John17

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¹After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.

²For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.

³Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

⁴I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

⁵And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

⁶“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.

⁷Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.

⁸For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

⁹I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

¹⁰All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.

¹¹I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

¹²While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

¹³“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.

¹⁴I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

¹⁵My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

¹⁷Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

¹⁸As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

¹⁹For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

²⁰“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

²¹that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

²²I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—

²³I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

²⁴“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

²⁵“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.

²⁶I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for John 17.

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Chapter Summary

In this chapter: Christ's prayer for himself. (1–5). His prayer for his disciples. (6–10). His prayer. (11–26).

vv1-5

Our Lord prayed as a man, and as the Mediator of his people; yet he spoke with majesty and authority, as one with and equal to the Father. Eternal life could not be given to believers, unless Christ, their Surety, both glorified the Father, and was glorified of him. This is the sinner's way to eternal life, and when this knowledge shall be made perfect, holiness and happiness will be fully enjoyed. The holiness and happiness of the redeemed, are especially that glory of Christ, and of his Father, which was the joy set before him, for which he endured the cross and despised the shame; this glory was the end of the sorrow of his soul, and in obtaining it he was fully satisfied. Thus we are taught that our glorifying God is needed as an evidence of our interest in Christ, through whom eternal life is God's free gift.

vv6-10

Christ prays for those that are his. Thou gavest them me, as sheep to the shepherd, to be kept; as a patient to the physician, to be cured; as children to a tutor, to be taught: thus he will deliver up his charge. It is a great satisfaction to us, in our reliance upon Christ, that he, all he is and has, and all he said and did, all he is doing and will do, are of God. Christ offered this prayer for his people alone as believers; not for the world at large. Yet no one who desires to come to the Father, and is conscious that he is unworthy to come in his own name, need be discouraged by the Saviour's declaration, for he is both able and willing to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God by him. Earnest convictions and desires, are hopeful tokens of a work already wrought in a man; they begin to evidence that he has been chosen unto salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. They are thine; wilt thou not provide for thine own? Wilt thou not secure them? Observe the foundation on which this plea is grounded, All mine are thine, and thine are mine. This speaks the Father and Son to be one. All mine are thine. The Son owns none for his, that are not devoted to the service of the Father.

vv11-16

Christ does not pray that they might be rich and great in the world, but that they might be kept from sin, strengthened for their duty, and brought safe to heaven. The prosperity of the soul is the best prosperity. He pleaded with his holy Father, that he would keep them by his power and for his glory, that they might be united in affection and labours, even according to the union of the Father and the Son. He did not pray that his disciples should be removed out of the world, that they might escape the rage of men, for they had a great work to do for the glory of God, and the benefit of mankind. But he prayed that the Father would keep them from the evil, from being corrupted by the world, the remains of sin in their hearts, and from the power and craft of Satan. So that they might pass through the world as through an enemy's country, as he had done. They are not left here to pursue the same objects as the men around them, but to glorify God, and to serve their generation. The Spirit of God in true Christians is opposed to the spirit of the world.

Key Words

JesusG2424Greek

Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs): Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua), the name of our Lord and two (three) other Israelites

spokenG2980Greek

λαλέω (laléō): to talk, i.e. utter words

wordsG5023Greek

ταῦτα (taûta): these things

lifted upG1869Greek

ἐπαίρω (epaírō): to raise up (literally or figuratively)

hisG846Greek

αὐτός (autós): the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other persons

eyesG3788Greek

ὀφθαλμός (ophthalmós): the eye (literally or figuratively); by implication, vision; figuratively, envy (from the jealous side-glance)

toG1519Greek

εἰς (eis): to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etc.); also in adverbial phrases

heavenG3772Greek

οὐρανός (ouranós): the sky; by extension, heaven (as the abode of God); by implication, happiness, power, eternity; specially, the Gospel (Christianity)

andG2532Greek

καί (kaí): and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words

saidG2036Greek

ἔπω (épō): to speak or say (by word or writing)