John 17 - The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible

17:1 Jesus probably spoke this prayer while still in the upper room (18:1). lifted up. A gesture of reverence. the hour is come. The most crucial hour of all history, the climax of Christ’s work (see note at 2:4). glorify. The highest goal of the Father and the Son (and the Spirit, 16:14) is to make known each other’s glory (vv. 4–5,10,22,24; 1:14; 2:11; 7:18,39; 8:50,54; 11:4,40; 12:16,23,28; 13:31–32; 14:13; 15:8).

17:1–5 First, Christ prayed for Himself and His mission.

17:2 power over all flesh. Authority over all mankind in every nation. Christ is the Mediator of God’s kingdom (3:35; 5:22–23; Matt. 28:18). as many as thou hast given him. The Son uses His kingly authority over all people in order to give complete salvation to those chosen by God (17:6,9,11–12,24; 6:37–40; 10:27–29; cf. 15:16).

17:3 life eternal . . . know thee. Christ confers a spiritual, experiential knowledge of God that involves communion with Himself in everlasting life. only true God. Not to the exclusion of Jesus Christ, for He too is God (1:1; 20:28), one with the Father (10:30), but to the exclusion of the deities of all other religions (Jer. 10:10–11; 1 John 5:20–21).

17:4 I have glorified . . . finished. Christ spoke in anticipation of His imminent and certain death on the cross (same verb as “finished” in 19:30).

17:5 glorify thou me. As to His divine nature Christ has always been in heaven (1:18; 3:13), but in His human nature He longed to be in glory, enjoying full communion with His Father. I had . . . before the world was. Christ’s preexistence as the eternal God (8:58) with the other persons of the Trinity before the universe was created (1:1).

17:6 Here Christ begins to pray particularly (but not exclusively) for His apostles. See v. 12. manifested thy name. Revealed the glory of God in the gospel. thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Election produces obedience (1 Thess. 1:4–6).

17:6–19 Second, Christ prayed for His present disciples, particularly the eleven apostles.

17:7–8 believed that thou didst send me. Saving faith receives Christ as the One appointed by God to save sinners and give them eternal life, as Peter confessed (6:68–69).

17:9 I pray not for the world. Though as King Christ rules over all mankind (v. 2), and as Prophet calls all people who hear the gospel to faith (7:37), as Priest He prays exclusively for the church of God’s elect (Rom. 8:33–34), for they have been particularly entrusted to Him by the Father for salvation (them which thou hast given me) as His bride (3:29).

17:10 all mine are thine. Believers belong to God (Titus 2:14). Christ’s words prove His equality with the Father; the two share divine authority and ownership (5:20).

17:11 Holy Father. A title of God found nowhere else in Scripture, appealing to His supreme majesty and compassionate love (Ps. 68:5). keep through thine own name. Preserve them in the faith by the gospel revelation of who God is (name; v. 6). may be one. Unified in Christ and with one another.

17:12 none of them is lost. Christ secured and preserved His own even as many other disciples fell away (6:66–69). son of perdition. Idiom for a person destined for ruin (2 Thess. 2:3,8). scripture might be fulfilled. The apostasy of Judas had been prophesied centuries earlier (Pss. 41:9; 55:12–14; 109:6; Zech. 11:12–13). Even the worst things that happen to Christ and His people are all predestined by God (Luke 22:22).

17:14 world hath hated them. See notes at 15:18—16:4.

17:15 pray not . . . take them out of the world. Christ does not desire for His disciples to withdraw from the world into monasteries (1 Cor. 5:9–10). keep them from the evil. Preserve them from being spiritually destroyed by the temptations of Satan.

17:16 not of the world. God’s grace has taken them out of the kingdom of Satan and caused them to belong to the heavenly kingdom, as Christ does (8:23; 15:19).

17:17 Sanctify them. Make them holy, set them apart for sacred service. through thy truth. Just as God’s Word is instrumental in conversion (15:3), so it is also God’s means to make Christ’s disciples grow in His likeness. thy word is truth. The Bible contains no errors but is entirely trustworthy in all that it teaches (Pss. 12:6; 19:7–9; Prov. 30:5–6).

17:18 I also sent them. Holiness (v. 17) overflows into missions, for the essence of obedience is loving others as Christ has loved us (15:12–13). The emphasis here is on Christ’s sending of the apostles to preach His gospel to the world (20:21).

17:19 I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified. Christ set Himself apart as Priest (Ex. 28:41) in order to offer Himself as a sacrifice in obedience to His mission from the Father (10:36) to produce the holiness and mission of His church (vv. 17–18).

17:20 for them also which shall believe. From here to the end of His prayer Christ prayed for the believing church to the end of time, but still not for the world (v. 9).

17:20–26 Third, Christ prayed for all future converts through the apostolic witness.

17:21–23 may be one in us. Not a mere external unity but a unity founded upon union with Christ and God (I in them, and thou in me), and thus a unity of the new birth, faith, and love (Eph. 4:4–6). as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee. The unity of Christians is part of the image of God, a visible picture of the unity in the Trinity (even as we are one). that the world may believe . . . that the world may know. The supernatural love that bonds Christians together is a powerful demonstration of the truth of the gospel by which God draws sinners to Christ and to His church (13:35; Acts 2:44–47). glory . . . I have given them, that they may be one. The foundation of Christian unity is the gospel revelation of God that He gave us through the mediation of Christ (v. 6; Eph. 4:13).

17:24 be with me. Christ’s ultimate desire and will is that all who constitute His elect bride (whom thou hast given me) will enjoy the infinite glory and love of God by intimate union and communion with His beloved Son (Rev. 22:4–5). before the foundation. See v. 5.

17:25–26 righteous Father. Another unique title of God (v. 11), emphasizing the great difference between Him and the wicked world that does not know Him. I have known thee. Christ is the sinless Son of God, and therefore God will answer His prayers (8:29; 11:22,42; Heb. 7:25–26). will declare it. Christ will continue His ministry as the Prophet of the church through the Holy Spirit (16:12–13). love . . . in them, and I in them. The truth of the gospel aims at bringing people into fellowship with God and the love shared in the Trinity.

Thoughts for Personal/Family Worship: Chapter 17

1. This great high-priestly prayer of Christ is the consummation of the preceding discourse (14:1—16:33). We see here a sample of the intercessory work of Christ at the right hand of God. Everything Christ prays for will be granted by the heavenly Father, since Christ is the God-man whose redemptive work so greatly glorifies God. How can it encourage believers to know that Jesus is interceding with God to preserve them, unify them, and bring them to glory?
2. Christ’s prayer for unity (v. 21) has often been used as an argument for church union irrespective of doctrine and practices. However, we must seek unity in a way that honors His prayer, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (v. 17). There is no true unity without a common faith in the teachings of the inerrant Bible, along with a common life of holiness. Why are these necessary for spiritual unity?
3. The desire of Christ is that Christians will be with Him to gaze upon His glory forever (v. 24). “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). Is this truly your desire? If so, reflect on the truth that heaven is a world of love.