Summary4 min read

The Daily Blade: Episode #174 - Kyle Thompson // Jesus Prays for Himself

Hosts: Joby Martin & Kyle Thompson
Date: September 1, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson kick off a week-long study focusing on the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus as captured in John 17:1-5. The hosts dive into the intimate and monumental prayer Jesus offers before His betrayal, examining each verse to extract practical and spiritual insights for everyday Christian living. The tone is devotional, thoughtful, and geared towards challenging men to live with an eternal perspective.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Context (00:20–01:20)

The episode opens with the context of John 17, known as the High Priestly Prayer, described as the longest recorded prayer of Jesus in the New Testament.
The prayer is set during the Upper Room Discourse (John 13–17), just before Jesus's arrest. Jesus had washed the disciples' feet, predicted Judas’s betrayal, foretold Peter’s denial, emphasized exclusivity of access to God through Himself, prophesied about the coming Holy Spirit, and warned of impending persecution.

“Jesus is wrapping up this last meeting with the apostles before he is betrayed and arrested.” — Kyle Thompson (00:54)

2. Reading John 17:1-5 (01:20–01:55)

Kyle reads John 17:1-5 (ESV), laying a foundation for the week’s deeper explorations.
The verses revolve around Jesus praying for His own glorification, revealing His authority, defining eternal life, reflecting on His earthly mission, and yearning for pre-incarnate glory with the Father.

3. Verse-by-Verse Breakdown & Insights (01:55–04:30)

Verse 1: Jesus’s Posture and Intimacy

Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven, symbolizing direct and intimate communion with God.
The address “Father” is highlighted as familial, showing the deep unity of the Trinity.

“The posture Jesus takes here is that of direct communion with God. ‘Father,’ this is a very intimate address.” — Kyle Thompson (02:18)

Verse 1 (Continued): The Hour of Glory

“The hour has come” marks the most pivotal moment in all of human history: Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection.
Jesus requests to be glorified—not for earthly honor but in sacrificial obedience, exemplifying that glory often comes through suffering.

Verse 2: Authority and Eternal Life

Jesus affirms His authority over all humanity (“all flesh”), a unique dominion granted by the Father.
The authority is specifically oriented toward granting eternal life to those chosen by God (“the elect”).

Verse 3: Defining Eternal Life

Eternal life is not simply future-oriented but about an intimate, relational knowing of the “only true God, and Jesus Christ.”
The verse is a direct rejection of polytheism, affirming Christian monotheism.

“The knowing here doesn’t stop in the world of the intellectual or stay in the world of the ethereal... it’s a relational knowledge in nature.” — Kyle Thompson (03:26)

Verse 4: Fulfillment of Mission

Jesus reflects on His earthly mission—His sinless life, ministry, and miracles—as acts that glorified the Father and completed the work assigned to Him.

Verse 5: Pre-Existence and Heavenly Glory

Jesus prays for restoration to the “glory” He shared with the Father before the world existed, affirming both His pre-existence and divinity.

“He wants to be restored to his full heavenly glory again. And so this is just clear affirmation that Christ was with God before the world began and was existing in full glorious fellowship with his Father.” — Kyle Thompson (04:20)

4. Reflection & Challenge (04:30–04:47)

Kyle leaves listeners with a reflective question:

“How can we change our perspectives where we live on this earth as if eternal life begins right now as opposed to when we pass away?” — Kyle Thompson (04:40)

Suggests reading the rest of John 17 to deepen understanding.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Intimacy with the Father:
“Father, this is a very intimate address. It’s very familial in nature, and it reflects the oneness of the Trinity.” — Kyle Thompson (02:19)
On Relational Knowledge of God:
“The knowing here doesn’t stop in the world of the intellectual... it’s a relational knowledge in nature.” — Kyle Thompson (03:26)
On Jesus’s Pre-Existence:
“Christ was with God before the world began and was existing in full glorious fellowship with his Father.” — Kyle Thompson (04:20)
Challenge to Listeners:
“How can we change our perspectives where we live on this earth as if eternal life begins right now…?” — Kyle Thompson (04:40)

Timestamps for Important Segments

00:20 — Context and background of John 17
01:20 — Reading John 17:1-5 (ESV)
01:55–04:30 — Detailed verse-by-verse breakdown
04:30 — Reflective question and episode wrap-up

Summary

Episode #174 of The Daily Blade offers a meditative and theologically rich exploration of the opening section of Jesus’s High Priestly Prayer. The hosts underscore the unmatchable intimacy of Jesus’s relationship with the Father, the nature of authority and eternal life, the importance of living with an eternal perspective, and the affirmation of Jesus’s divine pre-existence. The challenge is clear: live today as if eternal life has already begun.

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Transcript3 lines

[00:01]
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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson. And they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.
[00:21]
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Welcome to a new week of the Daily Blade. Happy to have you guys here. This week we're studying the longest recorded prayer in the entire New Testament. So it's the prayer of Jesus as recorded in John 17, and it's often referred to as the high priestly prayer of Jesus. But let's set the scene a little bit here. John 13:17 is the upper room discourse. Okay. With John 17 being the climax. At this point, Jesus is winding down his earthly ministry and he marches ever closer to the cross at Golgotha. But before getting to the upper room, Jesus has performed many miracles. He's had a triumphal entry into Jerusalem and he had predicted his forthcoming death to his disciples. And while in the upper room for the Passover feast, Jesus washed the apostles feet. He predicted aloud that there was a betrayer in their midst. He predicted aloud that Peter in particular would deny him three times, expressed his exclusivity that no one could come to the heavenly Father except through him, foreshadowed the coming of the Holy Spirit and prepared his disciples for the hatred that would soon be coming their way from the world. So Jesus is wrapping up this last meeting with the apostles before he is betrayed and arrested. So let's actually go to the text here. John 17, verses 1 through 5. And I'll be reading everything in the ESV this week. When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. So all week, this week, we're going to be looking at each individual verse and we're going to be breaking them down. So let's go ahead and go to verse one here. He lifted up his eyes to heaven. So the posture Jesus takes here is that of direct communion with God. Father, this is a very intimate address. It's very familial in nature, and it reflects the oneness of the Trinity. The hour has come. So this is the most pivotal moment in history, really in the history of humanity. It's about to take place. The crucifixion and then the subsequent resurrection of Jesus. Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you. So Jesus is not asking for earthly exaltation here at all. The Son is perfectly glorifying the Father by enduring the shame of the cross, which paradoxically is the path to glory. Now, verse two since you have given him authority over all flesh, so the Son of man, you know, not man, not Satan, has been given dominion over all people. He has the authority to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. So these are the elect that he's talking about here. Then we get verse three and this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God. So the knowing here doesn't stop in the world of the intellectual or stay in the world of the ethereal. Even the this knowing is an intimate knowledge. It's a relational knowledge in nature. And also this is a direct repudiation of the heresy of polytheism. There is but one God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. So we receive this eternal life through communion with God through his Son, Jesus. Now verse 4, I glorified you on earth. So Jesus's entire life, his sinless, his sinlessness, his ministry, his miracles, all of that served God to the glory of God, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. So this refers back to the divine mission that God sent Jesus down here to do in the first place. And then verse five. And now Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. So Jesus is asking the Father to restore their pre incarnate right, their pre incarnate relationship. He wants to be restored to his full heavenly glory again. And so this is just clear affirmation that Christ was with God before the world began and was existing in full glorious fellowship with his Father. So let me leave you with this question to ponder today. How can we change our perspectives where we live on this earth, as if eternal life begins right now as opposed to when we pass away. So do yourself a favor and read the rest of John 17. I'll see you back here tomorrow.
[04:47]
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Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.