“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.” John 17:6.
“Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.” John 17:7.
Verse six above has been included to maintain context.
The Jews went out of their way to accuse Jesus of using the powers of Satan to perform miracles and cast out demons.
At some point the disciples must have believed that the Lord was using powers from within Himself to do these miracles; but by this time they had come to realize that Jesus only used power given to Him by God the Father.
It is not that Christ could not do these miracles, rather, it was that it was determined that all of the glory should be derived through His total dependence on the Father.
“For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. 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 Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.” John 17:8-10.
When you consider the first sentence above it becomes obvious that this is the exact same way one accepts Christ as savior.
“…I have given them the words which You have given Me”, a person hears the gospel of Jesus Christ as given from the Scriptures.
“…and they have received them”, the person who hears the gospel believes it in their heart.
“…and have known surely that I came forth from You”, they believe that Jesus Christ is truly whom He says He is.
“…and they have believed that You sent Me.” the Lord Jesus cannot be separated from God the Father.
“Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” 1 John 2:22-23.
“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.” John 17:9.
There are two kingdoms here; Satan’s kingdom in the world and the kingdom of God.
“…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:12-14.
The Lord is making intercession for His disciples whom He was leaving behind to continue His work. By extension He is also praying for every Christian who is to come out of the world.
But for now, this is for the disciples. It is not necessary to pray for the world because its system is opposed to God and His Christ.
One might argue, yes but God controls the world, which is true.
“The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” Proverbs 21:1.
“Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it.” Deuteronomy 10:14.
“You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.” Nehemiah 9:6.
However that has not stopped men from choosing a demonic system over God’s rule. And yes, God can just walk in and take over, but it would do no good, men would still rebel and hate Him.
A system where there is free choice is the only way men will make an honest decision for or against God.
If God walked into your house today and said; you should not be watching this on television, those magazines are wrong for you to look at, you must treat your spouse better, you should not be home from work, you are not sick like you said, you are cheating your neighbor by not returning what you borrowed on time.
That would get pretty old in a hurry would it not? Since this would quickly tire Christians, think of how the unsaved who love these things would feel.
If God were to come to earth, and rule in justice and truth, even with a bounty of food, good health, no pollution, and complete peace; no more earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, or war, mankind would be miserable.
Miserable because they could not run riot in sin; the ungodly do not have a new nature in Christ Jesus, so they have no desire to serve God.
“For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles – when we walked in licentiousness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” 1 Peter 4:3-5.
If man so wants peace, less crime, rapes, pedophiles, sex and drug trafficking, slavery, starvation and misery; why does he not do anything?
Instead men look the other way or accept bribes; governments only want power, raising taxes so they can waste it. Very little money is used to combat crime and vigorously prosecute the same. And very little money is used to improve the country’s infrastructure. But when things go wrong, it is God’s fault.
Why does He not do anything? Actually, the Lord is going to do something; when man is done proving to himself and all the angelic hosts his evil incompetence without God:
“But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, and the nations will not be able to abide His indignation.” Jeremiah 10:10.
“For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is fully mixed, and He pours it out; surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain and drink down.” Psalm 75:8.
“And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be – ‘The Lord is one,’ and His name one.” Zechariah 14:9.
“And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.” John 17:10.
This is rendered as literally, “All My things are Yours and Your things are Mine” in the Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, commentary on John. I did change out the old English from Thine and Thy, to Yours and Your.
This really puts an emphasis on the complete shared ownership of all believers in Jesus.
Jesus speaks of the eternal security of believers in the hands of the Father and the Son in John 10.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” John 10:27-30.
Jesus ends His statement of ownership by saying, “…I am glorified in them.” Believers glorify Christ, because they have chosen Him over the world, which is even more of a reason to sanctify ourselves, set ourselves apart, from the evil deeds of the world.
Yet, more than anything, Christ is glorified in the Christian because without Jesus’ brave act of sacrificing Himself for our sins, no one in the history of mankind would be saved. That is a glorious fact.
“Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” John 17:11-12.
In the first sentence it can be seen that Jesus already viewed Himself as having been crucified, risen, and ascended to the Father’s right hand.
This prayer to keep the disciples in the Father’s Holy name is much the same as those He brings before the Father as our Advocate in heaven today.
“My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1.
“…that they may be one as We are” there was a great need for unity among the disciples as they faced the withering opposition of the world without Christ physically at their side.
There is also in this, a tremendous emphasis on the need for the church, the body of Christ, being one. This is something that we have failed quite miserably to do. This unity is based on love.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35.
There is no greater tactic and none more favored by Satan than, divide and conquer. It works in nations, families, and in the church.
We should be well aware of Satan’s tactics by now, yet over and over he destroys unity among God’s people by dividing them. We must ever remember to, “…love one another as I have loved you.”
“But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” John 17:13.
Again the Lord refers to His soon departure, and adds, “…these things I speak in the world”, in other words He is speaking these things aloud in the presence of the disciples to encourage them before He leaves them, “…that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.”
This joy would come from the knowledge that through their teaching, multitudes would come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and that they would have the privilege of setting up His church.
“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” John 17:14-16.
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15:18-19.
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” 1 John 3:1.
“Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.” 1 John 3:13.
The Lord’s warning that the world hated Him before it hated the disciples was indeed prophetic, for the world wasted little time in persecuting the disciples; with James the brother of John being the first to be martyred in 44 A.D. by Herod, see Acts 12:1-2.
The Lord’s petition that the Father should not take the disciples out of the world is a reminder that we all have a job to do and our time is up only when that job is completed.
Important safety tip: if we are diligent in the calling God has given us we will live to its completion. If we tire of our task and decide to return to the temptations of the world, we will bring many trials upon ourselves and we may be fired.
“If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.” 1 John 5:16-17.
Jesus also asked, “…that You should keep them from the evil one.” This prayer request may cover a lot of ground. Satan is capable of touching a person’s body or his possessions even his family, see the first two chapters of the book of Job.
The evil one can influence one’s thoughts and perceptions; he can cause jealousy and division. His lies can pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ, as we can see happening in liberal and weak Christian churches today.
He has the ability to blind folks to the truth, and lull them into a sense of security when they are actually in peril. He can bring someone into the Christian’s life who will lead them astray. He delights in misery.
Christ’s prayer for His disciples is important from this aspect because these men would be responsible for Christianity itself and Satan well knew it.
All of us need to be constantly aware of the evil one’s treachery and pray for God’s protection for ourselves, our loved ones, and anyone else who is in peril of the snare of the devil.
“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” John 17:17.
If a Christian does not know what their place is in God’s plans, if they do not know how to act in the world, if they have been a Christian for some time and have found no differences in their life, if they do not know what to say to people who are unbelievers, if they are going through trials; all of the answers that are needed are in this one verse.
Read the Bible, this is what Jesus means by sanctification, being set apart by the word of God. People who do not study Scripture do not grow, period.
This cannot be emphasized enough. The reason Christianity has become like some bloated carcass floating lazily down a river is that there is a lot of city talk about how we love Jesus and go to church, and pray and tithe and do all the Jesus stuff without once making a concerted effort to read Scripture for ourselves.
We cannot change the world if we do not change; there is nothing for them to see.
“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” John 17:18-19.
The self-sacrifice of the disciple’s lives for the gospel of Christ is what is being sanctified, or set apart in this case. Christ has sanctified Himself, set Himself apart to the death of the cross for theirs and our justification and sanctification to salvation.
Your Word is Truth, John 17:7-19 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 5-16-13, updated on 3-22-18.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.