John 17 Footnotes

17:1-5 Isn’t this the height of mutual self-serving behavior—the Father and the Son glorifying each other for eternity? There are deities in the religions of the world who behave that way, but here it is crucial to observe that what brings glory to the Godhead is the opportunity of eternal life for anyone who believes (v. 2)—an opportunity no other religion provides.

17:12 Judas was not an exception to the principle that Jesus would lose none of those God gave him (6:39; 10:29), for he was doomed from the outset—never truly one of Christ’s followers (6:70-71). Yet even here predestination never overrides free will and human accountability (Mk 14:20-21). No one Scripture is specifically mentioned, though there are echoes of Ps 41:9 and Ps 109:4-13. If Judas had chosen not to betray Jesus, someone else likely would have stepped forward.

17:21-23 Obviously, believers cannot be one with either the Father or the Son in every way the persons of the Godhead are one with each other, for we are not God. On the other hand, the unity among Christians is more than the invisible oneness of all believers; it is something that demonstrates itself in outward, tangible, loving cooperation for powerful evangelistic purposes and results.