John 17 - The Moody Bible Commentary

17:1-3 Jesus began His prayer by lifting up His eyes to heaven, a common Jewish custom suggesting His confidence in the Father (Cf. 11:41; Mk 7:34). His first request was for the Father to glorify His Son (see comment on 13:31). This was not self-seeking since its purpose was that the Son may glorify the Father in return. Jesus received delegated authority over all people (v. 2), including authority to give eternal life and to judge (5:27). For all whom You have given Him, see vv. 6, 9, 24 and comments on 6:37, 39. Eternal life is defined as coming (by faith) to know personally both the only true God, and Jesus Christ.

F. Praying for All Believers (17:1-26)

The verses of chap. 17 comprise the longest prayer of Jesus in Scripture, sometimes called Christ’s High Priestly Prayer. Jesus first prayed for Himself (vv. 1-5), then for his disciples (vv. 6-19), and last for all believers (vv. 20-26).

17:4-5 Jesus glorified God in that He accomplished the work (the earthly ministry) God gave Him to do. The verb “glorify” in these verses means “to manifest the splendid greatness of another,” in this case God and Christ. This work was finalized on the cross when Jesus cried, “It is finished” (19:30). The request for the Father to glorify the Son (v. 1) is repeated in v. 5. Since this glory will be equal to the glory that Jesus had with God before the world was created (Cf. 1:1-3), Jesus’ resurrection and ascension (exaltation) are included in the “work.” “Glory” and “glorify” in vv. 1-5 carry slightly different nuances. (1) The Son is to be glorified in His “hour,” i.e., the cross and resurrection (v. 1). (2) The cross/resurrection would glorify the Father in that it would complete the Son’s authority to give eternal life to all who believe (v. 2). (3) The Son has glorified the Father on earth by His works (v. 4). (4) The Son will be glorified in heaven together with the Father in the ascension and eternity future (v. 17:5a). (5) The future glory of the Son will equal the glory He had with the Father in eternity past (17:5b).

17:6-8 To manifest God’s name means to reveal His character and attributes. The disciples (and all believers) are given as a gift from the Father to the Son (cf. v. 2) and spiritually taken out of the world. This expresses the divine side of salvation. The disciples also responded by faith (they have kept Your word), the human side. Their faith included the understanding that everything the Father had given the Son (v. 7) originally belonged to the Father. Jesus’ additional words underscored the disciples’ faith (v. 8): they received … and truly understood … and they believed.

17:9-11 In vv. 9-11, Jesus prayed for His disciples. I ask on their behalf points primarily to the Eleven (cf. vv. 6, 8). What belonged to the Father is now in the omnipotent care of the Son (those whom You have given Me; cf. v. 2). The shared divine status of the Father and the Son is conveyed in the statement all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine (v. 10). After Jesus’ departure, the unity of the apostles would be under attack. So Jesus prayed, keep them in Your name (v. 11). A person’s name represented his character. For the Father to “keep” the apostles in His name meant that He would maintain among them the whole truth His Son had revealed about the Father (cf. v. 6). The outcome would be a complete unity among the Eleven (that they may be one). This unity among the apostles is modeled on the impeccable unity of the Father and the Son (even as We are), and evidences itself in the harmony of NT Scriptures.

17:12-13 Your name which You have given Me is another of Christ’s astounding claims. The name given to Jesus is “I AM” (see comment on 8:24, 58). By identifying Himself as “I AM,” Jesus revealed Himself with the Father’s own name. Like the term “sons of light” (12:36), son of perdition means “belonging to” destruction, not predestined to hell. That the Scripture would be fulfilled alludes to Ps 41:9 (cf. Jn 13:18). Judas fulfilled at least three OT prophecies (Ps 69:25; 109:8; cf. Ac 1:20). In v. 12, Jesus had spoken of the time He “was with them” on earth. But now I come to You (v. 13) is set in contrast to v. 12. The statement is not a reference to Jesus’ coming to the Father in prayer but to His future ascension (vv. 11, 12).

17:14-16 The communication to the disciples is now complete (I have given them Your word). Jesus reminded the Father that the world has hated His disciples because of their identity with their Savior. But instead of asking the Father to take them out of the world (v. 15), Christ asked Him to keep them from the evil one (vv. 11, 15). This phrase could be translated, “keep them from evil.” But Johannine usage strongly favors “evil one,” i.e., Satan (1Jn 2:13, 14; 3:12; 5:18, 19). Paul also mentioned this protection (1Co 10:13; 2Co 12:9). Verse 16 repeats v. 14b, showing that our new relationship to Christ is the foundation for His request for our protection. For more on v. 15a and its implications for Rv 3:10, see the comment on Rv 3:10.

17:17 Sanctify means to “set apart” for God’s use which, according to v. 18, is the mission to the world. All sin involves being deceived in some regard. Sanctification or growth in holiness (Rm 6:22; 1Th 4:3) includes the process of replacing lies with truth. God’s word is the source of this truth. Scripture is not just “true,” as if there were another standard to which the Bible rightly conforms. All Scripture is “God-breathed” (see comment on 2Tm 3:16) and therefore is the source of truth, just as Jesus is truth (14:6).

17:18-19 Sanctification (v. 17) is not isolation from but mission to the world. Just as the Father sent Christ into the world, so too Christ has sent His disciples into the world (Cf. 15:6; Mt 28:18-20). Jesus prayed, For their sakes I sanctify Myself, signifying how He has set apart Himself to the Father’s will (i.e., to go to the cross in fulfillment of Jesus’ mission). There is nothing commanded of the Christian, even being sanctified in truth, that Christ has not first modeled.

17:20-21 Christ prayed for those also who would believe in Him through the disciples’ word—their preaching and writing of Scripture. His prayer was specifically for the unity of all believers (that they may all be one; v. 21; cf. v. 11). The prayer is answered foremost through Spirit baptism in which every believer is placed into the one body of Christ (Cf. 10:16; 1Co 12:13; Rm 12:5; Gl 3:28; Eph 4:4). Elsewhere believers are commanded to live out this integral unity (13:34-35; Rm 12:16; 1Co 1:10).

17:22-23 Jesus prayed for a unity parallel to that between the Father and the Son (that they may be one, just as We are one). The full answer to Jesus’ prayer will not come until heaven, when all believers are perfected in unity (v. 23). But to maintain that His prayer has not been answered is to suggest that He has failed in His mission or that His prayer was not in accordance with the Father’s sovereign will. It is better to argue that there is fundamental unity among all believers in the key points of the Christian faith (for example, the authority of Scripture; salvation by grace through faith; the deity of Christ; the triunity of God; the resurrection of Christ, and the second coming), while the details are clearly disputed. The problem arises, however, when believers become divisive about the secondary issues. In order to reach the world, Christians are to practice their positional unity in Christ (see comments on vv. 11, 21). There is no more shocking truth about believers than that God has loved them even as He has loved His own Son.

17:24 For the fifth time, Jesus addressed God as Father. For they … whom You have given Me (cf. v. 2). As a direct result of Jesus’ prayer, every believer will be with Christ in heaven where He will be (Cf. 14:2-3).

17:25-26 Despite knowing the unjust treatment ahead, Jesus called God loving (v. 24) and righteous. This came about only because Jesus had known the Father. That Jesus will make [future tense] the Father known (v. 26) points to the role of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost (14:26; 16:13-14). The result will be that love will dominate the lives of the disciples (the love with which You loved Me may be in them) and Christ will abide in them (Cf. 15:1-11).