Michael's Abbey Bible Study - Gospel of John Chapter 17

1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, This chapter is a prayer that concludes the teaching session in chapter 16. Throughout this prayer Jesus is praying for the large circle of disciples beyond the 12, including all who accepted Him as the Messiah and Son of God.
Jesus had full knowledge of what He was about to go through. Despite that, in this verse He prays to the Father to bring it on. What the government and religious leaders meant as humiliation Jesus accepted and was his glory.
In order to maintain control of conquered nations with a minimum of occupying troops Rome took a carrot and stick approach. The carrot was that they would allow some level of self-rule tied to their compliance, the local religions were allowed to continue as long as worship of the Roman Emperor was added to it, and the improvements to the land they made such as the Roman road system. The stick was the Romans were experts on how to do torture, and they did it full throttle. Crucifixion was death by torture, and it was made clear this was a shameful death only for the lowest of the low. Scourging was infliction of incredible pain with permanent scars and injury. This kept the peace throughout the Roman Empire very effectively.
Jews were an extremely rare exemption from the Emperor worship requirement. Even when completely defeated, the Jews made it clear they would rather die than accept that. Rome was more flexible that most understand if it meant keeping the peace, and an accommodation was made for the Jews. Churches today that accommodate governments and culture by abandoning real Christianity should be ashamed they don't have the conviction and courage of the intertestamental Jews.
2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. One of the ways that the crucifixion really glorifies the Father and the Son is that the Son paid the price for our sins. We don't really realize how bad our sin is. We deserve death for our sins, all of us. Jesus took that on himself and satisfied justice.
The Father gave Jesus authority over all humanity. It was given to Jesus to create everything. In that alone Jesus has authority over all creation. But additionally, the Father gave the role of saving humanity to the Son. Thus Jesus can give eternal life to all who accept Him. From Jesus' perspective, the Father is the one who gave Him all those who become His disciples as the Father is the author of everything, including the path to redemption. In this way and in others, the Father gave those who are saved to Jesus.
There are two opposite objections to the concept of Jesus dying for our sins on the cross. But both are based on inaccurate claims about fairness. One asks the question how can it be fair that all sin is paid for by this one act? This is easy to explain. Jesus was the only person who ever lived that was completely blameless. Even animal sacrifices were an imperfect atonement, which is why that did not bring salvation but only identification with God and still required God's grace ultimately coming from the cross.
The other objection is how is it fair to require death for sin, even if it is the Son of God? Why can't God just forgive us? This requires a longer answer. First, we really have no clue how bad our sin is. But even if that is difficult to grasp it should be obvious that allowing any sin into heaven would corrupt it and it would cease to be heaven. Thus no imperfection can be allowed in. Therefore we are all doomed and not fit to enter heaven. So something must happen for us to be able to enter heaven at all. Secondly, for God to be just, and He is the definition of what is just, there must be a penalty for sin. Forgiving without a penalty would be injustice. Suppose a criminal who commits terrible acts like killing people goes before a judge who just forgives them with no penalty at all. (This doesn't take much imagination with what is going in the "justice system" of the west today.) The criminal goes out and kills more people. Again the judge just forgives them. This keeps going on and on. Is this a just judge? The judge not only didn't punish a terrible crime, but let the criminal keep doing it. Is that justice? No. The blood of all the victims is on the hands of this terrible and unjust judge as much as on those of the criminal. Even the blood of the victims before the first trial are on this judge because this judge did not give them justice. Even if this earthly judge took the punishment himself it would not satisfy justice because there would still be no correction of the killer. A judge who takes the punishment on himself, and gives forgiveness only to those who accept their sin, repent, and become disciples of the judge would be both just and merciful. Only God can do this right.
3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. We tend to think of eternal life as our reward, or at least as something for our benefit. And it is certainly those things. However, this verse gives a different perspective. A purpose of eternal life is so we will know the Father, the one true God, and Jesus Christ his Son. Eternal life alone on an island would not be a reward or pleasant. Really knowing God face to face would be more incredible than we can imagine.
4 I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. The work Jesus accomplished that glorified the Father certainly includes the training up of His disciples, the refutation of the false Judaism of the Pharisees that had taken over Israel, and the signs and wonders given as proof Jesus was sent from the Father and of His divinity. There is some disagreement as to whether His death and resurrection is included in this as it had not happened yet. However, the majority of scholars view that it is included as Jesus had surrendered himself up for it, even asking the Father to bring it to Him in this prayer. Thus Jesus' entire incarnation brought glory to the Father.
5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. Here Jesus is asking to return to the Father and be returned to His glorified state Jesus had since before the creation of time, space and matter. He asks this even knowing how this will take place.
6 "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. This is part of the work Jesus did that the Father gave Him in verse 4. Jesus manifested the name of the Father by teaching accompanied by miraculous deeds. This clearly disclosed the true God, and those that accepted this turned away from the false teachers and to God. These kept God's word by taking it into their hearts and minds and living by it.
7 Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; Because of the work of Jesus on earth, those who became His disciples came to understand the truth, that Jesus was from the Father, and so was what He taught.
8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. The teaching of Jesus was not His own, but the words of the Father. Since Jesus is also God and so is the Father, this would seem to be an unnecessary statement. However, it does reinforce the teachings on the trinity. They are different persons of one God, one substance. Thus this is a functional dynamic between two persons of the trinity.
The teachings of the Father were received and understood by Jesus' disciples. And from this they understood that Jesus was from the Father and the Father sent Him.
9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. Jesus was asking on behalf of those who have accepted Him and become his disciples, not the whole world. The reason why He is only asking for those is apparent in what He is asking the Father for, which begins near the end of verse 11.
Jesus again acknowledged that His disciples were given Him by the Father, that all Jesus has is the Father's, and all that the Father has Jesus has. The disciples choosing to follow Jesus glorifies Him. When we choose Him and become His disciples we add to that and continue to glorify Him.
11 I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. Greek has many more verb tenses than English, and it allows one to use the present tense when proper English requires the past or future tense to be used. Deciding how to handle this is tricky for the opening of this verse where Jesus says He is no longer in the world. The NIV and NLT word this so that Jesus is clearly speaking of the future state when Jesus will no longer be in the world. The other major translations keep it in the present tense, including those that almost always change the tense for proper English. The reason is that it is very likely that this expresses Jesus' view and mindset rather than an idiosyncrasy of Greek. His departure from the world, including the crucifixion, is as if it has already happened. This is not an attitude of fatalism, but an attitude of obedience to the Father and absolute commitment to the decision already made to follow the Father's will.
Thus Jesus is now operating from a heavenly attitude and of already coming to the Father while His disciples are operating as humans in the world, albeit with the knowledge of heaven and things to come. Still, it is very easy to be overwhelmed with the things of this world even when things are going well. Thus Jesus prays that the Father keep them in the Father's name, that is within the will of the Father, despite what is about to happen. As covered in chapters 14-17, to be in the name of another is to represent them, but only as they allow. An ambassador operates in the name of the leader of his country and does the will of the leader in his dealings, but cannot go outside the leader's will without violating their limits. The result of operating within the will of the Father is that the disciples will be able to be one body, the church, like the trinity is one God.
12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. In other words, while Jesus was on earth He kept His disciples within the will of the Father. The Father's will was given to the Son, who gave it to His disciples. In this way Jesus guarded them and kept them from falling for the deceptions of Satan and those who followed Satan like the Pharisees. The son of perdition is a Hebrew idiom meaning "one who is destined to perish." This does not mean there was no choice for the person. It is that the person's decisions will only lead to destruction. In this case it is referring to Judas. It was not God's will that Judas betray Jesus and kill himself. But he was allowed to stay with Jesus despite his spiral down into sin under the temptation of money. This was allowed in order to bring about the Christ event which was prophesied. Again, Judas had not actually perished yet. This is a foregone conclusion / perspective thing.
13 But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. Jesus prayed that he now is coming to the Father because the final sequence was already in motion. Jesus revealed that one of the purposes of this prayer and the other things He said and taught in these last days was so the disciples will have His joy. By revealing His attitude He makes it possible for the disciples to emulate him so they can have the same joy.
14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Jesus giving the word of the Father to the disciples resulted in them understanding that He was from the Father in verse 8. In this verse the reaction of the world is to hate Jesus' disciples. The clear conclusion is receiving the word from the Father resulted in the disciples ceasing to be of this world and belong instead to Jesus' kingdom. They are in the world as Jesus said in verse 11, but not of the world. As disciples of Jesus, the knowledge we learn from Him separates us from this world and makes us citizens of the kingdom. They learned this from Jesus. We learn it from His scripture.
15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. Jesus didn't ask that we be taken out of this world. If we were taken out there would be no one to do the will of the Father and win people to the kingdom. But Jesus asked that we be kept from Satan, which is one purpose of being not of this world.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. To be not of this world is one of the ways we identify with and emulate Jesus.
17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. The word for Holy referring to the Father in verse 11 is Hagie which is the inflected form of hagios. The word sanctify in this verse is hagiason which is the inflected form of hagiazo. (In Greek, the inflection or case ending is how the grammar functions. Words with the same inflection are connected, such as a verb to a noun. Whereas in English it is word order that determines the connections.) Both of these words come from the same root and both are about holiness. Hagios means holy as in something that is already holy, or is holy by its nature. Hagiazo means sanctify which is to set aside for a holy purpose and to make holy by removing all impurities. This is the essence of being not of this world. Sanctification is a process. It is not fully complete until eschaton, the end times. But that is no excuse for ignoring it. This is something a real disciple of Jesus seeks. A fake or fallen disciple seeks their own desires.
What sanctifies us is the truth, and the truth is the word of God. Following one's own version of the word is the opposite. It is to seek falsehood, and to do it deliberately. What we think is misleading. Those who add to or remove from the word are seeking themselves, not Jesus, which is to seek Satan. Yet this is so easy to do. We so easily set aside a part of God's word when it convicts us and contradicts us. Arrogance does not lead to the truth. Humility and scripture does.
False humility is not humility. It is disguised arrogance. Some are very good at disguising it. In my experience in western churches, those in a church who everyone thought were the most humble were in fact the most wildly arrogant and self centered. They were wolves in sheep's clothing following their own way while falsely claiming to follow Jesus. Conversely, those many thought were arrogant were actually the most humble. Confidence and certainty proclaiming God's word is mistaken for arrogance by immature and false Christians.
18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. Instead of being taken out of the world Jesus sent his disciples, including us, into the world. Again, this is in the world, not of this world.
19 For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. To be clear, Jesus was never in need of sanctification like we are. He was always holy, blameless, and utterly without sin.
In this case, Jesus is referring to the role of a high priest on Yom Kippur as directed in Leviticus 16. A high priest had to sanctify himself, the Holy of Holies, and the mercy seat. In the days before the temple, the center of worship was the tabernacle called Tent of Meeting. The innermost chamber was called the Holy of Holies. In there was the Ark of the Covenant. And the wings of the angels on the Ark were called the mercy seat where God's presence would rest. This was also the setup after the temple was built. Entering the Holy of Holies wrongly, such as not having followed the rules of sanctification or entering at the wrong time meant death. While it is not in scripture, there is a tradition in later Judaism that a scarlet or gold cord would be placed around the ankle of the high priest so he could be retrieved from the Holy of Holies if he were killed since no one else could enter to get him. Considering how Israel fell away from scripture leading up to the Babylonian exile from Israel, it is likely this was needed and was done. The sanctification involved sacrificing a bull for the high priest's sins and that of his family, as well as wearing two different sets of clothing and bathing before changing into the second one. He would sacrifice one goat, and put the sins of the nation on a second goat that was set free, called the scapegoat. Doing it wrong, taking shortcuts or skipping steps was to disrespect God. That was not a wise thing to do and resulted in death.
Jesus was both the ultimate high priest and the ultimate sacrifice for all humanity. He sanctified himself by willingly going to the cross, and by preparing for this and preparing His disciples for their coming role. Because Jesus became the perfect sacrifice we are able to become sanctified in truth, which is found in His word.
20 "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; In other words, Jesus' prayer was not just for the disciples at that time, but for all who would become disciples of Jesus through them and their word. As the historical record shows they taught others who taught others, and so on. Almost immediately there were those who tried to twist the gospel to their own point of view. To make sure the gospel would not be distorted and being God-breathed by the Holy Spirit, several wrote down the gospel message as well as other books of the New Testament detailing Christian theology and life as a Christian. This was to prevent error and keep us in the truth. Thus we are sanctified in truth through the word, which is scripture.
Nowhere in scripture is there even a hint of requirement for a priestly class to interpret scripture for us after Jesus died for our sins. In fact, as Peter wrote primarily to gentiles in 1 Peter 2 we are all elevated to the status of priests longing for the pure milk of the word. There are a couple narrative examples before the writing of the New Testament where people who had incomplete knowledge of the gospel and were taught the full gospel. One was Apollos by Priscilla and Aquila and another was the Ethiopian Eunuch by Philip. But there are thousands of others who were directly told and kept to the truth by using scripture such as the Bereans. Even the handful who needed help were not needing someone to interpret scripture for them. They needed the full story told to them including the parts that had not yet been written down. Scripture is clearly for everyone to read themselves. It does not need some priestly class to interpret for everyone else. Any who claim this are wrong, are violating scripture and the gospel, and are almost certainly covering for the false doctrines of their false religion. Scripture was written for everyone. Not to mention that religious leaders are not infallible. They all have errors and blindspots. We should check all of them against scripture. We are responsible for our own salvation, not some priest, pastor, or small group leader.
21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. One purpose of the belief in Jesus through the word of the witnesses is for our salvation, as Jesus said repeatedly elsewhere. In this verse Jesus stated that another reason is so we will be one as the Son and the Father are one. That is, we will be unified in true belief and in the will of the Father. In other words, the result of being a Christian, a real disciple of Jesus the Christ, is unity with other real Christians. And that is so the world will believe that Jesus is the Son sent by the Father.
To be clear, we absolutely do not start with unity. Unity is not something we do, but is a result of believing in the word. There can be no unity with fraudulent gospels, fake disciples, and false churches. These are the ones who try to impose a false unity, demanding that real Christians must be in unity with them. Like the Pharisees, they serve themselves and Satan, not Jesus. We are to disfellowship with them, not unify with them. To unify with the fake is to become fake ourselves. If they were not fakers and frauds they would not call for unity. Starting with "unity" is the road to lies and falsehood. Real Christians study and follow scripture, and call for others to do the same. That is the path to truth. Real Christians are convicted by scripture as it points out our errors. Scripture tells us to seek the truth. If we do that, real unity with real Christians is the natural result. It happens by seeking the truth and rejecting the false. As we follow the truth, we will find ourselves in harmony with others who are doing the same.
22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; The glory the Father gave the son is the role of high priest and sacrifice, becoming the sacrifice and salvation for humanity. The temple was divided into the outer courts where gentiles were allowed, the inner courts where only Jews could gather, including gentiles who converted, and the inner temple. The most restricted was the Holy of Holies, where the Ark was and only a high priest could enter at certain times. When Jesus died, the veil protecting the Holy of Holies was torn in two, opening it to everyone. Thus the glory of Jesus the ultimate high priest was given to His disciples elevating them all be priests, as well as all who become disciples later. There is no longer an intermediary between us and God. We have a direct relationship with all three persons of God.
1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen race, A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Peter was writing to gentiles. What was once only for a select few among the Jews is now given to all of Jesus' disciples regardless of heritage. We are grafted into the chosen race. Now we are all a royal priesthood in the line of Aaron. We are all God's people if we choose to be disciples of Jesus the Christ. Walking in truth we are one with other Christians like the trinity is one.
23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. The Father is in Jesus, and Jesus is in us. Disciples of Jesus are not just one with each other, but are one with Jesus who is one with the Father. This unity is perfected, not instantly perfect. As we shed falsehood and take in the truth, we are made more perfect as disciples and in unity with Him and other Christians. As John wrote in 13:34-35 by the love we have for one another we show the world we are Jesus' disciples. It is love that unifies a family. It is lies and selfishness that breaks a family apart. The truth that results in unity does so through the love the Father has for us and we have for Him and each other.
24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. This is Jesus' desire for His disciples to be with Him in heaven, where they will see Him in the glory given to Him by the Father, a glory that existed and was given before creation.
25 "O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; This was an outright rebuke of the Jewish leaders, especially the Pharisees. They claimed to know God, and to know God so well they could add to and even replace scripture with their own reasoning and thoughts. They did not know God. They rejected God when they rejected His scripture. This is still going on today. This is why there is no difference between the secular people and those who go to church in the west. The majority of self-proclaimed Christians and churches reject scripture when it contradicts and convicts them. They live by and teach a false religion that justifies their own point of view. This is not just the "big" things like the issues that are being battled out in the public square. It is things most think are little, but are in reality the source of false Christianity that poisons the church. It is people who refuse to call out wrong theology and sin in others who claim to be Christians even though we are commanded to do so in scripture. It is teaching false and unbiblical practices as if they are Christian. It is focusing on an emotional experiences like music and pseudo-spiritual experiences while giving scripture only a token mention. It is claiming to be proclaiming the word while ignoring what it says to push an unbiblical agenda. It is putting anything above Christ no matter the reason.
Jesus knew the Father because he was the Son sent by the Father, and because he was God. The Father was in the Son and the Son was in the Father. As Jesus' disciples we know the Father through the Son.
26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." The name of the Father was made known Jesus' disciples who where present for this prayer. And it would continue to be made known to future disciples through the testimony which was written down for us by the eye witnesses and by the power of the Holy Spirit. By this the love of the Father for the Son will be in us, and Jesus the Son of God will be in us as well.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation.

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