183 . FAREWELL DISCOURSE ON THE WAY TO GETHSEMANE
Matthew 2 6 : 30 ; Mark 14 : 26 ; Luke 22 : 39 ; John 15 : 1 — 16 : 33
And when they had sung a hymn, Yeshua left for the Mount of Olives, as was his custom; and the disciples went with him. 246 And as they walked he spoke to them.
Parable of the vine
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of me that bears no fruit; and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it may bear still more fruit. You are already pruned clean by the teachings I have given you. Abide with me, and I will abide with you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine, and you are the branches. If a man abides in me, and I in him, then he will bear much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a cut-off branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. But if you remain in me, and my words remain in you, then you may ask for whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. In this way my Father is glorified, when you bear much fruit, and so prove yourselves to be my disciples.
The commandment to love one another
“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; continue in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you servants, for the servant is not informed of his master’s business; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you; and I appointed you to go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should endure. Then whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. And this I command you, to love one another.
Warning of trials to come
“If the world hates you, know that it hated me before you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
“Remember what I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they had followed my teaching, they would also follow yours. But they will do all these things to you on account of me, because they do not know the one who sent me.
“If I had not come and taught them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them such works as no other man ever did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen the works and yet still hate both me and my Father. This is to fulfill what is written in their law, ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father—the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father 247 —he will declare the truth about me; and you too shall bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
"I have told you these things so that your faith will not be shaken. They will expel you from the synagogues; indeed, the time is coming when whoever kills you will think he is doing good service to God. They will do this to you because they have not known the Father, or me. But I am telling you these things now, so that when they come to pass, you will remember that I told you of them.
Preparing the disciples for his departure
"I did not say these things to you at the beginning, because I was still with you. Now I am going away to the one who sent me; and yet none of you has asked me, ‘Where are you going?’ Instead, because of what I have told you, sorrow has filled your hearts.
"But I tell you this truth: it is better for you that I am going away. If I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I do go, I will send him to you.
"And when the Counselor comes, he will show the world its errors concerning sin, and righteousness, and the coming judgment. Its errors concerning sin, because men have not believed in me; concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no more; and concerning the coming judgment, because the ruler of this world has already been judged.
"I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak everything he hears, and he will disclose to you the things that are to come. He will bring glory to me, for he will take all the things that I teach and am, and make them known to you. All things whatsoever that pertain to the Father pertain to me as well; therefore I said that the Spirit will take of what is mine and make it known to you.
"A little while, and you will see me no more; then a little while longer and you will see me again, because I am going to the Father.”
1 Some of his disciples asked one another, “What is this that he is saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me; and a little while longer, and you will see me;’ and ‘because I am going to the Father’?” They asked, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not understand.”
18 . Yeshua realized that they wanted to ask him about this; so he said to them, “Are you asking yourselves what I meant by saying, ‘A little while, and you will see me no more; and a little while longer, and you will see me again’? I tell you truly, you will weep and mourn, even while the world rejoices. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. When a woman is in labor she feels sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child has been born into the world. So too with you. You feel sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take that joy away from you. On that day you will ask nothing more of me.
"I tell you truly, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Now ask, and you shall receive, so that your joy may be made complete.
“I have spoken with you about these matters in figures of speech; but the time is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figurative language but will tell you plainly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I need not undertake to ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself already loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came forth from the Father and have entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
2His disciples said, “At last you are speaking plainly, not in figures of speech or parables! Now we are sure that you know all things, and need not even wait for the question to be asked. From this we believe that you came from God.” 248
"You believe at last!” Yeshua replied. “But remember that the time is coming, indeed it is already here, when you will be scattered, each one to his own way, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not all alone, for the Father is with me.
"I have told you these things, so that through me you may have peace. In this world you will have tribulation. But be of good heart; I have overcome the world.”
184 . PRAYER FOR HIS FOLLOWERS
John 17 : 1 – 26
When Yeshua had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and prayed.
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy Son, so that the Son may glorify thee. Just as you have given him authority over all humanity, he will give eternal life to all those people that you have granted to him. And this is their way to eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Yeshua Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on earth, by accomplishing the work which thou hast given me to do; and now, Father, glorify me in heaven by bringing me back into the glory I shared with you before the world was made.
“I have made your name known to the people that you have given to me out of the world. 249 They were yours; and you gave them to me; and they have kept thy word. Now they understand that everything you have given me truly comes from thee; for I have passed on to them the words which you gave to me, and they have accepted this message, and know in truth that I came from thee; and they believe that you did send me.
“My prayer is for them. My prayer is not for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All my things are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified through them. Now I am staying in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to thee.
“Holy Father, protect them by thy name—the name which you have given me—so that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them in the world, I guarded them by the power of thy name. Those that thou gave me I have kept, and not one of them is lost, except only the son of perdition, and that only so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to thee; and so I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they might be filled with the same joy that I have.
“I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from evil. For they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
“Sanctify them through the truth; thy word is truth. Even as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I consecrate myself, 250 so that they too may be made holy through the truth.
“My prayer is not for these only, but also for those who will come to believe in me through their teaching, so that they all may be one. Even as you, Father, are in me, and I in thee, let them be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which you gave me I have given to them, so that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me. May they become perfectly united, so that the world will know that you have sent me, and have loved them even as you have loved me.
“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am. 251 Then they may see the glory which you gave me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee; and these disciples know that you have sent me. I have made your name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
The High Priestly Prayer refers to the prayer recorded in John 17 of the New Testament, in the Gospel of John. It is widely regarded as the longest recorded prayer of Jesus and is often called the "High Priestly Prayer" because it exemplifies Jesus' intercessory role as the ultimate High Priest.
Context and Structure
This prayer occurs immediately before Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, following the Last Supper and his farewell discourse to the disciples (John 13–16). It divides into three main sections:
- Prayer for Himself (John 17:1–5): Jesus asks the Father to glorify Him so that He may glorify the Father, referencing the completion of His earthly work and the restoration of His pre-existent glory.
- Prayer for His immediate disciples (John 17:6–19): He intercedes for their protection, sanctification in truth, and preservation in the world.
- Prayer for all future believers (John 17:20–26): This extends to those who will believe through the disciples' message, emphasizing profound unity.
Key Themes, Including the Quoted Passage
The prayer centers on glory, eternal life (defined as knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ), protection from evil, sanctification, and especially unity.
“...that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one...” (ESV)