John 17:9,10

“ I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me, because they are thine. 10. And all that which is mine is thine, and that which is thine is mine, and I am glorified in them. ”

From the infinite value which these antecedents give to the person of the disciples, Jesus draws this conclusion: “ I pray for them. ” ᾿Εγώ, I, at the beginning: “ I, who have labored so much to bring them to this point and to whom they now belong.”

Then, immediately afterwards, and before the verb, the limiting words περὶ αὐτῶν, for them: “ For them, this fruit of my labors, this present which thou hast made to me.” This general prayer is equivalent to an: “I commend them to thee.” Thus is the antithesis explained: I pray not for the world. Jesus has not the same grounds for commending the world to God; if He wished to pray here for the world, He would formulate His petitions on its behalf quite differently. Luther rightly says: “What must be asked for the world is that it should be converted, not that it should be kept or sanctified. ” Assuredly the refusal of Jesus to pray for the world is not absolute. He Himself says on the cross: “ Father, forgive them! ” Is not this to pray for the world? Only He does not, as here, allege this ground: They have known (John 17:8); He says, on the contrary, “ For they know not what they do. ” He cannot make an appeal to God for the world, as for a precious being which belongs to Him, as He does here for His disciples. All that He can do on the cross is to make an appeal to His compassion towards a being who is guilty and is lost. Moreover, the words of John 17:21: “ That the world may know that thou hast sent me,” contain also an implicit prayer on behalf of the world. Comp. John 3:16. The refusal of Jesus to pray for the world becomes absolute only when its moral character of opposition to God is irrevocably fixed, and when it has become the society “of those who not only are enemies of God, but who desire to remain such” (Gess).

Before expressing the more special petitions included in this general prayer, Jesus presents again the two principal claims which the disciples have to the divine interest: 1. God has Himself given them to Jesus, and He must keep this gift for Him. Still more, by thus becoming the property of Jesus, they have not ceased to be that of God. For all property is common between them, and this bond connecting them with Jesus strengthens forever that which bound them to God. Would a mere creature express himself in this way? Luther says: “Every man can say, What I have is thine; but the Son alone can say, What is thine is mine.” The present, “ are thine,” is purposely substituted for the imperfect, “ were thine,” John 17:6, in order to express the idea that the gift made to Jesus has only served to confirm their belonging to God. 2. The second ground which commends them henceforth to the Father's interest is, that they are become the depositaries of the glory of the Son (perfect, δεδόξασμαι). We must not make this clause depend on the ὅτι of John 17:9, which would render the sentence dragging, and would force us to make a parenthesis of the first part of John 17:10.

The expression: I am glorified in them, has been understood in different ways. There is no reason to depart from the constant sense of the term: to be glorified. Notwithstanding His form of servant, Jesus has been manifested to them inwardly in His divine character; even before having been restored to His glory, He has regained it within them by the fact that they have recognized Him as the Son of God. This is the testimony which Jesus has borne to them, John 17:7-8.

With this general commendation there are connected two more precise petitions. The first: keep them, is prepared for by John 17:11 a, expressly stated John 17:11 b, and supported by reasons John 17:12-15.