John 17

Jesus Prays to be Glorified

1 Jesus said these [things], and lifting up his eyes to heaven he said, "Father, the hour has come! Glorify your Son, in order that your Son may glorify you--

2 just as you have given him authority over all flesh, in order that he would give eternal life to them--everyone whom you have given him.

3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

4 I have glorified you on earth [by] completing the work that you have given me {to do}.

5 And now, Father, you glorify me {at your side} with the glory that I had {at your side} before the world existed.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

6 "I have revealed your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me, and they have kept your word.

7 Now they understand that all [the things] that you have given me are from you,

8 because the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they received [them] and know truly that I have come from you, and they have believed that you have sent me.

9 I am asking on behalf of them. I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you have given me, because they are yours,

10 and all my [things] are yours, and your [things] [are] mine, and I have been glorified in them.

11 And I am no longer in the world, and they 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 When I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given to me, and guarded [them], and none of them has perished except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture would be fulfilled.

13 And now I am coming to you, and I am saying these [things] in the world so that they may have my joy completed in themselves.

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 do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one.

16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

17 Sanctify them in the 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 them I sanctify myself, so that [they] themselves also may be sanctified in the truth.

Jesus Prays for the Unity of Believers

20 "And I do not ask on behalf of these only, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word,

21 that they all may be one, just as you, Father, [are] in me and I [am] in you, that they also may be in us, in order that the world may believe that you sent me.

22 And the glory that you have given to me, I have given to them, in order that they may be one, just as we [are] one--

23 I in them, and you in me, in order that they may be completed in one, so that the world may know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me.

24 "Father, [those] whom you have given to me--I want that those also may be with me where I am, in order that they may see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

25 Righteous Father, although the world does not know you, yet I have known you, and these [men] have come to know that you sent me.

26 And I made known to them your name, and will make [it] known, in order that the love [with] which you loved me may be in them, and I [may be] in them."

John 17 Commentary

Chapter 17

Christ's prayer for himself. (1-5) His prayer for his disciples. (6-10) His prayer. (11-26)

Verses 1-5 Our Lord prayed as a man, and as the Mediator of his people; yet he spoke with majesty and authority, as one with and equal to the Father. Eternal life could not be given to believers, unless Christ, their Surety, both glorified the Father, and was glorified of him. This is the sinner's way to eternal life, and when this knowledge shall be made perfect, holiness and happiness will be fully enjoyed. The holiness and happiness of the redeemed, are especially that glory of Christ, and of his Father, which was the joy set before him, for which he endured the cross and despised the shame; this glory was the end of the sorrow of his soul, and in obtaining it he was fully satisfied. Thus we are taught that our glorifying God is needed as an evidence of our interest in Christ, through whom eternal life is God's free gift.

6-10. Christ prays for those that are his. Thou gavest them me, as sheep to the shepherd, to be kept; as a patient to the physician, to be cured; as children to a tutor, to be taught: thus he will deliver up his charge. It is a great satisfaction to us, in our reliance upon Christ, that he, all he is and has, and all he said and did, all he is doing and will do, are of God. Christ offered this prayer for his people alone as believers; not for the world at large. Yet no one who desires to come to the Father, and is conscious that he is unworthy to come in his own name, need be discouraged by the Saviour's declaration, for he is both able and willing to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God by him. Earnest convictions and desires, are hopeful tokens of a work already wrought in a man; they begin to evidence that he has been chosen unto salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. They are thine; wilt thou not provide for thine own? Wilt thou not secure them? Observe the foundation on which this plea is grounded, All mine are thine, and thine are mine. This speaks the Father and Son to be one. All mine are thine. The Son owns none for his, that are not devoted to the service of the Father.

Verses 11-16 Christ does not pray that they might be rich and great in the world, but that they might be kept from sin, strengthened for their duty, and brought safe to heaven. The prosperity of the soul is the best prosperity. He pleaded with his holy Father, that he would keep them by his power and for his glory, that they might be united in affection and labours, even according to the union of the Father and the Son. He did not pray that his disciples should be removed out of the world, that they might escape the rage of men, for they had a great work to do for the glory of God, and the benefit of mankind. But he prayed that the Father would keep them from the evil, from being corrupted by the world, the remains of sin in their hearts, and from the power and craft of Satan. So that they might pass through the world as through an enemy's country, as he had done. They are not left here to pursue the same objects as the men around them, but to glorify God, and to serve their generation. The Spirit of God in true Christians is opposed to the spirit of the world.

Verses 17-19 Christ next prayed for the disciples, that they might not only be kept from evil, but made good. It is the prayer of Jesus for all that are his, that they may be made holy. Even disciples must pray for sanctifying grace. The means of giving this grace is, "through thy truth, thy word is truth." Sanctify them, set them apart for thyself and thy service. Own them in the office; let thy hand go with them. Jesus entirely devoted himself to his undertaking, and all the parts of it, especially the offering up himself without spot unto God, by the eternal Spirit. The real holiness of all true Christians is the fruit of Christ's death, by which the gift of the Holy Ghost was purchased; he gave himself for his church, to sanctify it. If our views have not this effect on us, they are not Divine truth, or we do not receive them by a living and a working faith, but as mere notions.

Verses 20-23 Our Lord especially prayed, that all believers might be as one body under one head, animated by one soul, by their union with Christ and the Father in him, through the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. The more they dispute about lesser things, the more they throw doubts upon Christianity. Let us endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, praying that all believers may be more and more united in one mind and one judgment. Thus shall we convince the world of the truth and excellence of our religion, and find more sweet communion with God and his saints.

Verses 24-26 Christ, as one with the Father, claimed on behalf of all that had been given to him, and should in due time believe on him, that they should be brought to heaven; and that there the whole company of the redeemed might behold his glory as their beloved Friend and Brother, and therein find happiness. He had declared and would further declare the name or character of God, by his doctrine and his Spirit, that, being one with him, the love of the Father to him might abide with them also. Thus, being joined to Him by one Spirit, they might be filled with all the fulness of God, and enjoy a blessedness of which we can form no right idea in our present state.

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[by]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("completing") which is understood as means
• [b]. Literally "that I may do it"
• [c]. Literally "by the side of yourself"
• [d]. Literally "by the side of you"
• [e]. Literally "whatever"
• [f]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [g]. Or "by"; or "through"
• [h]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [i]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation