5 And G2532 now, G3568 O Father, G3962 glorify G1392 thou G4771 me G3165 with G3844 thine own self G4572 with the glory G1391 which G3739 I had G2192 with G3844 thee G4671 before G4253 the world G2889 was. G1511
In G1722 the beginning G746 was G2258 the Word, G3056 and G2532 the Word G3056 was G2258 with G4314 God, G2316 and G2532 the Word G3056 was G2258 God. G2316 The same G3778 was G2258 in G1722 the beginning G746 with G4314 God. G2316 All things G3956 were made G1096 by G1223 him; G846 and G2532 without G5565 him G846 was G1096 not G3761 any thing G1520 made G1096 that G3739 was made. G1096
Who, G3739 being G5225 in G1722 the form G3444 of God, G2316 thought it G2233 not G3756 robbery G725 to be G1511 equal G2470 with God: G2316
Father, G3962 I will G2309 that G2443 they also, G2548 whom G3739 thou hast given G1325 me, G3427 be G5600 with G3326 me G1700 where G3699 I G1473 am; G1510 that G2443 they may behold G2334 my G1699 glory, G1391 which G3739 thou hast given G1325 me: G3427 for G3754 thou lovedst G25 me G3165 before G4253 the foundation G2602 of the world. G2889
Who G3739 being G5607 the brightness G541 of his glory, G1391 and G2532 the express image G5481 of his G846 person, G5287 and G5037 upholding G5342 all things G3956 by the word G4487 of his G846 power, G1411 when he had G4160 G2512 by G1223 himself G1438 purged G4160 G2512 our G2257 sins, G266 sat down G2523 on G1722 the right hand G1188 of the Majesty G3172 on G1722 high; G5308
Who G3739 is G2076 the image G1504 of the invisible G517 God, G2316 the firstborn G4416 of every G3956 creature: G2937 For G3754 by G1722 him G846 were G2936 all things G3956 created, G2936 that are in G1722 heaven, G3772 and G2532 that are in G1909 earth, G1093 visible G3707 and G2532 invisible, G517 whether G1535 they be thrones, G2362 or G1535 dominions, G2963 or G1535 principalities, G746 or G1535 powers: G1849 all things G3956 were created G2936 by G1223 him, G846 and G2532 for G1519 him: G846 And G2532 he G846 is G2076 before G4253 all things, G3956 and G2532 by G1722 him G846 all things G3956 consist. G4921
No man G3762 hath seen G3708 God G2316 at any time; G4455 the only begotten G3439 Son, G5207 which G3588 is G5607 in G1519 the bosom G2859 of the Father, G3962 he G1565 hath declared G1834 him.
And G2532 they sung G103 a new G2537 song, G5603 saying, G3004 Thou art G1488 worthy G514 to take G2983 the book, G975 and G2532 to open G455 the seals G4973 thereof: G846 for G3754 thou wast slain, G4969 and G2532 hast redeemed G59 us G2248 to God G2316 by G1722 thy G4675 blood G129 out of G1537 every G3956 kindred, G5443 and G2532 tongue, G1100 and G2532 people, G2992 and G2532 nation; G1484 And G2532 hast made G4160 us G2248 unto our G2257 God G2316 kings G935 and G2532 priests: G2409 and G2532 we shall reign G936 on G1909 the earth. G1093 And G2532 I beheld, G1492 and G2532 I heard G191 the voice G5456 of many G4183 angels G32 round about G2943 the throne G2362 and G2532 the beasts G2226 and G2532 the elders: G4245 and G2532 the number G706 of them G846 was G2258 ten thousand G3461 times ten thousand, G3461 and G2532 thousands G5505 of thousands; G5505 Saying G3004 with a loud G3173 voice, G5456 Worthy G514 is G2076 the Lamb G721 that was slain G4969 to receive G2983 power, G1411 and G2532 riches, G4149 and G2532 wisdom, G4678 and G2532 strength, G2479 and G2532 honour, G5092 and G2532 glory, G1391 and G2532 blessing. G2129 And G2532 every G3956 creature G2938 which G3739 is G2076 in G1722 heaven, G3772 and G2532 on G1722 the earth, G1093 and G2532 under G5270 the earth, G1093 and G2532 such as G3739 are G2076 in G1909 the sea, G2281 and G2532 all G3956 that are in G1722 them, G846 heard I G191 saying, G3004 Blessing, G2129 and G2532 honour, G5092 and G2532 glory, G1391 and G2532 power, G2904 be unto him that sitteth G2521 upon G1909 the throne, G2362 and G2532 unto the Lamb G721 for G1519 ever G165 and ever. G165 And G2532 the four G5064 beasts G2226 said, G3004 Amen. G281 And G2532 the four G5064 and twenty G1501 elders G4245 fell down G4098 and G2532 worshipped G4352 him that liveth G2198 for G1519 ever G165 and ever. G165
The LORD H3068 possessed H7069 me in the beginning H7225 of his way, H1870 before H6924 his works H4659 of old. I was set up H5258 from everlasting, H5769 from the beginning, H7218 or ever H6924 the earth H776 was. When there were no depths, H8415 I was brought forth; H2342 when there were no fountains H4599 abounding H3513 with water. H4325 Before the mountains H2022 were settled, H2883 before H6440 the hills H1389 was I brought forth: H2342 While as yet he had not made H6213 the earth, H776 nor the fields, H2351 nor the highest part H7218 of the dust H6083 of the world. H8398 When he prepared H3559 the heavens, H8064 I was there: when he set H2710 a compass H2329 upon the face H6440 of the depth: H8415 When he established H553 the clouds H7834 above: H4605 when he strengthened H5810 the fountains H5869 of the deep: H8415 When he gave H7760 to the sea H3220 his decree, H2706 that the waters H4325 should not pass H5674 his commandment: H6310 when he appointed H2710 the foundations H4144 of the earth: H776 Then I was by him, H681 as one brought up H525 with him: and I was daily H3117 H3117 his delight, H8191 rejoicing H7832 always H6256 before H6440 him; Rejoicing H7832 in the habitable part H8398 of his earth; H776 and my delights H8191 were with the sons H1121 of men. H120
To him G846 that overcometh G3528 will I grant G1325 to sit G2523 with G3326 me G1700 in G1722 my G3450 throne, G2362 even G2504 as G5613 I also G2504 overcame, G3528 and G2532 am set down G2523 with G3326 my G3450 Father G3962 in G1722 his G846 throne. G2362
Who verily G3303 was foreordained G4267 before G4253 the foundation G2602 of the world, G2889 but G1161 was manifest G5319 in G1909 these last G2078 times G5550 for G1223 you, G5209
And, G2532 Thou, G4771 Lord, G2962 in G2596 the beginning G746 hast laid the foundation G2311 of the earth; G1093 and G2532 the heavens G3772 are G1526 the works G2041 of thine G4675 hands: G5495
Jesus G2424 saith G3004 unto him, G846 Have I been G1510 so long G5118 time G5550 with G3326 you, G5216 and yet G2532 hast thou G1097 not G3756 known G1097 me, G3165 Philip? G5376 he that hath seen G3708 me G1691 hath seen G3708 the Father; G3962 and G2532 how G4459 sayest G3004 thou G4771 then, Shew G1166 us G2254 the Father? G3962
Jesus G2424 said G2036 unto them, G846 Verily, G281 verily, G281 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 Before G4250 Abraham G11 was, G1096 I G1473 am. G1510
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on John 17
Commentary on John 17 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 17
Joh 17:1-26. The Intercessory Prayer.
(See on Joh 14:1). Had this prayer not been recorded, what reverential reader would not have exclaimed, Oh, to have been within hearing of such a prayer as that must have been, which wound up the whole of His past ministry and formed the point of transition to the dark scenes which immediately followed! But here it is, and with such signature of the Lips that uttered it that we seem rather to hear it from Himself than read it from the pen of His faithful reporter.
1-3. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes—"John very seldom depicts the gestures or looks of our Lord, as here. But this was an occasion of which the impression was indelible, and the upward look could not be passed over" [Alford].
Father, the hour is come—(See on Joh 13:31, 32).
glorify thy Son—Put honor upon Thy Son, by countenancing, sustaining, and carrying Him through that "hour."
2. given—gavest
him power over all flesh—(See on Mt 11:27; Mt 28:18-20).
give eternal life to as many as, &c.—literally, "to all that which thou hast given him." (See on Joh 6:37-40).
3. this is—that.
life eternal, that they might—may.
know, &c.—This life eternal, then, is not mere conscious and unending existence, but a life of acquaintance with God in Christ (Job 22:21).
thee, the only true God—the sole personal living God; in glorious contrast equally with heathen polytheism, philosophic naturalism, and mystic pantheism.
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent—This is the only place where our Lord gives Himself this compound name, afterwards so current in apostolic preaching and writing. Here the terms are used in their strict signification—"Jesus," because He "saves His people from their sins"; "Christ," as anointed with the measureless fulness of the Holy Ghost for the exercise of His saving offices (see on Mt 1:16); "Whom Thou hast sent," in the plenitude of Divine Authority and Power, to save. "The very juxtaposition here of Jesus Christ with the Father is a proof, by implication, of our Lord's Godhead. The knowledge of God and a creature could not be eternal life, and such an association of the one with the other would be inconceivable" [Alford].
4, 5. I have glorified thee on the earth—rather, "I glorified" (for the thing is conceived as now past).
I have finished—I finished.
the work which thou gavest me to do—It is very important to preserve in the translation the past tense, used in the original, otherwise it might be thought that the work already "finished" was only what He had done before uttering that prayer; whereas it will be observed that our Lord speaks throughout as already beyond this present scene (Joh 17:12, &c.), and so must be supposed to include in His "finished work" the "decease which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem."
5. And now—in return.
glorify thou me—The "I Thee" and "Thou Me" are so placed in the original, each beside its fellow, as to show that A PERFECT RECIPROCITY OF SERVICES of the Son to the Father first, and then of the Father to the Son in return, is what our Lord means here to express.
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was—when "in the beginning the Word was with God" (Joh 1:1), "the only-begotten Son in the bosom of the Father" (Joh 1:18). With this pre-existent glory, which He veiled on earth, He asks to be reinvested, the design of the veiling being accomplished—not, however, simply as before, but now in our nature.
6-8. From praying for Himself He now comes to pray for His disciples.
I have manifested—I manifested.
thy name—His whole character towards mankind.
to the men thou gavest me out of the world—(See on Joh 6:37-40).
8. they … have known surely that I came out from thee—(See on Joh 16:29; Joh 16:31).
9-14. I pray for them—not as individuals merely, but as representatives of all such in every succeeding age (see on Joh 17:20).
not for the world—for they had been given Him "out of the world" (Joh 17:6), and had been already transformed into the very opposite of it. The things sought for them, indeed, are applicable only to such.
10. all mine are thine, and thine are mine—literally, "All My things are Thine and Thy things are Mine." (On this use of the neuter gender, see on Joh 6:37-40). Absolute COMMUNITY OF PROPERTY between the Father and the Son is here expressed as nakedly as words can do it. (See on Joh 17:5).
11. I am no more in the world—(See on Joh 17:4).
but these are in the world—that is, Though My struggles are at an end, theirs are not; though I have gotten beyond the scene of strife, I cannot sever Myself in spirit from them, left behind and only just entering on their great conflict.
Holy Father—an expression He nowhere else uses. "Father" is His wonted appellation, but "Holy" is here prefixed, because His appeal was to that perfection of the Father's nature, to "keep" or preserve them from being tainted by the unholy atmosphere of "the world" they were still in.
keep through thine own name—rather, "in thy name"; in the exercise of that gracious and holy character for which He was known.
that they may be one—(See on Joh 17:21).
12. I kept—guarded.
them in thy name—acting as Thy Representative on earth.
none of them is lost, but the son of perdition—It is not implied here that the son of perdition was one of those whom the Father had given to the Son, but rather the contrary (Joh 13:18) [Webster and Wilkinson]. It is just as in Lu 4:26, 27, where we are not to suppose that the woman of Sarepta (in Sidon) was one of the widows of Israel, nor Naaman the Syrian one of the lepers in Israel, though the language—the same as here—might seem to express it.
son of perdition—doomed to it (2Th 2:3; Mr 14:21).
13. I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves—that is, Such a strain befits rather the upper sanctuary than the scene of conflict; but I speak so "in the world," that My joy, the joy I experience in knowing that such intercessions are to be made for them by their absent Lord, may be tasted by those who now hear them, and by all who shall hereafter read the record of them,
15-19. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world—for that, though it would secure their own safety, would leave the world unblessed by their testimony.
but … keep them from the evil—all evil in and of the world.
16. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world—(See Joh 15:18, 19). This is reiterated here, to pave the way for the prayer which follows.
17. Sanctify them—As the former prayer, "Keep them," was "negative," asking protection for them from the poisonous element which surrounded and pressed upon their renewed nature, so this prayer, "Sanctify them," is positive, asking the advancement and completion of their begun sanctification.
through—in.
thy truth—God's revealed truth, as the medium or element of sanctification; a statement this of immense importance.
thy word is truth—(Compare Joh 15:3; Col 1:5; Eph 1:13).
18. As thou hast sent—sentest.
me into the world, even so have I also sent them—sent I also them.
into the world—As their mission was to carry into effect the purposes of their Master's mission, so our Lord speaks of the authority in both cases as co-ordinate.
19. And for their sakes I sanctify—consecrate.
myself that they also might—may.
be sanctified—consecrated. The only difference between the application of the same term to Christ and the disciples is, as applied to Christ, that it means only to "consecrate"; whereas, in application to the disciples, it means to consecrate with the additional idea of previous sanctification, since nothing but what is holy can be presented as an offering. The whole self-sacrificing work of the disciples appears here as a mere result of the offering of Christ [Olshausen].
through—in.
the truth—Though the article is wanting in the original here, we are not to translate, as in the Margin, "truly sanctified"; for the reference seems plainly to be "the truth" mentioned in Joh 17:17. (See on Joh 17:17).
20-23. Neither pray I for these alone—This very important explanation, uttered in condescension to the hearers and readers of this prayer in all time, is meant not merely of what follows, but of the whole prayer.
them also which shall believe—The majority of the best manuscripts read "which believe," all future time being viewed as present, while the present is viewed as past and gone.
21. that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they may be one in us—The indwelling Spirit of the Father and the Son is the one perfect bond of union, knitting up into a living unity, first all believers amongst themselves; next, this unity into one still higher, with the Father and the Son. (Observe, that Christ never mixes Himself up with His disciples as He associates Himself with the Father, but says I in THEM and THEY in US).
that the world may believe that thou hast sent me—sentest me. So the grand impression upon the world at large, that the mission of Christ is divine, is to be made by the unity of His disciples. Of course, then, it must be something that shall be visible or perceptible to the world. What is it, then? Not certainly a merely formal, mechanical unity of ecclesiastical machinery. For as that may, and to a large extent does, exist in both the Western and Eastern churches, with little of the Spirit of Christ, yea much, much with which the Spirit of Christ cannot dwell so instead of convincing the world beyond its own pale of the divinity of the Gospel, it generates infidelity to a large extent within its own bosom. But the Spirit of Christ, illuminating, transforming, and reigning in the hearts of the genuine disciples of Christ, drawing them to each other as members of one family, and prompting them to loving co-operation for the good of the world—this is what, when sufficiently glowing and extended, shall force conviction upon the world that Christianity is divine. Doubtless, the more that differences among Christians disappear—the more they can agree even in minor matters—the impression upon the world may be expected to be greater. But it is not dependent upon this; for living and loving oneness in Christ is sometimes more touchingly seen even amidst and in spite of minor differences, than where no such differences exist to try the strength of their deeper unity. Yet till this living brotherhood in Christ shall show itself strong enough to destroy the sectarianism, selfishness, carnality, and apathy that eat out the heart of Christianity in all the visible sections of it, in vain shall we expect the world to be overawed by it. It is when "the Spirit shall be poured upon us from on high," as a Spirit of truth and love, and upon all parts of the Christian territory alike, melting down differences and heart burnings, kindling astonishment and shame at past unfruitfulness, drawing forth longings of catholic affection, and yearnings over a world lying in wickedness, embodying themselves in palpable forms and active measures—it is then that we may expect the effect here announced to be produced, and then it will be irresistible. Should not Christians ponder these things? Should not the same mind be in them which was also in Christ Jesus about this matter? Should not His prayer be theirs?
22. And the glory which thou gavest—hast given.
me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one—The last clause shows the meaning of the first. It is not the future glory of the heavenly state, but the secret of that present unity just before spoken of; the glory, therefore, of the indwelling Spirit of Christ; the glory of an accepted state, of a holy character, of every grace.
23. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one—(See on Joh 17:21).
24-26. Father, I will—The majesty of this style of speaking is quite transparent. No petty criticism will be allowed to fritter it away in any but superficial or perverted readers.
be with me where I am—(See on Joh 14:3).
that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me—(See on Joh 17:5). Christ regards it as glory enough for us to be admitted to see and gaze for ever upon His glory! This is "the beatific vision"; but it shall be no mere vision, for "we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is" (1Jo 3:2).
25. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee—knew thee not.
but I have known thee—knew thee.
and these have known—knew.
that thou hast sent—sentest
me—As before He said "Holy Father," when desiring the display of that perfection on His disciples (Joh 17:11), so here He styles Him "Righteous Father," because He is appealing to His righteousness or justice, to make a distinction between those two diametrically opposite classes—"the world," on the one hand, which would not "know the Father, though brought so nigh to it in the Son of His love, and, on the other, Himself, who recognized and owned Him, and even His disciples, who owned His mission from the Father.
26. And I have declared—I made known or communicated.
thy name—in His past ministry.
and will declare it—in yet larger measure, by the gift of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost and through all succeeding ages.
that the love wherewith thou hast loved—lovedst.
me may be in them, and I in them—This eternal love of the Father, resting first on Christ, is by His Spirit imparted to and takes up its permanent abode in all that believe in Him; and "He abiding in them and they in Him" (Joh 15:5), they are "one Spirit." "With this lofty thought the Redeemer closes His prayer for His disciples, and in them for His Church through all ages. He has compressed into the last moments given Him for conversation with His own the most sublime and glorious sentiments ever uttered by mortal lips. But hardly has the sound of the last word died away, when He passes with the disciples over the brook Kedron to Gethsemane—and the bitter conflict draws on. The seed of the new world must be sown in Death, that thence Life may spring up" [Olshausen].