John17

World English Bible · Public Domain

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¹Jesus said these things, then lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;

²even as you gave him authority over all flesh, so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

³This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

⁴I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.

⁵Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.

⁶“I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.

⁷Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,

⁸for the words which you have given me I have given to them; and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.

⁹I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

¹⁰All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

¹¹I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.

¹²While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. I have kept those whom you have given me. None of them is lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

¹³But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.

¹⁴I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

¹⁵I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one.

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

¹⁷Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.

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

¹⁹For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

²⁰“Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word,

²¹that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.

²²The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one,

²³I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me.

²⁴Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.

²⁵Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.

²⁶I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I 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)