According to Hebrews 2:17, our Lord Jesus Christ is a merciful and faithful high priest: “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” In Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; therefore, we should expect to find the faithfulness of the Father manifested in the life of the Son.

During Christ’s earthly ministry, His faithfulness was on full display. In every situation, His disciples found Him entirely reliable. His promises could be counted upon. Men, women, and children could stake their soul’s eternal destiny upon His Word.

His faithfulness was seen when Christ pronounced the healing of the centurion’s servant, and the servant was healed that same hour! Jesus rebuked the waters of the Sea of Galilee, and immediately the storm-tossed waves became calm. Our Lord told grieving sisters Mary and Martha that if they would believe, they would see the power of God. And so it was, at the tomb of Lazarus, they saw their brother walk forth from the grave!

John chapter 17 has rightly been called “The High Priestly Prayer” by scholars of the life of Christ. In the Upper Room, immediately before His betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane, our Lord Jesus prayed for His disciples. Throughout that tender prayer, we see the faithfulness of our great High Priest to fulfill all that He promised and to accomplish His Father’s will.

Let us consider this prayer in John 17, in the light of Christ’s faithfulness.

Christ finished the work the Father gave Him to do

“I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). Our Lord Jesus left nothing undone of all that the Father sent Him to accomplish. He did not return to Heaven in defeat from the bloody cross; He returned to Heaven in victory! In the Upper Room, His victory was so assured that He announced it as completed, an assurance that was repeated and confirmed the following day at Golgotha when Christ cried out from the cross, “It is finished!”

Christ manifested His Father’s name

“I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word” (John 17:6). To manifest means “to make known.” It was the name of the Father that Jesus glorified and made known during the days of His earthly ministry. In the context of faithfulness, Jesus taught His disciples that the name and character of His Father could be implicitly trusted.

Christ lost none of His disciples

“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12). Christ is a faithful High Priest in that none that trusts in Him will ever be disappointed. In the words of a beloved hymn by Isaac Watts:

His honor is engaged to save
The meanest of his sheep;
All that his heav’nly Father gave
His hands securely keep.

Christ gave His disciples the Word of God

“I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:14). One of the great treasures that our High Priest gave to us is the Word of God. This priceless treasure was a mark of Christ’s faithfulness that would endure and continue with His disciples long after He ascended to the right hand of the Father. The sure Word of God is a constant reminder of His faithfulness.

Christ sent His disciples into the world

“As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world” (John 17:18). This part of Christ’s ministry cannot be overlooked. Christ commissioned and sent out His apostles. The word apostle means “one who is sent out.” Christ commanded them to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Every time a missionary is sent forth, every time a Christian speaks a word of witness, every time a preacher stands in a pulpit and opens his mouth to proclaim God’s truth—it is a mark of Christ’s faithfulness.

Christ abides forever with His disciples

“I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me” (John 17:23). Not only did Christ know His disciples, love His disciples, and send His disciples, He also abides in His disciples. The abiding presence of Christ is a daily, living reminder that we have a merciful and faithful High Priest.

When did you last thank God for providing a merciful and faithful High Priest? Jesus was made “like unto His brethren.” He stands today at the right hand of the Father to make intercession for you and to fulfill every single promise that He ever made. May we love Him, thank Him, serve Him, glorify Him, rejoice in Him, testify of Him, and abide in Him always just as He abides in us!