John 17:20-26 highlights the fact that after praying for the security and the sanctification of His disciples, Jesus also prayed for their unity. In a passage variously interpreted by many to promote the ecumenical movement, Jesus’ words are best understood to refer to the unity (as distinct from uniformity) of all His disciples. This unity is a natural unity not a forced one, that has its basis in the fact that all true believers come to the one Father through the one Saviour.

John 17:1-12 records the moment Jesus prayed for all of his disciples. With a beautiful blend of intimacy and reverence, John records how Jesus prayed to His Father. By doing so, John gives us insight into the unique relationship between God the Father and Jesus the Son. The prayer also gives us a model of all true prayer because it reminds us that prayer comes from the heart, is an expression of a relationship with God and is always motivated by the glory of God.

John 16:25-33 highlights the final aspects of the message that Jesus spoke to his disciples before his death. In preparing them for his departure, Jesus made his future plain to them while the disciples responded by making their faith plain to him. In response Jesus then made their future plain to them as he told them of the trouble they would have in the world as his followers. But in all the trouble they would face, Jesus promised them his peace and gave them every encouragement by telling them that he had overcome the world. Those who believe in him and remain faithful to the end will likewise overcome the world through him.

John 16:16-24 highlights the sorrow that the disciples would soon endure because of Jesus’ death. In this text Jesus promised that their sorrow was something he would turn into joy.  He could do this because their sorrow would be short-lived, it would be for a purpose and it will bring about a new avenue of approach to God through prayer. Ultimately their sorrow would become joy because Jesus would not remain dead for long but would live again and the disciples would see Him again.

John 16:4-15 highlights the importance of Jesus’ teaching about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. His task in the world is to convict people of unbelief, righteousness and judgement and He does this by using the Word of God and applying it to the hearts of those who hear or read it. The Spirit’s role among God’s people is to enable us to remember and grasp the teaching and the words of Jesus and to promote the wonder and majesty of Jesus as the Saviour of all who believe.

In John 15:12-17 Jesus called his disciples to be identified by the badge of love. In doing so, He elevated his disciples from the status of servants to friends, gave them explicit instructions as to their responsibility to love each other and then set the highest standard possible by speaking of love as sacrifice. We often remember his words in John 15:13 when we remember our war dead, but these words were not given just to write on a tombstone. Instead they are to be lived out in the world.

In these verses, Jesus said ‘I am the true Vine’. By using this figure of speech, Jesus spoke to his disciples about the Father who prunes the vine so that it produces and increasing amount of fruit, and of the disciples’ need to remain connected to the Vine in order that their lives might be fruitful. To ‘abide in Christ’ means to stay close to Him through His Word and prayer. This is our responsibility and something that must take the highest priority in our lives.

In a standout passage from John’s gospel, Jesus spoke words of comfort to his fearful disciples, reminding them of the home we was about to build for them, the way he was about to provide for them and the Father he was about to reveal to them. These words have been a source of great comfort for many centuries to those who trust in Him and by them we are prepared for life in this world and life in the Father’s house when this world is done.