“I openly revealed 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.”

He points out that He has revealed to the Apostles what the Father essentially is. He has revealed ‘His Name’ to them, that is, His very nature (compare Joh 14:7-9). And these are the men whom the Father has ‘given Him out of the world’. They are the elect from among the world of men.

He describes them as men who ‘belonged to the Father’ and had been ‘given to Himself’. That ‘They were yours’ refers to their condition before they were given by the Father. The natural reading of this is that they responded to Christ because God had already in some way made them His own by sovereign choice prior to making a gift of them to His Son.

They were men who had ‘kept the Father’s word’, which included the words that Jesus had given them (v. 8). The idea is that they have believed them, treasured them and held them fast. They had also fully recognised Jesus’ uniqueness as God’s Son. In this we see clearly that their response is due to their ‘election’ by God Who has set them aside as His own before time began (Eph 1:4), something which is finally revealed by this response to His word.

They had been given to Jesus ‘out of the world’. From among mankind in its rebellion and subjection to the Evil One the Father had taken them and given them to His Son.

To them He has ‘openly revealed the Father’s name’. In Jewish thought the ‘name’ was seen as signifying the whole of what a person was. Thus when there was a great change in a person’s life they could be renamed. Consider for example Simon who became Cephas/Peter, and Saul who became Paul. Here then Jesus says He has made known to His disciples as far as was humanly possible the whole nature and being of God as expressed in His name.

This includes His name as the ‘I am’. This Greek phrase is used without a predicate in Joh 8:24; Joh 8:28; Joh 8:58; Joh 13:19. It depicts the One Who acts in history and the eternally existing One. See for this name Exo 3:14. It is the name on which the name YHWH (‘the One Who is’) was based.

It is surely significant here that He speaks of the disciples, not as they are, but as He knows they are in embryo and surely will be. There is no thought here of their lack of understanding or soon to come failure, for He knows that their hearts are steadfast notwithstanding, and that soon they will know all (Joh 14:26; Joh 16:13).

We must not see in Jesus’ use of the term ‘the world’ any suggestion of antagonism towards the world. Indeed God loves ‘the world’ (Joh 3:16). Rather it is that the world that has taken up a position of enmity against God. What He is against is the attitude of the world, the very attitude with which He has come to deal.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jesus’ Dedication of His Apostles ( Joh 17:6-19 ).

Having prayed for the fulfilment of His own destiny Jesus now turns His attention to the needs of His Apostles. They are men of proved faithfulness, but He is aware of all that they must face in the future, and He thus commits them to His Father’s care.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Christ prays for the disciples as such that have kept the Word:

v. 6. 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.

v. 7. Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given Me are of Thee.

v. 8. 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.

The prayer of the Lord now concerns His disciples, specifically His apostles. To them He has manifested, revealed, the name of the Father; the whole essence and glory of the Father Jesus has proclaimed and taught to those men whom the Father had given Him out of the world as His, own. He has shown them what the feeling and. intention of the Father is toward sinful men. By this preaching and the call which it included certain men were separated out of the world by the Father and allotted, given, to Christ. They were God’s own by His choice and selection; and the Father gave them to Christ in time, in order that the latter might give them the revelation and knowledge necessary for obtaining eternal life. This object was realized; the men accepted and kept the Word of the Gospel; the faith which was worked in their hearts clings to the promises of the Gospel. The disciples, first of all, had gained the understanding that Jesus was not acting in an independent capacity, apart from the will and counsel of God, but that all the gifts and powers and words which He displayed and taught were from the Father. Then also, when Jesus had delivered to them the words which He had received from His Father, they had accepted them in faith. By their acceptance of the words, of the teaching of Christ with this understanding, they have shown that they have true faith and correct knowledge. So the disciples have the true knowledge, the certainty of faith, that Christ really came from the Father, that He was the Messenger and Ambassador of the Father to mankind. To accept the Word of God, to cling to the promises and statements of the Gospel, that is the characteristic attitude and work of the believers. So much the ministry of Jesus and His testimony had effected in their case.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Joh 17:6. I have manifested thy name In the Hebrew language the name of any thing signifies the thing itself, Act 3:16. Our Lord’s meaning is, “I have explained thy nature and perfections; I have declared thy merciful designs towards the world; and I have fully taught thy will and worship unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world, the persons who were chosen by thee out of all mankind to be my apostles. See ch. Joh 6:44. Thine they were, &c. My apostles belonged to thee, and thou gavest them to me; and they, under my powerful influence upon their hearts, have embraced, and have adhered to the testimony which thou hast given to me, and to the doctrine which I have delivered from thee.” By the apostles belonging to God, our Lord means, “they were originally God’s, the creatures of his hand, the happy objects of his choice; his by creation, as well as by being sincere disciples of the former dispensation which God had given by Moses.”

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Joh 17:6-8 . Hitherto Jesus has prayed on behalf of Himself . But now He introduces His intercession on behalf of His disciples , which begins with Joh 17:9 , by representing them as worthy of this intercession.

] With emphasis, as opposed to ., in the deep feeling of the holiness and greatness of the task discharged.

What the name of God comprises in itself and expresses (see on Mat 6:9 ), was previously made known to the disciples only in so far as it brought with it its O. T. imagery; but the specific disclosures respecting God and His counsel of salvation resting in Christ, and His entire redemptive relation to men, which Christ had given them by virtue of his prophetic office (the Christian contents, therefore, of the divine name), entitled Him to pray; . ., . . . Comp. Col 1:26-27 . A reference to the Jewish practice of keeping secret the name of Jehovah (Hilgenfeld) lies entirely remote from the meaning.

. . ] Necessary definition of (hence not to be connected with ); whom Thou hast given to me out of the world (separated from out of the unbelieving, Joh 15:19 ), that is, the disciples (see Joh 17:8 ; Joh 17:11 ), as objects of the divine counsel of salvation God has given them through attracting them by His grace; see on Joh 6:37 .

] Possessive pronoun, as in Joh 17:9 ; they belonged to Thee , were Thine , “per fidem V. T.,” Bengel. Comp. Joh 1:37 ; Joh 1:42 ; Joh 1:46 ; Joh 1:48 , and generally Joh 8:47 , Joh 6:37 ; Joh 6:44 . Therefore not in the sense of predestination (Beza, Calvin), but of motive , from which God, to whom they indeed already inwardly belonged, has drawn them to Christ. God knows His own. The non-ethical interpretation of property generally (Cyril.: ), or, as “Thy creatures ” (Hengstenberg), yields no special statement of reason.

.] and with what result gavest Thou them to me! On . , comp. Joh 7:16 , Joh 12:48-49 , and on ., they have kept Thy word (by faith and deed), Joh 8:51 , Joh 14:23 .

, . . .] Progress in the representation of this result, which is now advanced so far, that they have recognised (and do recognise, perfect ) all that the Father has communicated to Christ as that which it is, as proceeding from God. All which Thou hast given to me points not merely to the doctrine (De Wette), but to the entire activity of Jesus (Luthardt), for which He has received from the Father a commission, direction, power, result, etc. Comp. Joh 17:4 ; Joh 12:49 ; Joh 5:36 . A more definite limitation is arbitrary, because not demanded by what follows, which rather establishes the general expression (Joh 17:7 ) by means of the particular ( ).

Joh 17:8 gives the causative demonstration ( , for ), how they attained to the knowledge of Joh 17:7 , [190] namely, (1) on the part of Jesus , in that He communicated to them the words given Him by God, i.e . that which He, as Interpreter of God, had to announce (nothing else); and (2) on their part ( ), in that they have adopted this, [191] and have actually known it (Joh 7:26 ). Thus with them that in Joh 17:7 has come to completion .

] is only to be separated by a comma from what precedes, and, further, is connected with . The , . . . , parallel to , . . . , adding faith to knowledge (see on Joh 6:69 ), and the above (comp. on Joh 8:42 ), leading back to the Fatherly behest , whereby it is accomplished, completes the expression of the happy result attained in the case of the disciples. Note, further, the historical aorists . and . in their difference of sense from the perfects.

[190] Ewald begins with ( because ), a protasis, the apodosis of which ( I therefore beg ) follows in ver. 9, in such a manner, however, that from to , ver. 11, a parenthesis is introduced, and then first with comes the supplication conveyed by . But this complicated arrangement is neither necessary nor appropriate to the clear and peaceful flow of the language of this prayer as it stands.

[191] i.e. They have not rejected the , but have allowed them to influence themselves. This is the necessary pre-condition of knowledge and of faith. Comp. Weiss, Lehrbegr. p. 28.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

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. (7) Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. (8) 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. (9) I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. (10) And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. (11) 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 he one, as we are. (12) 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. (13) And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. (14) 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. (15) I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. (16) They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. (17) Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (18) As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. (19) And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

In this part of our Lord’s prayer, Jesus hath a special eye to his Apostles; not indeed to the exclusion of any of his Church, which no doubt were all alike equally dear to him; but probably, as the first Preachers, Ministers of his Gospel, and in an age when peculiarly difficulties would arise to oppose their persons and their labors; the Lord had them more immediately in view. And before we enter upon the several parts of our Lord’s prayer, concerning them, I cannot but notice with particular attention, and entreat the Reader to regard it with me also, how very gracious it was in Jesus to say what he hath said, in the strong recommendation which he makes of them to his Father, in their hearing; that they might perceive, how deep they lay in his heart. Neither was it less attentive in God the Holy Ghost, to cause it to be recorded, that the Church in all ages might see, how much Christ loved his people; what interest and property the Father had in them: and with what care and love, the Holy Ghost watched over them, in preserving such sweet testimonies of the Redeemer’s affection, in everlasting remembrance.

I must not indulge myself as I could wish, to go over, verse by verse, the many blessed things which are contained in them. It would far exceed the limits of a Poor Man’s Commentary. I shall therefore content myself, (and I hope the Reader will be contented also,) in just sketching some of the more prominent parts of this most unequalled prayer of our Lord. May the Lord bless it.

And here, first, I beg the Reader to notice, the ground, upon which Jesus lays the principal stress of confidence, in the recommendation of his people to his Father. He speaks of them, as the men whom the Father gave him out of the world: that they were the Father’s, before he gave them to Christ; his property, and consequently his care. Yea, Jesus intimates by the earnestness of his recommendation of them, that he prized them the more highly, on the Father’s account. And the Lord Jesus found the greater confidence from this consideration, that his Father would preserve them, and keep them, and watch over them, for good, and at length bring them home, to behold that glory, which the Father had given him and be with him forever. Reader! do not fail to observe, these sweet things in Christ’s prayer. Neither overlook, how much Jesus dwells upon that one consideration, of the Father’s property in his Church and people. He repeats it again, and again: thine they were, and thou gavest them me. All mine are thine; and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. Think how dear that Church must be in God the Father’s view, who in proof of it, gave that Church to his dear Son? And think how dear to Christ, in that he hath redeemed it with his blood? And how dear to God the Holy Ghost, who notwithstanding that He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; yet condescends to make the bodies of those poor sinners his temple? 1Co 6:19-20 .

The next thing to be noticed, in this most blessed prayer of Christ, is his own personal love for his Church, and particularly manifested to the Apostles, as representatives of the Church, in thus taking such concern for them, before his departure. Nothing can more fully express the love of the blessed Jesus, than in the very earnest pleadings he here makes use of, with the Father, in their behalf. He knew their nature, their weakness, their corruptions. He knew the enemies which they would have to encounter; and the sharp exercises of persecutions, to which they would be exposed, after he had left them. And hence the earnestness and vehemency of his recommendation of them to the Father. Holy Father! keep (said he) through thine own name those whom thou hast given me. Reader! do not forget, that in this vast interest Jesus took in the concerns of his disciples then, that he equally takes concern in all the interests of his people now. He knoweth our frame, and remembereth that we are but dust. And if the Apostles needed such attention, surely Jesus will not be less regardful of us. Never fail to connect such regard of Jesus for the Church, in every age of her warfare, while beholding the Lord’s tenderness over the Apostles. His love is the same: and his attention the same. Having loved his own which are in the world, he loveth them unto the end. Joh 13:1 .

And as another token of Christ’s love to his Church in this beautiful prayer, I pray the Reader to observe, with what tenderness and affection Jesus speaks of them: They have kept thy word. They have received the words which I have given them. They have believed that thou didst send me. everything by which the Lord Jesus could recommend them, he graciously takes notice of, by way of endearment. Not a word but in their favor. No complaint of their dullness, and unbelief, which they had frequently manifested, during his going in and out before them. But all is tender and affectionate in Jesus, in presenting them to his Father. Reader! remember, such is Jesus now. Though he knows what subjects we are of sin, and temptation; and what fools and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken: yet doth he still take up our cause, plead for all our mercies, and never ceaseth, nor will cease, his intercession, until he hath brought home his whole Church to glory.

Neither should we overlook, in this, prayer of Jesus, the striking contrast he makes, between his Church and the ungodly. The Lord draws in it a line of the most marked discrimination. I pray for them, (saith Christ,) I pray not for the world. The world hath hated them, because they are not of the world; even as I am not of the world. Reader! If there be a single truth of God more pointed and express than another, surely it is that, in which Christ’s union and: personal relationship with his people is insisted upon. The Lord seems to delight in it. He dwells upon it. His Father’s interest in his people. His own interest, and the Holy Ghost’s interest. His people’s distinction from the world; the world’s hatred on this account: and their union with him, the cause of the whole. Upon this subject I would just add, If Jesus delighted to make this discrimination between his people and the world, ought not his people to do the same? Did Jesus mark it in his prayer, and shall not we in praise? Was the Lord pleased to behold his people with this marked distinction, and to speak of it with complacency and delight; and shall not his people, the highly favored objects of discriminating grace, notice it in like manner.

One observation more in this sweet prayer of Jesus. H e saith, that, those whom thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. What a subject is opened and answered in those few words, in confirmation of discriminating grace? And how very fully do they prove, what indeed all the other parts of Scripture concur in, to the same point: that the Church of Christ is chosen in Christ, all the members preserved and kept in Christ, have their being and well being in Christ; and being one with Christ, He is their sole life of grace here, in the time-state of the Church, and will be their life of glory in the eternal world forever. While on the other hand, where there is no grace-union with Christ, in the original and eternal purpose of Jehovah: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; in the Father’s gift, the Son’s betrothing, and the Holy Ghost’s unction; the fall in the Adam-nature must remain, and from having no relation to Christ, neither interest in Christ, the Scripture must be fulfilled; that while all that are given to Christ are kept, the son of perdition cannot but be lost, And in relation to Judas, to whom Christ here refers; though given, and chosen as an Apostle, yet not as a member of Christ’s mystical body. He had indeed obtained part of the ministry, but not the least part of grace. Jesus knew him for a devil, at the time he chose him for an Apostle. And the subsequent acts of his life, were the effects of that diabolical influence. (See Joh 13:2-17 and Commentary). And the preservation of the eleven Apostles, was not from works of righteousness which they had done, for they were men of like passions with ourselves; but for their safety, and security in Christ. Jesus saith: those whom thou gavest me I have kept. Their being chosen in Christ, and accepted in the beloved, the Holy Ghost declares, by Paul, to have been prior acts to those of redemption through Christ’s blood, and the forgiveness of sins. I pray the Reader to notice these grand and momentous truths, with the attention they so highly merit, as they are stated; Eph 1:3-7 . And may the Lord the Holy Ghost be praised, for the very great sweetness and preciousness of that Scripture. In relation to the awfulness of this doctrine, in our Lord’s prayer, it would be the wisdom of the Lord’s people, to ponder well their high privileges, and rejoice with trembling. And some of those many sweet scriptures, which are in confirmation of the truths of God, will always bring relief to the mind, under every distressing thought, which may at times arise, concerning the reprobate. Strictly, and properly speaking, the Church hath no more to do with the fall of man, in the graceless and irreclaimable; than we have to do with the fall of angels. And those soul reviving words of the Lord Jesus, will act on the mind, when graciously applied by the Holy Ghost, in any dark and tempting hour, as an anchor to the soul, both sure and stedfast, which like an anchor to the ship on an enemy’s coast, enables the mariners to weather out the storm. I thank thee, O Father, (said the Lord Jesus,) Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Mat 11:25-26 .

Allow me to call the Reader’s attention to one feature more in this part of our Lord’s prayer as more immediately relating to his Apostles; and I will trespass no longer. Jesus prays for their sanctification; and declares, that for their sakes he sanctifies himself.

That Christ is the sanctification of his Church, and the complete holiness of his people, is a truth, to which the whole tenor of the Gospel bears record. Hence, all the Persons of the Godhead are said to have concurred in this gracious act. Jud 1:1 ; Eph 5:25-27 ; 2Th 2:13 ; 1Co 1:30 ; Heb 10:10 . And sanctification is as complete a work as justification. Grace in the knowledge of the Lord, is indeed progressive: for the Church is said to grow in grace and in the knowledge, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2Pe 3:18 . But we nowhere read of a progressive sanctification. Indeed the very principle itself implies perfection. A soul regenerated is brought into a spiritual life: made partaker of the divine nature, for that divine power is said to have given all things that pertain to life and godliness. See 2Pe 1:1-4 . And this regeneration is equal in all, whom the Holy Ghost quickens. All the after acts of the Spirit, are acts upon this new life, drawn forth into exercise, upon the Person and work of Christ, in the actings of faith and love. But the life of sanctification in Christ, once imparted, can be no more than life: neither capable of increase or diminution.

In relation to the persons of the Apostles, in the Lord’s prayer for them, that they might be sanctified through the truth; I venture to believe, it had respect to their personal ministry, and character: that being sanctified through the truth, they might have more and more enlarged views of truth, in the great purposes of the everlasting Covenant: and from being taught themselves in a more extensive manner, when the Holy Ghost should come upon them, in an open display of his power, they might be made the medium and channel, of informing others. And, Reader! the same holds equally good, with every child of God, when regenerated by the Holy Ghost. That blessed and gracious Covenant work of the Spirit, is as complete an act, as the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, God the Holy Ghost will indeed call forth the soul he hath regenerated, and brought forth, from the death of sin unto a life of righteousness in Christ; in daily actings of faith and grace, as from a soul alive to God, in, and through, Jesus Christ our Lord: but the quickening, from death to life, and sanctifying the renewed nature of the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness is wrought but once, and that all effectual. So that as Paul saith; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 1Co 6:11 .

And in relation to what Jesus saith, For their sakes I sanctify myself. Never surely can it be supposed, that Christ meant to say, that he made himself more holy, for that was and is impossible; but that he set himself apart for their sakes, in his Office-Character of Redeemer. Not for the Apostles only, but his whole Church: All (as he elsewhere saith,) whom the Father hath given him. Joh 6:37 . And that all might be sanctified in Him, and through Him, the truth. And from this most precious Scripture, every child of God, when regenerated and made alive in Christ, may gather the richest assurance of faith; that in the perfection of Christ, and his dedication of himself for his people, they may know their sanctification, by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. They feel the efficacy of it in their hearts, and consciences. And they are enabled through faith in Christ, and strength from Christ, through the blessed influences of the Spirit, to live and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. For such believing views become the full desire of the soul, in that Covenant that is ordered in all things and sure, and founded in Christ before the world began. Tit 1:2 ; 2Sa 23:5 .

So much for the second part, of this most blessed prayer of our Lord; which, beside the general respect, it hath, here and there to the whole Church, hath some more immediate and special regard to the Apostles; and all taken together, serve to lay open the heart of Christ to his people, and to shew, that everything of love, and grace, and mercy, is there flowing, in endless streams, towards his chosen.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

6 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.

Ver. 6. I have manifested thy name ] The Jews seek to detract from the glory of our Saviour’s miracles, by giving out, that he did them by I know not what superstitious or magical use of the name of Jehovah. (Bernard.) But that name of God that he is here said to manifest, is that nomen maiestativum, that holy and reverend name of God, set downExo 34:6-7Exo 34:6-7 , a name that would fill our hearts with heaven, and answer all our doubts, had we but skill to spell out all the letters in it.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

6 19. ] He prays for His disciples .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

6. ] This verse particularizes Joh 17:4 , and forms the transition to the intercessory prayer.

] Thy Name of FATHER, which was so constantly on the lips of our Lord; and which derived its living meaning and power from His teaching: see Exo 23:21 . No especial emphasis on : it carries on the strain of address, and points to the emphatic which follows, and the equally emphatic in Joh 17:7 .

. ] The Father gave them to Christ, by leading them to Christ, see ch. Joh 6:37 ; Joh 6:44-45 .

] Thine ( , from ) they were Israelites Thy people, before: not only outwardly, but Israelites indeed, see ch. Joh 1:48 , and thus prepared to receive Christ (so Stier, v. 411 ff., edn. 2). And thus the answers to , Deu 4:34 . But see the fuller sense below, on Joh 17:9 .

. ] They have observed Thy word walked in the path of Thy commandments; for so means: see ch. Joh 14:23 and reff.

Stier understands their walking in the O.T. ordinances blameless, as Luk 1:6 , and thus (compare ch. Joh 1:42 ; Joh 1:46 ) recognizing Christ as the Messiah when He came. But this is perhaps hardly likely to have been set at the end of the sentence, after . It is more likely that = , Joh 17:8 , and is proleptically spoken.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Joh 17:6-19 . Prayer for the disciples .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Joh 17:6 . . Joh 17:4 is resumed and explained. “I have glorified Thee and finished my work by manifesting ,” etc. To manifest the name here means to make God known as the holy and loving Father. This had been accomplished by Christ not in the case of all, but of those whom the Father had given Him; cf. Joh 6:37-44 . Out of the world some were separated by the Father and allotted to Christ as His disciples. , “Thine they were,” before they attached themselves to Jesus they already belonged to God in a special sense; as, e.g. , Nath. i. 48. Holtzmann. , “and they have kept Thy word,” the revelation of God which has come to them through various channels; in contrast to those mentioned in Joh 5:38 .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh 17:6-19

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. 7Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8for 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. 9I 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; 10and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11I 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. 12While 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. 13But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14I 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. 15I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”

Joh 17:6 “I have manifested Your name” Hebrew names were meant to reflect character (cf. Joh 17:11-12; Joh 17:25-26; Psa 9:10). This phrase also theologically asserts that to see Jesus is to see God (cf. Joh 1:18; Joh 12:45; Joh 14:8-11; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3).

The “name” plays an important theological role in the upper room dialogues (cf. Joh 14:13-14; Joh 14:26; Joh 15:16; Joh 15:21; Joh 16:23-24; Joh 16:26; Joh 17:6; Joh 17:11-12; Joh 17:26). In chapter 17 two unique titles are used of God.

1. Holy Father, Joh 17:11

2. Righteous Father, Joh 17:25

“the men whom You gave Me” Theologically this speaks of election (cf. Joh 17:2; Joh 17:9; Joh 17:24; Joh 6:37; Joh 6:39). No one can come unless

1. God gives

2. the Spirit draws (Joh 6:44; Joh 6:65)

3. they receive (Joh 1:12); believe (Joh 3:16)

“they have kept Your word” Obedience is crucial (cf. Joh 8:51; Joh 8:55; Joh 14:23; Joh 15:10; Joh 15:20). This is used in a similar sense to OT “blameless” (cf. Noah, Gen 6:9; Abraham, Gen 17:1; Israel, Deu 18:13; Job, Job 1:1). It does not imply perfect obedience or sinlessness, but a desire to hear and do all that is revealed; so far it refers to the disciples’ faith in Jesus, abiding in Jesus, and loving one another as Jesus loved them.

Joh 17:7 “they have come to know” This is a perfect active indicative followed by “that” (hoti), which refers to the content of a message. For John’s use of “hoti” see Special Topic at Joh 2:23; #Joh 2:4.

“that everything You have given Me is from You” Jesus spoke what was revealed to Him by the Father (cf. Joh 17:8; Joh 7:16; Joh 12:48-49).

Joh 17:8 “they received them” They received Jesus’ message about God. There is no direct object stated. In Joh 1:12 the direct object of accept/receive referred to Jesus Himself; here, it is the message about God that Jesus brought (cf. Joh 17:4). This highlights the twin aspects of the gospel as (1) a person and (2) a message.

“they received. . .they believed” These are aorist active indicatives. These truths refer to Jesus’ divine origin and message (cf. Joh 5:19; Joh 6:68-69; Joh 12:48-49; Joh 16:30; Joh 17:18; Joh 17:21; Joh 17:23; Joh 17:25).

Joh 17:9 “I ask on their behalf” Jesus is our Mediator (cf. 1Ti 2:5; Heb 8:6; Heb 9:15; Heb 12:24) and Advocate (cf. 1Jn 2:1). The Father is also involved in these tasks (cf. Joh 16:26-27), as is the Spirit (cf. Rom 8:26-27). All three Persons of the Trinity are involved in all aspects of redemption.

“the world” Kosmos is used eighteen times in this chapter. Jesus cares for (1) the planet (cf. Joh 17:5; Joh 17:24) and (2) believers’ relationship to its fallenness (cf. Joh 1:10; Joh 17:6; Joh 17:9; Joh 17:11; Joh 17:13-18; Joh 17:21; Joh 17:23). In John’s writings this term uniquely means “human society organized and functioning apart from God.” Sometimes it implies (1) the planet; (2) all life on the planet; or (3) or life apart from God. See Special Topic at Joh 14:17.

Joh 17:10 “and all things that are Mine are Yours and Yours are Mine” This reveals the unity of the Trinity (cf. Joh 17:11; Joh 17:21-23; Joh 16:15). For Trinity see Special Topic at Joh 14:26.

“I have been glorified in them” This is a perfect passive indicative. A disciple’s life is to give honor to Jesus as He gave honor to the Father. What an awesome responsibility!

Joh 17:11 “I am no longer in the world” This refers to (1) the immediate future (ascension) when Jesus will return to the Father (cf. Act 1:9-10) or (2) the public ministry of Jesus.

“Holy Father” This term “Holy” is used of the Father only here in the NT (Also used in the title, “Holy One,” 1Pe 1:15) as it is in the OT. This adjective (hagios) is also often attributed to the Spirit (cf. Joh 1:33; Joh 14:26; Joh 20:22). The same Greek root is used of the disciples in Joh 17:17 (hagiasmos) and Jesus in Joh 17:19 (hagiaz).

The basic etymology of the root is “to separate for God’s service” (cf. Joh 17:17; Joh 17:19). It is used of persons, places, and things given exclusively for God’s use. It describes God’s transcendent character (the Holy One of Israel) and a differentness from physical, earthly, fallen things. Jesus was holy; as His followers become more like Him they, too, reflect “holiness.” The root of the term “saint” is from the Greek term “holy.” Believers are holy because they are in Christ, but they are to become holy as they live for Him, like Him, and unto Him.

SPECIAL TOPIC: HOLY

“keep them in Your name” Jesus is praying (aorist active imperative) for the empowering protection and personal presence that YHWH has given Him (perfect active indicative) to be provided His disciples (cf. Joh 17:12). This will enable them to minister in a fallen world as He ministered in a fallen world (cf. Joh 17:18). This is one of the benefits of the unity (cf. Joh 17:21) between

1. the Father

2. the Son

3. the disciples

“that they may be one even as We are” This is a present subjunctive. It refers to the relational unity of the Triune God (cf. Joh 17:21-23; Joh 10:30; Joh 14:10). This is also an awesome request and responsibility for Christians! This call for unity is lacking in our day (cf. Eph 4:1-6). Unity, not uniformity, is the way to reunite God’s splintered church.

Joh 17:12 “I was keeping. . .I guarded” The first verb is imperfect tense and the second aorist tense. These verbs are synonymous. The thrust of the passage is Jesus’ continuous protection (cf. 1Pe 1:3-9).

In his Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. 1, M. R. Vincent makes a distinction between these two terms. He says the first (tre) meant to preserve and the second (phulass) meant to guard (p. 496).

“not one of them perished” This shows Jesus’ power of protection (cf. Joh 6:37; Joh 6:39; Joh 10:28-29).

This term (apollumi) is difficult to translate because it is used in two different senses. In his book Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. 1, Gerhard Kittel says of this word, “In general we may say that 2 and 4 underlie statements relating to this world as in the Synoptics, whereas 1 and 3 underlie those relating to the next world, as in Paul and John” p. 394. The definitions he gives are:

1. “to destroy or kill”

2. “to lose or suffer loss from”

3. “to perish”

4. “to be lost”

This term has often been used to assert the doctrine of annihilation, that is, that unsaved people cease to exist after judgment. This seems to violate Dan 12:2. It also misses the distinction between the connotations used in the Synoptic Gospels versus John and Paul, who use it metaphorically of spiritual lostness, not physical destruction. See Special Topic at Joh 10:10.

“but the son of perdition” This obviously refers to Judas Iscariot. This same phrase is used in 2Th 2:3 of the “Man of Sin” (end-time Antichrist). This is a Hebraic idiom meaning “the one who is destined to be lost.” It is a wordplay on the term “lost” used earlier in the verse: “no one is lost except the one destined to be lost.”

See SPECIAL TOPIC: APOSTASY (APHISTMI) at Joh 6:64.

“that the Scripture would be fulfilled” This refers to Psa 41:9, quoted in Joh 13:18; Joh 6:70-71.

Joh 17:13 “But now I come to You” This could refer to

1. Jesus’ prayer (John 17)

2. Jesus’ ascension (Joh 17:11; Acts 1)

“these things I speak in the world” This phrase may link back to

1. Joh 11:42, Jesus speaks aloud so others can hear

2. Joh 15:11, Jesus’ words are directly related to the disciples “joy”

“that they may have My joy made full in themselves” This is a present active subjunctive and perfect passive participle. What a wonderful promise (cf. Joh 15:11; Joh 16:24). John uses this very phrase again (cf. 1Jn 1:4; 2Jn 1:12).

Joh 17:14 “I have given them Your word” The term “word” here is logos. The Greek synonym rhma is used in Joh 17:8. This is an affirmation of divine revelation through Jesus’ person, teachings, and example. Jesus gives the Word and is the Word. The word is both personal and cognitive content. We welcome the Person of the gospel and believe the message of the gospel!

“the world has hated them” Rejection by the world is a sign of acceptance by Christ (cf. Joh 15:18-20; 1Jn 3:13).

“because they are not of the world” Believers are in the world, but not of the world (cf. Joh 17:16; 1Jn 2:15-17).

“as I am not of the world” “The world” refers to this fallen age of human and angelic rebellion (cf. Joh 8:23). This is another example of John’s vertical dualism.

Joh 17:15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world” Christians have a mission in the world (cf. Joh 17:18; Mat 28:19-20; Luk 24:47; Act 1:8). It is not time for them to go home!

NASB, NKJV”the evil one”

NRSV”the evil one”

TEV, NJB”the Evil One”

This term is either neuter or masculine. This literary unit mentions the personal force of evil often (cf. Joh 12:31; Joh 13:27; Joh 14:30; Joh 16:11), therefore, this verse, like Mat 5:37; Mat 6:13; Mat 13:19; Mat 13:38, should be “the evil one” (cf. 2Th 3:3; 1Jn 2:13-14; 1Jn 3:12; 1Jn 5:18-19). See Special Topic at Joh 12:31.

Joh 17:17 “Sanctify” This is an aorist active imperative from the root “holy” (hagios). This can mean

1. Believers are called to Christlikeness (cf. Joh 17:19; Rom 8:28-29; 2Co 3:18; 2Co 7:1; Gal 4:19; Eph 1:4; Eph 4:13; 1Th 3:13; 1Th 4:3; 1Th 4:7; 1Th 5:23; 1Pe 1:15). This can only happen through knowledge of the truth, which is both living word (Jesus cf. Joh 1:1-14) and written word (Bible, cf. Joh 15:3).

2. “Sanctify,” in its OT sense, basically means “to set apart for God’s service. Joh 17:18 clarifies the purpose for them being “sanctified.”

It is not a question of whether #1 or #2 is true. They both are true. Jesus’ life showed the necessity of both (cf. Joh 17:19).

It is quite possible that John has the disciples “sanctified” for God’s service as an analogy of the OT priests set apart for God’s service. They served as mediators of the OT sacrifices, but the disciples’ served as the revealers of the NT perfect, once-for-all sacrifice, Christ (see the book of Hebrews, which compares the OT and NT).

“in the truth; Your word is truth” Truth refers to Jesus’ message about God (cf. Joh 8:31-32). Jesus is called both the message (Logos, cf. Joh 1:1; Joh 1:14) and truth (cf. Joh 14:6) of God. The Spirit is often referred to as the Spirit of Truth (cf. Joh 14:17; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:13). Notice that believers are also sanctified by truth (cf. Joh 17:19, perfect passive participle) and by the Spirit (cf. 1Pe 1:2). For a fuller discussion on the Greek root “true, truth” see Special Topics on Truth at Joh 6:55; Joh 17:3.

It is possible that “Your word is truth” may be an allusion or quote from the LXX of Psa 119:142, “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and they law is truth.” It is surely possible that Jesus was seen as

1. the new Moses (Deu 18:15)

2. His disciples as new priests (use of verb “sanctify”)

3. His life as the true revelation of the one true God

4. the unity of the Triune God and disciples as the fulfilled purpose of creation (i.e., Gen 1:26-27)

5. Jesus as the fulfillment of Gen 3:15

Joh 17:18 “As You sent Me into the world” Jesus’ life of obedience and service, even to the point of death (2Co 5:14-15; Gal 2:20; 1Jn 3:16), sets the pattern for His followers (cf. Joh 17:19). He will send them into the lost world on mission just as He was sent in Joh 20:21. They must engage the world, not cloister from it. See Special Topic: Send (Apostell) at Joh 5:24.

Joh 17:19 “I sanctify Myself” This must refer in this context to Calvary! Jesus set Himself to do the Father’s will (i.e., Mar 10:45).

“that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth” This is a hina clause (purpose clause) with a periphrastic perfect passive participle, which implies that the results have already occurred and continue in force. There, however, is an element of contingency based on

1. Christ’s upcoming work on the cross, resurrection, and ascension

2. their continuing repentant faith response to Jesus and His teachings

See Special Topics on Truth at Joh 6:55; Joh 17:3.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

have manifested = manifested.

name. Compare verses: it, 12, 26. Exo 34:5. Psa 9:10; Psa 20:1 (see note there).

unto = to.

men. App-123.

gavest. Compare Joh 17:2; Joh 6:37; Joh 12:32.

out of. Greek. ek. App-104. kept. Greek. tereo. This word is used in these chapters twelve times: Joh 14:15, Joh 14:21, Joh 14:23, Joh 14:24; Joh 15:10, Joh 15:10, Joh 15:20, Joh 15:20; Joh 17:6, Joh 17:11, Joh 17:12, Joh 17:15; nine times in reference to the Word, thrice in reference to the disciples. word. Greek. logos. See Mar 9:32. Three statements are made by the Lord of His disciples, each three times: their relationship to the Word, verses: Joh 17:6, Joh 17:7, Joh 17:8; relationship to the Sent One, verses: Joh 17:8, Joh 17:18, Joh 17:25; relationship to the world, verses: Joh 17:14, Joh 17:14, Joh 17:16.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

6-19.] He prays for His disciples.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Joh 17:6. , I have manifested) in a new and unprecedented manner; ch. Joh 1:18, No man hath seen God at any time, the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.-.) Thy name, viz., that of Father: Joh 17:11, Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those, etc.-, whom) The apostles are meant, as in Joh 17:12 [Before choosing whom, Jesus had made preparation with especial prayer, Luk 6:12, He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. After those prayers of His were finished, the Father gave them to Him. And these wry persons constitute as it were the basis of the whole multitude of believers, even to the end of the world.-V. g.]-) Thine, as in Joh 17:9-10, all Mine are Thine. They were Thine by the faith of the Old Testament.-) Thou hast given them to Me, that they may be New Testament believers.-, they have kept) This is an honourable testimony to them [To this word refer , , keep, that Thou shouldest keep, Joh 17:11; Joh 17:15.-V. g.]

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Joh 17:6

Joh 17:6

I manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world:-Among those who were given to him by the Father were the twelve apostles or chosen witnesses. [It is by revealing himself as Son that Jesus has revealed God to them as the Father.]

thine they were, and thou gavest them to me;-[Probably this refers to a spiritual relationship to and knowledge of God on the part of these men, brought about by the preaching of John the Baptist, which marked them out as belonging to God. (Joh 1:35-39). They were true Israel in whom was no guile.]

and they have kept thy word.-Jesus had given to them the word of God, and they had kept it. Judas is excepted as failing to keep the word of God. (Joh 17:12). [Notwithstanding all the temptations to unfaithfulness which have assailed them during these years (Luk 22:28) and before which others have fallen, they have kept in their heart the teaching of Jesus.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Joh 17:6-10

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. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 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. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

As He continues His prayer to the Father, Jesus has in mind particularly the company of His disciples, those who have continued with Him in His trials, who believed in His message and are now to be left behind to work for Him upon the earth.

First, we have the manifestation of the Fathers name. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world (v. 6). That wonderfully sweet and precious name Father came as a new revelation. The Fatherhood of God is not revealed in the same way in the Old Testament. He was a Father to Israel. When Malachi wrote, Have we not all one father; hath not one God created us? (Mal 2:10), he referred not to God, in the first instance, but to Abraham. Advocates of the modern theory of the universal Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man often cite this passage as a proof text. But it is altogether beside the mark.

It remained for the blessed Lord to reveal the Fathers name, to show that God is the Father of each individual believer in His blessed Son. In olden days He made Himself known as Elohim, the Creator; Jehovah, the God in covenant relation with men; El-Shaddai, the all-sufficient One, able to meet every need of His people; and as God most high, supreme Ruler of the universe. But we have to come to the pages of the New Testament to get the revelation of the Fathers name from the lips and life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You remember that word in Joh 1:14: The Word [became] flesh, and [tabernacled] among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. As we become intimately acquainted with Him, we realize we are walking and talking with the Man who was the only begotten, living in unbroken fellowship with the Father. It is thus He made known the Fathers name. Do you want to know the Fathers heart? Get better acquainted with the Lord Jesus. Show us the Father, said Philip (14:8). Jesus answered, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? (v. 9). It is not that He confounded the persons of the Trinity. He Himself distinguished them carefully when He commanded His disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Mat 28:19). In the baptismal formula the persons are distinguished without denying the unity of the Godhead. But in Him we see the Fathers heart, the Fathers mind, and the Fathers character. He is Himself the exact expression of the divine character.

So He says, I have manifested thy name [but not to everybody] unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world (Joh 17:6a). What men are these? No man can come to me, except the Father draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day (6:44). All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out (v. 37). If I have come to Him, I am one of those whom the Father gave to the Son long before the world began.

I heard Sam Hadley say once in a great meeting in Oakland, California, after listening to a number of testimonies, Many of you have been telling how you found Jesus. I have no such story to tell. I never found Him, for I was not looking for Him, but He found me and drew me to Himself from a life of sin and shame. And he quoted the lines of the old hymn:

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wandering from the fold of God;

He to rescue me from danger,

Interposed His precious blood.

You have heard the story of the little boy who was asked by a Christian worker if he had found Jesus. Looking up in wonder, he said, Please, sir, I did not know that He was lost. But I was, and He found me. And so may every redeemed one say.

How precious to the heart of the Son of God must be the Fathers gift of His redeemed. He says, Thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word (17:6b). He will be able to say that of every one of us when He brings us home at last, in spite of all our blunders, our failures, and our sins. As possessors of the divine nature, there is in every Christian a desire to do the will of God and to keep His Word. One who lacks this has never been regenerated.

In verse 7 He says, Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. He takes the place of the distributor of the Fathers bounty, like Joseph and David. Both of these young men were sent by their fathers to minister to their brethren, and yet both of them were grievously misunderstood and rejected. But the Lord looks with joyous complacency upon those who receive the blessing He brought, knowing surely that He came out from God, and so they believed that God had sent Him.

For them He prays. It is not for the unsaved that our Lord is carrying on His High-Priestly intercession in heaven, but for those who have been given to Him out of the world. On the cross He prayed for sinners; in heaven, He prays for saints. How sweet the words, All mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them (v. 10). What perfect security and what blessed communion! In spite of all our failures, He will be glorified in all His own. For He will make even these failures a means of teaching us our weakness and helplessness, and our need of relying upon His unfailing love and power.

Literally, the word rendered pray here means to make request. Some day Jesus will make request concerning the world, and it will be given to Him as it is written in the Second Psalm: Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the world for thy possession (v. 8). Then He will take His great power and reign, when the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ (Rev 11:15). Now He is taking out from among the nations a people for His name, and it is on behalf of these that He makes request to the Father.

These are bound up in the bundle of life with the Father and the Son. He says, All mine are thine, and thine are mine. Could anything be more precious? It is another way of saying what He had declared previously in John 10, when as the Good Shepherd He said of His sheep, Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand (vv. 28-29). Every believer is held securely in the hands of the Father and the Son. We may well sing,

Im safe in such confiding,

For nothing changes there.

If He had not said it Himself, we would never have dared assert that He is glorified in all His own. There has been such gross failure in many of us. We have followed afar off, so many times. Our careless ways and thoughtless words have brought dishonor upon His name many times.

But as He looks upon us, cleansed by His blood and born of His Spirit, He says of all who are saved, I am glorified in them. There is that in the life and experience of every Christian which is pleasant to Him and brings glory to His name. It is hard for our poor legal hearts to abide in a sense of what grace really means. In a general way we confess that we are saved by grace, justified freely by His grace, and that the same grace that saved shall carry us on to the end. But practically we are ever ready to seek to build up some claim of personal merit. The blessed fact remains that we are maintained by grace all along the way, and so there will be in each one of us that in which He will be glorified. It is His own work in us by the power of the Spirit that makes this a reality. His very intercession is to that end. He saves evermore because he ever liveth to make intercession for [us] (Heb 7:25).

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

world

kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield “Mat 4:8”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

have manifested: Joh 17:26, Joh 1:18, Joh 12:28, Exo 3:13-15, Exo 9:16, Exo 34:5-7, Psa 22:22, Psa 71:17-19, Mat 11:25-27, Luk 10:21, Luk 10:22, 2Co 4:6, Heb 2:12, 1Jo 5:20

the men: Joh 17:2, Joh 17:9, Joh 17:11, Joh 17:14, Joh 17:16, Joh 17:24, Joh 6:37, Joh 10:27-29, Joh 15:19, Joh 18:9, Act 13:48

thine: Joh 17:9, Joh 17:10, Rom 8:28-30, Rom 11:2, Eph 1:4-11, 2Th 2:13, 2Th 2:14, 1Pe 1:1

they: Joh 8:31, Joh 8:32, Joh 14:21-24, Joh 15:3, Joh 15:7, Psa 119:11, Pro 2:1-5, Pro 2:10, Pro 3:1-4, Pro 23:23, Col 3:16, 2Ti 1:13, Heb 3:6, Rev 2:13, Rev 3:8

Reciprocal: Deu 32:3 – Because Psa 25:14 – secret Psa 89:24 – in my Jer 22:16 – was not Jer 31:34 – for they Mat 11:27 – neither Mat 16:17 – but Joh 8:47 – General Joh 10:29 – which Joh 14:7 – from Joh 14:25 – have Joh 15:15 – all Joh 17:8 – and have Joh 17:20 – pray 1Co 2:16 – But 1Co 5:10 – of this 2Ti 4:7 – I have kept Heb 2:13 – which

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

The Christian and the World

Joh 17:6-26

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

We face a sad spectacle in the history of the church at this time. The world has become so entrenched in the life and activities of the church, that it is frequently impossible for one to decide whether it is a churchly world, or a worldly church.

The “birds of the air” have certainly lodged in the branches of the mustard tree. The children of the wicked one hold high carnival in the conduct of the so-called Christian church.

God wrote an eternal law on the first page of the Bible when He separated the light from the darkness. The call of God is for separation from the world. The endeavor of Satan is to lead the church into world-mixing.

Centuries ago Balaam, utterly failing to curse Israel, advised Balak, king of Moab, to mix his sons and daughters with the Children of Israel in the bonds of married life. This Balak did with disastrous results to Israel.

The Book of Jude prophesies that certain men would creep into the church unawares. Of them Jude wrote, “Woe unto them! for they had gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward.”

The Book of Revelation goes a little deeper when it gives warning to the church at Pergamos, saying, “Thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the Children of Israel.”

When Samson lay his head in the lap of Delilah his hair was shorn, and he lost his power.

The church of today has lost its power whenever it has welcomed the world into its midst; or, when it has gone after the world, seeking its patronage.

The reader of this study should know what is meant by “the world.” Certainly, it does not mean the trees, nor the ferns and flowers: nor is it the rivulets and the rivers. The Holy Spirit tells us that the world consists of “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.” These things are the things of the world.

In the wilderness-temptation the devil showed Jesus Christ all of the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, offering to hand them over to Christ upon the one condition that He would fall down and worship him.

The church today is proffered the same opportunity. We have forgotten that no man can serve God and mammon; neither can the church at the same time serve God and the world.

I. GIVEN TO CHRIST OUT OF THE WORLD (Joh 17:6)

When the Lord Jesus Christ went to the Cross He died in order that He might save us out of this present evil age according to the will of God, the Father. The call of God has always been one call to the believer: “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” There can be no fellowship between righteousness and unrighteousness. There can be no communion between light and darkness. There is no concord between Christ and Belial.

“What part hath a believer with an unbeliever?” “What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?” “How can two walk together except they be agreed?”

Between the church and the world there is an impassable chasm. They are separated by a gulf that cannot be spanned.

The call of Peter at Pentecost was, “Save yourselves from this untoward generation.” God has written in terms irrevocable, “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.”

Jesus Christ is the Blessed Man who walked not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful. We who name His Name, may count ourselves blessed, only as we walk as He walked, God has said, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” The Holy Spirit wrote in I Corinthians, not to company with fornicators. He also wrote, “Not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater or a railer, * * with such a one no not to eat.” In Ephesians, we read: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”

With such Scriptures before us, no one will hesitate to confess that God has called us out of the world.

In the time past, we walked “according to the course of this world,” according “to the prince of the power of the air,” the spirit that energizes the children of disobedience; but now, we have been quickened, and raised, and made to sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and we are called to separation, that we may dwell apart, with Him.

In the time past, “we all had our conversation in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind”; but now, in Christ Jesus, we “who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the Blood of Christ.”

In the time past, we were “Gentiles in the flesh”: at that time we were “without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world”; but now, we are no more “strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.”

Let us remember the solemn words of our Lord.. “The men which Thou gavest Me out of the world.”

II. “I PRAY NOT FOR THE WORLD, BUT FOR THEM WHICH THOU HAST GIVEN ME” (Joh 17:9)

Those who were given to Christ out of the world hold a very special nearness to their Lord. We are not to understand from our verse that Christ did not love a world of sinners, and that He did not pray for them in any sense. We know, that on the Cross, He cried in behalf of His persecutors, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

We should remember that Christ, when He spoke the words of our text, was standing with the Twelve in the upper room, in prayer. To be sure, He loved sinners, for He had come down from Heaven to die for them. However, He peculiarly loved His own. Seven different times in this chapter which contains His prayer, Christ spoke of those whom the Father had given unto Him. From this we gather that Christ held His own in the most intimate ties of relationship.

There is a verse in Deuteronomy which says, concerning Israel, “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”

There is a verse in Peter’s First Epistle which is in line with the verse just quoted. It reads, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people: that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

How wonderful it all is! God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, but He called him, and the Children of Israel who were in Abraham’s loins, into a special nearness to Him. They became unto God a people above all the people upon the face of the earth.

How wonderful it all is! The same God who called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, has called us out of the world; however, He called us out of darkness that He might lead us into light. He called us out of the world, that we might be a special people unto Himself.

III. “THESE ARE IN THE WORLD” (Joh 17:11)

When Christ called His children out of the world, He did not take them to Heaven, nor did He transplant them to some other planet untouched by sin and Satan.

Christ, Himself, was about to leave the world, and to go to the Father, but His children who believed on His Name were to be left in the world.

There are some who have sought an isolation from things terrestrial which is not of God.

The Christian can be in the world and yet be out of it. He can be in it without being in fellowship with it, and thus fulfill the injunction, “Love not the world.” A ship belongs in the water, but woe betide the ship when the water is in it. We can be in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation, without being partakers with them in their evil deeds.

One day in a mining city, we walked mid the smoke-begrimed buildings; everything around us was soiled-no, not everything, for, to our amazement, we saw. a beautiful flower, white as snow and unsullied by the dirt in which it dwelt. Even so, hath God made it possible for us to be in the world, without being worldly.

The Lord Jesus, Himself, was in the world, and yet He was the Holy One of God.

IV. “THE WORLD HATH HATED THEM” (Joh 17:14, f.c.)

When the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, the world knew Him not. The Son of God was betrayed into the hands of sinners.

We remember how Christ said, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you.” He also said, “I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”

It is always true that, to the extent that the believer or the church lives separated from the world, he will be hated by the world. If the world does not hate us it is because we have conformed ourselves unto the world.

There is but one message in the Word of God for a separated saint: “In the world ye shall have tribulation,” God speaks unerringly, and God has said, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

There are some who argue that the world has had a change of heart, and that, today, if Jesus Christ came back, the world would know Him, receive Him, and acclaim Him. This cannot be true. Quite the contrary is true. Jesus said, “I am come in My Father’s Name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”

This world instead of being robed and ready to receive Jesus Christ, is ready, with open arms, to receive the anti-christ. The prince of this world is corning, but he will have nothing in Christ.

V. “YE ARE NOT OF THE WORLD” (Joh 17:14, l.c., 16)

Twice we have the statement concerning the saints, “They are not of the world.” Each time that statement is circumscribed by a second statement, “Even as I am not of the world.”

1. Jesus Christ was not OF the world, because He came forth from the Father. He said on one occasion, “Ye are from beneath; I am from above.”

The believer is not of the world, because he was “born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

2. Jesus Christ was not of the world, because His Kingdom was not of this world. He said, “If My Kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight.”

The believer is not of the world because his citizenship is in Heaven. He is called to lay up his treasures in Heaven, and not upon the earth. To him God says, “Look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.” He is to “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.”

The Christian down here has no continuing city, but he seeks one to come. If he were of the world, the weapons of his warfare would be carnal; but because he is not of the world, he is fighting the good fight of faith.

3. Jesus Christ was not of the world, because His wisdom was not of this world. He, Himself, never entered into the wisdom, the scholarship, which this world teacheth. His wisdom was from above, even as He was from above.

The believer is not of the world because his wisdom is not of the world. The world by wisdom knew not God; for, had they known Him, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. The wisdom which is from beneath, that is, the wisdom which controls the world, knoweth not the things of God. The wisdom which is from above knoweth freely the things of God. If any of us lack wisdom let us ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not.

May God help the believer, and the church, to remember that they are not of the world, and therefore they should not live after the world. Woe, unto those who go down to Egypt for help.

VI. “SO HAVE I ALSO SENT THEM INTO THE WORLD” (Joh 17:18)

This verse is strikingly strange at the first glance. If we are called out of the world, and are not of the world, but are hated by the world; why then are we sent into the world? There is but one answer, “As the Father hath sent Me, even so, send I you.”

Why did the Father send the Son into the world, when He knew that the world would crucify Him? He sent Him because He loved the world. Why are we sent into the world? Because God still loves the world. We are sent into the world for the same reason that Jonah was sent to Nineveh, that we may give a warning to the world, and call them from their sin.

The gracious words of Joh 3:16 are doubtless in your mind, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.”

The Lord Jesus speaks of the sower who went forth to sow the seed, and “the field was the world.” God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. This ministry of reconciliation He hath committed unto us, as though God did beseech men by us.

Before Christ left to go to Heaven, He said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.” Let us obey this command.

VII. “THE WORLD HATH NOT KNOWN THEE” (Joh 17:25)

We now begin to understand the reason for everything which has gone before. God has called us out of the world, because the world hath not known Him. He has held us in a peculiar position in His love and prayer, praying for us and not for the world, because the world hath not known Him. He has said, “The world hateth you,” because the world hath not known Him, and because it knoweth us not. He hath said, “Ye are not of the world,” because the world hath not known Him. He hath sent us into the world,-to a world that hath not known Him, because He wants the world to know Him and to believe in Him.

With what pity must the Lord have prayed! He was now about to go out to die on the Cross because the world had not known the Father, and because it knew Him not.

Even to this hour the world does not know the Father. The god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, lest the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine in upon them, and convert them.

As we move among men, let us move with pity in our hearts, remembering the prayer of our Lord, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

AN ILLUSTRATION

There are few more impressive illustrations of the shame and degradation which comes through departing from the Living God, than that exhibited in the downfall of Samson, the judge of Israel. Consecrated to God from the earliest period of his existence; chosen and appointed for a specific work, endowed with a magnificent physique, and bound by the solemn vows of Nazariteship; while true to God he was the terror of Philistia and the deliverer of Israel. But when he yielded to the influence of sensual delights, and told all that was in his heart to a wheedling, coaxing, treacherous woman, suddenly he found himself a captive, shorn of his strength, forsaken by his God, and led away, the slave and scorn of those who had feared him in days gone by.

How different from Samson the mighty athlete on the wild hills of Judea, was Samson the poor, blind captive, grinding in the Philistine prison-house! No longer a hero, a warrior, a conqueror, but degraded to do the work of the meanest slave; he was helpless in captivity and bondage, and was forced to toil on in bitterness and disgrace.

And is not this ever the fate of those who, chosen of God to do His work, fall from high estate, and are led captive by Satan at his will? Are there not today many men who might have been heroes for God, but who are condemned to grind in the Philistine prison-houses, and bear the deep disgrace of Philistine chains? Are there not many who have been led astray by appetite and passion and temptation, and who now in bondage and dishonor lament the high estate from which they have fallen, and loathe the bondage from which they cannot escape?

Let the Nazarites of God take warning from the fate of Samson, and flee from temptation; and let those who are beguiled by the tempter and led astray from their allegiance to God, consider how their course must end; and let them turn with all their hearts to the Living God, and resist the devil, steadfast in the faith, and unshaken in their loyalty to Him who has redeemed them by His Blood and saved them by His grace.

-Publisher Unknown.

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

6

This refers to the apostles who had been chosen from among the men whom John baptized. Thine they were. John did not baptize any of the Jews into the name of Christ; he only baptized them for the remission of sins, and they belonged to God in a special sense as those who had been reformed according to Mal 4:5-6. The pronoun “I” in that passage refers to Gad personally, who was to send John into the world. After that great era came, the Jews who came under the influence of John’s work were prepared for the service of Christ when he came upon the scene. When he did so and received the men to be his apostles, baptized and prepared for his service, Jesus regarded them as having been given him of God. Manifested thy name unto the men. Throughout his association with the apostles, Jesus kept his Father’s name and honor before their attention, impressing them with his dependence upon God in all that he did upon the earth.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Joh 17:6. I manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Jesus now passes to the thought of those disciples who had been led to rest on Him in faith. His work was over: theirs was to begin; and it involved a struggle and needed strength, similar to His own. In tenderest pity and love, therefore, He now prays for them, that they may be preserved as He has been. Yet not their preservation (for its own sake), but the glory of the Father, is still the leading thought. Jesus is glorified in them (Joh 17:10), and we have already seen that when He is glorified the glorification of the Father is secured. First of all their position is described; they have so entered into and embraced the word of Jesus that the great purpose of His coming has been answered in them, and they are fitted to take His place in the world. That word had been especially the name of God, His name as Father, including His character, His attributes, His saving will as revealed in Jesus. The whole purpose of Gods Fatherly love had been embraced by them as tidings of great joy both for themselves and for the world. They had been given to the Son by the Father out of the world; that is, they were no longer in the world as the element of their existence. The position is exactly His own (Joh 17:14), so that even already we see how closely they are identified with Him, and are fitted, as taking His place, to lift men up into their own higher sphere. It is not enough, however, to say this, for the completeness with which the end has been attained has to be further brought out from two sides, the Divine and the human.

Thine they were, and to me thou gavest them. That is the Divine side. The change of order from the same words as used in the earlier part of the verse ought to be noticed. The emphasis is now directed to Me, and the meaning is that they were now by Divine appointment the Sons, that they might take up His work.

And they have kept thy word. This is the human side. They, on their part, had answered the purpose of the Father: they had kept the word of God; not the general revelation of His will, but, if we may so speak, the revelation of the Logos, of the Word, in the soul. In the Word of God they have Gods word in them. How completely are they put into the position of Him who is now going away!

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

By the name of God, we are here to understand his nature, his property, and attributes, his designs and counsels for the salvation of mankind. Christ, as the prophet of his church, made all these known unto his people.

Learn hence, that Jesus Christ has made a full and complete discovery of his Father’s mind and will unto his people: I have manifested thy name unto them which thou gavest me; thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

Learn, 1. That all believers are given unto Christ, as his purchase, and as his charge: they are given him as his subjects, as his children; as the wife of his bosom, as the members of his body.

Learn, 2. That none are given to Christ but those that were first the Father’s: Thine they were, and thou gavest them me.

Learn, 3. That all those that are given unto Christ, do keep his word; they keep it in their understandings, they hide it in their hearts, they feel the force of it in their souls, they express the power of it in their lives: They have kept thy word.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Joh 17:6-8. I have manifested thy name All thy attributes; and in particular thy paternal relation to believers; to the men which thou gavest me out of the world The apostles; and so Joh 17:12. Thine they were By creation, by preservation, by descent from Abraham, and by being members of thy church, under the Mosaic dispensation; and thou gavest them me By giving them faith in what I have spoken; and they have kept thy word Have readily embraced, and hitherto have resolutely adhered to and obeyed thy gospel. Now they have known that all things Which I have done and spoken, are of thee, and consequently are right and true. They are fully persuaded, that the commission whereby I act, the doctrine of salvation which I teach, the miracles which I perform, and the authority with which I am clothed, are all really derived from thee. In this, indeed, they have acted upon the surest evidence; for I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me I have taught them no other doctrine but that which thou gavest me to teach. And they have received them Being fully sensible that my doctrine is in all points agreeable to thy blessed nature and perfections, they have received it as such; and have known surely that I came out from thee That I am no impostor, but a prophet, truly commissioned by thee to reveal thy will to mankind. And While I have been rejected by an ungrateful world, they have regarded me as the true Messiah; and have believed that thou didst send me On the great errand of mans salvation.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Vv. 6-19: Jesus asks for the support of His apostles in faith and their full consecration to the divine work.

It seems to me that it is altogether wrong for Weiss, with Lucke, de Wette, etc., to connect the passage, Joh 17:6-8, with what precedes, as developing the work of Christ on the earth, and as still intended to give a ground for the first petition: glorify me. The question henceforth is rather of what the disciples have become through the work of Christ, to the end of giving a ground for the prayer on their behalf (Joh 17:9). As it is with a view to the work of God that He asks His own glory again, it is also in view of this work that He commends to His Father the instruments whom He has chosen and prepared for the purpose of continuing it. This prayer has first an altogether general character: I pray for them, Joh 17:9; then it is given, with precision and in form, in two distinct petitions: , keep them (Joh 17:11), and , sanctify them (Joh 17:17), which are the counterpart of the , glorify me, for Jesus Himself. Joh 17:6-8 prepare the way for the first general petition, for which Joh 17:9-10 will finally give the grounds.

ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

Vv. 6-19.

1. Joh 17:6-8 are connected both with the preceding and with the following context. In relation to the preceding verses, they indicate, by the presentation of the case of those in whom the work had been accomplished in the highest degree, and through whom, as the human instruments, it was to be carried forward in the time to come, the proof of what is stated in Joh 17:4. On the other hand, these verses evidently prepare the way for the petition of Joh 17:9, giving a reason why these persons, and not the world, are commended to the care of the Father. In these verses there is, in reality, a summing up of what has been presented in the entire record of this Gospel as connected with the reception of the Divine life:(a) The persons in question are those who have the susceptibility to the truth,Thine they were and Thou gavest them to me; (b) Jesus has made known to them the Father’s namethe name, here as elsewhere, standing as the representative of all that is involved in the revelation of God through Christ; (c) This revelation comes through the word which Jesus has spoken to them; and they have kept it in their heart and life; (d) In receiving and keeping the word, they have recognized fully the great truth which it involvednamely, that the origin of Christ’s teachings and mission is from the Father. The work which had been given Him to do is thus fulfilled in their case.

2. Joh 17:9-13. The prayer is for the disciples, and not for the world. The explanation of the exclusion of the world here is, not that those who belong to the world are excluded from the prayers of Christ, but that this prayer is, like the discourses of the preceding chapters, a prayer of the departing one who is leaving his friends behind him. At such an hour, the prayer for enemies does not have its proper place. The petition is for the friends only, with reference to the state of separation from Jesus which was just before them.

3. The particle of Joh 17:9 is to be connected with and , the words from the first to the second of Joh 17:10 being parenthetical in their character. The ground of the prayer which is here presented is thus, in substance, what has been already mentionedthat they belong to the Father, and that Jesus has been glorified in them. In Joh 17:11 the additional reason, relating to the future, is giventhat they were to remain in the world bereft of His care.

4. The petition for the disciples is set forth in two forms: first, in the more general way in Joh 17:11, keep them in thy name, and, secondly, more particularly in Joh 17:15; Joh 17:17 -in Joh 17:15 on the negative side, keep them from the evil, and in Joh 17:17 on the positive side,sanctify them in the truth.

5. The explanation of Joh 17:13 given by Meyer seems to be the correct one: But now I come to thee, and since I can no longer guard them personally as hitherto, I speak this (this prayer for thy protection, Joh 17:11) in the world (jam ante discessum meum, Bengel), that they, as witnesses and objects of this my intercession, knowing themselves assured of thy protection, may bear my joy (as in Joh 15:11, not Joh 14:27) fulfilled in themselves.

6. Joh 17:14-19. Joh 17:14 is to be regarded as introductory to Joh 17:15, as Joh 17:16 is to Joh 17:17. In both cases, the fact that the disciples are not of the world, as Jesus Himself is not of the worldand thus (Joh 17:14) that they are objects of the hatred and enmity of the worldis made the ground of the special petition. The turn of thought, therefore, from the more general to the more particular request is made, not at Joh 17:15, but at Joh 17:14.

7. The words of Joh 17:15 may be neuter, or they may be masculine. This is the only instance in which the expression is found in this Gospel, but in the First Epistle of John there are five cases which may be compared with the one in this verse. In 1Jn 2:13-14 the masculine form is beyond doubt, you have overcome the evil one, . In 1Jn 3:12 -Cain was the connection of the verse with those which precede, in which the devil is spoken of, makes it substantially certain that the words are masculine and refer to the evil one. In 1Jn 5:18 the reference to the evil one is certain, for the words are , and in 1Jn 5:19, where the dative is used, the contrast of the two closely united sentences is such as to give an overwhelming probability in favor of the same reference. So far, therefore, as the usage of the writer can be determined from these passages, the argument derived from it is altogether in favor of the same explanation of the phrase in the verse before us. The same explanation is favored by the fact that John’s Gospel seems distinctly to present the idea of two spheres or kingdoms, each presided over by a ruler. The use of in Rev 3:10 may be regarded as justifying the use here, if . . is taken as masculine. Godet, who holds that this genitive with and in Mat 6:13 refers to the evil one, thinks that the preposition is more naturally referred to a domain, from which one is taken, than to a personal enemy. Of the most rrecent commentators on this Gospel, Weiss, Keil, Westcott, Milligan and Moulton, like R. V., regard the words as masculine.

8. Joh 17:17 gives the positive form of the request: Sanctify them in the truth. The word refers, as we may believe because of its connection with the idea of …, and also with the words of Joh 17:18, to that consecration of the disciples with reference to their future work, which would be accomplished for them by their being made holy in the sphere of the Divine truth. The prayer, says Westcott, is that the consecration which is represented by admission into the Christian society may be completely realized in fact; that every faculty, offered once for all, may in due course be effectually rendered to God (Rom 12:1).

9. The last sentence of Joh 17:17, Thy word is truth, is best understood, with Godet, DeWette and others, as denoting the means by which the sanctifying process is to be accomplished, or rather (since the of the first part of the verse is not the instrumental preposition, as Godet takes it, but means in the sphere of) as giving a more definite statement of what is referred to in the words the truth. Thy word is truth, hence when I pray for these disciples, says Jesus, I pray for their consecration in the sphere of the truth.

10. Joh 17:18 gives the special reason for making the prayer a prayer for their consecrationnamely, that they have a mission like to His own, and Joh 17:19 adds the declaration that to this end He also consecrates Himself in offering Himself to death. This fact: that He thus devotes and consecrates Himself, is also, like the words of Joh 17:18, a reason for urging His petition (Joh 17:17).

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

17:6 {3} I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: {c} thine they were, and thou {d} gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

(3) First of all he prays for his disciples by whom he would have the rest of his disciples gathered together, and commends them unto the Father (having already rejected the whole company of the reprobate) because he received them from his Father into his custody, and because by embracing his doctrine, they will have so many and so mighty enemies, that there is no way for them to be in safety, except by his help.

(c) He shows by this the everlasting election and choice, which was hidden in the good will and pleasure of God, which is the groundwork of our salvation.

(d) He shows that the everlasting and hidden purpose of God is declared in Christ, by whom we are justified and sanctified, if we lay hold of him by faith, so that we may eventually come to the glory of the election.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

2. Jesus’ requests for the Eleven 17:6-19

Jesus’ glorification depended on the wellbeing of those whom the Father had given to Him (Joh 17:2). Consequently Jesus prayed for them too. He made several requests for them but first expressed the reasons He was praying for them and why He wanted the Father to grant His requests.

The length of this section of the prayer suggests that Jesus had greater concern for His disciples’ welfare than for His own.

"Jesus prayed for His disciples before He chose them (Luk 6:12), during His ministry (Joh 6:15), at the end of His ministry (Luk 22:32), here (Joh 17:6-19), and later in heaven (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25)." [Note: Blum, p. 331.]

Moreover in view of their weaknesses, they were in great need of God’s grace to sustain them in the future. It was God’s keeping power rather than their strength that made Jesus’ confident as He prayed for them.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The bases for these requests 17:6-11a

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Jesus viewed these disciples as those whom God had given to Him out of the world (cf. Joh 6:37; Joh 15:19), not as those who had chosen to follow Him. This viewpoint accounts for Jesus’ confidence as He anticipated their future. They belonged to God, and God would therefore protect them. Jesus had revealed God to them. The name of God summarizes everything about Him (cf. Exo 3:13-15; Isa 52:6). Manifesting the name of God to people means revealing His essential nature to them. The Eleven had kept God’s word by believing on and following Jesus even though they were not consistently obedient.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)