An Expository Study of John’s Gospel
CHAPTER 17
Scripture Reading: John 17 (KJV)
THE REVELATION OF THE SON OF GOD TO THE DISCIPLES
Read vs. 1-5
The Lord’s Prayer – When the disciples ask Jesus, “Teach us to pray”, the Lord does just that. In Matthew 5, the model prayer is recorded. Prayer (communication) with His Father was the primary power that gave the Lord His final victory (Luke 22:41-46). John now records the prayer that Jesus uttered for His disciples and for all disciples, yet to come. Jesus had washed the feet of His disciples (John 13). He had given private instruction to them in person (chs. 14-16). Now the Lord teaches them to pray. To glorify the Father was to do the Father’s will.1 Now He prays for Himself (vs. 1-5), later He will pray for His chosen apostles (vs. 6-19), and finally for all future believers (vs. 20-26).
Final hours
These were His final hours; victory over the world would be His cross, to “Glorify the Father.” No other sacrifice would be sufficient (Heb. 2:9). The shedding of His blood would seal the covenant (Matt. 26:28). It would be the purchase price for the church (Acts 20:28). It would be the mold, the form, through which every single conversion would pass (Rom. 6:1-6) – until He comes again. And His death, burial and resurrection were to be remembered each first day of the week by His disciples (Acts 20:7). It is death that brings glory and immortality, even to us (1 Cor. 15:35-58). It is not only how one lives, but it is how one dies that will eventually count.
Glorified His Father
Jesus glorified His Father: “I have finished the work which Thou gaveth Me to do” – what a glorious epitaph; a marvelous conclusion. Paul would later write, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:6-8).
Commentary
“It is one of the great facts of history that again and again it was in death that the great ones found their glory. It was when they died, and how they died, which showed people what and who they really were. They may have been misunderstood, under valued, condemned as criminals in their lives, but their death showed their true nobility and their place in the scheme of things.” (Gospel of John, William Barclay, pg. 239)
Another witness
Consider another witness, in his dying moment, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumsised in heart and eyes. Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before the coming of the Just One: of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murders: who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it. Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God . . . and they stoned Stephen, [him] calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit . . . and lay not this sin to their charge.” (Acts 7:51-60; emphasis added)
A glorious life and a glorious death; this is the victory that “overcometh the world.” (1 Cor. 15:58)
Read vs. 6-8
The power of seed is here illustrated. Plant the seed (“Word”). Do not be concerned about the harvest. Fathers, teach your sons. Mothers, instruct your daughters. “My son hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother, for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck” (Prov. 1:9). The disciples did not understand all that Jesus said, but His words are true and in time the harvest will come, because Jesus said it would. Receive “the engrafted word which is able to save your souls” (Jas. 1:21). Input should be our primary concern. The output (production) will naturally follow.
Read vs. 9-19
Jesus was specific in His praying. It is always moving to hear your name mentioned in prayer, but how much more to know that Jesus is praying for you: I pray for them, the ones You gave Me, for they are Thine. No where is it recorded, regarding the Lord’s disciples, that Jesus prayed, “Father, I have made 12 bad mistakes; I want to choose again.” To the contrary, “having loved His own, He loved them unto the end” (John 13:1). Not once would He have traded His apostles for another set. The Lord accepted their humility, understood their fears. He was tempted in all points like we are. He would soon leave them (v. 11), but not before leaving them a memory of the power of His praying.
Illustration
The story is told of a young Englishman being introduced to thievery by some hoodlums. As they were climbing into the building they intended to rob, Big Ben struck eleven. “I ain’t going with ya”, the young Englishman exclaimed. “What do ya mean, ya ain’t going?” they replied. “Me mother and father are praying for me; they always pray for me at eleven every night.”
Likewise, the memory of Jesus praying lifted up the disciples, giving them strength to stand.
One lost
Only one disciple was lost. O, the sadness of Judas, who, for the price of a common thief, betrayed the Christ. Simon denied, but Judas betrayed, Simon wept, Judas hanged himself.
Unity
Jesus prayed for His disciples: before He chose them (Luke 6:12); during His ministry (John 6:15); and at the end of His ministry (Luke 22:32). One specific theme characterized His praying – unity. There are two themes clearly pronounced through-out the New Testament, unity and the holiness of believers. “Keep them”, “Guard them”, “protect them”, “sanctify them” – these were the oft stated prayers of the Lord for those He had chosen, “set them apart [sanctify] from the world”, “keep them firmly fixed on their mission”, “as thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world” (v. 18). Here, once again, is the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word.
Read vs. 20-26
The final portion of Jesus’ prayer was for us, those in the future who would believe. The very purpose of God revealing to us, through His Word, selected events in the life of Jesus was “that ye might believe and in believing have life through His name” (John 20:30-31). Today, in the age of the church, all believers come to Jesus through the witness of the Lord’s apostles. Jesus came to earth, lived and died, was resurrected that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witness of these things” (Luke 24:48) – “That they all may be one; as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me” (v. 21). Unit was the one blessing of the early church.
There were “divisions among them” (1 Cor. 1:10-13), yet, they stayed together. They differed, but they did not separate. This is the main difference between their unity and Christianity today. They were divided, yet stayed together as one Body. Today, far too many brethren divide the Lord’s church, becoming separate. “Biblical” first century dividers stayed together. Consider the church at Corinth. Paul wrote, “For are ye are yet carnal; for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (1 Cor. 3:3); yet they still met together, prayed together, and got drunk together. Jesus said, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it [the church]” (Matt. 16:18; emphasis added). Yet, Jesus knew that a far greater danger had power to hinder, perhaps destroy, the power of the Gospel. In religious division there is every kind of sin (Jas. 3:14-16). The church will self-destruct from inside, without “the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3).
He prayed for you
Jesus prayed for you, me, and all believers of every age and time: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one,” (vs. 20-22) Baptism Everyone in the world who has heard the good news of Jesus Christ, who want to turn away from sin, are commanded to be baptized.2 This faith and obedience brings remission of all past sins and the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit.3 In this way, everyone, every kindred, tongue, people and nation, becomes a brother or sister in the Lord (Rev. 5:9). This unity, this brotherhood, is not based on the level of spirituality, the depth of piety, or the degree of moral excellence attained by individual disciples. It is founded on the work accomplished by God in Christ Jesus for all mankind – independent of man-kind. No day will arrive when God will alter the foundation of our “disciple- relationship” to Jesus Christ. Also, He will not alter how we become a member of His redeemed community. Always remember, obedience to God’s Word does not alter the gift (grace) nature of the relationship, nor does spiritual maturation, personal zeal or soul- winning records. Our salvation is due solely, totally, to the Lord’s “finished work” of atonement, reconciliation, on the cross (Eph. 2:8-10).
Grace
The unity that Jesus brings means that every single member of His redeemed community enjoys brotherhood and fellowship as a gift of grace. Receiving Christ as Lord changes all relationships. Our human love accepts and receives people for their own sake. But, loving one another in Christ means that we love people for “Christ’s sake” – having chosen Christ, we therefore choose them. Why? Because Christ has chosen them. In other words, we do not choose our brothers and sisters, we simply approve the choice of Christ, Who, by His redeeming work has chosen us all and brought us into “brotherhood.”
Read vs. 25-26
Now, Jesus closes His prayer, binding together Himself, His Father, and His disciples. Binding together unity and the wondrous power of His Name, all found within agape love. Prayer changed the life of Christ. He would soon be praying alone in the garden to the same God, the same Name. Jesus Christ has bequeathed to us the power and blessing of unity. This kind of power, i.e., unity and brotherhood, is not a dream, wish, hope, or goal for us to strive. It is a present reality to be relished, enjoyed, preserved, guarded and esteemed.
With v. 26 we end the Period of Conference, and with the start of v. 1 of the next chapter, we begin the Period of Consummation.
