John 17
17:1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he looked upward to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you –
After Jesus finished telling His disciples that He had “overcome the world,” He looked up to heaven and prayed what many theologians call “the high priestly prayer.” Whenever Jesus prayed, He always addressed God as “Father.” Notice that the atonement of Christ glorifies both Christ and the Father. It was established at an appointed time, even before the foundations of the world were created. God is in control of history. The Bible is God’s book to the world.
17:2 just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.
God the Father gave authority over all men to the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father gives the elect to Jesus. Jesus gives eternal life to the elect.
17:3 Now this is eternal life – that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
Jesus gave a definition of eternal life. The Greek word for “know” is γινώσκω (ginosko), a present active subjunctive participle, meaning an intimate and personal relationship. Eternal life is an intimate and personal relationship between the believer and the one true God.
17:4 I glorified you on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
God the Father assigned a task to Jesus. Jesus was to die on the cross for the atonement of all sins. Jesus was in the final stage of fulfilling His mission. The outcome was already determined, so the atonement was considered as a completed action of the past.
17:5 And now, Father, glorify me at your side with the glory I had with you before the world was created.
Jesus was the Second Person of the Trinity. He lived on earth in the form of a man for about 33 years. After His death, resurrection, and ascension, He returned back to the heavens to sit at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus Prays for the Disciples
17:6 “I have revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word.
God the Father gave the elect to Jesus as a gift. Jesus revealed the character of God the Father to the elect. They listened to the Word of God through Jesus and made themselves submissive to his Word.
17:7 Now they understand that everything you have given me comes from you,
The elect understands that everything that Jesus possesses has been given to Him by God the Father.
17:8 because I have given them the words you have given me. They accepted them and really understand that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.
The Father gave a message to Jesus. Jesus gave the message to the elect. The elect accepted the message. The message was that Jesus came from God the Father. The elect believed that Jesus was sent by God the Father.
17:9 I am praying on behalf of them. I am not praying on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you have given me, because they belong to you.
Jesus was not praying on behalf of the satanic world system. He prayed a specific prayer for the eleven disciples who were given to Him.
17:10 Everything I have belongs to you, and everything you have belongs to me, and I have been glorified by them.
God the Father and God the Son are sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent over all things. God the Father and God the Son are equal in all of these attributes of deity.
17:11 I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.
Before Jesus was taken out of the world, He asked God the Father to keep the eleven disciples safe so that they could be one with God the Father and God the Son. A believer is made one with Christ by spirit baptism at the moment of belief.
17:12 When I was with them I kept them safe and watched over them in your name that you have given me. Not one of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, so that the scripture could be fulfilled.
The disciples were given to Jesus as a gift from God the Father. While Jesus was in the world, He protected the disciples. None of them were lost, except for Judas. Judas was not one of the elect. He would use his free human will to reject Christ. He was destined for destruction. His only hope was to believe in Christ, which the natural man cannot do without the awakening of his dead spirit by the Spirit of God. Psalm 41:9 prophesied that the Messiah would be betrayed by one of His best friends.
17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience my joy completed in themselves.
The disciples were sad and downcast. However, after the resurrection they remembered these words. These words brought great joy to them. They knew that Jesus conquered the world. They knew that whatever persecutions that they received were all part of God’s sovereign plan. They knew that they would be successful in expanding the gospel to all nations.
17:14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
The disciples were valuable because Jesus gave them the Word of God. They possessed the truth, which made them an enemy of the satanic world system. They did not belong to the satanic world system. They were not welcome in the satanic world system. The satanic world system will send demonic powers against them in order to hinder their message.
17:15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one.
Jesus did not want to remove the disciples from the danger of battle. He wanted to preserve them in the angelic conflict and make them victorious. He wanted to defeat Satan with fisherman, tax collectors, and common laborers.
According to Philippians 3:8, the values of the world are nothing but a trashcan of dung. The believer tells the satanic world system that it stinks and needs to be purged out of heaven. Therefore, the satanic world system hates being exposed in this matter.
17:16 They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world.
Just as Jesus did not belong to the satanic world system, neither did the disciples. Believers are citizens of the Kingdom of God, but ambassadors in the satanic world system.
17:17 Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth.
Truth was communicated to the disciples by direct revelation from Jesus Himself. Truth was communicated to the early church through apostles and prophets. Truth is communicated to the modern church through gifted pastor teachers who interpret the written Word of God.
17:18 Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.
Jesus was not of this world, but He was sent into this world to perform a mission. His mission was to atone for the sins of mankind. Believers are not of this world, but they were sent into this world to perform a mission. The mission of the believer is to teach and make disciples of all nations.
17:19 And I set myself apart on their behalf, so that they too may be truly set apart.
Jesus asked God the Father to sanctify the believers. He asked God the Father to set apart the disciples to perform a special mission for the Kingdom of God.
Jesus Prays for Believers Everywhere
17:20 “I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony,
Jesus next directed His prayer to future believers. In the Church Age, all believers have come to Christ either directly or indirectly through the ministry of these disciples. Jesus knew that the disciples would be successful, so He directed His prayers to the future church.
17:21 that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.
Those of the ecumenical movement will misuse this verse to teach that there should be one universal church on the earth. Satan desires one universal church because he can easily control the doctrine which comes out of the church. The Catholic Church denied people the Word of God for years.
Jesus was not praying for the unity of one giant, universal, ecumenical church. He was praying for the unity of all believers in love, obedience to God and His Word, and commitment to do the will of God.
17:22 The glory you gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one –
The glory of the cross was given to the church. Only the elect can understand this glory. The natural man will look upon the message of the cross as foolishness.
17:23 I in them and you in me – that they may be completely one, so that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me.
The Holy Spirit baptized the believer into the body of Christ, making the believer one in spirit with the entire Triune Creator God. The mission of the believers is to demonstrate to the satanic world system that God has sent Jesus into the world because of His great love to save others.
17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
Jesus asked God the Father to keep the elect so that they can one day see the glorified form that Jesus possessed before the foundations of the world were created.
17:25 Righteous Father, even if the world does not know you, I know you, and these men know that you sent me.
God is righteous and the world is evil. Because the world is evil, it cannot recognize the good of the Father. The world sees good as evil and evil as good. This is a thought process of fallen man.
Although the world does not know God the Father, Jesus does. Jesus has revealed the mind of God to the disciples.
17:26 I made known your name to them, and I will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them, and I may be in them.”
God the Father revealed His character to the disciples by sending His Son to die on the cross.