John Chapter 17:1-10 by Mark Dunagan

The Gospel Of John Chapter 17:1-10

I. Outline: I. Prayer For Mutual Glorification: 17:1-5 II. Prayer For His Apostles: 17:6-19 III. Prayer For All Believers: 17:20-26

II. Introductory Comments: In the following prayer there isn’t a single confession of sin. Rather, Jesus prays the exact opposite. ‘The prayer is characterized by the Son’s consciousness of perfect obedience to the will of the Father (17:4).’ (Hendriksen p. 348) ‘The last words are important. We so often understand this prayer as though it were rather gloomy. It is not. It is uttered by One who has just affirmed that He has overcome the world (16:33), and it starts from this conviction. Jesus is looking forward to the cross, but in a mood of hope and joy, not one of despondency. The prayer marks the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, but it looks forward to the ongoing work which would now be the responsibility first of the immediate disciples and then of those who would later believe through them. Jesus prays for them all.’ (Morris p. 716) This chapter has been called Jesus’ High-Priestly Prayer. ‘First, it was offered by Him when He was about to give Himself a ransom for sinners. Second, this prayer gave further occasion to consecrate Himself as both High Priest and sacrificial victim in the approaching sacrifice on the cross. Third, it fulfills the typical rites of the high priest in Israel on the Day of Atonement as he prayed for himself, his fellow priests, and the covenant people (Lev. 16:6,33).’ (Butler p. 322)

III. Commentary: John 17:1 ‘These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee,”’

“lifting up His eyes to heaven”-‘The attitude of looking up to heaven naturally accompanies prayer, since for us on earth God is always above, not in a physical, but in an ideal or spiritual sense.’ (Lenski p. 1115) Which was a common posture in prayer (John 11:41; Mark 7:34; Psalm 123:1). There is some question concerning where Jesus is, when this prayer is offered. Jesus and the disciples have yet to across the Kidron and come to the garden (18:1). Some see this prayer offered while He was still in the Upper Room and others view it as a prayer offered at some point on the way to the Garden.

“the hour has come”-Jesus knew that His death was imminent (12:23,27; 13:1). The ‘hour’ hasn’t been changed and Jewish rejection has not altered God’s plan. ‘It was the hour in which the Son of man would terminate his labors by rendering the one and only atoning sacrifice for the sin of mankind; the hour of fulfilling prophecies, types, and symbols; the hour of triumph over the prince of the world; the hour of dismissing the old and of ushering in the new dispensation.’ (Hendriksen pp. 348-349) The reader needs to be impressed that the ‘hour’ has been the same ‘hour’ since the beginning of His ministry (2:4; 7:8,30; 8:20). Nothing has changed.

“glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee”-honor thy Son, that thy Son may honor thee’ (TCNT) Points To Note: 1.

The glory of the Son is inherently tied up with the glory of the Father. The Father will glorify His Son by raising Him from the dead and crowning Him as King (Eph. 1:20-23). At the same time, ‘His completed mission would redound to the exaltation of the Father, who loved man and made the plan of salvation possible (1 Peter 1:3-4; Eph. 1:3-12).’ (Harkrider p. 113) 2. ‘Both the Father and the Son are in complete harmony. What One wills the Other wills; what One works the Other works; what One loves the Other loves. There are no separate interests or aspirations between God the Father and God the Son.’ (Butler p. 325) (Philippians 2:11 ‘that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’) ‘It is significant that with the cross in view Jesus prays that God will glorify Him. To men the cross appeared an instrument of shame. To Christ it was the means of true glory.’ (Morris p. 718) 3. The cross demonstrates the unselfishness of Jesus, His complete and perfect obedience to the Father, His love for mankind, His willingness to share His Father with mere mortals, His tremendous self-sacrifice. The cross also demonstrates the Father’s intense love for mankind, His wisdom in providing such a sacrifice, His great love in giving His only begotten Son (John 3:16). The above isn’t a selfish prayer, for Jesus wants to be glorified so that the Father can be glorified. ‘The cross and the crown reveal not only the Son’s but also the Father’s virtues.’ (Hendriksen p. 349)

John 17:2 “even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou has given Him, He may give eternal life.” “Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind”-Since Jesus will die for all (1 Timothy 2:4,6), it is clear that He will be given authority over all individuals. The very fact that through Jesus, everything was created (John 1:3), and also that Jesus died for all men (John 3:16), is among those things which gives Jesus the moral right to be our Lord and to expect our worship and obedience. See also John 5:19-29; Matthew 28:18. This authority over all mankind, also gives Jesus the right to offer salvation to all (Mark 16:1516). Such authority also includes His right to judge all men (John 5:28-29; 12:48; Acts 17:30). In view of what Jesus did for us, any sane person should recognize that Jesus has every right to tell them what to do and expect obedience. That Jesus has every right to be worshipped and praised and served as Lord. Instead of saying, ‘Who is God that I should serve Him?’ Rather, we should say, ‘Who do I think that I am for serving myself and setting up self as a god!’ I mean, what have we done to deserve god-like status?

“that to all whom Thou has given Him, He may give eternal life” Points To Note: 1.

Of course, Calvinists argue that the above is teaching predestination. But the context destroys such a contention. A person must be willing to “know” God (17:4), and keep the words of God (17:6), and believe that Jesus is the Son of God (17:8). 2. In addition, since Jesus died for all men (John 3:16), all men compose the category of those who can inherit eternal life, if they so chose. 3. ‘All mankind was given him so that he might offer to that part of humanity which would surrender to his will, eternal life. To no others is it available. (Hebrews 5:8-9)’ (Woods p. 353) 4. Harkrider notes, ‘In reality, salvation is offered to all the world (Marl 16:1516), but the Father “hast given Him” only those who choose by their own free will to obey Christ (Heb. 5:8-9; Titus 2:11-12; Romans 6:16-18). God has elected the plan, not the (specific) man. That is, God does not choose specific individuals before their birth, and they alone, to be saved. Rather, God has chosen the plan of salvation to be by grace through faith in Christ, and all who come to Him by this plan are “given” to Christ (6:45).’ (p. 113)

John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” “this is eternal life, that they may know Thee” Points To Note:

The verb rendered “may know”, is present active subjunctive, which means literally, “should keep on knowing”, ‘and thus involves continuous conformity to the will of the Lord to the end of life after which eternal life, in actuality, is bestowed.’ (Woods p. 354) 2. Therefore, this ‘knowing’ isn’t a one time act or some instant illumination. Rather, it demands continually learning more about God and continually conforming to His will, becoming more like Him (2 Peter 1:5-11; Ephesians 4:23-5:2). 3. In addition, this would also entail, appreciating God, learning to love everything about God, valuing His qualities, what He stands for and what He opposes. 4. Eternal life is more than simply knowing the way to life, rather it also includes loving the One who gave the Life (Jeremiah 9:23-24). 5. ‘The definition of eternal life is important because Jesus differentiated it from the current concept of endless existence.’ (Tenney p. 245) 6. The reader should note that eternal life here is conditional (Hebrews 3:12-14; 10:26ff). In addition, we have yet to obtain eternal life in the fullest sense (Mark 10:29-30), for we still live in hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2; Romans 8:24; 1 John 2:25; 1 Peter 1:3-5).

“the only true God”-which means that all the supposed ‘gods’ in the pagan world were non-existent (1 Corinthians 8:5-6). Just knowing about some ‘god’ isn’t eternal life! And neither is eternal life the consequence of believing in ‘spiritual’ or religious things. Having a religious side to your personality doesn’t make one a Christian. ‘This confession is, first of all, directed against pagan polytheism…all pagan gods being fakes, no gods at all. It is also directed against Jewish unbelief, hence “him whom thou didst commission”.’ (Lenski p. 1122) Barclay notes, ‘Heathen peoples, especially in primitive countries, believe in a horde of gods (or course so do many people in Los Angeles and Hollywood). Every tree, brook, hill, mountain, river, stone has its god and its spirit; all these spirits are hostile and grudging to man; and primitive people are haunted by the gods; they live in perpetual fear of offending one of these many gods.’ (p. 244) And for the honest among such people, their is a sheer wave of relieve that comes over them when they learn that there is just only One true God. This is why eternal life is linked with knowing God. Because those who really know God, know that they can trust Him, place all their confidence in Him, and regardless of the outward situation, they know that God loves them (Romans 8:37-39). Such a person will trust God’s way of saving us, will trust God’s way of living, will trust God’s way of handling problems, will trust everything that God has said. Such a person won’t argue, ‘Well that won’t work’, or, ‘That’s impractical.’ Therefore, to really know God, is to be able to pay all of one’s hopes, dreams, etc…..in God, and completely trust that God’s way is the right way. The person who can’t trust God, can’t wait for God, is really the person who doesn’t know God.

“and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent”-Which means that eternal life is also linked with knowing Jesus. ‘This is linked with the knowledge of Christ. The only way to know God is through the revelation He has made, and He has revealed Himself in His Son. It is not possible to know God in any way that we choose. We must know Him in Him whom He has sent.’ (Morris p. 720) That is, the only way to know the Father, is to accept

and trust the Son, for the Son is the perfect expression of the Father’s will and nature (John 1:18; 12:45; 14:9).

John 17:4 “I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou has given Me to do.” “I glorified Thee on the earth”-That is, Jesus honored the Father by constantly doing the will of the Father (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38). Carefully note that God is only honored by our lives when we obey Him. God is not honored when we ignore His will or put our will in place of His will (Leviticus 10:1-3). Many people talk about “praising God”, well we praise God, we honor God, we bring glory to God, when we do what He has said.

“having accomplished the work which Thou has given me to do” Points To Note: 1.

‘How can this correlate with the view of premillennialism, which basically denies that Jesus fulfilled His intended mission? Advocates of this doctrine acknowledged that He came to establish His kingdom according to the prophets. However, they believe that the world was too wicked and unwilling to accept His kinship, therefore He was crucified (which is a different reason for His death than that which the Bible says, Acts 2:23-24; Isaiah 53). Finally, they say that since Christ did not fulfill His first mission by establishing His kingdom, He must return to the earth again to reign for 1,000 years.’ (Harkrider p. 114) 2. The above statement from Jesus is clear. The plan, mission, purpose for which He came to this earth, He fulfilled. Nothing in the plan had been changed, nothing had been left unfulfilled. 3. This also means that Jesus didn’t come to this earth to establish an earthly world peace. Jesus wasn’t simply a human rights leader among human rights leaders. 4. And neither did Jesus merely “try” to achieve something. The life of Jesus is not a tragedy, it is not the life of a mere good man who tried to bring about a better world and suffered for that cause. Rather, He was God in the flesh, Who came to die for our sins, so that we could have a relationship with God! ‘Thus Jesus regarded his death as the consummation of his labors and so forevermore refutes the false allegation of unbelieving writers that his mission ended in failure and that he died a disappointed and frustrated man!’ (Woods pp. 354-355) 5. ‘The Cross was no accident nor an isolated event; it was the climax of the work Christ came into the world to perform.’ (Butler p. 326)

I believe in this statement there is a great lesson for us. How do I measure personal success? How do I measure whether my life has been meaningful? How do I measure whether or not I made a difference? There are all sorts of measurements which people use to answer the above questions, status, fame, wealth, material possessions and so on. But my life has been a success if I can say that I too accomplished the work of God while I was upon this earth. I used my talents, and I did for God what I could do (Acts 20:24).

John 17:5 “And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” “glorify Thou Me together with Thyself”-Carefully note that Jesus doesn’t desire a glory more than or independent of the Father. Jesus doesn’t say, ‘I’ve got to be Me, and I need some space, I need to find meaning and purpose on my own.’ ‘Jesus is not requesting a reward for his work. His prayer again moves on a far higher plane…being himself glorified Jesus will glorify the Father among men in all future ages.’ (Lenski p. 1125)

“with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was” Points To Note: 1.

First of all, it is obvious that Jesus is not having a conversation with Himself in the above verses. ‘Would Jesus pray to Himself? Surely not! Obviously He is a different person of the Godhood than the Father (1 John 4:14; 2 John 3). Neither is He an inferior god!’ (Harkrider p. 115) 2. Carefully note that Jesus isn’t requesting the return of His divine status, for He never gave up His deity (John 1:1,14; 8:24; 14:9). 3. Rather, Jesus longs for that face to face communion which He had with the Father from eternity (John 1:1). In addition, in coming to this earth He voluntarily gave up all the splendor of an existence in heaven. He became ‘poor’ that we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). See also Philippians 2:5-11; Revelation 5:11-14. 4. The above verse also clearly teaches the pre-existence of Jesus, and even more than that. Lenski notes, ‘The reason Jesus does not say: with the glory which I had with thee before thou didst send me into the world, or, before I came into the world, is his desire to place beyond question the nature of the glory he has in mind. It is the glory of the Godhead, the eternal, divine glory that extends back into all eternity before the cosmos or any creature or created glory existed.’ (Lenski p. 1125) 5. Jesus’ glory stretches back before Creation, and John has told us how long-i..e. forever (John 1:1). 6. In addition, the verse admits that the physical creation had a beginning, a starting-point. The earth isn’t eternal (Hebrews 1:10-12).

Prayer For The Apostles ‘They had depended very heavily on the visible presence of their Master. This presence was soon to be taken from them…He knows that the coming hours will be a great trial for them. Despite everything they are not ready for the shock of Calvary. Tenderly now He commits them to the care of the heavenly Father.’ (Morris pp. 722-723)

John 17:6 “I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word.” “I manifested Thy name”-The ‘name’ of God stands for His whole person, His nature and character. Through His teaching and life, Jesus had revealed the Father to His disciples (14:9).

“to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world”-this verse is specifically talking about the apostles. This verse reveals that when Jesus selected the Apostles, the Father was in complete agreement with who He had selected. ‘He had manifested the Father to them by exhibiting in himself the divine nature which he possessed in common with the Father…He had repeatedly taught them that he and his Father are one---not in person but in nature—and that his words and works were those of the Father.’ (Woods pp. 355-356)

“gavest Me”-‘There should not be any problem with how the Father gave these eleven disciples to Jesus. Verses 7 and 8 are explanatory of verse 6. Verse 6 is even selfexplanatory. The Father gave them to the Son by “drawing” them to the Son….When they “received” the teaching of Christ and accepted His deity and chose to follow Him..’ (Butler p. 330) Unlike the enemies of Jesus, the disciples were receptive, their ears were open (John 1:37ff; Matthew 13:16).

“Thine they were”-Which may mean that before coming to Jesus the apostles were trying to be faithful , that is , true children of Abraham. Some of them had been disciples of John the Baptist before coming to Jesus (John 1:37), they were eager to do the will of the Father, even before Jesus met them. For example, Nathanael was a man in whom there was no guile prior to encountering Jesus (John 1:47).

“and they have kept Thy word”-which makes it clear that the Apostles enjoy divine favor because they are keeping God’s word. Once again, Jesus puts a high priority on keeping the Word of God and believing that men could keep it (John 8:51; 14:15, 21, 23, 24; 15:10,20). ‘So long as we desire independence, so long as we wish to do what we like, we cannot be disciples. Discipleship involves submission, and is based on obedience.’ (Barclay p. 247) Despite the fact that these disciples still had some misunderstandings about the Gospel, they were doing their best to keep the Word of God. And when the Spirit guided them into all the truth—they would accept what they had not previously grasped. God doesn’t expect perfection or an instant grasp of every truth in the Bible, and yet God does expect an attitude which accepts the truth when confronted with a truth it hasn’t heard as yet.

John 17:7 “Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee.” 7

Points To Note: While the Apostles might not as yet understand everything, they do believe with all their hearts that Jesus has been sent from God and that whatever He teaches is the Word of God (16:30). ‘The eleven believed in Jesus from the start, but the longer they were in contact with him, the more they arrived at the realization that everything about him was from the Father.’ (Lenski p. 1130) Carefully note that it isn’t enough to merely believe that Jesus had some good things to say. Morris notes, ‘So long as we stay with the figure of the Galilean Jesus….so long we miss what really matters. What is central is that all that we see in Him is of God.’ (p. 724) That is, whenever we think of Jesus, let us remember that we a looking at God, God on a Divine mission.

John 17:8 “for the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them; and they received them, and truly understood that I came forth from Thee, and they believed that Thou didst send Me.” “for the words….I have given to them” -Besides the example of Jesus, it was the words which Jesus spoke which convinced and convicted the Apostles that He was sent from the Father (John 6:68).

“they received them, and truly understood”-‘This sets them in contrast with other men of their day. Some, like the chief priests or the Pharisees, might have been expected to welcome a genuine divine revelation. They did not. But the disciples did.’ (Morris p. 724) Be impressed that the words of Jesus are so clear that common people can read them and “truly understand”, be absolutely certain that Jesus is the Son of God. ‘They came to this wonderful knowledge by “receiving” the words which Jesus taught them and “believed” them. These men heard His teachings and allowed His word to “have free course in them” while others who heard His teachings did not (8:37; 5:38). These men were willing to do His will and thus knew His teachings to be of God while others were not willing (John 7:17; 3:19-21).’ (Butler p. 331)

John 17:9 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine;” “I ask on their behalf”-‘McGarvey…gives four reasons or pleas of Jesus as to why the Father should bless the disciples of the Son: (a) because they are the Son’s property in a special sense as a gift from the Father; (b) because of their reception and retention of the truth and the resulting knowledge and belief; © because the Son is glorified in them; (d) and last because the Son must very soon leave them alone in the world (6-11).’ (Butler p. 331)

“I do not ask on behalf of the world” -Jesus did pray for His enemies on other occasions (Luke 23:34) and taught Christians to do the same (Matthew 5:44; 1 Timothy 8

2:1). But on this occasion Jesus is concentrating on His disciples. The world is excluded in this prayer, not because it is improper to pray for the world, but for the reason that this prayer was asking for specific blessings upon His disciples.

John 17:10 “and all things that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.” “Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine”-‘This last statement is astounding. It makes sense only if the Father and the Son are one in essence (10:30). These disciples belong to the Father, but they equally belong to the Son. The honor that belongs to God the Father, also belongs to God the Son (John 5:23) This means that everything in the entire universe belongs to both the Father and the Son. ‘This is the reason why Jesus is able to pray so fervently for his disciples. They are his, his very own. Hence, he loves them. But whatever is his, is also the Father’s. This mutual ownership implies mutual interest, and this mutual interest assures mutual action.’ (Hendriksen p. 356) To say that everything that belongs to the Father, also belongs to Jesus, can only mean one thing, that is, Jesus is Divine. While mere mortals can say that everything we have belongs to God, only one equal with God could say that everything God has is His! Point To Note: Therefore when Jesus said earlier that these disciples belonged to the Father, and that the Father had given them to Jesus (17:6,9), we are not to understand such language as meaning that Jesus is inferior to the Father. If everything that the Father has belongs to Jesus, then to Jesus also belongs an eternal nature, an endless existence, all power, wisdom and knowledge.

“and I have been glorified in them”-Jesus was glorified by the Apostles---because they believed in Him and believed the truth about Him. Carefully note, we bring honor to Jesus, when to simply admit the truth about Jesus. And notice God’s attitude is so separated from the attitude and values of the world. The secular world would often scorn and ridicule the Apostles. But to God, such men were glorifying His Son. Unfortunately, often we are more impressed with what the world says about something, then with what God says.