XVII. [(3) LOVE MANIFESTED IN HIS INTERCESSORY PRAYER (John 17:1). HE PRAYS — (_a_) _For Himself; the glory of the Son_ (John 17:1); (_b_) _For the disciples; their union with the Father and the Son_ (John 17:6); (_c_) _For all believers; their union_ (John 17:20); _their communion with the G... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE WORDS SPAKE JESUS, AND LIFTED UP HIS EYES TO HEAVEN. — Comp. Note on John 14:31. If the view thus adopted is the correct one, it follows that the prayer of this chapter, as well as the discourses which preceded it, was uttered as they were preparing to leave the chamber after supper. The words... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THOU HAST GIVEN HIM POWER OVER ALL FLESH. — Better, _According as thou gavest Him_... This is the ground on which the prayer in John 17:1 is based. (Comp. John 10:36; John 13:3.) The glory for which He asks is in accordance with the decree which appointed His Messianic work. “All flesh” represent... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL. — For these words, which are more frequent in St. John than in any other of the New Testament writers, comp. John 3:15; John 3:36; John 5:24; John 5:39; John 6:27; John 6:40; John 6:47; John 6:54; John 6:68;... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE GLORIFIED THEE ON THE EARTH: I HAVE FINISHED THE WORK... — Better, _I glorified Thee on earth: I finished the work..._ The former sentence is.explained by the latter. God was glorified in the completion of the Messianic work of Christ. For this conception of the work of life, which includes t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND NOW, O FATHER, GLORIFY THOU ME WITH THINE OWN SELF. — These words are exactly parallel with the commencement of the previous verse. “I,” “Thou,” “Thee — Me,” “on earth,” “with Thine own self.” (Comp. John 13:31.) WITH THE GLORY WHICH I HAD WITH THEE BEFORE THE WORLD WAS. — This clause admits of... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE MANIFESTED (better, _I manifested_) THY NAME UNTO THE MEN WHICH THOU GAVEST ME (better, _Thou hast given Me_) OUT OF THE WORLD. — This manifestation of the name of God is the making Him known as the only true God, and the glorifying Him on earth of John 17:3. For the special form in which the... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THEY HAVE KNOWN... — Better, _Now they do know._ The word means “They have come to know, and do know.” (Comp. Note on John 16:30.) This is the result of their spiritual training — in its fulness, indeed, still future, but regarded as in the immediate present. ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER THOU HAST GIV... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I HAVE GIVEN UNTO THEM THE WORDS WHICH THOU GAVEST ME. — Our Lord explains in this verse how the disciples attained to the knowledge He had spoken of in John 17:7, and lays stress in the first place on His own work in teaching them, “I, on My part, have given unto them,” and on the matter taught... [ Continue Reading ]
I PRAY FOR THEM: I PRAY NOT FOR THE WORLD. — Better, _I am praying for them: I am not praying for the world._ Both pronouns are emphatic. “I who have during my work on earth taught them;” “they who have received the truth” (John 17:8). “I who am about to leave the world;” “they who will remain in th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL MINE ARE THINE, AND THINE ARE MINE. — Better, _And all My things are Thine, and Thy things are Mine._ The Authorised version leaves the impression that the pronouns are masculine, and that persons are exclusively meant; whereas the words are all-inclusive, and assert absolute community in al... [ Continue Reading ]
AND NOW I AM NO MORE IN THE WORLD. — The immediate future is still regarded as present. The words have a special reference to the interval between His death and the day of Pentecost, which would be for the disciples a time of darkness and danger, when they would have special need of the Father’s car... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE I WAS WITH THEM IN THE WORLD. — Comp. the opening words of John 17:11. During His presence with them there was not this special need for commending them to the Father’s care. His relation to them now is as that of a parent blessing and praying for His children before He is taken away from them... [ Continue Reading ]
AND NOW I COME TO THEE. — Comp. the first words of John 17:12, with which these are in contrast. AND THESE THINGS I SPEAK IN THE WORLD. — The thought is that He is about to leave them, and that He utters this prayer in their hearing (comp. John 11:42) that they may have the support of knowing that... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE GIVEN THEM THY WORD; AND THE WORLD HATH HATED THEM. — The terms “I” and ‘“the world” are opposed to each other. The world’s hatred followed necessarily from the fact that Christ had given them God’s word, and that by it they had been separated from the world. (Comp. Note on John 17:6.) BECAU... [ Continue Reading ]
I PRAY NOT THAT THOU SHOULDEST TAKE THEM OUT OF THE WORLD. — The thought may naturally have come to their minds that they would be most effectually kept from the hatred and danger of which He had spoken if they were to be with Him taken out of the world. But there is for them a work in the world (Jo... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ARE NOT OF THE WORLD. — These words are repeated from John 17:14. The thought of their being still in the world leads on to their mission in the world, and the prayer passes from the thought of preservation to that of their sanctification for their work. Their fitness for this is prominent in t... [ Continue Reading ]
SANCTIFY THEM THROUGH THY TRUTH. — Better, _in Thy truth._ Truth was the sphere in which their sanctification was to take place. They had through Christ received the Father’s word, which was truth, and had passed into a new region of life, separate from the world (John 17:6; John 17:14). He has pray... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THOU HAST SENT ME INTO THE WORLD. — Better, _As Thou didst send Me._ The tense points out the definite moment of His mission. (Comp. John 10:36.) SO HAVE I ALSO SENT THEM INTO THE WORLD. — Better, _I also sent._ Comp. Notes on Matthew 10:5; Luke 6:13. In the very word “Apostles” their mission wa... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FOR THEIR SAKES I SANCTIFY MYSELF. — Comp. Note on John 17:17. The consecration here thought of is that to the work which was immediately before Him — the offering Himself as a sacrifice. The word was in frequent use in the special sense of an offering or sacrifice set apart to God. As a New Tes... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER PRAY I FOR THESE ALONE. — Comp. Note on John 17:9. The thought of the work to which the Apostles are to be consecrated and sent leads on to the wider thought of the Church which shall believe through their word, and the prayer is enlarged to include them. BUT FOR THEM ALSO WHICH SHALL BELIEV... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE — _i.e.,_ both “these” (the Apostles) and “them also which shall believe on Me through their word” (the whole body of believers in all times and places). He expresses in this grand thought of the unity of the whole Church the fulness of the purpose of His prayer. AS THOU, FA... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE GLORY WHICH THOU GAVEST ME (better, _hast given Me_) I HAVE GIVEN THEM. — Comp. John 13:32, and in this chapter John 17:1; John 17:5; John 17:24. Here, as all through this Intercessory Prayer, the future which immediately grows out of the present is regarded as present; the fulness of the gl... [ Continue Reading ]
I IN THEM, AND THOU IN ME. — These words are best regarded as a parenthesis more explicitly setting forth the thought of the union of the Father, the Son, and the believer. The thought is continued from the last verse, “That they may be one even as we are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they ma... [ Continue Reading ]
FATHER, I WILL THAT THEY ALSO, WHOM THOU HAST GIVEN ME, BE WITH ME WHERE I AM. — Better, _Father, I will that that which Thou hast given Me, even they may be with Me where I am._ The thought of the unity of the Church is still prominent. It is conceived as one collective whole, “that which Thou hast... [ Continue Reading ]
O RIGHTEOUS FATHER, THE WORLD HATH NOT KNOWN THEE. — Better,... _the world indeed knew Thee not._ In these closing words of His prayer, our Lord again solemnly appeals to the Father (comp. Notes on John 17:1; John 17:5; John 17:11), but now with the special thought of the Father’s righteousness. Thi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I HAVE DECLARED UNTO THEM THY NAME, AND WILL DECLARE IT. — The Greek word here rendered “declared” is of the same root as the verb rendered “known” in the previous verse. It is better to preserve this connection by rendering the clause, _And I made known Thy name unto them, and will make it know... [ Continue Reading ]