John chapter 17
Jesus prays to God the Father. He tells us what eternal life is. This chapter is often referred to as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus.
THE HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER OF JESUS
VERSE 1. Jesus said these things, then lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;
VERSE 2. even as you gave him authority over all flesh, so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
he will give eternal life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the source of eternal life.
you have given. The Greek word is δέδωκας (“dedōkas”). It means give, offer.
to all whom you have given him. Which people are eligible for eternal life? The people that God the Father had “given” to Jesus.
Who are those people? Are they all people everywhere? Or just a subset?
That is alluded to again in verse 9 below.
VERSE 3. This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Gospel According to John and from the entire Bible.
This is eternal life. This is very clear.
that they should know you. Eternal life is knowing God the Father and Jesus Christ. Do you know them? Do you have a love-relationship with them? Read more »
the only true God. The LORD is one. He is God alone. He is the one God and Father of all. Beside him there is no other God. There is none like him. Read more »
and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ. Eternal life is knowing God the Father and Jesus Christ. Do you know them? Do you have a love-relationship with them? Read more »
VERSE 4. I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do. What was the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ? How did he himself define it? Here are the verses we find in the four gospels.
VERSE 5. Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
VERSE 6. I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.
I revealed your name. Was this a part of the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ?
VERSE 7. Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,
VERSE 8. for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.
VERSE 9. I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
the world. The Greek word is κόσμου (“kosmou”). It means the world, the universe; worldly affairs; the inhabitants of the world.
those whom you have given me. Apparently God the Father has “given” certain people to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who are those people? Are they all people everywhere? Or just a subset?
In verse 2 above, it seems those people are eligible for eternal life.
VERSE 10. All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
VERSE 11. I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
that they may be one. We believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are to be united as one.
This verse seems like a command! Would you consider acting on it? More commands of Jesus Christ from the Gospel According to John and from the entire Bible.
Nahum 3:18. Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria. Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.
VERSE 12. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. I have kept those whom you have given me. None of them is lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
VERSE 13. But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
that they may have my joy made full in themselves. Jesus wishes that we have joy. His joy. He wishes that we have it to the full!
VERSE 14. I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
VERSE 15. I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one.
VERSE 16. They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.
not of the world. We believers are not citizens of this world. Our allegiance transcends national or cultural boundaries. On this earth, we are strangers and aliens. Read more »
VERSE 17. Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.
VERSE 18. As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world.
you sent me into the world. What was the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ? How did he himself define it? Here are the verses we find in the four gospels.
This verse seems like a command! Would you consider acting on it? More commands of Jesus Christ from the Gospel According to John and from the entire Bible.
VERSE 19. For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
VERSE 20. Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word,
for those also who believe in me through their word. Jesus prays for his future believers. That includes us!
VERSE 21. that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
This verse seems like a command! Would you consider acting on it? More commands of Jesus Christ from the Gospel According to John and from the entire Bible.
that they may all be one. Jesus prays that we, his believers, may be unified. Yet the history of the Christian movement is the story of arguing and being divided against each other.
Romans 15:5. Now the God of perseverance and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,
even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you. The impetus for Christian unity is the unity between God the Father and God the Son. They are not arguing or divided.
that the world may believe that you sent me. If Christians were unified, the effect would be marvelous: people everywhere would believe in Jesus Christ!
However, we Christians have been so divided that even now, two millennia after Jesus ascended into heaven, we have hardly evangelized the world. And only something like one out of four people on earth are Christians.
That is a testament to the countlessly divided nature of the entire Christian movement.
VERSE 22. The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one;
VERSE 23. I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me.
VERSE 24. Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
VERSE 25. Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.
VERSE 26. I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
JOHN
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Commands, Spirituality
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.