☰ John 17
17
Jesus prays
1 Jesus spoke these things,* raising His eyes to Heaven and saying:
For Himself
“Father, the hour has come! Glorify Your Son, so that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 just as You gave Him authority over all humanity, so that He will give eternal life to all those whom You have given Him.† 3 Now eternal life is this: that they may know You,‡ the only true God, and the One whom You sent—Jesus Christ.§ 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work that You have given me to do.* 5 So now, Father, You glorify me by Your side with the glory that I had along with You before the world existed!†
For the Apostles
6 “I have revealed Your name‡ to the men whom You have given me out of the world. They were Yours and You gave them to me, and they have kept Your word. 7 They now know that everything You have given to me is from You; 8 because I have given them the sayings which You have given to me; and they have received and known for sure that I came forth from You,§ and they have believed that You sent me. 9 I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given me, because they are yours. 10 Actually, all my things are Yours and Yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. 11 Now I am no longer in the world,* yet these are in the world, and I am coming to You.
“Holy Father, keep them in Your name which You have given to me, so that they may be one just as we are.† 12 While I was with them in the world I kept them in Your name. I protected those whom You gave me, and not one of them was lost except the son of perdition, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.‡ 13 But now I am coming to You, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made full in them.§
14 “I have given them Your word;* and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the malignant one.† 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.‡ 17 Sanctify them by Your Truth; Your Word is Truth.§ 18 Just as You sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.* 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself,† so that they also may be sanctified in truth.
For all believers
20 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe into me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, just as You, Father, are in me and I in You; that in Us they also may be one, so that the world may believe that You sent me. 22 In fact, the glory that You gave to me I have given to them,‡ so that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them and You in me, so that they may be perfected into one; also so that the world may know that You sent me, and have loved them just as You have loved me.§
24 “Father, those whom You have given to me, I desire that they also may be with me where I am,* so that they may observe my glory, which You have given me, because You loved me before the founding of the world. 25 Righteous Father! Indeed the world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent me. 26 Yes, I have made Your name known to them and will make it known, so that the love with which You have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”†
* 17:1 I take it that ‘these things’ is cataphoric, referring forward to the content of the prayer. † 17:2 Here is a clear statement of divine participation in our salvation. The whole process is under the authority of the Father. ‡ 17:3 I take it that the reference here is to experiential knowledge. ‘Eternal life’ refers mainly to a quality of life (more than longevity), and that quality is defined by relationship with the Father. The person who conceives of God as a distant, detached authority figure doesn't really know Him. § 17:3 This is the first recorded time that the Lord used this title, ‘Jesus Christ’ (in Matthew 16:20 there is ‘Jesus, the Christ’—as in over 95% of the Greek manuscripts). He did so when He could also say, “I have finished the work that You have given me to do” (next verse) (He still had a few hours to go, but is declaring His victory). In Acts and the epistles the title is very frequent—it affirms that Jesus is the Messiah. Also, what happens to those who only ‘know’ the Father, but not the Son? * 17:4 The older I get, finishing ‘the work You have given me to do’ looms larger and larger in my mind. † 17:5 As it says in 1 Peter 1:19-20, the Lamb, with His blood shed, was foreknown before the foundation of the world. Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:10 and John 1:3,10 make clear that the Son was the primary agent in the creation of this planet. So Jehovah the Son is both Creator and Lamb—before He created He knew that man would rebel and He Himself would have to pay the terrible ransom. From our Lord's statement here I get the impression that as soon as the Son started dealing with this planet He gave up some of His glory. So now He is asking to have it back. Ephesians 1:20-21 makes clear that the Father granted His request, the Son is back where He was before. And He took us with Him (Ephesians 2:6)! Thank You, Lord!! Also, our Lord's statement here goes against any ‘Gnostic’ type view that has Jesus beginning as an inferior being and working up through successive levels of perfection, or what have you. ‡ 17:6 “Your name” = “You”; a person's name represents that person. This is very clear in John 3:18. Jesus revealed the Father to the world. § 17:8 Over and over again the Lord returns to the theme of their knowing and believing where He came from, His divine origin. So this must be important! Someone who does not believe that Jesus is God cannot be a true Christian. * 17:11 He would still be around for another forty days, or so, but the countdown has begun. † 17:11 I imagine that this will only be fully realized after we are glorified. ‡ 17:12 This is perhaps the clearest of a very few passages in the Bible that might be said to indicate what has been called ‘double predestination’ or ‘preterition’, that is, that someone is predestined to be lost. In Hebrew usage (Jesus, a Jew among Jews, was presumably speaking Hebrew here) a ‘son’ of something is characterized by that something; so a ‘son of perdition’ is characterized by lostness; the Scripture in question would be part of the Old Testament and hence written long before the person was born. (I have not been able to locate a clear text to that effect, but there are indirect ones.) § 17:13 Although He was addressing the Father, Jesus evidently did so out loud—precisely so that the disciples would hear, with a view to joy. * 17:14 Yes! Oh praise God! That Word delivers us from Satan's kingdom in every way, including worldview. So it is only natural that Satan's ‘world’ will hate us. † 17:15 “The malignant one” is Satan. Satan got one of the twelve, but must not get any more of them. ‡ 17:16 He repeats what He just said in verse 14, so it must be important. Jesus was not of this world because He literally came from Heaven, which could not be said of those disciples. But in the context of verse 15 the reference is probably to the ‘world’ dominated by Satan, the system. Their allegiance is no longer to Satan's system. § 17:17 The Word is what the Holy Spirit uses to sanctify us; it is His ‘sword’ (Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12). * 17:18 See John 20:21. † 17:19 To ‘sanctify’ something to God means to separate/dedicate/consecrate it for His exclusive use. While on earth Jesus concentrated His attention and energies on a single goal, to execute the Plan, the Father's will. To the extent that we pay attention to the Truth, we will do the same. ‡ 17:22 What ‘glory’ was that? In Romans 3:23 I imagine that the ‘glory’ of God has to do with His essence, His character. The new ‘man’ or nature that a regenerated person receives is related to that essence/character. It is that nature in common that makes us ‘one’. However, since most Christians seldom allow the new nature to control them, in practice we don't see all that much unity. But in Heaven it will come to fruition. § 17:23 Tremendous! * 17:24 He wants His bride. † 17:26 Here is the ‘spiral’ again; the more we know, the more we love, the more we obey…
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