How Jesus Describes A True Disciple

John 17 contains Jesus’s longest prayer, known as the high priestly prayer, which He prays after the upper room discourse, after telling the disciples to not let their hearts be troubled because He is going away and they cannot come. Jesus prays this prayer with the agony of the cross before Him.

In John 17:1-5, Jesus is praying for Himself. Starting in verse 6, Jesus begins praying for His disciples, allowing us to understand what a true disciple is. Only eleven disciples are with Jesus, since Judas has already left to betray Him. On the outside, Judas looked like all the others, but on the inside, he was not.

In John 17, Jesus describes in His prayer what a true disciple is who glorifies God. True discipleship is knowing and loving God so much so that our lives are changed as we live for His glory.

A True Disciple Knows God

Seven times Jesus states that the Father has given the disciples to Him. Jesus says He has manifested the Father’s name (John 17:6). The name of God reveals who He is, the totality of His character. Those who know who God is will trust in Him and boast in His name (Ps. 9:10; 20:7).

Jesus is not revealing a new name in John 17 but clarifying that if we know God and understand how Jesus has manifested Him, then we will be true disciples. Jesus asks on their behalf (John 17:9) that God keep the disciples in His name (John 17:11).

A True Disciple Is Distinct From The World

One who truly knows God is distinct from the world (John 17:6). The world is in moral rebellion against God in heaven and Jesus, His Son. The world includes those who reject God and His Word, as well as those who are religious, having their own way to get to God. It also includes those who believe it is enough to help themselves through self-help, community, and therapy.

However, the Bible is clear that we are spiritually dead and cannot get better on our own. We are without help and hope apart from Jesus.

True disciples of Jesus look more and more like Jesus and less and less like the world, pursuing holiness and those things pleasing to God and not the vanity of this world.

A True Disciple Keeps God’s Word

Jesus says His disciples have kept His word (John 17:6, 8). This is not about perfection but about direction. A true disciple’s heart is directed towards the things of God. We do not obey God’s word to have a relationship with Him. We obey God’s word because we already have a relationship with Him.

True disciples receive the words of Jesus as God’s message to them (John 17:7). We must be reading our Bibles fervently, believing God’s word is for us personally, and living all of God’s truth.

True disciples understand that Jesus is sent by God and is God (John 17:8). Jesus is the God-Man, and His message is perfect. We have no authority to disregard any part of God’s Word.

The entirety of the Bible and all its parts are inspired by God and are without error in the original manuscripts. Unlike any other book, the Bible contains the words of life from the Life-Giver Himself.

Jesus tells us that we have the right message by affirming the Old Testament scriptures (John 5:39) which testify about Him and which He fulfills, affirming the gospels (John 17:8) which are the ways and words of Jesus, and affirming the words to come by the Holy Spirit of Truth, the remaining books of the New Testament (John 16:12).

A True Disciple Lives Jesus’s Mission

In addition to believing His message, a true disciple believes Jesus was sent by God for a mission (John 17:8). Jesus came to save the world.

True disciples need to be shining examples of who Jesus is, proclaiming the great salvation Jesus gives. We have the perfect advocate (John 17:11-12) in the Father and His Holiness. Jesus prays for us to be kept by the Father, set apart, distinct and different from the world.

Jesus who is one with the Father pleads on our behalf according to the perfect will of God, asking to be glorified by His disciples (John 17:10). It is by God’s grace we can exist in this world and love like the Father loves and yet remain holy, growing in Christlikeness.

Jesus prays for His true disciples to be one as He and the Father are one. Jesus prays for our unity according to the nature of God (John 17:11). Unity in Christ happens as each true disciple grows closer to Jesus and therefore closer to each other.

True disciples who have been given by the Father out of the world to the Son persevere in Christ (John 17:12) to the end.

By God’s design, we have the prayer of Jesus in John 17. We see the disclosing of the Son’s heart to the Father, and the Father’s heart for us, that His disciples are kept until the end. The greatest thing we know is the name of Jesus Christ and who He is.

Application Points

• Are you following after God according to His name and how He has called you to follow Him?
• How do you view God’s Word? Do you receive it as a message of life from God directly to you? Do you receive the full word of God as truth for your whole life?
• Have distractions kept you from proclaiming the good news of Jesus to those in your world who need what only Jesus can give?

Tools for Further Study

Cross References to Explore

Ephesians 2:1-6; John 1:1-3, 5:18, 8:58-59

A Hymn to Encourage: "Ask Ye What Great Thing I Know"

Ask ye what great thing I know,
that delights and stirs me so?
What the high reward I win?
Whose the name I glory in?
Jesus Christ, the crucified.

Who defeats my fiercest foes?
Who consoles my saddest woes?
Who revives my fainting heart,
healing all its hidden smart?
Jesus Christ, the crucified.

Who is life in life to me?
Who the death of death will be?
Who will place me on his right,
with the countless hosts of light?
Jesus Christ, the crucified.

This is that great thing I know;
this delights and stirs me so:
faith in him who died to save,
him who triumphed o'er the grave:
Jesus Christ, the crucified.