John 17 - ESV MacArthur Study Bible

17:1 the hour has come. The time of his death. See note on 12:23. glorify your Son. The very event that would glorify the Son was his death. By it, he has received the adoration, worship, and love of millions whose sins he bore. He accepted this path to glory, knowing that by it he would be exalted to the Father. The goal is that the Father may be glorified for his redemptive plan in the Son. So he sought by his own glory the glory of his Father (13:31–32).

17:1–26 Although Matt. 6:9–13 and Luke 11:2–4 have become known popularly as the “Lord’s Prayer,” that prayer was actually a prayer taught to the disciples by Jesus as a pattern for their prayers. The prayer recorded here is truly the Lord’s Prayer, exhibiting the face-to-face communion the Son had with the Father. Very little is recorded of the content of Jesus’ frequent prayers to the Father (Matt. 14:23; Luke 5:16), so this prayer reveals some of the precious content of the Son’s communion and intercession with him. This chapter is a transitional chapter, marking the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry and the beginning of his intercessory ministry for believers (Heb. 7:25). The prayer summarizes key themes from John’s Gospel. These include: (1) Jesus’ faithful submission to the Father; (2) the Son’s commitment to glorify the Father; (3) the election and protection of his disciples; (4) their witness to a hostile world; (5) their unity with Christ and with one another; and (6) the glorious future that awaits them. The chapter divides into three parts: (1) Jesus’ prayer for himself (vv. 1–5); (2) Jesus’ prayer for the apostles (vv. 6–19); and (3) Jesus’ prayer for all NT believers who will form the church (vv. 20–26).

17:2 authority over all flesh. Cf. 5:27; see note on Matt. 28:18. to all whom you have given him. A reference to God’s choosing of those who will come to Christ (see notes on John 6:37,44). The biblical doctrine of election or predestination is presented throughout the NT (15:16,19; Acts 13:48; Rom. 8:29–33; Eph. 1:3–6; 2 Thess. 2:13; Titus 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:2).

17:3 eternal life. See notes on 3:15–16 and 5:24; cf. 1 John 5:20.

17:5 glorify me in your own presence. Having completed his work (v. 4), Jesus looked past the cross and asked to be returned to the glory that he shared with the Father before the world began (see notes on 1:1; 8:58; 12:41). The actual completion of bearing judgment wrath for sinners was declared by Christ in the cry, “It is finished” (19:30).

17:6–10 Yours they were. Again, the Son emphasized that those who believed in him were given by the Father (see note on v. 2). “They are yours” (cf. v. 9) is a potent assertion that before conversion, they belonged to God (cf. 6:37). That is true because of God’s election. They were chosen before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), when their names were written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 17:8). Cf. Acts 18:10, where God says he has many people in Corinth who belong to him but are not yet saved. See notes on John 10:1–5,16.

17:8 they have believed. The Son of God affirmed the genuine saving faith of his disciples.

17:11 I am no longer in the world. So sure was his death and departure back to the Father that Jesus treated his departure as an already accomplished fact. He prayed here for his disciples because they would be exposed to the world’s snares and hatred, while he would no longer be with them physically (15:18—16:4). Based on the eternal nature of immutable God (“name”), he prayed for the eternal security of those who believed. He prayed that as the Trinity experiences eternal unity, so may believers. See Rom. 8:31–39.

17:12 I kept them in your name. Jesus protected them and kept them safe from the world as he said in 6:37–40,44. One illustration of that can be seen in 18:1–11. Believers are secure forever because they are held by Christ and by God. See note on 10:28–29. son of destruction. This identifies Judas by pointing to his destiny, i.e., eternal damnation (Matt. 7:13; Acts 8:20; Rom. 9:22; Phil. 1:28; 3:19; 1 Tim. 6:9; Heb. 10:39; 2 Pet. 2:1; 3:7; Rev. 17:8,11). The defection of Judas was not a failure on Jesus’ part, but was foreseen and foreordained in Scripture (Ps. 41:9; 109:8; cf. John 13:18).

17:15 keep them from the evil one. The reference here refers to protection from Satan and all the wicked forces following him (Matt. 6:13; 1 John 2:13–14; 3:12; 5:18–19). Though Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was the defeat of Satan, he is still loose and orchestrating his evil system against believers. He seeks to destroy believers (1 Pet. 5:8), as with Job and Peter (Luke 22:31–32), and in general (Eph. 6:12), but God is their strong protector (John 12:31; 16:11; cf. Ps. 27:1–3; 2 Cor. 4:4; Jude 24–25).

17:17 Sanctify. This verb also occurs in John’s Gospel at v. 19 and 10:36. The idea of sanctification is the setting apart of something for a particular use. Accordingly, believers are set apart to serve the Lord exclusively so that the believer desires to obey God’s commands and walk in holiness (Lev. 11:44–45; 1 Peter 1:16). Sanctification is accomplished by means of the truth, which is the revelation that the Son gave regarding all that the Father commanded him to communicate and is now contained in the Scriptures left by the apostles. Cf. Eph. 5:26; 2 Thess. 2:13; James 1:21; 1 Pet. 1:22–23.

17:19 I consecrate myself. Meaning only that he was totally set apart for the Father’s will (cf. 4:34; 5:19; 6:38; 7:16; 9:4). He did that in order that believers might be set apart to God by the truth he brought.

17:21 they may all be one. The basis of this unity is founded in obedience to the revelation of God given through Christ. Believers are also to be united in the common belief of the truth that was received in the word of God (Phil. 2:2). This is not still a wish, but it became a reality when the Spirit came (cf. Acts 2:4; 1 Cor. 12:13). It is not experiential unity, but the unity of common eternal life shared by all who believe the truth, and it results in the one body of Christ all sharing his life. See notes on Eph. 4:4–6.

17:22 The glory that you have given me. This refers to the believer’s participation in all the attributes and essence of God through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (v. 10; cf. Col. 1:27; 2 Pet. 1:4), as John 17:23 makes clear (“I in them”).

17:23 perfectly one. The idea here is that they may be brought together in the same spiritual life around the truth that saves. That prayer was answered by the reality of 1 Cor. 12:12–13 and Eph. 2:14–22.

17:24 be with me. This will be in heaven, where one can see the full glory that is his (cf. v. 5). Someday believers will not only see his glory, but share it (Phil. 3:20–21; 1 John 3:2). Until then, we participate in it spiritually (2 Cor. 3:18).

17:25–26 This summarizes the prayer of this chapter and promises the continuing indwelling Christ and his love. Cf. Rom. 5:5.