In verse 10 Jesus states that those who believe belong to him and to the Father, and he himself is glorified in them. Then in verse 11 we see that, just as Jesus has promised his disciples that he would send the Spirit to be with them when he goes away (16:7; 14:15–17), so now, on the verge of his departure, he petitions the Father to preserve his disciples. The Son promises to send the Spirit, and he petitions the Father to preserve. There is profound agreement between the members of the Trinity as they work together for the salvation and preservation of the people of God.
Specifically, Jesus asks the Father to keep these people in the name that the Father gave to Jesus (17:11). The fact that Jesus and the Father share a name points to their identity, their unity with one another. This unity between the members of the Godhead is the basis for the unity Jesus asks the Father to create among his followers: “that they may be one, even as we are one” (v. 11). This unity flows from the generosity of the Father, who gave his own name to Jesus. The unity that Jesus prays for his disciples to enjoy, then, is a unity that will be marked by personal generosity manifested in self-giving love reflecting the character of God himself in the pursuit of a shared purpose and mission. Because followers of Jesus desire the same things, they sacrifice themselves for one another for the glory of God.
The Father, Jesus, and the Spirit are united in the purpose of saving everyone whom the Father has given to Jesus. The Father gave these people to Jesus so that Jesus would give them the words the Father gave him, that they could be saved. Jesus now prays for these people, that the Father will keep them now that he is going away.
Jesus says in verse 12 that he has been keeping his people while he was with them and has successfully guarded them. No one has been lost except Judas. The way that Jesus identifies Judas—as “the son of destruction”—indicates that Judas has not been born “from above” (cf. 3:3 mg.). Judas is therefore not a son of the kingdom or a child of God (cf. 1:12). The reason Judas has not been regenerated, guarded, or kept is “that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (17:12). The choosing of Judas, therefore, did not represent election unto salvation. His falling away should not be interpreted as implying that some who belong to God and are chosen by him may fall away.
How is the Scripture fulfilled through Judas? God has prophesied the end and appointed the means. The Scriptures say that the Christ will suffer, and Judas is the means whereby Jesus will be handed over to suffer. God is sovereign over all these things being accomplished. Judas, however, has freely chosen his course of action. No one forced him to do something he did not want to do. Judas is responsible for what he chose to do. We see again the paradox of divine sovereignty and human responsibility.
Jesus explains in verse 13 why he speaks this prayer in the world before his departure: that his disciples might have his joy fulfilled in themselves. The joy Jesus possesses flows from his oneness with the Father in character, purpose, and self-giving love. Jesus desires his followers to enjoy this life that can be had only by those who become imitators of the God who sacrifices himself for others, who humbles himself to lift others up, who takes on the pains of others to free them from penalty. Oneness of character and purpose, unity of devotion and lifestyle, are the producers of the joy Jesus has, which he prays will be fulfilled in those who follow him.
In verses 14–16 Jesus speaks of what distinguishes his people from the world: the word of God. By giving his people the word, Jesus has created an unworldly way of thinking, living, and being for his followers. This word-created unworldliness prompts the world to hate them (v. 14a, b) because they no longer agree with the world in thought, action, or way of life—they are no more of this world than Jesus himself was (vv. 14c, 16).
Jesus clarifies that he is not asking the Father to remove his followers from the persecution, affliction, or difficulty that will exist for them in the world (v. 15). Rather, he is asking the Father to keep them from Satan and from evil. Jesus prays that the Father would preserve his followers in the world, not take them out of the world. Jesus desires his followers to be like him, for them to be as unworldly as he himself has been (v. 16).
Just as the word that Jesus gave his disciples made them unworldly (v. 14), Jesus prays to the Father in verse 17 that the truth of the Father’s word would set them apart, make them holy, sanctify them as they continue in the world. How does Jesus expect his disciples to remain in the world and be protected from evil? By the sanctification the Father will accomplish in them by means of the truth of his word.
Jesus once again articulates the similarities between himself and his disciples. Jesus was in the bosom of the Father and was sent by the Father to make him known (1:18). The beloved disciple was in the bosom of Jesus (13:23), and just as the Father sent Jesus, Jesus is sending his disciples (17:18).
Jesus states again in verse 19 that he has set himself apart, consecrating himself to a holy life and a sin-bearing death, for the sake of his disciples. That Jesus does this on their behalf, for their sake, makes it possible for them to be sanctified in the truth. Christ set himself apart for the cross so that his people could be cleansed from sin and set apart for good works, set apart to go into the world as he came into the world: communicating the love of God and the good news that sinful rebels can be reconciled to the holy God through repentance and faith.
17:20–23 Jesus Prays for Those Who Will Believe through His Followers. To this point Jesus has been praying for his disciples, but in verse 20 he begins to pray for those who will believe in him because of the testimony of these disciples. Jesus sends his disciples into the world as the Father sent him (v. 18), and Jesus knows that just as his word has created unworldliness in his disciples (v. 14), the word of his disciples will create unworldliness in others (v. 20).
What does Jesus pray for those who will believe through the word of the disciples? The same thing he requested for the disciples: unity, oneness, agreement (v. 21a). Once again, the unity Jesus prays for is modeled on the unity he enjoys with the Father. Just as he and the Father are in one another—connoting shared identity, nature, and purpose—Jesus prays for those who will believe to be united by faith to one another and to the Father and the Son through the indwelling Holy Spirit (v. 21b).
Jesus states the tremendously important purpose of the unity of those who believe: “that the world may believe that you have sent me” (v. 21c). Jesus expects the unworldly unity of his followers to have an evangelistic impact on the unbelieving world. This means that Jesus expects the unity of the church to be convincing to the world.
When Jesus speaks of the glory that the Father has given him (v. 22), he seems to have in view the way that the Father has given to him his own nature and identity, which Jesus has revealed as he has displayed the glory of the Father (cf. 1:14, 18). In our study of John’s Gospel we have seen that glory to be concentrated in the justice and mercy of the Father on display as Jesus went to the cross.
What does Jesus mean when he says that he has given this glory to his followers? As the Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment (16:8–11) and Jesus reveals the glory of the Father, people’s concepts of justice and of right and wrong are transformed. We begin to agree with God about what is right, and the revelation of the glory of God redefines our understanding of holiness. This in turn revolutionizes our understanding of mercy, forgiveness, and salvation. When Jesus speaks of giving his disciples the glory the Father gave him, then, he seems to mean that the revelation of the Father’s justice and mercy through Christ’s death on the cross now grips those who believe in Jesus and produces unity among them (17:22).
Just as the unity that Jesus prayed for his disciples to share had an evangelistic purpose (v. 21), so the unity that Jesus prays for in verse 22 and the beginning of verse 23 is to be evangelistic as well. The disciples are in Jesus (v. 23a). The Father is in Jesus (v. 23b). Thus believers’ union with Christ produces union with one another (v. 23c), and this unity is in order for the world to know both that God really did send Jesus (v. 23d) and that God loves his people just as he loved Jesus (v. 23e).
What an unexpected grace from God, that he would love us just as he loved Jesus! Jesus deserves God’s perfect love. By virtue of our union with Christ by faith through the Spirit, the Father loves us as he loves Jesus. Those who experience such love cannot but be transformed by it, and those who experience such transformation will be noticed by the world. The world, in turn, will be convinced that God sent Jesus because of the transforming love of God they observe creating unity among the people of God.
17:24–26 Jesus Prays for His People to See His Glory. In verse 24 Jesus prays for the realization of what he had promised in 14:1–3. There he said that he was going to prepare a place for his disciples and would return and take them with him. Now in 17:24 he communicates to the Father his desire for his people to be with him where he is, so that they might enjoy the incomparable glory the Father gave to the Son before the foundation of the world.
This is a glory anticipated by everything lovely, approximated by anything good, and surpassed by nothing in all of creation. This glory of God in Christ is the consummation of God’s purposes, the full display of his character, the outshining of his radiance, the manifestation of his love. Jesus prays for the consummation of God’s purposes when he prays that those who believe because of the word of his disciples will see the glory he had with the Father before the foundation of the world.
The world fails to recognize the revelation of the Father in Christ, but those who believe that the Father sent Jesus do see it (v. 25). Jesus has manifested the name of the Father to his people and will continue to do so precisely so that the people of Jesus will experience the love of God (v. 26). This love with which the Father has loved Jesus, giving himself to Jesus so that he could in turn give himself to us, is the love we experience when we know that God sent Jesus, that Jesus died for us, that by the indwelling Spirit Jesus is with us even now, and that because the Son has petitioned the Father to keep us, he will preserve us to the end. There is no better love.