16“In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”
17Some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
19Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
25“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
29Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
31“You believe at last!” Jesus answered. 32“But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
COMMENTARY
16 Not only did this verse puzzle the disciples (see vv.17–18), but even after Jesus’ explanation in vv.19–28 commentators are still less than certain as to its precise meaning. The crux of the problem is the period of time indicated by the double reference to “a little while.” Tasker, 183, understands a single period of time viewed from a double perspective: the disciples do not see Jesus because he is in the grave, but they will see him following the resurrection. The NIV’s translation of kai palin mikron with “and then after a little while” obscures the possibility that palin may not carry a temporal meaning but be better rendered rhetorically with “moreover” or “on the other hand.”
It is better to understand the repetition of the phrase as indicating two different periods of time. The first “little while” refers to the interval until the crucifixion and burial. At that time, said Jesus, “you will see me no more.” The second “little while,” after which “you will see me,” may refer to the interval prior to (1) the resurrection, (2) the coming of the Spirit, or (3) Jesus’ second coming. Some think that the first alternative leaves insufficient time for “you will see me no more.” A number of writers understand “you will see me” in a spiritual sense. Temple, 2:295, writes, “After a short interval of desolation, they will see Him with the direct spiritual vision which brings full personal knowledge and communion.” The change of verbs between clauses from theōreite (“you gaze at,” GK 2555) to opsesthe (“you will see,” or “you will perceive,” GK 3972) is thought by some to refer to deeper spiritual insight. If Jesus’ answer in the verses that follow refers to the subsequent life of the church (rather than the immediate experience of the disciples only), then it would seem that the interval reaches out until the promised return of Christ Jesus at the end of history (cf. 14:3). The third option is preferable.
17 For the first time since Judas asked a question in 14:22 the discourse of Jesus is interrupted. The disciples are perplexed by what he means about their not seeing him after a little while and then seeing him after a little while. It is worth noting that while Jesus said they would “no longer” (ouketi) see him, they repeat it as “not” (ou) seeing him (a nuance obscured by the NIV, with its translation of “no more” in both places). They also add the clause, “Because I am going to the Father.” (The two ideas are found together in v.10.)
18 The disciples’ confusion is underscored by the testimony here indicating that they “kept asking” (the imperfect elegon, GK 3306, being iterative). “We don’t understand what he is saying” is a confession that a number of commentators have also made.
19 The disciples continued to discuss what Jesus could have meant by the “little while.” Jesus could not help but notice their desire for an explanation, so he asked them whether that was what they wanted to know. The Greek ginōskō (GK 1182; the form is egnō) is translated by the KJV with its primary meaning of “to know” (NIV, “Jesus saw”), which has led some commentators to question whether Jesus’ knowledge at this point should be taken as supernatural. The context, however, would suggest that Jesus, simply by observing his disciples, would know what was troubling them. Reith, 115, notes that “their desire would be written in their faces.”
20–21 Jesus had the habit of responding to questions in a less-than-direct way. In fact, in this case he never did tell them what he meant by “a little while.” Instead, he used the illustration of a woman giving birth (v.21) to teach that although the sorrow they were about to experience would be intense, it would soon give way to joy (v.20). Their real need was not intellectual enlightenment but spiritual preparation.
20 Following the solemn amēn amēn (NIV, “I tell you the truth”), Jesus contrasts the disciples’ distress with the rejoicing of the world. “You [hymeis is emphatic] will weep and mourn” but “the world shall rejoice” (KJV). Weeping and mourning (klaiō, GK 3081, is used in John only in connection with death: 11:31, 33; 20:11, 13, 15) combine the deep sorrow connected with death and the outward expression of that sorrow. Loud wailing was a regular part of the death and burial ritual in the Near East.
We are reminded of the scene from Revelation 11 when after the death of the two witnesses, “the inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts” (Rev 11:10). Whenever the prophetic voice is for the moment silenced, the enemies of God rejoice. It would seem that the “little while” of John 16:16 represents every period of time during which the world appears to have overcome God’s redemptive work in the world (e.g., the three days Jesus was in the grave, as well as the entire period leading up to Jesus’ victorious return).
The sorrow the disciples will experience when Jesus is taken away will be difficult to bear but it will not be permanent: “You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.” The crucifixion was a shocking experience for those who had left everything to follow Jesus. He had been their constant companion, and they had come to rely on him for all their needs. Suddenly he would be gone and their vision for the future shattered. Not yet understanding what rising from the dead would mean, they remained bewildered and afraid. How different it would have been if they had actually believed the promise of Jesus that their grief would be turned into joy. It is significant that Jesus does not speak of sorrow being replaced by joy but of sorrow being transformed into joy.
21 The sequence of sorrow and joy is illustrated by childbirth. A woman giving birth experiences great pain but when the child is born the suffering is forgotten. The anguish of travail gives way to the joy of birth. In the OT, the plight of Israel is often described by the metaphor of childbirth. Isaiah 26:17 reads, “As a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, O Lord” (cf. Isa 66:7–14; Hos 13:12–13). Against this backdrop, many writers find in Jesus’ words a deeper reference to the “birth pangs of the Messiah”—a standard Jewish apocalyptic teaching regarding the period of severe trouble that will precede the final consummation. Others consider it unlikely that the passage holds any allusion to the rabbinical teaching about “Messianic birth-pangs” (so Bruce, 322).
22 Jesus now applies the illustration to the lot of the disciples. This will be their time of grief, but Jesus will see them again, which will lead to rejoicing. The Christian does not reject sorrow and pain but understands it as part of the human experience in a world that has turned its back on God. Grief is to be accepted and endured but always with the confidence that it is no more than a passing stage (cf. Ro 8:18–25).
In v.16 Jesus had said that after a little while they would see him. Now he promises, “I will see you again.” To see Jesus is to be seen by him. The change stresses the reciprocal nature of the coming relationship. At that time, “you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” Like the joy accompanying the birth of a child, so will be the disciples’ joy in restored fellowship with their Master. Temple, 2:296, writes that Paul’s “glorious outburst” in Romans 8:35–39 is “no more than a symphony on the theme propounded before the event by the Lord Himself.”
23 In the coming day (“that day,” i.e., the day of joy; see vv.22, 24) the disciples will have no need to ask Jesus about (or for) anything. The interpretation of v.23 hinges on the meaning of the two verbs in the Greek text, both of which are translated in the NIV with “ask.” The primary meaning of erōtaō (GK 2263; used in the first sentence) is “to ask a question,” while aiteō (GK 160) in religious contexts (as in the second sentence) normally means “to ask in prayer.” If this distinction is maintained, then the first part of the verse is saying that in the coming days the disciples will find it unnecessary to pose such questions as, “What does ‘a little while’ mean?” (vv.17–19). Brown, 722–23, favors this alternative and notes that (1) the verse uses two different verbs of interrogation, (2) the lines are separated by the solemn double “amen,” and (3) the context is one of understanding rather than petition (cf. vv.26, 30).
The other approach is to understand the entire verse in connection with prayer. In the coming day the disciples will no longer ask Jesus for anything but will direct their prayers to God in Jesus’ name. The first verb (erōtaō) is often used of asking for some special benefit (cf. Jesus’ prayer, 17:17), and in the LXX it serves to translate the same Hebrew word as the second verb (aiteō) does. If all of v.23 deals with prayer, then the point is that with the coming of the Spirit (“in that day”) a new relationship will be in place that will allow believers to go directly to the Father in Jesus’ name.
24 As faithful members of Jewish society, the disciples were accustomed to offering daily prayers. Until that time, they had always prayed to God the Father, but now Jesus is introducing something new. Henceforth they are to pray to God “in [Jesus’] name.” Their requests will be answered because they carry the authority of the name (or character) of Jesus. The prayers God answers are those that promote his redemptive purposes in the world. To pray in the name of Jesus is to pray as a representative of the one who entered the created universe to reveal the will and purpose of the Father.
So now the disciples are to ask (the present tense, aiteite, suggests “keep on asking”; cf. Mt 7:7–8) and “[they] will receive.” Prayer is perhaps the most highly regarded but the least employed of all the spiritual disciplines. Yet its demands on faith are not great. All it requires is a willingness to open ourselves before God and allow him to respond to our needs. The NIV’s “and your joy will be complete” overlooks the important Greek conjunction hina (“in order that”). The prayers of the disciples will be answered so that their joy “may be overflowing” (Phillips). Morris, 708, notes that joy cannot be made complete in any other way. Joy is the inevitable consequence of contact with God. It is a dead giveaway that we belong to him. Life may have its full measure of pleasant experiences, but only the presence of God can meet the deepest needs of the human heart and result in a joy that, like the peace of God, “transcends all understanding” (Php 4:7).
25 Jesus says that though he has been “speaking figuratively,” the time will come when he will speak “plainly.” The Greek paroimia (“proverb”; NASB, “figurative language,” GK 4231) occurs four times in the NT. In 2 Peter 2:2 it denotes a maxim or byword, but in John 10:6; 16:25, 29 it refers to “‘hidden, obscure speech’ which stands in need of interpretation” (TDNT 5:856). In Mark 4:11 the disciples are identified as those who know the secret of the kingdom and are contrasted with outsiders, for whom everything is “in parables” (parabolais, GK 4130). In John the contrast is between the ambiguous nature of Jesus’ teaching during his earthly ministry and the clarity that will follow the resurrection and the advent of the Spirit. Calvin, 2:126, notes that the obscurity did not lie so much in the teaching as in the minds of the disciples. While this is true, it would be a bit demanding to expect from the disciples a depth of insight that not even post-Pentecost believers seem to possess.
Jesus speaks of a time when he will speak plainly. The disciples understand this time to have come (cf. v.29), yet Jesus appears to be speaking of his post-resurrection ministry (cf. Lk 24:45–47; Ac 1:3). This same ministry is continued by the Spirit, who in fulfillment of divine promise comes to “guide [believers] into all truth” (v.13). Lindars, 511, understands the promise as referring to the spiritual relationship that will exist after the resurrection and the direct knowledge resulting from the mutual indwelling established at that time.
Jesus’ teaching will be, as it has always been, “about [his] Father.” He came to reveal the Father (cf. 1:18; 14:9), and the future will involve no change of focus. In the incarnation Jesus took the stage of history and portrayed by word and action the loving nature of God. As the author of Hebrews puts it, Jesus is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Heb 1:3). Or, as Paul writes, “He is the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15).
26–27 In the coming age (following the resurrection) the disciples will make their requests in the name of Jesus, but they must not regard him as an intermediary who encourages a reluctant God to answer their prayers. Jesus will not have to ask the Father “on [their] behalf” because the Father himself, of his own accord (taking autos in the classical sense), loves them. There is no need for Jesus to intervene and persuade the Father to answer the prayers of believers. Both access and authority are given to the believer. The worn-out and unbiblical concept of an angry God whose continuing displeasure is only partially alleviated by a gentle Jesus has made prayer difficult and unpleasant for those who still live under the misconception. The great truth symbolized by the rending of the curtain of the temple (Mt 27:51) is that by the death of Jesus entry into the presence of God himself has been provided for all who believe.
That Jesus need not take the prayers of the disciples to the Father does not contradict the teaching elsewhere that he remains our intercessor before God (Ro 8:34; Heb 7:25). One has to do with our status and the other with his role in intercessory prayer.
God the Father hears and answers the prayers made in Jesus’ name on the basis of love. In speaking of the Father’s love (in v.27), Jesus uses a term that reflects the affection connected with natural relationships (phileō, GK 5797) rather than the verb that regularly denotes the universal and self-giving love of God (agapaō, GK 26). Temple, 2:299, suggests the translation, “The Father himself is friendly to you because ye have been my friends.”
Saying that God loves “because [they] have loved” does not make divine love contingent on human response (cf. 1Jn 4:19). Rather, it suggests that the relationship requires our active involvement. The use of the perfect tense in “have loved” and “have believed” stresses a continuing characteristic of life. The Christian life is not a moment of belief but a lifetime of believing. While it begins at a specific point in time, it cannot remain there.
28 Verse 28 summarizes Johannine theology in two sets of balanced clauses: Jesus “came from the Father [his origin] and entered the world [his incarnation]”; he is now “leaving the world [his death and resurrection] and going back to the Father [his ascension].”
29–30 Jesus’ comment leads the disciples to exclaim that now, at last, Jesus is “speaking clearly and without figures of speech.” They are confident that they now (repeated and emphatic in v.30) understand. They regard Jesus’ supernatural insight as conclusive evidence of his divine origin. In Jewish thought, the ability to answer questions yet unasked is an indication of the divine (cf. Mt 6:8). This (i.e., Jesus’ complete knowledge and his ability to anticipate questions) is what has brought the disciples to believe that he came from God.
31 Grammatically, Jesus’ response may be taken as a declaration or as a question. The first option is followed by the NIV (“You believe at last!”) and the second by the NRSV (“Do you now believe?”). In either case a certain amount of irony is involved.
32 Jesus does not deny the reality of their faith but questions whether it is adequate for the time about to come, when they “will be scattered each to his own home.” The reference to scattering alludes to the oracle in Zechariah 13:7–9, which is quoted in both Mark (14:27) and Matthew (26:31) in connection with Jesus’ prediction of the failure of the disciples to stand by him in his time of trial (“I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered”). Their theology was correct (“you came from God,” v.30), but it was not yet matched by personal commitment (“you will be scattered,” v.32). On the other hand, Jesus’ love for his disciples was not dependent on their fidelity. He loved them as they were. Barclay, 2:203, notes that if we idolize an individual and think of that person as faultless, we are doomed to disappointment. Instead, we must love people as they really are.
The disciples will desert their Lord and return “each to his own home” (or “to his own occupation”—the Greek is indefinite). They will leave Jesus alone, yet he will not really be alone. With full confidence he can say, “My Father is with me.” It is said that this verse brought great comfort to the martyr John Huss during his lonely imprisonment preceding his death at the stake in 1415. Some commentators think that John at this point is correcting a false understanding of the “cry of dereliction” in Matthew 27:46 (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”), but the conjecture is unwarranted. The Father was always with the Son throughout his earthly life, even though in that moment of ultimate mystery the Son’s awareness of the Father’s presence was momentarily obscured.
33 Jesus concludes the discourse proper by encouraging his disciples with a reminder that he has told them “these things” (all the promises in the preceding chapters) so that in him they “may have peace.” Peace in the biblical sense is more than tranquility. It is the šalôm (GK 8934) of God, the sense of complete well-being that characterizes the life lived in accordance with the design of God. Peace comes from acting on the promises of God. The close relationship between prayer (vv.23–24) and peace (v.33) is reflected in Paul’s words to the Philippian church: “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Php 4:6–7).
In this world the followers of Jesus are destined to have trouble. (Thlipsis, GK 2568, is commonly used in the NT for the persecutions of the church; see, e.g., 2Co 8:2; 1Th 1:6.) But “take heart!” says Jesus, “I have overcome the world.” There is solid reason for joyful confidence. The world will do its worst to me, yet I will come through victoriously. The victory that I will win will be yours as well. The verb “to overcome” (used only here in John’s gospel) is a military term and denotes victory in warfare. The perfect tense (nenikēka, GK 3771) emphasizes the abiding nature of that victory. The strong adversative alla (“but”) suggests that something is to follow for which the circumstances have not prepared us (cf. Morris, 714 n. 80).
The chapter closes with a strong contrast. In this world the disciples will have trouble, but in Christ they will have peace. Believers were never intended to be exempt from sorrow or difficulty in this world. We are, however, expected to be at peace because by faith we have been brought into an inseparable union with Jesus Christ and share his victory over sin and Satan. “Cheer up,” is the Living Bible’s translation. The enemies of God are defeated, and before long that victory will be universally proclaimed (cf. Php 2:9–11).
NOTES
20 The strong contrastive conjunction in the final clause (ἀλλά, alla, “but”), in contrast with the milder conjunction in the previous clause (δέ, de, “but”), suggests that the joy of the believer after the present sorrow will come somewhat unexpectedly, while the contrast between the current sorrow of the believer and the rejoicing of the world is to be expected.
23 Manuscripts differ in the placement of the phrase “in my name.” If it comes after the verb “give,” then the point is that what God gives in answer to prayer is given in the name of his Son. Some writers prefer this placement on the basis that it is the more difficult reading and thus would explain the scribal alteration to an easier text. (Variants in the Greek text are often due to a difficult reading being changed to a simpler one.) The UBS Greek text places the phrase between the verbs “ask” and “give” and thus supports the more common idea of praying in the name of Jesus. This reading is to be favored in that its external support is more diversified and the context is one of prayer, which elsewhere is linked by John with the name of Jesus (cf. Metzger, 211).
27 At the end of this verse, the ASV, RSV, and NASB all read τοῦ πατρός (tou patros, “the Father,” GK 4252) following B C* D L X pc (ff2) co. Most modern versions (e.g., NIV, NRSV, NIV, NKJV, NET, NLT) read τοῦ θεοῦ (tou theou, “God”). The former was probably due to assimilation to the first clause of the following verse. It is not the filial relationship of Jesus to the Father but the divine origin of the Son that is emphasized in the verse.
OVERVIEW
In chs. 13–16 Jesus has been teaching his disciples those truths that would be especially important in view of his impending death. Last words reveal priorities and fundamental concerns (cf. Jacob’s last words to his sons in Ge 49). Jesus now draws to a close this most intimate gathering by turning to his Father in prayer in the presence of the disciples.
Chapter 17 has traditionally been called “the high priestly prayer” of Jesus. (The specific title is attributed to sixteenth-century theologian David Chytraeus.) If the designation is accurate and Jesus is acting in the role of a high priest, then the verses that follow picture him more as a priest engaged in intercession than as a priest about to offer sacrifice. Even though in v.19 he consecrates himself for the coming sacrifice in which he is both priest and victim (in the LXX the same verb is used of consecrating priests, Ex 28:41), his role as intercessor is more dominant throughout the chapter (vv.9, 11, 15, 17, 20–21, 23).
Chapter 17, perhaps more than any other section of the fourth gospel, reveals the strong bonds of unity and mutual love between Father and Son. Nowhere is the relationship more clear than in vv.21–23, which speak of “complete unity” and of being one “as we are one.” The chapter is also the longest of all of our Lord’s recorded prayers. It is not to be identified with Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (recorded in the Synoptics but not in John). The chapter divides into three sections: Jesus’ prayer for himself (vv.1–5), for his disciples (vv.6–19), and for those who will come to believe (vv.20–26).
1After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”
1 When Jesus had finished his final words of instruction and admonition to the disciples, he looked toward heaven and prayed. Although Haenchen, 2:150, correctly notes that the text refers to “speaking” (eipein, GK 3306) rather than “praying” (proseuchesthai, GK 4667), there is no question that the chapter is to be regarded as a prayer. In biblical times it was customary to lift up one’s eyes in prayer (Ps 123:1, “I lift up my eyes to you”). Jesus prayed in this way at the tomb of Lazarus (Jn 11:41) and when he healed a deaf man (Mk 7:34). In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, the latter “would not even look up to heaven” (Lk 18:13). Many contemporary Christians in the Western world do not feel comfortable praying in this way. It is almost universally accepted that we are to shut our eyes when we pray—a practice that is without biblical warrant. Praying with our eyes open allows God to meet us as a real person who is both counselor and friend rather than as some mysterious potentate. Obviously, God is infinite mystery, but it is also true that he is to be addressed in prayer as “Father.” In fact, he is referred to by that family title over 120 times in John’s gospel alone. Behind the Greek patēr is the Aramaic abba (GK 10003), which denotes “childlike intimacy and trust” (TDNT 1:2).
At the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus told his mother, who had reported that the wine had run out, “My time has not yet come” (2:4). Throughout the gospel we hear of an hour (NIV, “time”) that is to come (4:21; 5:28; 7:30; 8:20). That hour is the time of Jesus’ great sacrifice of himself on the cross for the redemption of the human race. Now that it has arrived, Jesus prays, “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you [the Father].” The verb “to glorify” as used in the NT tends to mean more than simply “to extol” or “to praise.” It carries the special biblical sense of “sharing in the divine glory.” Jesus asks to be glorified not out of any desire for self-aggrandizement but so that he in turn might glorify the Father. His prayer is that God will sustain him in his obedience as it moves him irresistibly onward to the cross, so that by his death he will be able to exhibit the boundless love of the Father. Jesus’ primary concern is that his sacrifice brings honor and praise to God. It is difficult to grasp how the cross could possibly glorify God. Temple, 2:308, remarks that “the Cross is the glory of God because self-sacrifice is the expression of love.” The way we glorify God is to obey him. Jesus’ life of perfect obedience is the ultimate expression of honor to God.
2 Jesus’ request to be glorified is based on the fact (taking kathōs in the causal sense of “since”) that God has granted him authority to give eternal life to those he has received from the Father. In Daniel 7:13–14 the Ancient of Days gives “authority, glory and sovereign power” to the “one like a son of man.” This universal sovereignty becomes the basis for the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18.
The verb “to give” (didōmi, GK 1443) is found seventeen times in this single prayer (seventy-six times in the gospel). Morris, 718 n. 6, cites Edwin Abbott’s remark that “what ‘grace’ is in the Pauline Epistles, ‘giving’ is in the Fourth Gospel.” It is the nature of God to give, because giving is the primary expression of love (cf. 3:16). Note the predestinarian emphasis in the fact that eternal life is given to those whom the Father has given to the Son. We recognize here what Phillips calls “the controlling hand” of God (see his translation of Ro 9:22).
3 Verse 3 may well be an explanatory comment by the author of the gospel. The designation of the Father as “the only true God” occurs only here in John, and would it not seem strange for Jesus to refer to himself in the third person as “Jesus Christ”? In any case, the verse is parenthetical and defines the nature of “eternal life.” Eternal life consists in knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ. Knowledge in the biblical sense means far more than intellectual comprehension; it involves a profound personal relationship. The present subjunctive (ginōskōsin, GK 1182) suggests that here the verb should be taken in the sense of “learning to know.” It presents knowledge as a growing experience. It is instructive to note that in Scripture the verb “to know” may serve as a euphemism for sexual relations (cf. Ge 4:1 [LXX]; Lk 1:34). To know about God is one thing; it is something quite different to know God. The apostle Paul writes that he considers everything a loss compared to the “surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus” (Php 3:8).
“Only” (monos, GK 3668) and “true” (alēthinos, GK 240) are attributes ascribed to God elsewhere in Scripture (Isa 37:20 [LXX]; Ex 34:6 [LXX]). They set him apart from all false deities. He is sui generis, one of a kind. That God the Father is said to be the “only true God” has led some to think that in some way Jesus must be less than God. But here Jesus is speaking as the Son sent into the world by the Father to secure eternal salvation for those who believe. In a world replete with objects of worship and false deities, the Son affirms that the God who sent him on this mission is “the only true God.” He doesn’t find it necessary to insert a qualification regarding his own relationship to the Father. Notice the emphasis throughout the chapter on being sent (vv.8, 18, 21, 23, 25).
4 Lindars, 520, notes that in vv. 4–5 there are two stages in the Son’s mission of revealing the glory of God. First, there is his work on earth. By completing the work he was given to do, he brought glory to God on earth. In speaking of a work completed, Jesus was, of course, including the cross and the resurrection, which in point of time were yet future. God is glorified by obedience. We bring glory to God by allowing him to move our lives into conformity with his nature as revealed in Christ Jesus. Some today seem to believe that God is honored by solemn and elaborate ritual, while others would praise him by a paroxysm of religious fervor. Jesus brought glory to God by completing the work he was given to do.
5 A second stage in revealing the glory of God will be the glorification of the Son when he returns to the place he enjoyed before the world began. The preexistence of the Son is clearly taught throughout the fourth gospel. John’s prologue begins with the assertion that “when all things began, the Word already was” (NEB). In 8:58 Jesus exclaimed, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” (see also 12:28 and Paul’s word in Php 2:6).
Jesus anticipates his return to the presence of the Father because it sets the stage for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (16:7) and the founding and expansion of the early church (Ac 1:4; 2:1–4). It is by bringing men and women to faith in Jesus that the redemptive mission of the Son is carried out in time. When the church is obedient to its mandate to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19), glory and praise is brought to God.
NOTES
1 The Greek οὐρανός (ouranos, GK 4041) may refer either to the sky (the OT “firmament”; cf. Ge 1:6–8; Pss 19:1; 150:1) or to heaven in the sense of God’s transcendent abode (cf. Mt 3:17; 2Co 5:1). Seventy of the 123 occurrences of οὐρανός, ouranos, in the NT are found in the Johannine corpus, with all but eighteen in the book of Revelation.
2 The Greek πάσης σαρκός (pasēs sarkos, “all flesh,” GK 4922) is understood here in its traditional sense by the NIV (“all people”) and the early NASB (“everyone in all the earth”; the updated NASB has gone to the more literal “all flesh”). The word σάρξ (sarx) occurs somewhat infrequently in the fourth gospel (thirteen times) and does not, as in Paul, “characterize human beings as subject to the power of sin” (EDNT 3:232).
4 On the “completing” or accomplishing (cf. NASB) of Jesus’ redemptive work, see the same verb, τελέω (teleō, GK 5464), in 19:30, where it is used in the perfect tense to emphasize both the completion of the work and its continuing effects.
6“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”
COMMENTARY
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world” summarizes Jesus’ ministry on earth. It is another way of saying, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” God is glorified as his character is revealed and made plain. The NIV obscures the fact that it is God’s name (onoma, GK 3950) that is revealed by Jesus. For Jesus to reveal the name of the Father means for him to enable his followers to see what the real nature of God is like. Williams translates, “made your very self known.”
It is important to note that the disciples belonged to the Father before they were given to the Son. Jesus prays, “They were yours; you gave them to me.” To understand this as meaning only that they belonged to God in the sense of being God-fearing Israelites before they came to Jesus is not enough. We know little about their religious condition before they decided to follow Jesus. Better to take the statement as an indication that God had from the beginning predestined them to be his children. It is comforting for believers to know that even before they responded to the gospel they belonged to God and that he was the one who gave them to his Son.
While God had taken the initiative (cf. 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him”), his disciples were not passive recipients. So Jesus adds, “They have obeyed your word.” Had they not obeyed, they would have been neither chosen nor given. The verb used here for the obedience of the disciples (tēreō, GK 5498) is also used by Jesus in vv.11, 12, and 15 as he prays for their protection. They keep his word, and God keeps (protects) them.
7–8 Now that Jesus has revealed to the disciples what God is really like, they are able to grasp the fact that God is the source of everything that has been given to the Son. Jesus gave them the words he had received from the Father, and they accepted them. A contrast is probably intended between the “word” (logos, GK 3364) in v.6 and the “words” (rhēmata, GK 4839) in v.8. The former refers to the divine message as a whole, and the latter calls attention to the individual sayings of Jesus. The disciples were convinced that Jesus had come to them from God, and they believed that God had in fact sent him.
That knowledge and faith occur in parallel clauses (v.8b) reminds us that the two are by no means separate and unrelated activities. Calvin, 2:743, said that “nothing can be known aright of God but by faith” and “in faith there is such certainty that it is justly called knowledge.” Modern thought tends to restrict knowledge to what may be verified by scientific methodology and relegates faith to the sphere of the unprovable. The result is a reductionistic approach to reality that excludes from intelligent discussion all the genuinely important issues of life. The disciples “knew with certainty” and therefore “believed.” As theologian and apologist Edward J. Carnell often said, “Faith is the resting of the mind in the sufficiency of the evidence.” The disciples accepted the words of Jesus, knew with certainty that he was from God, and believed in his redemptive mission.
9 Jesus prays not for the world but for those whom God has given him out of the world (cf. v.6). He specifically says, “I am not praying for the world”—a statement that has caused some concern because it seems inconsistent with the fact that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (3:16). But Jesus is not talking here about the world in the sense of individual people for whom he is about to die. In John’s gospel, “the world” usually designates human society organized apart from God. He could not pray for this kind of world in the same way he would pray for his disciples because it was bitterly antagonistic to all he came to do. The only hope for the world is to cease being the world. That Jesus did, in fact, pray for the salvation of individuals in the world is clear from vv.21 and 23, where he asks the Father that the world might believe that he had been sent by God. (See Mt 5:24 and Lk 23:34 for examples of Jesus’ prayerful concern for those who were not his own.)
In v.6 Jesus said that his disciples belonged to the Father before they were given to the Son. Now he says that they still belong to the Father (“they are yours”). The unity of Father and Son is such that distinctions in the Godhead tend to blur and responsibilities overlap. It is worth noting that the Greek text of v.9 begins with a strong emphasis on the personal pronoun (egō)—“I pray for them.” The Lord himself takes the initiative and offers his prayers to the Father on behalf of those entrusted to his care. Their safety is of crucial importance because from a human standpoint the salvation of the world depended on their security. The Greek verb for prayer throughout ch. 17 (vv.9, 15, 20) is erōtaō (GK 2263), which etymologically carries the idea of inquiry rather than the stronger idea of petition.
10 That the pronominal adjectives in the first two clauses are neuter (ema and sa) seems to extend divine ownership beyond persons to include all creation. The disciples would not have been surprised when Jesus said to the Father, “All I have is yours,” but the claim that followed (“all you have is mine”) must have struck them as remarkable, to say the least. No sane man would dare to pretend he was co-owner with God of everything that exists. That would be the sole prerogative of the eternal Son, by and for whom all things were created (Col 1:16). That Jesus made such claims leaves us with the alternatives posed by C. S. Lewis (“What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?” in God in the Dock [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970], 157–58)—either he was who he said he was, or he was “a megalomanic, compared with whom Hitler was the most sane and humble of men … a complete lunatic.”
Jesus then declares, “And glory has come to me through them.” Since the Greek autois (“them”) can be either neuter or masculine, it is difficult to know whether the intended antecedent was “all I have/all you have” or “those you have given me” (v.9, i.e., the disciples). It is probably better to take the first part of v.10 as a parenthetical remark and allow what follows to complete the thought about the disciples. When Jesus speaks of glory having come to him through the disciples, he may be placing himself ahead in time and commenting on what would happen in the early period of the expanding church. Or it may be no more than a way of saying with certainty that this is what will happen. Carson, 561, remarks that “the extent to which Jesus has been glorified in the lives of his disciples is still pathetically slim compared with what will yet be.” God’s perspective is never limited by considerations of time. He is the One who “inhabits eternity” (Isa 57:15 NKJV)—the “Alpha and the Omega … who is, and who was, and who is to come” (Rev 1:8).
11 The time for parting was near. Jesus was about to go back to the Father. Being “in the world” was far more than a geographic reference. It involved sharing the limitations of the human experience. When Jesus entered the world, he not only came to where we are but also placed himself within the restrictions of life as we know it. His incarnation was complete. Of Jesus, the author of Hebrews says, “He had to be made like his brothers in every way” (2:17)—he “shared in [our] humanity” (2:14) and was “tempted in every way, just as we are” (4:15). Earlier John spoke of Jesus as going to God (16:10, 17, 28).
Now, addressing God directly, he speaks of coming back to the Father. There is no way that we, with the imperfections and limitations of our humanity, can ever gain an adequate understanding of the incredible joy associated with the Son’s return to the Father. If God “so loved” prodigals such as you and me, what joy must he have experienced when his “one and only Son” returned as the conquering Lamb!
Jesus returns to the Father, but the disciples are still in the world. Being “in the world” involves bearing the hostility of the world (cf. 15:18–25). Satan is no more willing for believers to escape his displeasure than he was to allow Jesus to live out his life without opposition. This being the case, Jesus prays to the Father, “Protect them by the power of your name.” The NIV represents an interpretation of the Greek text (which says only, “Keep them in your name”) that takes “in your name” in the sense of “by the power of your name.” Some commentators understand the reference to the “name” in the light of the tendency in Judaism to avoid the sacred tetragrammaton, YHWH. In that case, Jesus would be asking the Father to protect the disciples by the power contained in the unspeakable “name” of God. More likely the “name” refers to the embodiment of God’s character and power. Weymouth’s translation (“keep them true to Thy name”) is interesting but does not fit the context as well. In any case, the world in which the disciples lived and from which they would need to be protected was not the physical world but the world of sinful contamination. Elsewhere it is described as consisting of “the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does” (1Jn 2:16). Opposition to the believer arises both from without and from within.
Jesus addresses God with a title used only here in the NT: “Holy Father” (though cf. 1Pe 1:15–16; Rev 4:8; 6:10). Morris, 726–27, thinks the reason the title is not used more often is that the people of the OT had so thoroughly emphasized God’s holiness, over against the nation’s tendency to presume on his tender love and care, that God was often thought of as lofty and remote. The title may have been suggested by its verbal association with the sanctification of both the disciples and Jesus in vv.17 and 19—hagiazō (“to set apart for sacred use,” GK 39) comes from the same root as hagios (“holy,” GK 41). In any case, it suggests both that God exists in another and higher realm (he is absolutely and uniquely “Holy”) and that at the same time he is present and available (he is “Father”).
12 When Jesus was with the disciples, he had “protected them and kept them safe.” (Phylassō [GK 5875] was used in Hellenistic Greek for guard duty, and the cognate noun, phylakē [GK 5871], was a common word for “prison.”) He accomplished this by the name (i.e., by the power that resided in the character of God) the Father had given him. Jesus accomplished no works of wonder during his incarnate state by virtue of any power residing in him as a divine being. His reliance was totally on God the Father working through the agency of the Holy Spirit.
All the disciples except “the one doomed to destruction” were kept safe. The play on words in the Greek text can be seen in the paraphrase, “No one was destroyed [apōleto, GK 660] except the one destined for destruction [apōleias, GK 724].” The designation “son of perdition” (KJV) is found elsewhere in the NT only in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where it is used of “the man of sin,” i.e., the Antichrist. Judas was not predestined to destruction but chose the course of action that led to it. It was with his full consent, not against his will, that he ended up where he did. A life of disobedience and deception leads steadily on toward the predetermined end of destruction. Actions determine destiny. Scripture was “fulfilled” in the sense that God’s principles are carried out in the consequences that inevitably flow from actions taken. To live like a “lost” person is ultimately to be lost. God does not coerce people to accept his grace and live according to his commands. There are no automatons in the kingdom of God.
13 Jesus once again says to the Father that he is coming to him (cf. v.11—note the direct address). If “these things” refers to the various requests in Jesus’ prayer, then it probably follows that the prayer was spoken out loud and within the hearing of the disciples. The expression could refer, however, not simply to Jesus’ prayer but to all he had shared with the group of disciples during their last evening together.
One purpose of the prayer was that his followers might have “the full measure of [his] joy within [them].” The joy that Jesus experienced was essentially the profound satisfaction that inevitably accompanies perfect obedience (cf. 3:29; 15:11). The fact that obedience would lead to the ultimate act of self-sacrifice is inconsequential. Joy is the experience of complete union with the redemptive purposes of God in history. For Jesus it was the cross. For us it may not be a wooden cross, but it will be death to self and whatever this may involve in our specific circumstances. Jesus prays that the joy he has found in obedience to the Father will be shared by all who follow his example. This joy finds its completion in the eternal state, when we will see him face-to-face. Bultmann, 388, notes that in rabbinic writings fullness of joy is an eschatological concept.
14 The “word” Jesus gave to his disciples included all that Jesus had taught during his earthly ministry. His teaching was nothing less than the very word of God. The world’s reaction to those who heard and accepted the message was one of hatred. There may be some significance in the fact that the giving of Jesus in v.14 is in the perfect tense (dedōka, GK 1443), while the hatred of the world is in the aorist (emisēsen, GK 3631). God’s message continues forever, while the hatred of the world is terminated in time.
The followers of Jesus are hated because they are “not of the world,” even as Jesus was not of the world (repeated in v.16). To be “of the world” means to share the basic outlook of the world, i.e., hostility toward God (cf. 8:23). The disciples are not of the world in the sense that they have been born from above (3:1–8). Their allegiance is no longer to this world but to God and his kingdom. For this very reason, they receive the same treatment from the enemies of God. The hostility of the world toward God is also taught elsewhere in Scripture. James declares that “friendship with the world is hatred toward God” (Jas 4:4), and Paul regards the present age as “evil” (Gal 1:4). Those who take their stand with God must be prepared to experience the wrath of a godless society. Brown, 764, comments that “passages such as those we have found in John have a message for an era that becomes naively optimistic about changing the world or even about affirming its values without change.”
15 In the OT we find that Moses, Elijah, and Jonah all prayed that they might die (Nu 11:15; 1Ki 19:4; Jnh 4:3, 8)—better to be taken “out of the world,” so they thought, than to suffer any longer for what appears to be a lost cause. But God does not remove his servants from the world; it is the specific arena of their ministry. The message of redemption serves no purpose apart from those who need to hear it. It is less important that we “hear the old, old story” yet again than it is that we share it with those who have never heard. While a hostile world may not be the most receptive audience, they are the ones who need to hear the message.
Jesus prays that his disciples be protected “from the evil one.” Tou ponērou (GK 4505) could be taken as neuter and translated “evil” (so KJV), but it is better to take it as masculine and translate “the evil one” (cf. 1Jn 2:13; 3:12; 5:18). To be protected ek (“out of”) the evil one assumes that believers are in danger of falling into the grasp of Satan. One of contemporary Christianity’s most serious failings is that it seems to proceed oblivious to Satan’s opposition to God’s work in the world. While believers regularly recite the Lord’s Prayer with its petition to “deliver us from the evil one” (Mt 6:13), life seems to go on as though all such phrases are just nostalgic reminders of an earlier period in which people believed in demonic beings.
17 Because the disciples are about to begin their ministry, Jesus prays that God will “sanctify them.” In the LXX, the Greek hagiazō (“sanctify,” “consecrate”) is used for the setting apart of both people (Ex 28:41) and things (Ex 28:38) for sacred use. By that act of consecration, a person was brought into the sphere of the sacred and dedicated to the service of God.
The sanctification of which Jesus speaks is brought about “by the truth”—not truth in a general sense but truth that has come by divine revelation (“your word is truth”). Earlier Jesus had told his disciples, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you” (15:3). It is the word of God that cleanses believers and sets them apart for effective work in the “present evil age” (Gal 1:4). What God has spoken through his prophets is absolutely trustworthy (cf. 2Sa 7:28; 1Ki 17:24). Sadly, the famine of which Amos spoke—“a famine of hearing the words of the Lord” (Am 8:11)—is still with us in the modern world. In far too many pulpits, current spokespersons are giving their best psychological insights but failing to bring “a word from the beyond.” Hungry parishioners are deprived of God’s word and offered as a substitute people’s best thoughts disguised in quasi-religious terms. To do the work of God one needs to use the word of God. It is the word of God that is “the sword of the Spirit” (Eph 6:17). Nothing else will accomplish the task.
18 The disciples are sent into the world in the same way that Jesus was sent into the world (“as you sent me …, I have sent them”). The mission Jesus began is to be completed by his followers. While they play a somewhat different role, their purpose in going into the world is the same as his, i.e., to reclaim for their rightful owner those who have turned their backs on God. God’s purpose in sending his Son was not to condemn but to save the world (3:17). This same message of hope constitutes the foundational truth of the apostolic proclamation.
19 In order that the disciples may be truly sanctified, Jesus says, “For them I sanctify myself.” In this act of consecration he is both priest and victim (cf. Heb 9:12–14). Lindars, 528–29, says, “the preposition hyper [“for” or “in behalf of”] unmistakably introduces a sacrificial connotation.” It is Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that ultimately leads to holiness on the part of his people. Titus 2:14 says that he gave himself for us (hyper hēmōn) “to purify for himself a people that are his very own” (cf. Eph 5:26; 1Pe 2:24). God’s redemptive work is not complete until all who come to him become like him. Redemption is the re-creation of a family likeness in all who enter the human race and thereby suffer the devastating effects of Adam’s tragic choice.
NOTES
9 It is interesting that in this chapter, which records the high priestly prayer of Jesus, only one of the various Greek verbs for prayer is found. The word ἐρωτάω (erōtaō, GK 2263) is the common verb for asking and is found sixty-three times in the NT, most often in connection with a simple question or request. Jesus uses it three times in his prayer (vv.9, 15, 20). The NIV’s “he looked toward heaven and prayed” (v.1) translates εἶπεν (eipen, “he said,” GK 3306, as the NASB has it).
11 Seven times in ch. 17 Jesus prays for his followers using the Greek connective ἵνα ὦσιν (hina ōsin, “so that they might be”) introducing a purpose/result clause (vv.11, 19, 21 [twice], 22, 23, 24). Four times the prayer is for unity, which according to Jesus’ prayer is God’s method of evangelism (“so that the world may believe that you have sent me,” v.21; “to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me,” v.23).
20“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
COMMENTARY
20 Jesus now extends the scope of his prayer to include all “who will believe in me.” It is encouraging to realize that we in the twenty-first century who have placed our faith in Jesus are beneficiaries of this remarkable prayer. His prayer was for everyone who down through the centuries would respond to him in faith. Jesus foresaw a continuing community of the faithful, extending from his own band of disciples through each succeeding generation until the time when he would come again. From a human standpoint, this would depend on the willingness of each generation to continue Jesus’ ministry to the world. It is “through their message” that people come to faith (cf. Ro 10:17). Temple, 2:326, notes, “Wherever there is a true disciple, there are others whom he has won or is winning.” It is encouraging to know that as we share the message with others, Jesus is praying for them. Our evangelistic efforts do not depend on our own piety or persuasiveness.
21 Jesus’ ultimate purpose in praying for those who will believe is that “all of them may be one.” This statement is often used in ecumenical discussions as the basis for encouraging ecclesiastical union. The unity for which Jesus prays, however, is analogous to that of the Father and the Son (“just as you are in me and I am in you”)—a unity in which the members do not lose their identity. Unity does not require uniformity. The true secret of Christian unity is for believers to be one with each other by virtue of being one with the Father and the Son. This is a supernatural unity that expresses itself in love. It is more than a mystical union, because it results in the world seeing the results and being brought to believing faith (“so that the world may believe that you have sent me”).
Granted, the church today seems more often to be in disarray. It is more natural for people to be divided than to stand together as one. Calvin, 2:147, says that “the ruin of the human race is that, alienated from God, it is also broken and scattered in itself.” Church divisions result in great injury to the cause of Jesus Christ. They waste time, absorb energy, and give the world a ready-made excuse for unbelief. Unity in the church will not come as a result of committees assigned to the task but by a renewal of personal fellowship with the Lord so profound as to be comparable to the union between the Father and the Son. The Christian life is a supernatural experience made possible by remaining in constant contact with the source of all spiritual power. The world will never be impressed by the numerical size or the self-declared importance of the church but only by seeing the unity of its members who live in love and serve the common goal of pointing others to faith. While unity itself has no power to convert, it opens the channels through which God’s redemptive love flows out with a unique ability to heal and restore.
22 The glory the Father gave to the Son has been given by the Son to his followers. This glory is the radiant presence of God. As God was at work in and through his Son, so also will he now complete his redemptive task through those who by faith are one with him. The glory of God is manifested in the lives of the faithful. The promise of Immanuel—“God with us” (Mt 1:23)—is fulfilled in the lives and ministry of believers. As Jesus’ true glory was the cross, so will our glory be experienced in lowly service for others.
The purpose for which glory is given is that believers may be one as Father and Son are one. The relationship within the Godhead is the model for Christian unity. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God promised his people that he would give them “singleness of heart and action” (Jer 32:39). If the glory of God is the splendor and power of God’s presence, then the unity God desires will come as we grasp the incredible truth that God has taken up his abode in the lives of his children. To be one with God is to be one with all others who call him Father. It is his glory, his presence, that makes the difference.
23 The union that links Father, Son, and believer (“I in them and you in me”) has as its purpose that the followers of Jesus “be brought to complete unity.” The perfect passive participle teteleiōmenoi (“perfected,” GK 5464) used periphrastically indicates a permanent state. That this perfected or completed unity does have an effect on the world reveals that Jesus is not speaking of some eschatological reality but of a condition intended to prevail at the present time. Sadly, the current condition of the church falls tragically short of God’s expectations. Verse 21 indicated that the unity of believers would lead the world to believe that the Father had sent the Son; in v.23 Jesus repeats the point and adds as a second purpose of Christian unity that it will lead the world to know that God has loved them even as he has loved Jesus. Brown, 772, comments, “The standard of comparison is breathtaking but logical …. God loves these children as He loves His Son.” It would seem that love is incapable of existing in various degrees. If love is “selfless concern in action on behalf of the other,” then God’s love is not parceled out in degrees, depending on the worth or condition of the one loved.
24 Verses 24–26 serve as a general conclusion to the entire prayer. For the fifth time in the prayer, Jesus addresses God as “Father.” Some think that by using the verb “I want” (thelō, GK 2527) instead of “I pray” (erōtaō, vv.9, 15, 20), Jesus is informing God of his will rather than making a request. (Brown, 772, says “he majestically expresses his will.”) Whether the change in verbs can bear this interpretation is questionable. In any case, Jesus is not insisting on his will over against that of the Father (cf. Mk 14:36).
His desire is that those whom the Father has given him be with him where he is. Going to the Father will separate him from his followers, but the time is coming when once again they will be united forever. Verse 24 is primarily eschatological. In that day they will “see [his] glory.” It is a glory that stems from the eternal love of the Father for the Son. It is a splendor the Son enjoyed before the creation of the world (cf. v.5; Mt 25:34). As we delight to share with loved ones the sights and sounds of places they have never seen, so Jesus looks forward to that eternal day when he will be able to share with us the glory that has been his from eternity past.
25 Only here is God addressed as “Righteous Father” (cf. v.20, “Holy Father”). Attention is called to his righteousness (or justice), because standing before him are two groups: the world, and those who acknowledge the divine origin of Jesus. The syntax of v.25 has led some to take the middle clause (“I know you”) as a parenthesis, which then sets the other two clauses in sharper contrast (“the world does not know you,” but “they know that you have sent me”). The NIV translates all three aorist verbs as present to emphasize the continuing nature of people’s response to Jesus’ claims.
26 Once again Jesus says to the Father, “I have made you known to them” (cf. v.6). The Greek text says, “I have made known to them your name.” A major role of the incarnate Jesus was to reveal the character of God to the world. In ch. 1 John wrote, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” (1:18). Apart from knowing God there is no basis for knowing anything else. Jesus will continue to make God known through the work of the Paraclete (14:26; 16:13) as well as through the close personal union referred to in the prayer.
The purpose of such revelation is that the Father’s love for his Son might also be in the disciples. The Greek en autois (“in them,” used twice in v.26) can mean either “within them” individually or “among them” corporately. There is no reason that it should be limited to either one. The love of God in the lives of individual believers will also be a love that exists among them.
Not only will God’s love be in them, but Jesus himself will also be in them. At the root of the redemptive work of God is relationship. The relationship of the triune God carries over to his saving work on behalf of the world. It is because God dwells in and among his people through the agency of his Son and Spirit that the message of his love is transmitted to each succeeding generation. History will give way to eternity as the believing multitudes are swept up into the eternal glory of Father and Son. In the end, as in the beginning, perfect love will express itself in perfect fellowship. The discord of sin will be forever removed, and the church eternal will live in joyous unity to the everlasting glory of God.
NOTES
20 A quick survey of the standard NT translations shows indecision as to whether the present participle πιστευόντων (pisteuontōn, GK 4409) is referring to those who at that time heard the apostles’ word and believed, or whether it should be taken in a future sense and include all those who would someday hear the message and believe. The NASB, ASV, RSV, and NET take it as referring to converts to the apostles’ message in that day; the KJV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, and ESV understand it in a future sense, applicable even today.