John 17 - The MacArthur Bible Commentary

17:1 the hour has come. The time of Jesus’ death. See note on 12:23. Glorify Your Son. The very event that would glorify the Son was His death. By it, He has received the adoration, worship, and love of millions whose sins He bore. He accepted this path to glory, knowing that by it He would be exalted to the Father. The goal is that the Father may be glorified for His redemptive plan in the Son. So He sought by His own glory the glory of His Father (13:31, 32).

2. Interceding with the Father (17:1-26)

17:1-26 Although Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4 have become popularly known as the “Lord’s Prayer,” that prayer was actually taught to the disciples by Jesus as a pattern for their prayers. The prayer recorded here is truly the Lord’s Prayer, exhibiting the face-to-face communion the Son had with the Father. Very little is recorded of the content of Jesus’ frequent prayers to the Father (Matt. 14:23; Luke 5:16), so this prayer reveals some of the precious content of the Son’s communion and intercession with Him. This chapter is transitional, marking the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry and the beginning of His intercessory ministry for believers (Heb. 7:25). In many respects, the prayer is a summary of John’s entire Gospel. Its principal themes include: (1) Jesus’ obedience to His Father; (2) the glorification of His Father through His death and exaltation; (3) the revelation of God in Jesus Christ; (4) the choosing of the disciples out of the world; (5) their mission to the world; (6) their unity modeled on the unity of the Father and Son; and (7) the believer’s final destiny in the presence of the Father and Son. The chapter divides into three parts: (1) Jesus’ prayer for Himself (vv. 1-5); (2) Jesus’ prayer for the apostles (vv. 6-19); and (3) Jesus’ prayer for all NT believers who will form the church (vv. 20-26).

17:2 authority over all flesh. Cf 5:27; see note on Matthew 28:18. as many as You have given Him. A reference to God’s choosing of those who will come to Christ (see notes on 6:37, 44 ). The biblical doctrine of election or predestination is presented throughout the NT (15:16, 19; Acts 13:48; Rom. 8:29-33; Eph. 1:3-6; 2 Thess. 2:13; Titus 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:2).

17:3 eternal life. See notes on 3:15, 16; 5:24; cf. 1 John 5:20.

17:5 glorify Me together with Yourself. Having completed His work (v. 4), Jesus looked past the Cross and asked to be returned to the glory that He shared with the Father before the world began (see notes on 1:1; 8:58; 12:41 ). The actual completion of bearing judgment wrath for sinners was declared by Christ in the cry, “It is finished” (19:30).

17:6-10 They were Yours. This phrase sums up all of Jesus’ ministry, including the Cross that was just hours away. Again, the Son emphasized that those who believed in Him were given by the Father (see note on v. 2 ). “They were Yours” (cf. v. 9) is a potent assertion that before conversion, they belonged to God (cf 6:37). That is true because of God’s election. They were chosen before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), when their names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 17:8). Cf. Acts 18:10, where God says He has many people in Corinth who belong to Him, but are not yet saved. See notes on 10:1-5, 16.

17:8 they have believed. The Son of God affirmed the genuine saving faith of His disciples.

17:11 I am no longer in the world. So sure was Jesus’ death and departure back to the Father that Jesus treated His departure as an already accomplished fact. He prayed here for His disciples because they would have to face the world’s temptation and hatred without His immediate presence and protection (15:18-16:4). Based on the eternal nature of immutable God (“name”), He prayed for the eternal security of those who believed. He prayed that as the Trinity experiences eternal unity, so may believers. See Romans 8:31-39.

17:12 I kept them in Your name. Jesus protected them and kept them safe from the world as He said in 6:37-40, 44. One illustration of that can be seen in 18:1-11. Believers are secure forever because they are held by Christ and by God. See note on 10:28, 29. son of perdition. This identifies Judas by pointing to his destiny, i.e., eternal damnation (Matt. 7:13; Acts 8:20; Rom. 9:22; Phil. 1:28; 3:19; 1 Tim. 6:9; Heb. 10:39; 2 Pet. 2:1; 3:7; Rev. 17:8, 11). The defection of Judas was not a failure on Jesus’ part, but was foreseen and foreordained in Scripture (Pss. 41:9; 109:8; cf. 13:18).

17:15 keep them from the evil one. The reference here refers to protection from Satan and all the wicked forces following him (Matt. 6:13; 1 John 2:13, 14; 3:12; 5:18, 19). Though Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross sealed the ultimate defeat of Satan, he is still loose and orchestrating his evil system against believers. He seeks to destroy believers (1 Pet. 5:8), as with Job and Peter (Luke 22:31, 32), and also in general (Eph. 6:12), but God is their strong protector (12:31; 16:11; cf. Ps. 27:1-3; 2 Cor. 4:4; Jude 24, 25).

17:17 Sanctify. This verb also occurs in John’s Gospel at verse 19; 10:36. The idea of sanctification is the setting apart of something for a particular use. Accordingly, believers are set apart by God for His purposes alone so that the believer does only what God wants and hates all that God hates (Lev. 11:44, 45; 1 Pet. 1:16). Sanctification is accomplished by means of the truth, which is the revelation that the Son gave regarding all that the Father commanded Him to communicate and is now contained in the Scriptures left by the apostles. Cf. Ephesians 5:26; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; James 1:21; 1 Peter 1:22, 23.

17:19 I sanctify Myself. Meaning only that He was totally set apart for the Father’s will (cf 4:34; 5:19; 6:38; 7:16; 9:4). Jesus did that in order that believers might be set apart to God by the truth He brought.

17:21 they all may be one. The basis of this unity centers in adherence to the revelation the Father mediated to His first disciples through His Son. Believers are also to be united in the common belief of the truth that was received in the Word of God (Phil. 2:2). This is not still a wish, but it became a reality when the Spirit came (cf. Acts 2:4; 1 Cor. 12:13). It is not experiential unity, but the unity of common eternal life shared by all who believe the truth, and it results in the one body of Christ all sharing His life. See notes on Ephesians 4:4-6.

17:22 the glory which You gave Me. This refers to the believer’s participation in all of the attributes and essence of God through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (v. 10; cf. Col. 1:27; 2 Pet. 1:4), as verse 23 makes clear (“I in them”).

17:23 made perfect in one. The idea here is that they may be brought together in the same spiritual life around the truth that saves. That prayer was answered by the reality of 1 Corinthians 12:12, 13; Ephesians 2:14-22.

17:24 be with Me. This will be in heaven, where one can see the full glory that is His (cf. v. 5). Some day, believers will not only see His glory, but share it (Phil. 3:20, 21; 1 John 3:2). Until then, they participate in it spiritually (2 Cor. 3:18).

17:25, 26 This summarizes the prayer of this chapter and promises the continuing indwelling Christ and His love. Cf. Romans 5:5.