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| Chapter 17 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ These words spoke Jesus and lifted up His eyes to Heaven and said, "Father, the hour is come. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee, 2 as Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. 3 And this is life eternal: that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. 4 I have glorified Thee on the earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own Self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. 6 ¶ "I have manifested Thy name unto 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. 7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given Me are of Thee. 8 For I have given unto them the Words which Thou gavest Me; and they have received them and have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send Me. 9 I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them whom Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine. 10 And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 ¶ And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name. Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 "And now come I to Thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them Thy Word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 ¶ Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth. 18 As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20 ¶ "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe in Me through their word, 21 that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. 22 And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them, that they may be one, even as We are one: 23 I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me. 24 ¶ "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me; for Thou loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 "O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee, but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent Me. 26 And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them." |
This chapter contains a wonderful and great prayer of Jesus to the Father. Jesus includes himself in the prayer but the main reason for it was His concern for His present and future followers. It also shows the wonderful gifts given to a Believer. 1) v2 Eternal life. See John 3:16; 1 John 5:12. 2) v14,v17 The Word of God - to sanctify through truth. 3) v22 The glory of God, note "I have given them," already happened, in the passed tense. See also Rom 8:18-23; Rom 8:30 we have already been glorified. These gifts cover past, presence and future. The Prayer. Jesus used regularly the title ‘Father’ for God in this prayer." The hour is come" the event is not explained but it is obviously known between the Father and Son. This ‘Hour’ was to result in glorification of the Son and as a result glory for the Father. Jesus whole aim was to give glory to the Father. v2 As the Father is glorified, so the Son will be lifted up, and given power and authority over all things. Matt 28:18 This is to include eternal life as a result of His coming work on the cross. This applies to " All those the Father has given to the Son." v3 We find a description of what eternal life is in this verse, knowing the true God and His Son. 1 John 5:20. The Jews knew much about God but did not know Him. The true knowledge of God brings eternal life, this is the Gospel. Knowing God means that we can understand His ways and personality, and His plan of salvation from sin. The title "Jesus Christ" is not often used in the Gospel’s but is in common use in the various letters. v4 Jesus had finished the work given to Him by the Father, to show the sin of man, to show the Father and His plan of salvation for this sin. Though Jesus was yet to die on the cross The Father would make sure it happened as He was in control. v5 Having glorified the Father Jesus now seeks glory back with the Father, as it was before the creation of the world. v6-8 are still looking at the work of Jesus on the earth, making the Father known on earth especially to the disciples. These men were the Fathers gift to Jesus. They still were not able to understand all yet but were soon to understand and grow. "They have kept your word," they have accepted who Jesus was, that He had been sent by the Father and soon to understand the reason for His being on the earth. "You sent Me," a regular claim by Jesus in this chapter and others. v3,8,18,21,23,25 Other examples John 11:42; John 12:44; John 12:45; Luke 10:16; Luke 9:48; Matt 10:40. v9 Jesus is praying for His followers who were His special people, not the world, the disciples and others were the ‘tools’ who would take the Gospel to the world. Compare Luke 23:34. "I am glorified in them." The world had rejected Jesus but in all the unbelief these men and women had trusted Jesus and were prepared to serve Him. v11 Already Jesus assumes He has departed from the earth and is asking the Father to protect them, 1 John 5:18 and in doing so make them ‘one’ in the Father. The early church showed this Acts 1:14; Acts 2:1 Acts 2:44. v12 Jesus kept His disciples through the name of the Father, His authority. Judas, "the son of perdition," meaning the ‘one lost’ was different, Judas had never really belonged to Jesus. John 13:10,11. v13 we find the real reason for the prayer - that the disciple may be full of joy, especially during the next few days. Jesus asks that the disciples have His joy. When we think in what He was about to go through Jesus is still full of joy. v14 The world now hates these followers because they have the Word of God, they are now strangers in this world. v15 For Jesus to ask the Father to protect His followers by taking them out of the world would have destroyed the whole plan of salvation. They needed to be here to act as witnesses and spread the message, but they did need protection from the evil of the world, otherwise their witness could have become un pure. Jesus used the words "the evil" which suggests this protection was from the direct action of Satan. Matt 6:13; 1 Peter 5:8. v16 Just like Jesus those saved and changed by the blood of Christ, the followers of Christ, are not part of the spiritual world and its evil, we just physically exist here on earth. v17 "Sanctify" means to ‘set apart’ for God and holy purposes. The holy will of God is revealed by the truth in the Word of God. In His Word we find how we can fulfil His desires for each of us. v18 What a wonderful task and privilege to enjoy, to be sent into the world by Christ just as He was sent by the Father. v19 Jesus did not need to make himself holy, but He did need to be sanctified, set apart,for His task on earth, so to did the disciples need this through accepting the truth. v20,21 Jesus now reaches out in prayer for all those who were to believe because of the disciples witness. He prays for unity, one together, the Body of Christ, the church must be one in faith, just as the Father and Son are one. This oneness will make the world seek the faith in Christ. It is so sad that this ‘oneness’ does not seem that obvious. v22 This points to the final heavenly position of the Church, the Body of Christ, as part of His commission given by the Father the Church now has that commission and will finally join Him in Glory. v23 "To be made perfect in one," not by the action of humans but by the Godhead to those who belong to Christ. This is all part of the love the Father has for the Son. v24 The final request Jesus makes of the Father. Jesus must have been praying as if His work on earth was finished, "to be with me where I am." What a future to look forward to, see our Saviour in all His glory. v25 The world is not able to be part of this future because of the purity and righteousness of God, "O Righteous Father," the world cannot know Him, only those who have come to Him through His Son. Jesus has told us of this wonderful loving Father. v26 To tell the world of Christ must also show this love, for God is love, Jesus now asks that the love which the Father has for Him will now be in those who, in faith, have taken Jesus as their Saviour. |
Easy English Translation
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