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I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

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Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

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For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

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I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

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And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

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And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

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While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

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And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

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I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

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I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

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They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

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Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

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As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

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And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

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Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

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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.

John 17:4

17:4 finished the work. Jesus had finished His work of teaching and witness (John 12:46-50; 17:8,14; Revelation 1:5), but His great work of redemption and salvation had yet to be accomplished on the cross. Then, He would shout the great victory cry: “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

John 17:5

17:5 before the world was. Jesus was the eternal Word by whom God created the world (John 1:1-3; Ephesians 3:9; Hebrews 1:1-3), but Jesus laid aside His glory for a time (Philippians 2:6-8) to finish God’s work (John 17:4) with His creation.

John 17:6

17:6 manifested. Jesus “manifested”—that is, “openly declared”—God’s name as “Father” to all who would become His children through faith in the Lord Jesus. Compare John 1:18.

John 17:10

17:10 glorified in them. This is an amazing thing, that Christ can somehow be glorified in His people as they demonstrate to “the principalities and powers in heavenly places…the manifold wisdom of God” (Ephesians 3:10), evidently showing God’s power to redeem and purify and keep lost sinners for Himself.

John 17:11

17:11 keep. Beginning in this verse, the Lord makes five wonderful petitions for His disciples. These are: (1) security in salvation (John 17:11); (2) victory over Satan’s temptations (John 17:15); (3) sanctification through the Word (John 17:17); (4) unity with God and each other (John 17:21); and (5) ultimate glorification with God in heaven (John 17:24). The Father had already promised the Son that not one whom He had given the Son would be lost (John 6:37-39), and we are now given still further assurance through this prayer. The Father will certainly answer the prayer of the Son!

John 17:15

17:15 from the evil. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. “The evil” is “the evil one”—that is, “the prince of this world,” Satan. Because of this prayer of Christ, no doubt, “he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not” (I John 5:18).

John 17:16

17:16 not of the world. We are now, because of Christ, citizens of His world, rather than this world (note Philippians 3:20). We now serve in this world as “ambassadors for Christ” (II Corinthians 5:20).

John 17:17

17:17 Sanctify them. The process of sanctification (that is, of being set apart from this world for His service) is accomplished through the Word of God (Ephesians 5:26), by “the Spirit and belief of the truth” (II Thessalonians 2:13).

John 17:18

17:18 sent them. Jesus frequently spoke of being sent into the world by His Father (e.g., John 10:36). He was sent for one main purpose—“that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). In the same way, and for the same purpose, His disciples are now sent into the world (John 20:21).

John 17:20

17:20 for them also. This petition assures us that the Lord was praying for every one who would ever believe on Him, not just for the eleven who were with Him at the time. In fact, “He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Note the many assurances that He continually prays for us (e.g., Isaiah 53:12; Luke 23:34; Romans 8:26,34; I John 2:1; Hebrews 9:24). Thus, the wonderful requests He made in this prayer (see note on John 17:11) are for all true believers, and surely will be granted.

John 17:21

17:21 one in us. The prayer for unity is repeated five times (John 17:11,21-23) and is thus very important. However, it has been misused by ecumenicists to try to amalgamate true Christians and pseudo-Christians. True unity must be both unity of the Spirit and “unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:4, 13).

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