Firstly, Jesus is speaking to God on behalf of the faith community. Jesus, as he goes towards his death, is not giving final instructions to the disciples about how to live in his absence, but commits the future of the community to God in prayer. The community's life is in God's care and this is the only thing that matters. The Church ultimately does not rest on our own work but on God's providence. Listening to the prayer of Christ we hear, and possibly understand, the love which God has for the Church and for each of its members. This is what priesthood is about: not what I do, but on what God wishes to do through me.

Secondly, we see the intimacy of Jesus' relationship with the Father. This has been the theme of John's Gospel and we see it most clearly in this final prayer. Jesus is bold enough to remind the Father of the promises he has made and, therefore, asks for this protection and relies on the fulfillment of the prayers. Jesus is moving towards his death and what he does is not to try and avoid it but to commit his own future into the hands of God, as every priest must do. The priest in particular must bear witness to this intimacy which he must already know through his own life of prayer.

Thirdly, we are given a glimpse of the goal, what it is we are heading towards. The prayer in John chapter 17 points us towards a future where everything we do is in the hands of God, where we have learnt to trust and love completely, and we see that intimacy with God is what heaven means.