2BeLikeChrist Bible Commentary John Chapter 17
Commentary - John Chapter 17
John 17:1-2
Joh 17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
Joh 17:2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
It isn’t completely clear where Jesus is when He prays the words in John 17.
He may have been in the garden of Gethsemane or He may have been on His way out of Jerusalem.
Jesus’ words suggest He and His Apostles left the Passover room at the end of John 14.
John 14:31 “…Rise, let us go from here.”
But the opening of chapter 18 make it sound as if He has yet to arrive in the garden.
Joh 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.
The exact location of Gethsemane is still debated but we know it was located on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39).
If you go to Jerusalem today, you can visit some ancient olive groves that many suspect stand in the same location as the garden.
Chapter 17 contains a some of the words prayed by Jesus immediately preceding His arrest and crucifixion.
It is a unique insight into the mind of Jesus.
It helps us understand the things He cared about and the work He was accomplishing with the Father and Holy Spirit.
While praying, Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven and began praying.
“Father, the hour has come…”
The hour of Jesus’ ultimate work had finally arrived.
He had come to earth as the Lamb of God and it was time for the Lamb to be sacrificed for the people’s sins.
“…glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,”
How would God glorify Jesus?
By bringing Him through the hour of difficulty and exalting Him as the Savior of mankind.
Php 2:8-11 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
“…since you have given him authority over all flesh,”
The “ruler of this world” was going to be cast out and all authority would belong to Jesus.
This relates to the glory of Jesus mentioned in verse 1.
“…to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.”
As we mentioned previously in this study, we have this image of the believers being given to Jesus by the Father.
They were God’s by creation.
Their spiritual care was entrusted to Jesus.
Jesus gave eternal life to those the Father gave Him.
This relates to the glory of the Father in verse 1.
John 17:3
Joh 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
To have eternal life is to have a knowledge of God and the work of Jesus.
Not just any god but the “only true God.”
APPLICATION:
This is why it is so important for us to teach the world about God.
Many think they have eternal life through the knowledge of some god.
If you know about the “only true God” you need to let people know because without having a knowledge of Him a person can’t have eternal life. .
John 17:4-5
Joh 17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
Joh 17:5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
Jesus would honor God in completing God’s plan to save sinners.
This was a plan that had been in motion since the beginning of time.
The Old Testament scriptures prophesied about this plan.
By accomplishing the plan, Jesus brought glory to God in showing Him to be trustworthy in His promises and powerful in His sovereignty.
Jesus asks God to honor Him by restoring Him to His former glory.
In a previous chapter we discussed Jesus willingly relinquishing some of His glory to come to earth as a man.
When His work on earth was complete, He would be restored to the glory He previously possessed.
John 17:6-8
Joh 17:6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
Joh 17:7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.
Joh 17:8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
Based on the upcoming verses, it appears the “people” Jesus has in mind here are the 11 Apostles.
Of course, when God created them, He knew they would one day fill the role of an Apostle.
They were given by God to Jesus for that purpose.
Jesus tells His Father He had made Him known to these “people.”
The Apostles now knew God through His Son.
Just like Jesus said to Philip in chapter 14.
Joh 14:8-9 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
The Apostles had kept the Father’s words.
Jesus shared God’s words with them.
They were open to being taught by them, to accept them, and to come under their authority.
They understood Jesus had come from God and the words He spoke to them were God’s words.
APPLICATION:
There is a big difference between believing Jesus was a good moral teacher or a great thought leader and believing He came as the mouthpiece of God.
If you take the first view, you’ll admire some of the things Jesus said along with other greater teachers or thinkers.
But if you take the second view, Jesus’ words stand out above all others as uniquely important and worthy of the world’s greatest attention.
John 17:9-10
Joh 17:9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
Joh 17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
In this instance, Jesus was praying specifically for His disciples.
He was not praying for the world.
“The world” is commonly used in the Bible to refer to anyone who isn’t a follower of Jesus.
Those in “the world” are set in contrast to those “called out of the world” (Christians).
The Father and the Son have all things in common.
Those who belonged to Christ belonged to God.
John 17:11
Joh 17:11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
Jesus was no longer in the world in the sense that His work on earth was almost complete.
He wasn’t going to be interacting with His enemies following His resurrection.
So, He prays for His disciples who are going to remain on earth and face trials and difficulties.
He prays that God would give them all they need to remain in union with God and Himself.
Not only in union with God but also in union with one another.
God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were perfectly united in their purposes.
Jesus wants the disciples to be united in their purposes, He wants them striving towards the same goals, bearing fruit and glorifying God.
APPLICATION:
As long as Christians are united in/under the name of the “Holy Father,” they can be united in purpose.
If the followers of Christ, like Christ, seek the glory of the Father, that purpose will unite their hearts.
Problems arise when we forget what is supposed to be uniting us.
When it is no longer the glory of God we are seeking.
Maybe its personal honor we are after.
When our pride gets in the way of things being accomplished that are intended to bring God glory.
When a church is about something other than the glory of God, and when people attend a church for some other purpose than to bring glory to God, that is when you will start to see unity fall apart.
John 17:12
Joh 17:12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
While Jesus was with the Apostles, He kept them united in/under the name of God.
He did this by His teaching, miracles, probably His prayers, and likely in ways unknown to us.
APPLICATION:
God promises us strength to remain faithful today.
Some of that comes to us through listening and applying His teaching found in scripture.
Some comes to us through prayer.
Some strength comes to us through God’s hidden methods of providence.
Jesus had guarded them and all 12 had remained faithfully united in the name of God except 1.
Jesus refers to Judas as the “son of destruction.”
This title is only used 1 other time in the New Testament in 2 Thessalonians 2:3
The text in Thessalonians is not a reference to Judas.
But “destruction” is used many times in the New Testament to describe the fate of the ungodly.
2Pe 3:7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
In contrast to those who will be preserved for eternal life, the wicked will be destroyed in eternal death.
In contrast to the sons of God born again by the Spirit, Judas was a “son of destruction.”
The language of verses 11 and 12 lump Judas in with those Jesus guarded.
He is included in the “them” of verse 12.
He was guarded but his fate was the exception to the others.
Why was he the exception?
Was it because Jesus treated him differently?
Not according to the text.
What was done for the other Apostles was done for Judas but His heart was in a very different place than theirs.
The 11 loved Jesus.
Judas loved money.
APPLICATION:
God has given all of us a Savior.
He has promised us assistance if we want to follow the Savior’s words and teachings.
We will all be held accountable for the way we responded to Him.
Did we love Him?
Or were our hearts in love with the world?
Scripture tells us we can’t have both.
Jesus says Judas’ betrayal was foretold in the scriptures (Old Testament writings).
Jesus may mean this in a general or a specific sense.
General sense:
Jesus may mean Judas must betray Him to begin the series of event that will lead to His death.
It was foretold that a Savior would die for His people and Judas’ actions would set that in motion.
Specific sense:
There were also specific prophecies and pictures of Judas’ actions in the Old Testament. .
Jesus mentioned one in John 13:18.
Joh 13:18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’
Or Zechariah 11:12-13.
Zec 11:12-13 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD, to the potter.
John 17:13
Joh 17:13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Jesus would shortly (less than 2 months) on His way back to heaven and God.
His prayers was that His disciples would be filled with the same joy that filled Him.
The Hebrews writer encourages His readers to look at Jesus as a source of encouragement to live a godly life.
Heb 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
What joy did Jesus see in the cross?
Typically the crucifixion wasn’t associated with joy.
How was joy produced in enduring crucifixion.
It was in the accomplishing of God’s work to save mankind that Jesus found joy.
In John 15:11, Jesus told the Apostles He taught them about the vine, the branches, and bearing fruit so His joy could be in them.
Jesus found joy in completing God’s work.
Jesus found joy in the Apostles when they bore fruit (God’s work).
Where then would the Apostles experience Christ’s joy?
They would be filled with Jesus’ joy when they too participated in the work of God.
They were going to be tasked with continuing God’s work on earth.
In that work they would find the joy Jesus spoke to them about.
In the book of Acts we find a few instances of Jesus’ followers rejoicing after being mistreated.
It wasn’t pleasant to be mistreated, but they knew they were being mistreated because they were accomplishing God’s greater work.
Act 5:40-41 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
APPLICATION:
Many people think comfort and safety are the keys to a life of joy.
But it is often the case that those who live in comfort and safety aren’t accomplishing anything… that is why it is comfortable.
Real joy is found in accomplishing God’s work, giving yourself to a great purpose, even when its uncomfortable.
My faith often stops me on the edge of where “comfortable” drops off.
I wonder if we pushed past that ledge, if we would find greater joy than we ever had staying safely behind it.
John 17:14-17
Joh 17:14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
The world hated Jesus because He taught against their sins.
The Apostles were going to be teaching the same message in the future days.
The world was going to hate them for the same reason.
Here Jesus teaches the concept of Christians (His followers) being in the world but being separated from it.
Jesus lived on earth but was separated from it in the sense He didn’t participate in its vices.
Christians are called to the same type of life.
They physically live on earth with everyone else but they don’t participate in the sins in which the world finds so much joy.
I suppose, if Jesus had wanted to, He could have taken His Apostles off the earth and taken them right to heaven but that wasn’t the plan.
Jesus didn’t want His followers removed from the sinful world, He wanted God to give them strength to be an influence in it.
To be able to live in the world, to be able to teach Jesus’ words, even though they were going to be hated for it, and to persevere as they continued the spread of the gospel.
Jesus wanted them “sanctified” in truth.
Sanctified is a fancy Bible word so let’s define it.
Sanctify = “set apart as or declare holy” (Oxford).
Holy = “morally and spiritually excellent”
Jesus wanted His followers “set apart” from the world, set apart for holiness.
How would that happen?
How do you go from being part of the sinful world to being set apart from it?
Jesus answers the question in the second half of verse 17, by God’s word.
This whole book, Jesus has been stressing the importance of His message, which He received from God.
He had been sharing God’s words with the people, calling them to holiness, calling them to be set apart from the world, a world that was headed for destruction, calling them to eternal life.
His words were/are the truth about the world’s spiritual condition.
And His words revealed the truth (the only truth) about the solution to the world’s problems.
APPLICATION:
It is in heeding the words of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit that a person can be set apart for from the sinful world and inherit eternal life.
Jesus calls those words the “truth.”
Only in Jesus is escape from sin and eternal life possible.
That is why it is so important that we study them and then live them.
John 17:18-19
Joh 17:18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
Verse 18 is pretty easy to understand.
The Apostles were going to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and take the truth all over the globe.
Verse 19 is a bit more tricky.
Jesus will “consecrate” Himself for the Apostles sake in order for them to be “sanctified in truth.”
Let’s break it down.
We know what it means to be “sanctified in truth.”
It means to be set apart from the world by the word of God.
Separate from sin in order to live a holy life.
What does Jesus mean when He says He will consecrate Himself in order to accomplish the Apostles separation?
Consecrate = devote (something) exclusively to a particular purpose; to dedicate.
I think the idea is that Jesus dedicated His life to the purpose of making it possible for the Apostles (and I think believers in general) to be set apart from the world, to be united to God, and have eternal life.
I think it is fair to say, Jesus was devoted exclusively to that particular purpose.
That was His reason for coming to earth.
It wasn’t for His own benefit.
It was to “set apart” a group of people for holiness.
John 17:20-23
Joh 17:20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
Joh 17:21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Joh 17:22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
Joh 17:23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Up to this point, almost all of Jesus’ prayer has been for His 11 Apostles.
In verse 20, He shifts and begins praying for all of the people who would believe the gospel through the Apostle’s teaching
It’s a general prayer for all believers in the future (including Christians today).
He prayers first for their unity.
He wants them to be united like He and God are united.
He wants them to share in unity with God and Himself.
Them being unified would communicate to the world that Jesus had come from God.
APPLICATION
There is a big difference between a church that is one at heart and one in purpose and a church that is full of a bunch of people who are connected only in the sense they sit in the same building once a week, sing songs, and endure a sermon.
There is a big difference between the draw those two congregations have on those on the outside.
If you walk into a church and see a movement, people harmoniously serving God, and accomplishing things greater than they could accomplish as individuals because they love and support one another…
People working hard together to reach a lost world in a thousand different ways…
It makes a statement about who they serve and why?
What unites a group of strangers to each other in this way?
What keeps them motivated?
What keeps them from seeking their own glory and destroying harmony?
Answer: They find unity in their faith Jesus really came from God to save the world.
There is good reason to believe it.
There is good reason to work because of it.
Answer: They preserve harmony in submitting to someone greater than themselves.
A God who sent Jesus to save them.
They are interested in His glory, not their own.
But if you walk into a church full of gossip, bickering, and “I don’t speak to Him because He did me wrong 15 years ago.”
A church that doesn’t get anything done because people want glory for themselves and won’t work together.
A church that doesn’t look motivated to accomplish anything great and can barely muster energy to put on the same old tired events they’ve been doing for years.
What are you going to think when you walk into that church?
Answer: “Wow! These people must have formed this church because the Son of God came to earth and saved them from eternal destruction!”?
NO
Real Answer: “This looks like just another social club and I don’t see a need to be a part of it."
APPLICATION:
What is one of the most common objections outsiders give when it comes to considering Jesus message.
“You Christians can’t even agree amongst yourselves what Jesus taught, why should I spend my time looking into what Jesus said.”
There is no question the enormous number of Christian denominations harms the unifying message of Jesus.
I’m sure a great deal of denominations would dissolve and more Christians would be united if the scriptures were studied more often.
Many of these denominations are couched in more tradition than scripture.
Scriptural illiteracy and indifference has led to a lot of church splits over the years.
Human pride contributes to denominational divisions.
Some people refuse to depart from a denomination or a denominations erroneous doctrine because of personal pride or family pride.
When Christians divide due to ignorance of the scriptures, pride, or any other things, it doesn’t represent God well to people outside the Church.
I don’t think the “glory” in verse 22 refers to Christian’s future glory in heaven.
I think it refers to the glory/honor of being united with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit while on earth.
It is an incredible thing to ponder.
An infinitely powerful God wants little, tiny, fragile me to be His friend.
To speak to Him.
To rely on Him.
To work along side Him.
If a powerful business mogul asked an ambitious but average college grad to come work with him and help him complete his next project, the college grad would be awestruck and elated.
That isn’t even comparable to the privilege of having God come up to you and asking if you want to work along side Him to build an eternal Kingdom.
And its not even because God needs your help.
It’s because He loves you and He wants you to be a part of what He is doing.
John 17:24
Joh 17:24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Jesus prays that His followers can be with Him “where I am.”
It seems He is speaking of the future when He is in heaven with God.
When He is glorified in heaven, He wants His disciples to be with Him
He wants them there to see His glorified state and by seeing it to know the Father loves Him.
He had been telling His Apostles He came from God for years.
He prays one day they will get to see Him in God’s presence with their own eyes.
Interestingly, that is exactly how the book of Revelation opens (John the Apostles seeing the glorified Jesus in heaven).
John echoes some of Jesus’ sentiments in His later writings in the New Testament.
1Jn 3:1-2 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
John 17:25-26
Joh 17:25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
Joh 17:26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
In a dark world of ignorance about God, Jesus was the light that revealed the Father to those who had “ears to hear” and were willing to listen.
Jesus had taught the disciples about the Father and was going to continue to teach them about the character of God with His death on the cross.
The cross was going to teach the world about the love of God.
The cross was also going to enable human beings to participate in the love of God.
It was Jesus’ goal that God’s love and His love would fill the hearts and direct the lives of believers.
