The room was silent as Jesus continued praying—probably as His disciples had never heard Him pray before. Judas had departed, and Peter likely sat disturbed about the denial Jesus had predicted. We saw in the last lesson that Jesus' prayer in John 17 corresponds to the high priest's ritual prayer on the Day of Atonement for himself, his family, and finally, his community. We see Jesus moving on from His petition for the Father to glorify His Son. In this lesson, we will consider Christ's ongoing prayer as He intercedes for the inner circle of disciples (verses 6 through 19) and finally for the entire church through the ages (verses 20 to 26). In the process, as Dr. Ferguson observes, we find Jesus revealing His "deepest desires" to His Father.