CHAPTER 17

John 17 is sometimes referred to as the chapter of "The High Priestly Prayer."
In this prayer, Jesus prays for:
1) Himself (vss 1-5),
2) His disciples (vss 6-19),
3) for ALL those who come to Christ (vss 20-24),
4) then, back to the immediate disciples again (vss 25-26 ).

1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

Before the party reached Gethsemane, Jesus began to pray.
Here, I believe, the inestimable imperative of prayer is displayed!
Our Lord, God in flesh, NEEDED prayer!
The disciples NEEDED to hear Him pray this pleading, intercessory prayer!
We ALL NEED to pray!!

By His look toward heaven, Jesus indicated these statements were indeed directed to "Father."
Never once did Jesus refer to "OUR Father."
He always called Him "Father," or "my Father."
This separates Jesus from all mankind as the One and ONLY true SON of God!

His first request is that His Father would "glorify" Him.
And, this, God did do.
For Jesus was crucified, laid in a tomb, resurrected, and ascended to heaven!

It is through this glory given to Jesus that God is glorified and magnified.
The plan of redemption, through the atonement of God in flesh, glorifies God.
And, each time a sinner repents and surrenders to Jesus, God is glorified.

God has given Jesus "power over all flesh." (Vs 2)
It is through Jesus and Jesus alone that ANY MAY be saved.
It is through Jesus and Jesus alone that ALL MUST be saved.
It is in the power of Jesus, given by the Father, that He may "Give eternal life" to whom He chooses!

Eternal life (vs 3) comes only by surrender to Jesus Christ.
Through surrender to Jesus, one comes to intimately "know" God!

All that Jesus did in His earthly life "glorified" God (vs 4).
Now, as He came to "finish" the work (through atoning death), He is completing His mission.

Verse 5, is very dynamic.
Jesus came from God. (See John 8:42)
He was indeed, "....made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)" (John 1:14).

Through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, the visible image of the invisible God, He was returned to the intimate "glory" which He had before the world was ever created. For,
"1 In the beginning was the WORD, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God." (John 1:1-2)

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.
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 be 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.

The name of God was certainly "manifested" (vs 6) in and through Jesus Christ.
In His Person and actions, Jesus revealed the nature, character, person and genuine care of God for and to all mankind.

The disciples certainly knew that the Old Testament doctrine of Messiah had come true in Jesus Christ (vs 7).
They knew from His teaching of the Old Testament prophecies (Vs 8).
They knew from His actions.
And, they knew and believed that all He was came from God.

Jesus prayed for the sanctification of the disciples (vs 9).
He was praying because God had "given" them to Him, and He had "given" them to God!
Therefore, He was praying that God, by intrinsic power would KEEP them, even in the face of an evil world.

One who belongs to Christ, belongs to God (vs 10).
None can belong to God for "eternal life" except they belong to Jesus in surrender.
The unity of God is displayed in that statement.
Those who come to Christ, glorify both Him and God.

Leaving the world physically, Jesus turns over the care of the disciples to the eternal spiritual essence of God (vs 11).
While He was "in the world" - He kept them (vs 12).
Now, they are transferred to the eternal keeping of Him Who is eternally caring.
Only one has not been kept....."the son of perdition."

((((I cannot escape the necessity to comment, though briefly, upon the designation: "son of perdition."

Please note, that in this particular passage of Scripture, NO REFERENCE is made to ANY person's name!
Please note also, in this chapter, the frame of Jesus' prayer includes past, present and future.

2Thessalonians 2:3 specifically refers to the "son of perdition" as being the "man of sin" who "opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."
That's a man in the FUTURE.
Revelation 17:8 and 11 both refer to that person as being "the beast," which is one of two who will control the world with Satanic power .
These references are futuristically to those who absolutely refuse God, and Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

In John 6:70, Jesus states all 12 disciples-apostles were "chosen."
Yet, in that same statement, Jesus declares ONE of them as a "devil."
The Greek word from which that is translated (diabolos) can mean certainly mean devil.
It can also mean: false accuser, or slanderer.

John's quote of Jesus in verse 12 in no way explicitly declares Judas as the "son of perdition."
In fact, perhaps Jesus' statement was in reference to the future.
Is it possible that Jesus would choose one to be a disciple or an apostle who was not genuinely saved?
Yes. We must remember that "with God ALL things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

However, based upon Scriptural evidence, can one definitively state that Judas was the "son of perdition?"
No!
He was indeed a traitor.
But, so were ALL the apostles.
For the Bible says, "ALL forsook Him!" (See Mark 14:50, and Matthew 26:56)

Indeed, to state that Judas was the "son of perdition," or chosen to be lost AFTER having been a disciple and apostle is to cast doubt upon the security of the believer.
Can a person be lost again after having been saved?
When a person is "sealed" (Ephesians 1:13) by and in the Spirit of Almighty God, how can that person be lost again?
For I am "..confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"

We can not know whether Judas was saved.
Neither can we know whether he was lost.
ONLY God knows!

Let us not climb into the judgment seat when we don't even deserve the servant's seat!)))))

Jesus' prayer was that the disciples be filled with HIS "joy!" (vs 13)
They were certainly facing a very difficult time of persecution and some, even death.
But, when He was resurrected and ascended, they would be so filled with His "joy," they would be able to ENDURE!

Jesus had given them the "word" from God. (vs 14)
That "word" included Scriptural proof that HE, and He alone, is Messiah.
His prayer (vs 15) included the knowledge that the "word" would KEEP from the evils of man's persecution.
They would be cast down, beaten, beheaded, crucified upside down; but,
they would NEVER lose faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior!

And that was because they were no longer "of the world," they were of JESUS! (vs 16)
This is what KEEPS us as Christians today!
We are not "of the world," we are of the "WORD!"

God "sanctifies" us through His Word, because His Word is TRUTH (vs 17).
A Christian in constant association with the Bible, is constantly being sanctified by God's Holy Spirit.
As we read and study, His Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, calls us to repentance, and continues to make us able and useful vessels for God's glory!

Christ came into the world to save sinners.
As He was sent, so He sends His disciples (vs 18).
Not that any Christian can save someone, but that they can give the "word" of the Gospel of Jesus, and God's Holy Spirit can use that to bring others to salvation.
Christians are SENT!

By "sanctify" Himself (vs 19), Jesus meant he was dedicated to the purpose, and set Himself aside wholly to accomplish that purpose.
His purpose was to make atonement for sinners at the cross.
There, He purchased not only their redemption, but their total sanctification in the sight of God.
Jesus IS "truth."
He is "THE way, THE truth, and THE life!" (John 14:6)
No one can come to God except through surrender to Christ.
And, when one comes in that manner, they are SANCTIFIED through Jesus.
They are made Holy, and useful vessels for God's purpose of bringing the world to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Jesus' prayer included ALL those who would come by spread of the Gospel through His people (vs 20).
Even today, as the Gospel is preached, God is bringing people to salvation through the hearing of "their word."

We may be different now, but - in the end - we will all be "one!" (vs 21)
We are already purchased by the same blood, sealed and sanctified by the same Spirit, and owned by the same Father.
As God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and Jesus are all "one" in perfect harmony and unity, so - one day - will ALL believers be "one!"

To me, it is impossible to comprehend that one day God will grant all believers the same "glory" which has been conferred upon the "Son of God." (Vs 22)
Then, we shall be perfectly united in His holiness.
For there, we shall "know, even as also" we are known. (1Corinthians 13:12)
There, we will be "made perfect in one..." (vs 23).
And, we will be in that perfect place called Heaven (vs 24), beholding the Holy Glory of our Lord and Savior!

25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

The world had not known God in the essence of His Holy love until Jesus came perfectly declaring that love (vs 25).
He declared and demonstrated that love wholly to His disciples, and they KNEW that Jesus was of God!

Jesus had declared unto those disciples the glory of God's Name, and the Holy immeasurability of His love (vs 26).
That glory and love would also be further declared through them, as "ambassadors for Christ" they begged people in Christ's stead to become saved (2Corinthians 5:20).

Because His love is IN the saved, the saved desire to share His eternal salvation.