Gospel of John Made Easy
Chapter 17
This whole chapter is a prayer said by Jesus.
Vs. 1-3
Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour is come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify You.”
“As You have given him (Jesus, Your Son) power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as You have given him.”
“And this is life eternal, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”
When Jesus says the “hour is come”, he means the time has come for him to die on the cross.
Jesus said that the Father had given him power over all flesh. Only God has power over all flesh. Anything that lives—–Jesus has been given power over it/them by the Father.
Then Jesus said: God gave him this power so that he (Jesus) should (could) give eternal life to as many as the Father decides to give to him to have eternal life.
Only God has the power to give eternal life.
If Jesus has been given power over all flesh and the power to give eternal life then Jesus has the same power as God.
Vs.4- 5
Jesus keeps praying: “I have glorified You on the earth; I have finished the work that You gave me to do.”
“And now, Father, glorify me with Your own self with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
Jesus is saying here that he was in existence before the world was created.
Jesus is saying that he had “glory” with the Father before the world was made.
Vs. 6-10
Jesus prays: “I have shown clearly Your name unto all men, which You gave me out of the world: They belonged to You, and You gave them to me; and they have kept Your word.”
“Now they have known that all things whatever You have given me to say. For I have given unto them the words which you gave me to say. They have received them. They know for sure that I came out from You. They have believed that You sent me.”
“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world. I pray for them which you have given me, because they are mine.”
“All that are mine are Yours, too. All that are Yours are mine, too. I am glorified in them.”
When we read these words we get the idea that God has known who will receive Jesus and who will not. Jesus said, “all You have given me”.
Jesus spoke to large crowds of people. He told them all that he was the Son of God. He told them that he was able to give them eternal life if they believed in him.
All of the people had the opportunity to received Jesus’ words and believe in him.
Yet out of all of those people only a few received Jesus’ words and believed in him.
The ones who believed in him were the ones that God gave him.
God knows what men will do and choose and yet men have the freedom to choose.
Jesus is saying here that he is praying not for everyone in the world but for those who have chosen to believe in him.
Vs. 11
Jesus prays: “I now I am no more in the world, (meaning he will leave the earth soon) but these (the people who believe in him) are in the world. I come to you, Holy Father, by the power of Your own name keep all of these who believe and You have given to me. So that they will be one, as we are one.”
Jesus prays that these believers would be “one”. That they would be united by love and by their faith they would get along be so in harmony with each other they would be as “one”.
There are church groups who say that Jesus was God’s son but he was “lower or lesser” than God. They say that Jesus was not equal with God.
This verse says that he is “one” with God. In vs. 5, Jesus said that he had glory with the Father before the world began.
Vs. 12
Jesus prays: “While I was with them in the world, I kept them by the power of Your name. All the ones You gave me, I have kept them, none of them has been lost (they stayed true to believing) except one person the person who betrayed me so that the scripture would be fulfilled.”
Here again, we see the idea of God knowing how we will choose. God knew Judas would choose to betray Jesus.
Psalms 109:8, Psalms 60:25 Acts 1:20 is referring to Psalms when it says: “For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his home be empty, and let no man live there; let his place be given to another person.”
There are people who would say if God knew it would happen did that person have a “choice”. The idea that God knows ahead of time what will happen and what men will choose and their freedom to choose has been talked about for hundreds of years. It is something that is hard for the human mind to understand.
It is probably best to let this be one of those things about God that are hard to understand and we may have to wait until heaven to see it clearly.
God is all knowing. God is past, present, and future all at the same time. We are very much in the present “now”. And we know the past. Knowing the future, is not possible for us. So it is hard for us to understand how God can know ahead of time what someone will choose and yet that person still has freedom to choose.
Vs. 13-21
Jesus prays: “ And now I come to You (Father) , and these things I speak in the world, that they may be full of my joy.”
“I have given them Your word. The world (unbelievers) hate them because they are not one of them. Just like I am not of this world.”
“I pray that You would not take them out of the world but that You will keep them from evil.
They are not one of them of the world as I am not of this world.
Keep them clean and holy through Your word. Your word is truth.
As You have sent me in the world so I send them into the world.
For their sake (benefit) I keep myself clean, pure, holy that they also may be clean, pure, holy through the truth.
I do not pray for these (believers) only but I pray for any who will believe on me through their words.
I pray that will be “one” as You and I are ‘one” You Father are in me, and I am in You. That they will be “one” in us. So that the world will believe that You have sent me.”
Jesus prays for all who will believe in him someday. That is you and me. Jesus prayed for us. He prayed that we would be clean, and holy. He prayed that we would be “one” with the Father and Jesus.
It is his will that we be in unity and harmony with other believers and that we be in unity and harmony with God and Jesus.
For us to be “one” with Jesus and the Father means that we will need to keep looking to Him for guidance. We can not go off on our own. We can not do things in our own strength. We can not rush into things with our own understanding and wisdom.
We will need to stop and ask God first what he thinks. What He wants us to do and how does He want us to do it.
Vs. 22-26
Jesus prays:” The glory which you gave me, I have given glory to them. So they may be one as we are one.
I am in them, and You are in me. So that they may be made perfect as one. So that the world may know that You have sent me I have loved them as You have loved them.
Father, I want all those You have given me to be with me wherever I am. So that they can see my glory which You have given me. You have loved me before the foundation of the world was made.
O, Holy Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You, and these believers have known that You have sent me.
I have spoken to them Your name and I will tell it. So that the love that you have loved me may be in them and I will be in them.”