John 17 - Wiersbe Study Bible

17:1–5 Jesus was preparing Himself for the sufferings that lay ahead. As He contemplated the glory that the Father promised Him, He would receive new strength for His sacrifice (Heb. 12:1–3). But He also had His disciples in mind (John 17:13). What an encouragement this prayer should have been to them! He prayed about their security, their joy, their unity, and their future glory! He also prayed it for us today, so that we would know all that He has done for us and given to us, and all that He will do for us when we get to heaven.

17:1–26 The progression of thought in this prayer is not difficult to discover. Jesus first prayed for Himself and told the Father that His work on earth had been finished (vv. 1–5). Then He prayed for His disciples, that the Father would keep them and sanctify them (vv. 6–19). He closed His prayer by praying for you and Me and the whole church, that we might be unified in Him and one day share His glory (vv. 20–26).

17:4 The word “glory” is used eight times in this prayer, so it is an important theme. He glorified the Father in His miracles (2:11; 11:40), to be sure, but He brought the greatest glory to the Father through His sufferings and death (see 12:23–25; 13:31,32). From the human point of view, Calvary was a revolting display of man’s sin, but from the divine point of view, the cross revealed and magnified the grace and glory of God.

17:6 One of the ministries of the Son was to reveal, or manifest, the Father (1:18). The Greek word translated “manifested” means, “to unfold, to lead, to show the way.” Jesus did not instantly manifest the Father in a blaze of blinding glory, because His disciples could not have endured that kind of experience. Gradually, by His words and His deeds, He revealed to them the nature of God, as they were able to bear it (16:12).

17:6–12 Jesus also taught His disciples that God—the great “I AM”—was their heavenly Father. The word “Father” is used fifty-three times in John 13–17, and 122 times in John’s Gospel! In His messages to the Jews, Jesus made it clear that the Father sent Him, that He was equal to the Father, and that His words and works came from the Father. It was a clear claim to deity, but they refused to believe.

17:11,12 God keeps His own. Our safety depends on the nature of God, not our own character or conduct. When He was on earth, Jesus kept His disciples and they could depend on Him. “Those whom You gave Me I have kept” (v. 12). If the Savior, in a limited human body, could keep His own while He was on earth, should He not be able to keep them now that He is glorified in heaven? He and the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, are surely able to guard and secure God’s people!

17:11 We have the fellowship of the church: “that they may be one as We are.” The New Testament knows nothing of isolated believers; wherever you find saints, you find them in fellowship. Why? Because God’s people need each other. Jesus opened His Upper Room message by washing the disciples’ feet and teaching them to minister to one another.

17:15 God has provided the divine resources for us to glorify Him and be faithful. We have His Word (vv. 7,8), and His Word reveals to us all that we have in Jesus Christ. The Word gives us faith and assurance. We have the Son of God interceding for us (v. 9; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 4:14–16). Since the Father always answers the prayers of His Son (John 11:41,42), this intercessory ministry helps to keep us safe and secure.

17:17 God’s truth has been given to us in three “editions.” His Word is truth (v. 17); His Son is the truth (14:6); and His Spirit is the truth (1 John 5:6). We need all three if we are to experience true sanctification, a sanctification that touches every part of our inner person. With the mind, we learn God’s truth through the Word. With the heart, we love God’s truth, His Son. With the will, we yield to the Spirit and live God’s truth day by day. It takes all three for a balanced experience of sanctification.

17:20–26 Here our Lord focuses our attention on the future. He begins to pray for us who live today, for the whole church throughout all ages. He has already prayed about security and sanctity; now the burden of His prayer is unity. He is concerned that His people experience a spiritual unity that is like the oneness of the Father and the Son. Christians may belong to different fellowships, but they all belong to the Lord and to each other.

17:21 One of the things that most impresses the world is the way Christians love each other and live together in harmony. It is this witness that our Lord wants in the world so that the world may believe that He was sent by His Father (v. 21). The lost world cannot see God, but they can see Christians, and what they see in us is what they will believe about God. If they see love and unity, they will believe that God is love. If they see hatred and division, they will reject the message of the gospel.

17:25,26 Jesus declares the importance of truth and love in the church. Believers know God’s name (nature) and even share in that divine nature. Jesus makes it clear that truth and love must go together (see Eph. 4:15). It has well been said that truth without love is brutality, but love without truth is hypocrisy. The mind grows by taking in truth, but the heart grows by giving out love. Knowledge alone can lead to pride (1 Cor. 8:1), and love alone can lead to wrong decisions (see Phil. 1:9,10). Christian love must not be blind!

17:26 The private ministry of our Lord with His disciples has now ended, and the public drama of redemption is about to begin. Man will do his worst, and God will respond with His very best. “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Rom. 5:20).