus’ unity with the Father. Everything that Jesus possessed is the Father’s and vice-versa, like a husband and wife in marriage.

We also see again the truth of election. The disciples belonged to God even before they believed.

11-16 In these verses Jesus begins the first of His requests for the disciples and for us. In verse 20 He mentions that these requests weren’t only for the disciples, but for us too so He also wants these same things for all of us. What did He ask for?

On a side note, when Jesus said He was no longer in the world it shows the certainty of the final plan He was about to carry out. Sometimes God pronounces something done as if it were already accomplished because it is certain to happen.

Firstly, He asked that the Father keep the disciples. Before Jesus was with them all the time and could guard them and protect them. But soon Jesus would be leaving and asked the Father to keep them from the evil one. There would certainly be many temptations, persecutions, tribulations, etc. In the Lord’s model prayer Jesus also taught the disciples to pray to be delivered from the evil one. Here He prays it for them. Jesus does indeed intercede on our behalf. Although He left the earth He didn’t abandon His disciples or us. He didn’t leave them on their own, but with God’s power. This is basically an issue of eternal security. We know that those who believe are eternally secure. Read Php 1:6 and 1 Peter 1:3-5, 1 John 5:18-19, 1 Peter 5:8 and discuss. God is not in the habit of losing things so we can be confident He will keep us, yet this doesn’t mean we should be any less alert or active.

Combined with the request to keep them is the comment that the disciples (and us) are not of the world. We are in the world, but not of the world. What does that mean?

What are the two extremes Christians face in regards to their relationships to the world (isolation and compromise)?

Which one is more tempting to you?

In what way were the disciples sent into the world?

Christians have historically faced two problems in relating to the world. One is that some believers do not separate from the world enough. They compromise on many issues. Sometimes this is simply because they have little desire to follow God. Other times it comes out of good intentions. Some have thought that in order to win the world for Christ they need to be closer to it. Any examples? Some have compromised on evolution teaching a theistic evolution. Others have moralized or spiritualized certain stories or miracles. But in Matthew Jesus asks how we can become salty again if we lose our saltiness. Those who attempt to compromise with the world in order to “win” them in the end will find there is nothing of substance left to “win” them to. Others simply don’t have a strong desire to be holy for God. Therefore they make unholy alliances with the world. This includes dating unbelievers, marrying unbelievers, watching the movies the world watches, listening to the music of the world, reading the worthless magazines of the world, etc.

In verse 16 Jesus said that the disciples are not of the world as He is not. So before we do something we should consider if Jesus would do it. You may ask, “would Jesus have some friendship or discussion with terrible sinners?” Well, we know Jesus would because He spent time with prostitutes and tax-collectors. This was for the purpose of the gospel, but Jesus wasn’t being like them. So we must not compromise to the world. We must not be conformed to the world. Titus 2:12, James 1:27.

On the other side of the spectrum are the believers who in a desire to not be stained by the world enter basically into isolation. I’ve known a couple of families in the US who were pretty much isolationists. They rarely attended churc