Jesus concluded His prayer as He began it, by addressing His Father by name (cf. John 17:1; John 17:11). By calling God His righteous Father Jesus was affirming His belief that God would do what was right in granting the petitions that He was presenting. This included glorifying the Son and bringing believers safely to heaven where they would behold His glory. [source][source][source]
Jesus" mission had not resulted in the whole world coming to know God experientially. Nevertheless Jesus Himself knew the Father, and the Eleven had come to believe that Jesus was the revelation of the Father. Jesus would continue to reveal the Father so the Father"s love would remain in them. It would do so because Jesus Himself would remain in them. [source][source][source]
So concludes Jesus" great intercessory prayer for His believing disciples. This was an important part of His private ministry of preparing His disciples for what lay ahead of them. We could summarize its main points as follows. Jesus asked for Himself glorification ( John 17:1; John 17:5) that the Father might be glorified ( John 17:1). He asked for the Eleven (and their successors) faithfulness ( John 17:11). The results of their faithfulness would be their unity ( John 17:11) and their joy ( John 17:13). The means to their faithfulness would be their safety ( John 17:15) and their sanctification ( John 17:17). He asked for future believers unity ( John 17:21-23) in the present that the world might believe ( John 17:21; John 17:23) and heaven ( John 17:24) in the future that believers might see His glory ( John 17:24) and fully experience God"s love ( John 17:26). [source][source][source]
This section of Jesus" ministry began with a call for present humility ( John 13:1-12) and ended with an assurance of future glory ( John 17:24-26). In between, Jesus gave revelations of the importance of love, the ministry of the coming Holy Spirit, the promise of answers to prayer, and instruction about the importance of abiding in Christ. [source][source][source]