“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. And all things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.”

Jesus’ prayer is ‘for those whom you have given me.’ Those ‘who are given to Him’ strictly means true believers. But He goes on later to distinguish between the Apostles and those who will believe through their word (Joh 17:20) so that clearly here He has the Apostles primarily in mind here. These are the subject of His special prayer here.

‘I do not pray for the world.’ This is not because He is not concerned for the world. Along with His Father He loves the world (Joh 3:16). It is because at this moment in time the hope of the world lies in this small group of men given to Him by the Father.

He stresses the wonderful fact that while they have been given to Him, they also belong to the Father (‘they are Yours’) because He and the Father share all things mutually. And He emphasises that they will bring Him great glory. That is why He selects them out for His prayers.

‘All things — that are yours are mine.’ It is impossible in this phrase to avoid the implication of total equality of Father and Son, otherwise it would simply not be true. What the Father has, the Son has, and vice versa (compare Joh 16:15).

‘I am glorified in them.’ Jesus was to be glorified by being lifted up on a cross and then through His resurrection and ascension to the throne of God. But He will receive further glory because of these chosen men, who by their dedication, sacrifice and suffering will bring about the fulfilment of His purposes, ‘filling up that which is lacking of the sufferings of Christ’ by taking His name to the world in the face of all the consequences (Col 1:24).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The distinction between the disciples and the world:

v. 9. I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine.

v. 10. And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them.

v. 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 be one as We are.

Jesus here makes a deliberate distinction. He expressly says that He is praying for His disciples; His intercession concerns them only. He sets aside the unbelieving world, for the unbelievers included under that name refuse to accept Him under any circumstances. “But this is the difference. In this way and in the same manner He does not pray for the world as He does for His Christians. For the Christians and for all that are to be converted He prays thus, that they may remain in the true faith, grow and continue in it, and not fall away from it, and that those that are still without faith leave their manner and also come. That means to pray right and well for the world, as we should all pray. ” For those that God has given Him by a deliberate act of mercy, and that belong to God by His gracious choice and selection, Jesus prays. He is so certain of being heard in this instance because the believers are God’s own, in whom He will naturally take an interest. And Jesus here addresses the Father in a very bold manner: And what is Mine is all Thine, and what is Thine is Mine. He calmly claims absolute community of interests and property for Himself and the Father. “This no creature can say before God. For you must understand this not only of that which the Father has given Him on earth, but also of His one divine essence with the Father. For He speaks not only of His disciples and Christians, but comprehends in one heap all that is the Father’s, eternal, almighty essence, life, truth, righteousness, etc. , that is, He confesses freely that He is true God, for the word ‘All that is Thine is Mine’ permits nothing to be excluded. If everything is His, then also the eternal Godhead is His; otherwise He cannot and dare not use the word ‘all. ‘” And so Jesus, the Son of God, that has everything in common with the Father, is glorified in His believers. He has taught them to know Him; He has brought His picture as the Redeemer of the world into their souls. Their understanding has been enlightened to enable them to understand, at least in a measure, the purpose of God in the salvation of the world, to place their trust in Christ, in the definite hope that the remaining revelation will be theirs in heaven. The career of Jesus in the world is now coming to its end; He is now leaving the world to return to His Father. But the disciples are still in the world, in the midst of unbelievers and enemies of the Gospel. Therefore the earnest petition of Christ is most necessary, that His Father, the holy Father, that desires to keep His holy name unsullied, would keep the believers in His name, in the confession of His name, in true faith, to the end. Only if the Father Himself takes care of His own, will the spiritual union of the believers in no wise be disturbed or brought to naught. God must keep the believers in the one true faith by the Word of His truth, which revivals and teaches His name. The preservation in faith is the work of God. To Him the believers of all times must look to keep them steadfast in His Word and faith, unto the end, as is His gracious and good will.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Joh 17:9-10. I pray for them, &c. The persons here prayed for, are not regenerate men in general, in opposition to the unregenerate, who are often called the world, but those good men in particular who were given to Jesus by the Father to be his apostles, and who, by that office, were distinguished from the rest of his disciples. This appears from Joh 17:12 where he says, he had kept all the persons he was praying for, in the faith and practice of his true religion, except the son of perdition; and from Joh 17:18 where he says, he had commissioned them to go forth into the world, for the same purpose that the Father had sent him into the world; and from Joh 17:20 where he expressly distinguishes the persons whom he was praying for from all other believers whatever. The reason assigned for making the apostles the immediate subject of his special prayers at this time, is remarkable;for they are thine; “I employ the last moments of my life in praying particularly for my apostles, because they are more especially thy servants, destined for that work which is the great object of my attention;the instruction and salvation of the world. Indeed, all my servants are thy servants, (Joh 17:10.) that is, whoever assists me in my work, serves thee in thy great designs of love and mercy to men. For the same reason thy servants are my servants; every one who really serves thee, must join issue with me, and assist me in my work; and by the zeal, faithfulness, and success of my servants in converting the world, I am greatly honoured.” The words in the 10th verse are very high and strong expressions, too grand for any creature to use, as implying that not only servants and ministers, but all things whatsoever , are the common property of the Father and the Son; and this is the original ground of that peculiar property, which both the Father and the Son have in the persons who were given to Christ the Mediator; according to what is said in the close of the verse, of him, I am glorified in them,namely, by their yielding to the drawings of the Father, and, in an honest and good heart, hearing the word, and keeping it, and cordially believing in the true Messiah, the God-man. See Joh 6:37 and the parallel passages.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Joh 17:9 . I pray for them! Both in and in there lies a motive element in reference to God. That which lies in is then further made specially prominent, first negatively ( . . . .), and then positively ( , . . .).

] has no dogmatic weight, and is therefore not to be explained in the sense of the condemnation of the world (Melanchthon), or of absolute predestination (Calvin, Jansen, Lampe), or of the negation of such intercession in general (Hengstenberg), but refers simply and solely to this present intercession, which has in truth no relation to those who are strangers to God, but to His own, whom He has given to Jesus, and this should all the more move Him to fulfil the prayers. Prayer for the unbelieving has been enjoined by Jesus Himself (Mat 5:44 ), and was, moreover, offered by Himself upon the cross (Luk 23:34 ), and for them did He die, comp. also Joh 17:20 ; but here He has only the disciples in view, and lays them, by the antithesis . , the more earnestly on the Father’s heart. Luther well says: “At other times one should pray for the world, that it may be converted .” Comp. Joh 17:21 .

] Ground of the intercession: because they although given to me are Thine , belonging to Thee as my believing ones, since they were Thine (Joh 17:6 ) already, before Thou gavest them to me.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1710
THE OBJECTS OF OUR LORDS INTERCESSION

Joh 17:9-10. 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.

THE Apostles were but weak in knowledge or in grace till the day of Pentecost; nevertheless, they were greatly beloved by their Lord and Master. He declared in their hearing that they were true believers [Note: ver. 68.]. He testified also that they were the peculiar objects for whom he prayed.

I.

For whom our Lord interceded

The Disciples of Christ are characterized as persons given him by the Father
[This is a just description of every child of God: none would ever give themselves to Christ, if they were not previously given to him by the Father; or come to Christ, if they were not drawn to him by the Father [Note: Joh 6:44.]. As every grace we possess must be traced to the operations of the Spirit, as its immediate cause [Note: 1Co 4:7. Gal 5:22.], so must it be traced to the electing love of God, as its primary and original source [Note: Eph 1:4-5.]. And it is of great importance, both for our humiliation and for Gods glory, that this matter should be clearly known and understood [Note: This description of Gods people is repeated five times in seven verses. See ver.612. Was there no design in this? and is there nothing to be gathered from it?].]

It was for these more especially that Jesus interceded
[We apprehend that the apparent exclusion of the world from his intercessions is not to be understood strictly and positively, but only in a comparative sense [Note: In this respect it resembles Hos 6:6 : for our Lord did pray for the ungodly world, Luk 23:34 and had their good in view even in this very prayer, ver. 21.]: but certainly the saints were the objects whom, both in this and all other intercessions, he had principally in view. The high-priest, in bearing the names of the twelve tribes upon his breast-plate whenever he went within the vail, was a type of Christ in this particular [Note: Exo 28:9-12; Exo 28:29-30.]. Christ would not be a high-priest, if he omitted this part of his office; since intercession was no less necessary to that office than oblation: but he does intercede for his people, and lives in heaven, as it were, for that very purpose [Note: Heb 9:24; Heb 7:25.]. Yes; He that formed the universe, and upholds it by his power, and whose petitions are commands, says, I pray for them. And the petitions he then offered for his living disciples had respect to all his believing people, even to the end of the world [Note: ver. 20.].]

This distinguishing favour, however, was not conferred without reason

II.

Why he interceded for them in particular

The reasons of the Divine procedure are in many cases inscrutable; but our Lord condescended to state some on this occasion

1.

Believers are the Fathers property, They are thine

[All things belong to God as his creatures; but believers are his in a far higher sense. He has made them his by adoption: he has confirmed his interest in them by regeneration: he esteems them as his peculiar treasure [Note: Psa 135:4.], in comparison of whom the whole universe is as nothing in his eyes. Hence our Lord interested himself more particularly on their behalf. His zeal for his Fathers glory would not suffer him to be for one moment unmindful of their interests.]

2.

Christ himself has an equal propriety in them, All mine, &c.

[They belong to Christ by the Fathers donation, by his own purchase, and by the closest possible union [Note: They are one body with him, Eph 5:30 and one Spirit, 1Co 6:17.] Will he then be regardless of this precious gift, and lose the purchase of his blood, and suffer his own members to perish, for want of his continual intercession? Surely his interest in them is a very sufficient reason for his unwearied solicitude respecting them.]

3.

Christ is glorified in them

[The ungodly world bring no glory to Christ; but it is the labour and delight of his people to glorify him. He is glorified now in their faith, love, worship, and obedience: he will be glorified and admired in them at his second coming [Note: 2Th 1:10.]: he will be glorified by them to all eternity. While therefore he has any concern for his own glory, he cannot but be studious of their welfare.]

Infer
1.

How honourable a character is the true Christian!

[The Christian is eminently distinguished from all the rest of the world. He is highly esteemed both by the Father and by Christ, who equally claim him as their property, He is mine; he is mine. He is interested in all which Christ has done or is now doing. How infinitely does this honour exceed that which cometh of man! Let every one be ambitious to attain it: nor let any earthly attainments whatever satisfy our desires.]

2.

How secure and blessed is his state!

[There may be some who shall never be benefited by the Saviours intercession; but Christs people are continually remembered by him before the throne. They therefore are sure to have every want supplied; nor can any defeat the purposes of their blessed Lord. Let therefore every Christian rejoice and glory in the Lord: let the thought of Christs intercession dissipate all fears of condemnation [Note: Rom 8:34.]: let Christ be viewed as an Advocate under every fresh-contracted guilt [Note: 1Jn 2:1.]: let every one seek to glorify him, and to be glorified with him.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

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

Ver. 9. I pray for them ] Christ hath left us this prayer here recorded, as a pattern of that intercession he incessantly maketh for us at the right hand of his heavenly Father. Joab was heard for Absalom: shall not Christ for us? Solomon denied his mother’s request, 1Ki 2:22 ; God will not deny Christ’s. The prodigal came without a mediator to his father, and was embraced; much more shall we, presented by Christ.

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

9. ] Stier remarks, that the Lord here begins to fulfil His promise Mat 10:32 .

. . ] The misconceptions which have been made of this verse (Calvin, Lampe, and even Luther, who elsewhere corrects himself, see Tholuck on John, edn. 6, p. 352) as implying a decree of exclusion for the vessels of wrath, may be at once removed by considering the usage of in this Prayer. The Lord does pray distinctly for , Joh 17:21 ; Joh 17:23 , that they may believe and know that the Father hath sent Him. He cannot therefore mean here that He does not pray (absolutely) for the world, but that He is not now asking for the world, does not pray this thing for the world. These ( ) have already believed and known; the prayer for them is therefore a different one, viz. that in Joh 17:11 ; Joh 17:15 . The mistake would be at once precluded for English readers by the paraphrase, I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world.

in a fuller sense than , Joh 17:6 . That was their preparation for Christ; this is their abiding in Him, which is abiding in the Father, see next verse.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

pray = ask. Greek. erotao. App-134. The Lord uses this word eight times in these chapters: Joh 14:16; Joh 16:5, Joh 16:23, Joh 16:26; Joh 17:9, Joh 17:9, Joh 17:15, Joh 17:20. The word aiteo, used of an inferior addressing a superior, Occurs Joh 14:13, Joh 14:14; Joh 15:7, Joh 15:16; Joh 16:23, Joh 16:24, Joh 16:24, Joh 16:26. Compare Mar 15:43 (crave), Luk 23:52 (beg).

for = concerning. Greek. peri. App-104. not. Greek. ou. App-105.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

9.] Stier remarks, that the Lord here begins to fulfil His promise Mat 10:32.

. .] The misconceptions which have been made of this verse (Calvin, Lampe, and even Luther, who elsewhere corrects himself, see Tholuck on John, edn. 6, p. 352) as implying a decree of exclusion for the vessels of wrath, may be at once removed by considering the usage of in this Prayer. The Lord does pray distinctly for , Joh 17:21; Joh 17:23, that they may believe and know that the Father hath sent Him. He cannot therefore mean here that He does not pray (absolutely) for the world, but that He is not now asking for the world, does not pray this thing for the world. These ( ) have already believed and known; the prayer for them is therefore a different one, viz. that in Joh 17:11; Joh 17:15. The mistake would be at once precluded for English readers by the paraphrase, I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world.

-in a fuller sense than , Joh 17:6. That was their preparation for Christ; this is their abiding in Him, which is abiding in the Father, see next verse.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Joh 17:9. , for [concerning] them) Jesus prays for believers: He Himself and believers pray for the world.- , not for the world) This ought not to be taken absolutely: Comp. v. 21, 23, That the world may believe-know-that Thou hast sent Me.[370] But what is meant is that Jesus does not pray for the world at this time, and in this place, and with these words, which were applicable to believers alone, Joh 17:11; Joh 17:15; Joh 17:17. Christ says the same things in Psa 16:3-4, The saints that are in the earth, and the excellent in whom is all My delight; and of the ungodly, I will not take up their names into My lips. He does not, however, exclude the world [from His prayers], when He commends the disciples chosen out of the world.

[370] Also His prayer for His murderers on the cross, Luk 23:34.-E. and T.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Joh 17:9

Joh 17:9

I pray for them: I pray not for the world,-[At this time. Jesus does not mean to say that the world is excluded from his sympathy, for the reason he was dying was to save the world.]

but for those whom thou hast given me; for they are thine:-Jesus first prays for those who had believed on him and so were given to him of God. [Jesus intimates that they occupy a relationship to God, also, which he will doubtless recognize as giving them special claims to his blessings. They have not ceased to be thine by becoming mine.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

world

kosmos = world-system. Joh 17:14; Joh 17:16; Joh 7:7. (See Scofield “Rev 13:8”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

pray for: Joh 14:16, Joh 16:26, Joh 16:27, Luk 22:32, Luk 8:34, Heb 7:25, Heb 9:24, 1Jo 2:1, 1Jo 2:2, 1Jo 5:19, Rev 12:9, Rev 13:8, Rev 20:15

Reciprocal: 1Ki 8:59 – nigh 2Ki 2:9 – Ask what Mal 3:17 – they shall Mat 12:49 – his disciples Joh 6:37 – that Joh 10:29 – which Joh 12:23 – The hour Joh 13:1 – having Joh 17:6 – the men Act 27:23 – whose Rom 8:9 – he is 1Co 3:23 – ye 1Co 5:10 – of this 2Ti 1:9 – which 2Ti 2:10 – for 1Jo 5:16 – I do not

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

9

I pray not for the world. That is, he was not praying for the world in that part of his prayer; that will come later in his petition. They are thine is explained by the comments on verse 6.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

THESE verses, like every part of this wonderful chapter, contain some deep things which are “hard to be understood.” But there are two plain points standing out on the face of the passage which deserve the special attention of all true Christians. Passing by all other points, let us fix our attention on these two.

We learn, for one thing, that the Lord Jesus does things for His believing people which He does not do for the wicked and unbelieving. He helps their souls by special intercession. He says, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me.”

The doctrine before us is one which is specially hated by the world. Nothing gives such offence, and stirs up such bitter feeling among the wicked, as the idea of God making any distinction between man and man, and loving one person more than another. Yet the world’s objections to the doctrine are, as usual, weak and unreasonable. Surely a little reflection might show us that a God who regarded good and bad, holy and unholy, righteous and unrighteous, with equal complacency and favor, would be a very strange kind of God! The special intercession of Christ for His saints is agreeable to reason and to common sense.

Of course, like every other Gospel truth, the doctrine before us needs careful statement and Scriptural guarding. On the one hand, we must not narrow the love of Christ to sinners; and on the other we must not make it too broad. It is true that Christ loves all sinners, and invites all to be saved; but it is also true that He specially loves the “blessed company of all faithful people,” whom He sanctifies and glorifies. It is true that He has wrought out a redemption sufficient for all mankind, and offers it freely to all; but it is also true that His redemption is effectual only to them that believe. Just so it is true that He is the Mediator between God and man; but it is also true that He intercedes actively for none but those that come unto God by Him. Hence it is written, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world.”

This special intercession of the Lord Jesus is one grand secret of the believer’s safety. He is daily watched, and thought for, and provided for with unfailing care, by One whose eye never slumbers and never sleeps. Jesus is “able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by Him, because He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Heb 7:25.) They never perish, because He never ceases to pray for them, and His prayer must prevail. They stand and persevere to the end, not because of their own strength and goodness, but because Jesus intercedes for them. Judas fell never to rise again, while Peter fell, but repented, and was restored. The reason of the difference lay under those words of Christ to Peter, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” (Luk 22:32.)

The true servant of Christ ought to lean back his soul on the truth before us, and take comfort in it. It is one of the peculiar privileges and treasures of a believer, and ought to be well known. However much it may be wrested and abused by false professors and hypocrites, it is one which those who really feel in themselves the workings of the Spirit should hold firmly and never let go. Well says the judicious Hooker,-“No man’s condition so safe as ours: the prayer of Christ is more than sufficient both to strengthen us, be we ever so weak; and to overthrow all adversary power, be it ever so strong and potent.” (“Hooker’s Sermons.” Nisbet’s edit., 1834, p. 171.)

We learn, for another thing, in these verses, that Christ does not wish His believing people to be taken out of the world, but to be kept from the evil of it.

We need not doubt that our Lord’s all-seeing eye detected in the hearts of His disciples an impatient desire to get away from this troubled world. Few in number and weak in strength, surrounded on every side by enemies and persecutors, they might well long to be released from the scene of conflict, and to go home. Even David had said in a certain place, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove, then would I flee away and be at rest!” (Psa 55:6.) Seeing all this, our Lord has wisely placed on record this part of His prayer for the perpetual benefit of His Church. He has taught us the great lesson that He thinks it better for His people to remain in the world and be kept from its evil, than to be taken out of the world and removed from the presence of evil altogether.

Nor is it difficult on reflection to see the wisdom of our Lord’s mind about His people, in this as in everything else. Pleasant as it might be to flesh and blood to be snatched away from conflict and temptation, we may easily see that it would not be profitable. How could Christ’s people do any good in the world, if taken away from it immediately after conversion?-How could they exhibit the power of grace, and make proof of faith, and courage, and patience, as good soldiers of a crucified Lord?-How could they be duly trained for heaven, and taught to value the blood and intercession and patience of their Redeemer, unless they purchased their experience by suffering?-Questions like these admit of only one kind of answer. To abide here in this vale of tears, tried, tempted, assaulted, and yet kept from falling into sin, is the surest plan to promote the sanctification of Christians, and to glorify Christ. To go to heaven at once, in the day of conversion, would doubtless be an easy course, and would save us much trouble. But the easiest course is not always the path of duty. He that would win the crown must carry the cross, and show himself light in the midst of darkness, and salt in the midst of corruption. “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.” (2Ti 2:12.)

If we have any hope that we are Christ’s true disciples, let us be satisfied that Christ knows better than we do what is for our good. Let us leave “our times in His hand,” and be content to abide here patiently as long as He pleases, however hard our position, so long as He keeps us from evil. That He will so keep us we need not doubt, if we ask Him, because He prays that we may be “kept.” Nothing, we may be sure, glorifies grace so much as to live like Daniel in Babylon, and the saints in Nero’s household,-in the world and yet not of the world,-tempted on every side and yet conquerors of temptation, not taken out of the reach of evil and yet kept and preserved from its power.

==================

Notes-

v9.-[I pray for them, etc., etc.] In this verse our Lord begins that part of His prayer which is specially intercessory, and proceeds to name things which He asks for His disciples, from this point down to the end of the chapter. It may be convenient to remember that the things He asks may be divided under four heads. He prays that His disciples may be (a) kept, (b) sanctified, (c) united, (d) and be with Him in glory. Four more important things cannot be desired for believers.

To say, as some have said, that our Lord’s intercessory prayer is an exact specimen of what He does in heaven as our High Priest, is straining a point, and going too far. To suppose that the Son literally asks things of the Father by prayer in heaven, is in my judgment unreasonable, and a very limited, narrow view of Christ’s intercession. We are reading a prayer made by our Lord during the time of His earthly ministry, before His ascension and session at God’s right hand; and we are not reading an account of what He does for us, as our Priest, within the veil. Let it suffice us to believe that the intercession of this chapter exhibits accurately Christ’s mind toward believers, His desires for believers, the active interest He takes in believers, and the graces He would fain see in believers. Above all, let us believe that if we seek for ourselves the same four things that Jesus here names, we have a Friend in heaven who will take care that we do not seek in vain, and will make our prayer effectual.

There are two interpretations of our Lord’s meaning, when He speaks of praying for the disciples, and “not praying for the world.”

Some, as Bengel and Alford, think that our Lord meant, “At this present moment I pray specially for my disciples, and not for the world.” They will not admit that our Lord does not pray and intercede in any way for the wicked and unbelieving; and they quote with some show of reason His prayer at the crucifixion for His murderers,-“Father, forgive them.” (Luk 23:34.)

Others, as Hutcheson and Lampe, think that our Lord meant, “I pray specially for my disciples, because now and always it is their special privilege to be prayed for and interceded for by Me.” The advocates of this view maintain that it is derogatory to our Lord’s honour to suppose that He can ever ask anything in vain; and that His intercession specially belongs to “those who come unto God by Him.” (Heb 7:25.)

The point in dispute is a nice and delicate one, and will probably never be settled. On the one hand we must take care that we do not forget that our Lord Jesus Christ does take a special interest in His believing people, and does do special things for them which He does not do for the wicked and unbelieving.-On the other hand we must not forget that our Lord pities all, cares for all, and has provided salvation sufficient for all mankind. There is no escaping the text which says of the wicked that they “deny the Lord that bought them.” (2Pe 2:1.) The most fair and honest interpretation of the text, “God so loved the world” (Joh 3:16), is to regard “the world” as meaning all mankind.

The whole dispute turns, as is often the case in such disputes, on the meaning we put on a word. If by “intercession” we mean vaguely and generally the whole mediatorial work of Christ on behalf of mankind, it is then true that Christ intercedes for all, both good and bad; and this text before us must mean, “I pray at this moment specially for my people, and am only thinking of them.”-If, on the other hand, we mean by “intercession” that special work which Christ does for His people, in order to carry them to heaven, after calling, pardoning, justifying, renewing, and sanctifying them, it is then plain that Christ intercedes for none but believers, and that the words before us mean, “I pray now, as always, specially for my disciples, and not for the world.”

If I must give an opinion, I must own that I decidedly hold the second or last view of which I have spoken. I believe that Christ never, in the fullest sense of the word, “makes intercession” for the wicked. I believe that such intercession is a peculiar privilege of the saints, and one grand reason of their continuance in grace. They stand, because there is One in heaven who actively and effectually intercedes.

I will give place to no one in maintaining that Jesus loves all mankind, came into the world for all, died for all, provided redemption sufficient for all, calls on all, invites all, commands all to repent and believe; and ought to be offered to all-freely, fully, unreservedly, directly, unconditionally-without money and without price. If I did not hold this, I dare not get into a pulpit, and I should not understand how to preach the Gospel.

But while I hold all this, I maintain firmly that Jesus does special work for those who believe, which He does not do for others. He quickens them by His Spirit, calls them by His grace, washes them in His blood-justifies them, sanctifies them, keeps them, leads them, and continually intercedes for them-that they may not fall. If I did not believe all this, I should be a very miserable, unhappy Christian.

Holding this opinion, I regard the text before us as one which describes our Lord’s special intercession for His people; and I take the meaning to be simply, “I pray for them, as my peculiar people, that they may be kept, sanctified, united, and glorified; but I do not pray for the world.”

The famous text, “Father, forgive them” (Luk 23:34), is at best a doubtful one. Will any one undertake to say, that those for whom our Lord prayed were never forgiven and saved?-Have we forgotten that within fifty days after that prayer 3,000 souls were converted at Pentecost, of whom Peter said, “By wicked hands ye crucified and slew Jesus of Nazareth”? (Act 2:23.) Who can prove that the very men who crucified our Lord were not among the number of the converted, and were thus the answer to our Lord’s prayer?-These however are conjectures at the very best. The matter is one which is not necessary to salvation, and one about which Christians must agree to differ, and must not excommunicate one another. “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” (Rom 14:5.)

Hengstenberg remarks, “The world may be viewed under two aspects. First, there is the susceptibility of grace, which, despite the depths of the sinful depravation of Adam’s race, still remains in it. Of the world in this sense Jesus says, ‘I came not into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world.’ (Joh 1:29; Joh 3:17.) Viewed under this aspect, the world is the subject of Christ’s intercession. The disciples themselves were won from the world. But the world may also be viewed as ruled by predominantly ungodly principles. Of the world in this sense we read that it cannot receive the ‘Spirit of truth.’ (Joh 14:17.) To pray for the world, thus viewed, would be as vain as to pray for the prince of this world.”

Manton suggests that we must draw some distinction between the intercession of Christ as a Divine Mediator, and the prayers of Christ as a man, wherein He is an example to His people. Yet, however just this remark, it hardly seems to apply to this peculiarly solemn prayer.

[For them…given Me…thine.] Our Lord here repeats the description of His disciples which He had given before. They were men whom “the Father had given Him” to teach, and feed, and save. They were His Father’s sheep, intrusted to His charge. Therefore, He seems to argue, “I am specially bound to pray for them, and ask for them everything that their souls need. Like a good Shepherd, I must give an account of them one day.”

v10.-[And all mine…thine…mine.] This sentence seems to come in parenthetically, and to be a reassertion of the great truth of the perfect unity of the Father and the Son. The words in the Greek mean literally “things,” and not “persons.” “All my things are Thy things, and all Thy things are my things. As with everything else, these eleven disciples are not mine more than Thine, or Thine more than mine.” This continual assertion of the doctrine of the perfect unity of the Godhead, and the distinction of the Persons in the Trinity, is very remarkable and instructive.

[I am glorified in them.] In this sentence our Lord seems to return to the disciples. “I have been and am glorified in them, by their faith and obedience and love, when the vast majority of their countrymen have hated and rejected Me. They have honoured Me and brought glory to Me, by continuing with Me in my tribulation. Therefore I now make special prayer and intercession for them.”

Let us mark here that the weakest faith and love to Christ brings Him some glory, and is not overlooked by Him.

v11.-[And now I am…come to Thee.] In the beginning of this verse our Lord describes the position of the disciples, and shows the special reason why they required prayer and intercession to be made for them. They were about, for the first time, to be left alone like orphans, and thrown on their own resources, in a certain sense. Hitherto they had always had their Master at their side, and could turn to Him in every case of need. Now they were about to enter on a totally different condition of things.-“The time of my departure from the world is at hand. I am very soon about to ascend into heaven and come to Thee. But these few sheep, these weak disciples, are not coming to heaven with Me. They are going to be left alone in a wicked, cold, persecuting world.”

Poole observes, “Christ here speaks of Himself as one who had already died, and was already risen, and ascended, though none of all these things were past, because they were so soon and suddenly to come.”

Let us not fail to note how our Lord remembers the position of His people here on earth,-cares tenderly for them, and will make all needful provision for their safety and comfort. “I know thy works, and where thou dwellest.” (Rev 2:13.)

[Holy Father.] This is the only place in the Gospels where we find our Lord addressing the Father by this epithet. There is doubtless some good reason for it. It may be that there is a fitness in asking the “Holy” Father to keep the disciples holy and free from the dominion of evil. “As Thou art holy, so keep these my disciples holy.”

[Keep through Thine…name…given Me.] Here is the first petition that our Lord puts up for His disciples. He asks that they may be kept and preserved from evil, from falling away, from false doctrine, from being overcome by temptation, from being crushed by persecution, from every device and assault of the devil. Danger was around them on every side. Weakness was their present characteristic. Preservation was what He asked.

The expression, “Keep through Thine own name,” is remarkable. I take it to mean, “Through Thine own attributes of power, love, and wisdom.” The “name” of God, as before remarked, is frequently used in Scripture to signify His character and attributes.

[That they may be one, as we are.] Here our Lord mentions one special object for which He desires that His people may be kept: viz., their unity: that they may be one.-“Keep them, that they may be of one heart and one mind, striving together against common foes and for common ends, and not broken up, weakened, and paralyzed by internal quarrels and divisions.”

He adds the highest model and pattern of unity,-“one, as we are,”-the unity of the Father and the Son. Of course there cannot be literally such unity between Christian and Christian, as there is between two Persons in the Trinity. But the unity which Jesus prays the disciples may aim at, should be a close, intimate, unbroken unity of mind, and will, and opinion, and feeling.

Burgon remarks here, “The word rendered ‘as,’ both here and in Joh 17:21, does not denote strict correspondence, but only general resemblance; as in the Athanasian Creed, where the union of two natures in the one Person of Christ, is popularly illustrated by the union of the ‘reasonable soul and flesh’ in man.” (Comp. Mat 5:48; Luk 6:36.)

The importance attached by our Lord to “unity” among Christians, is very strikingly illustrated by the prominent place assigned to it in this verse. The very first object for which He desires the preservation of the disciples, is that they may be kept from division. Nor can we wonder at this, when we consider the interminable divisions of Christians in every age, the immense harm they have done in the world, and the astounding indifference with which many regard them, as if they were perfectly innocent things, and as if the formation of new sects was a laudable work!

v12.-[While…with them…kept…Thy name.] Our Lord here recites what He had done for the disciples during His ministry: “Throughout the three years in which I have been with these eleven disciples in the world, I used to keep them from all harm, through Thy power and name.”-I can see no reason why the same Greek words should not be rendered “through Thy name,” in this verse, as well as in the preceding one. In both cases the idea seems the same,-a preservation through the grace, power, and attributes of God the Father.

[Thou…gavest…kept…none…lost.] The word rendered “kept” in this clause, is quite different from the word so rendered in the first part of the verse. There it means simply, “I have preserved.” Here it means, “I have guarded,” like a shepherd guarding a flock, or a soldier guarding a treasure. “I have so carefully guarded those disciples whom Thou hast given Me, that not one of them has perished, or is lost.”

[But the son of perdition.] This remarkable expression of course refers to Judas Iscariot, the traitor, the only one of the Apostles who was lost and cast away in hell. The name given to Judas is a strong Hebraism, and means “a person worthy of perdition, or only fit to be lost and cast away, by reason of his wickedness.” David says to Saul’s servants, “Ye are worthy to die;” or, as the margin says, “sons of death.” (1Sa 26:16.) Again, he says to Nathan, “The man that hath done this thing shall surely die,” or, “is a son of death.” (2Sa 12:5; see also Psa 79:11; Mat 13:38; Luk 16:8.) It is a tremendously strong expression to come from the lips of our merciful and loving Saviour. It shows the desperate hopelessness of any one who, living in great light and privileges like Judas, misuses his opportunities, and deliberately follows the bent of his own sinful inclinations. He becomes the “child of hell.” (Mat 23:15.)

A question of very grave importance arises out of the words before us. Did our Lord mean that Judas was originally one of those that the Father “gave to him,” and was primarily a true believer? Did he therefore fall away from grace?-Many maintain, as Hammond, Alford, Burgon, and Wordsworth, that Judas was at one time a true believer, like Peter, James, and John,-that the text is an unanswerable proof that grace may be lost,-and that a man may be converted, and have the Holy Ghost, and yet finally fall away, and perish for ever in hell.-This is not only a very uncomfortable doctrine, but one which it is hard to reconcile with many plain texts of Scripture, to say nothing of the seventeenth Article of our own Church.-But does the text before us clearly prove that Judas was one of those who were “given” to Christ by the Father? I believe firmly that it does not. I maintain that the “but” in the text is not an “exceptive” word, but an “adversative” one. I hold the right meaning to be, “Those whom Thou gavest Me I have kept, and out of them not one is lost. But there is one man who is lost, even Judas the son of perdition; not one who was ever given to Me, but one whom I declared long ago to be ‘a devil,’ a man whose hardened heart fitted him for destruction.”

It is easy of course to say that this view is a far-fetched and non-natural one. I ask those who say this to observe, that the same Greek words here rendered “but,” are used in other places in the New Testament, where it is impossible to put an “exceptive” sense on them, and where the “adversative” meaning is the only one they can possibly bear.-I challenge any one to deny that “but,” in such texts as Mat 12:4, “but only for the priests,”- Mar 13:32, “but the Father,”- Rev 9:4, “but only those men,”- Rev 21:27, “but they which are written,”-must be interpreted as an “adversative,” and cannot possibly be an “exceptive” word. (See also Act 27:22 and 2Ki 5:17.) And so it is here. Our Lord does not mean, “No one of those given to Me is lost EXCEPT the son of perdition.”-What He does mean is, “Not one of those given to Me is lost. On the other hand, and in contrast, Judas, a man not given to Me, a graceless man, is lost.”

Let me add, in confirmation of the view I maintain, that in the very next chapter the expression here used is referred to by John, in his account of our Lord’s capture. “He says, “The saying was fulfilled which He spake: Of them which Thou gavest Me have I lost none” (Joh 18:9); and not one hint does he give of any exception having been made by our Lord, when he heard Him use the expression before.

The view I advocate is maintained by De Dieu, Gomarus, Lampe, Hutcheson, and Manton.

It is a curious fact that even in our own English language, Milton, writing in the seventeenth century, when the last revision of our Bible took place, has used the word “except” in the same way. He says of Satan, in “Paradise Lost:”-

“God and His Son except, created thing

Nought valued He or shunned.”

“Except” there must clearly be “adversative.” God and His Son are not created things! Both Brown (on xvii. John) and Doddridge quote this sentence of Milton.

Bishop Beveridge, quoted by Ford, remarks, “Judas, here called the son of perdition, though he seemed to be given to Christ, and to come to Him, yet really did not. Therefore, though he was lost, as the Scripture had foretold, yet Christ’s word is still true, that He never casts out, nor loseth any, that really come to Him.”

[That Scripture…fulfilled.] Here, as in many places, it does not mean that Judas was lost in order to fulfill Scripture, but that the Scripture was fulfilled by the loss of Judas. The place referred to is Psa 109:8.

Let us not fail to note the high honour put on Scripture in this place. Even in a prayer of the utmost solemnity addressed by the Son to the Father, we find reverent allusion to the written word of the Old Testament, and to that oft-quoted book, the Psalms.

v13.-[And now come I to Thee, etc.] This is a somewhat elliptical verse. I take the meaning to be something of this kind: “I am now soon leaving the world, and coming to Thee. Before leaving the world, I speak these things openly in prayer in the hearing of these my disciples, in order that they may be cheered and comforted, and feel the joy which I give to them filled up and abounding in their hearts.”

I can hardly think that our Lord is referring to the discourse which preceded this prayer. It seems more natural to apply “these things I speak” to His prayer.

The expression, “my joy,” occurs before, in Joh 15:11. It must mean that peculiar, inward sense of comfort that Christ imparts to believers, and which no one knows excepting him who receives it.

v14.-[I have given them Thy Word, etc.] In this verse our Lord appears to describe more fully the position of the disciples as an introduction to a more full repeated prayer for their preservation. It is as though He said, “I do not pray that my disciples may be kept without good reason. I have given them the Word of the Gospel, and they have received it, and have been at once persecuted and ill-treated for receiving it. In short, the world has hated them ever since they became my disciples, because, like myself, they are not of the world, neither holding the world’s principles, nor walking in the world’s ways.”

Let us not fail to remark that true believers must expect the hatred and enmity of the wicked in every age. They must not be surprised at it. Christ and His disciples had to endure it, and all real Christians must endure it too. The reason of this enmity is the continued testimony which believers bear against the world’s opinions and practices. The world feels itself condemned, and hates those whose faith and lives condemn it. If believers were more bold, decided, and consistent, they would soon find these things out more than they do now. The good opinion of the world is about the last thing a true Christian should expect or desire. If all men speak well of his opinions and ways in religion, he may well doubt whether there is not something very wrong and defective about them. We are not to court the world’s enmity. A narrow, morose, uncourteous, and exclusive spirit, is downright wrong. But we are never to be the least surprised by the world’s enmity if we meet with it; and the more holy we are, the more we shall meet with it. Christ was perfect in holiness; but the world hated Him.

v15.-[I pray not that Thou, etc., etc.] In this verse our Lord repeats, and develops more fully, His prayer that His disciples may be kept. His meaning appears to be this:-“Wicked and persecuting as the world is, I pray not that Thou wouldest take my disciples immediately out of it. Such removal would be bad for themselves, and bad for the world. What I do pray is, that remaining in the world, Thou wouldest keep them from the evil of the world. Though in it, let them not be spoiled or corrupted by it.”

The deep wisdom of this prayer is very instructive. There are few Christians who would not like to go to heaven without trouble, conflict, and persecution. Yet it would not be for their own sanctification, and it would deprive the world of the benefit of their teaching and example. Believers would never value Christ and heaven as much as they will do one day, if they were not kept here on earth a good deal, taught to know their own hearts, and, like their Master, “perfected by suffering.” (Heb 2:10.)

Hutcheson remarks, “However much we ought to have our eye upon our rest, and make ready for it, yet we are not anxiously to long for it till God’s time come, nor to be weary of life because of any trouble, persecution, or inconvenience we meet with in His service.”

There is a strong indirect argument here, as Bullinger and Gualter remark, against the favourite theory of many, that entire retreat from the world, by going into monasteries and convents, is the secret of eminent holiness. Eminent holiness is most seen by publicly winning a victory over evil, and not by a cowardly desertion of our post in society.

Three of the only prayers not granted to saints, recorded in Scripture, are the prayers of Moses, Elijah, and Jonah, to be “taken out of the world.”

Gerhard remarks that the Apostles were to be the first preachers of the Gospel and the light of the world. If they had been taken away immediately after their Lord, the world would have been left in darkness. Moreover, the cross is the school of faith and patience, and without remaining in the world they could not have become eminent saints.

George Newton remarks, “The world is the place where we bring glory to the Lord; in the world to come we are glorified by Him. Oh, let us be so ingenuous as to desire to be awhile where we may glorify God, rather than where we may have glory from Him. Let us not be so eager for our wages and our rest, till we have finished our work and served our generation. When we have done so God will glorify us with Himself for ever.”

The meaning of the phrase, “the evil,” is a point on which there is much difference of opinion.

Some think that it means simply, as our translation of the Bible has it,-evil in the abstract,-all evil of every kind,-like “deliver us from evil” in the Lord’s prayer; and they think that it includes all evil that may assail us from the world, the flesh,, and the devil.

Others think that the words would have been better rendered, “the evil one,” and apply the expression to the devil, as the first great cause and beginner of evil. The word is so rendered in Mat 13:19-38; 1Jn 2:13-14; 1Jn 3:12; 1Jn 5:18.

The question is one which will probably never be settled, and the Greek phrase may be translated either way. Nevertheless I decidedly incline to think that our translation is right. It is “evil” in the abstract, and not the devil, that our Lord means. I think so, partly because the devil is not anywhere brought forward in this prayer, and partly because it is more consistent to reason to suppose our Lord would have His disciples kept from all kind of “evil,” than from the devil only. This is the more clear to my mind, from the fact that it is “the world,” and its hatred and enmity, which our Lord has just been speaking of, and not the devil. However, I freely admit that it is an open question.

v16.-[They are not of the world, etc.] These words are a literal repetition of the end of the fourteenth verse, and need no further comment. Our Lord seems to repeat them in order to add emphasis to the request He has just made; and the repetition strengthens my opinion that it is “the evil in the world” which He specially desires His people to be kept from. “They need to be specially kept and preserved, because, I repeat, there is an entire want of harmony, a gulf of separation between them and this wicked world, in which I leave them. They are much hated, and need to be much kept.”

Repetitions in real, earnest prayer, we may observe, are not wrong: Christ’s example warrants them. It is “vain repetitions,” such as were common among the heathen, repeating the same words over and over again, without thought or feeling, against which we are warned in the Sermon on the Mount. (Mat 6:7.)

Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

Joh 17:9. I ask concerning them; I ask not concerning the world, but concerning them which thou hast given me. In the preceding verses the mind of Jesus has been filled with the thought of the position of the disciples: He now proceeds directly to pray for them; and the substance of His prayer is that they, occupying His place, may be so preserved as to be what He had been,true to the word given them, victorious over the devil, consecrated, filled with joy, to His glory and the glory of the Father in Him. So fully, too, are His thoughts occupied with them, that the whole energy of His prayer is devoted to them alone. He will not for the present ask concerning the enemy to be assailed, but about the assailants who are to take His place. Without denouncing the world, therefore, He simply sets it aside. It may indeed be asked, Why mention it at all? The answer probably is, to bring out that perfect correspondence between the will of the Son and of the Father, which is the ground of the Sons confidence in prayer. Hence the emphatic I with which the verse begins,I, who came forth from the Father, who am sent of the Father (Joh 17:8); I, who am the perfect expression of the Father, willing only what He wills,I do not go beyond those whom He has given Me. This last thought then finds utterance.

Because they are thine. In Joh 17:6 it had been They were thine: then they had been looked at only as the possession of the Father. Now they are thine: they have been brought back to Him and united to Him in a closer, dearer bond than ever,the bond of fellowship in the Son.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

That is, “I now offer up a prayer particularly, 1. For my apostles, designed for so great a work as the preaching of the everlasting gospel to the obstinate Jews and obdurate Gentiles.

2. I intercede also for all believers at this time, for their perseverance in the faith, and constancy in persecution, but I do not now intercede for the wicked and impenitent world, they not being capable (whilst such) of these mercies and blessings;” though at other times we find him praying for the world, yea, for his very crucifiers: Father, forgive them, &c.

Nay, in this very prayer, at the 20th verse, he prays for the world; that is, for the Gentile world; all those that, by the preaching of the apostles and their successors, should be brought to believe on him to the end of the world.

Learn hence, 1. That the Lord Jesus Christ is the great and gracious intercessor.

2. That all believers, all the children of God in general, are under the fruit and benefit of Christ’s intercession.

3. That as all the members of Christ in general, so the ministers and ambassadors of Christ in special, have a particular interest in Christ’s intercession: and great are the advantages of his intercession for them.

1. From the person interceding, Christ: consider the dignity of his person, God-man: the dearness of his person, God’s son.

2. From the manner of his intercession: not by way of entreaty, but meritorious claim.

3. From the sublimity of his office: our intercessor is near to God, even at his right hand.

4. From the fruits of his intercession: it procures the acceptance and justification of our persons, the hearing and answering of our prayers, the pardon and forgiveness of our sins, our preservation in grace, and our hopes of eternal glory.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Joh 17:9-10. I pray for them Who have attended me as my apostles. These only he prays for here, as appears from Joh 17:12, where he says, he had kept all the persons he was praying for in the faith and practice of true religion, except the son of perdition; and from Joh 17:18, where he says, he had commissioned them to go forth into the world for the same purpose that the Father had sent him; and from Joh 17:20, where he expressly distinguishes them from all other believers whatever. I pray not for the world Not in these petitions, which are adapted to the state of believers only. But this no more proves that our Lord did not pray for the world, both before and afterward, than his praying for the apostles only in these verses proves that he did not pray for them also who should believe in him through their word, Joh 17:20. But for them which thou hast given me, &c. See on verse; for they are thine The reason thus assigned for making them the subject of his prayers at this time is remarkable. It is as if he had said, I employ the last moments of my life in praying particularly for my apostles, because their are more especially thy servants, destined for that work which is the great object of thy attention, the instruction and salvation of the world. All mine are thine All my servants are thy servants; that is, whosoever assists me in my work, serves thee in thy great designs of love and mercy to men. And thine are mine Thy servants are my servants; every one who really serves thee must join issue with me, and assist me in my work. And I am glorified in them By the zeal, faithfulness, and success of my servants in converting the world, I am greatly honoured. This, however, is not our Lords only meaning in this clause; the original words being , , not, all my servants are thy servants, &c., but, all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine; expressions too grand for any mere creature to use; as implying, that all things whatsoever, inclusive of the divine nature, perfections, and operations, are the common property of the Father and the Son. And this is the original ground of that peculiar property which both the Father and the Son have, in the persons who were given to Christ as Mediator, according to what is said in the close of the verse of his being glorified by them; namely, by their believing in him, and so acknowledging his glory.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Vv. 9, 10. I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me, because they are thine. 10. And all that which is mine is thine, and that which is thine is mine, and I am glorified in them.

From the infinite value which these antecedents give to the person of the disciples, Jesus draws this conclusion: I pray for them. , I, at the beginning: I, who have labored so much to bring them to this point and to whom they now belong.

Then, immediately afterwards, and before the verb, the limiting words , for them: For them, this fruit of my labors, this present which thou hast made to me. This general prayer is equivalent to an: I commend them to thee. Thus is the antithesis explained: I pray not for the world. Jesus has not the same grounds for commending the world to God; if He wished to pray here for the world, He would formulate His petitions on its behalf quite differently. Luther rightly says: What must be asked for the world is that it should be converted, not that it should be kept or sanctified. Assuredly the refusal of Jesus to pray for the world is not absolute. He Himself says on the cross: Father, forgive them! Is not this to pray for the world? Only He does not, as here, allege this ground:They have known (Joh 17:8); He says, on the contrary, For they know not what they do. He cannot make an appeal to God for the world, as for a precious being which belongs to Him, as He does here for His disciples. All that He can do on the cross is to make an appeal to His compassion towards a being who is guilty and is lost. Moreover, the words of Joh 17:21 : That the world may know that thou hast sent me, contain also an implicit prayer on behalf of the world. Comp. Joh 3:16. The refusal of Jesus to pray for the world becomes absolute only when its moral character of opposition to God is irrevocably fixed, and when it has become the society of those who not only are enemies of God, but who desire to remain such (Gess).

Before expressing the more special petitions included in this general prayer, Jesus presents again the two principal claims which the disciples have to the divine interest: 1. God has Himself given them to Jesus, and He must keep this gift for Him. Still more, by thus becoming the property of Jesus, they have not ceased to be that of God. For all property is common between them, and this bond connecting them with Jesus strengthens forever that which bound them to God. Would a mere creature express himself in this way? Luther says: Every man can say, What I have is thine; but the Son alone can say, What is thine is mine. The present, are thine, is purposely substituted for the imperfect, were thine, Joh 17:6, in order to express the idea that the gift made to Jesus has only served to confirm their belonging to God. 2. The second ground which commends them henceforth to the Father’s interest is, that they are become the depositaries of the glory of the Son (perfect, ). We must not make this clause depend on the of Joh 17:9, which would render the sentence dragging, and would force us to make a parenthesis of the first part of Joh 17:10.

The expression: I am glorified in them, has been understood in different ways. There is no reason to depart from the constant sense of the term: to be glorified. Notwithstanding His form of servant, Jesus has been manifested to them inwardly in His divine character; even before having been restored to His glory, He has regained it within them by the fact that they have recognized Him as the Son of God. This is the testimony which Jesus has borne to them, Joh 17:7-8.

With this general commendation there are connected two more precise petitions. The first: keep them, is prepared for by Joh 17:11 a, expressly stated Joh 17:11 b, and supported by reasons Joh 17:12-15.

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

Joh 17:9-19. On the ground of this accomplished work He now prays for these disciples. The world, which is not beyond the sphere of His love, is excluded from this part of His prayer. It can be reached only through them. These disciples, His by Gods gift, are the object of the love and care of both, for whom all things are in common. He has proved His ownership by their acceptance of His message. Now that He leaves the world, where they must stay to do their work, and comes to the Father, in the light of this coming separation He prays that they may be kept in true union with God, whose holiness separates Him from the world; that they may keep their unity, even as the Father and the Son are one. While with them He kept them in touch with God, the Holy Father whose name it was His to make known, and guarded them safely. None fell away, but the son of perdition, Judas, the man of the wasted life. And that was part of Gods plan as foretold in Scripture (Psa 109:8). He asks that the joy which He has made His own, the joy of consciously accomplished work, may be fully gained by them for themselves. He gave them Gods message, which must needs bring on them the worlds hatred, for their acceptance has shown that, like Him, they do not belong to the world (1Jn 2:15-17*). He does not ask for their removal to safer spheres, but that they should be kept from the evil of that to which they do not belong, by being sanctified, made and kept holy as God is holy, by the truth as it is revealed in Gods message which He has delivered (cf. Psa 119:142). So they will be fit for their work to which He sends them, as He was sent. Sanctification is that which qualifies the priest to perform his office, or which gives to the victim the quality that makes it well pleasing to God. By His death He sets Himself apart (Joh 17:19) for Gods service on their behalf, that they too may receive true setting apart for the same service, a real and not merely symbolical sanctification.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Because the Eleven had believed on Him Jesus made request for them, not for the world, at this point. The basis for that request was that these disciples belonged to God, so their welfare was His special interest. Those who belong to the Father belong equally to the Son. Thus Jesus claimed equal concern for the Eleven with the Father. This is another claim of equality with the Father. Glory had come to Jesus through the faith of the Eleven, as it had not come from the world.

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