Jesus Prays for Himself (17:1–5)

It was not uncommen for farewell discourses to conclude with a prayer (Jub. 22:28–30; Sir. 51:1–13; cf. Jub. 1:19–21; 4 Ezra 8:19b–36). John 17 displays several thematic links with the Targums to Exodus 19–20.507 More important still, Jesus’ final prayer culminates John’s portrayal of Jesus as the one sent from the Father who, after completing his mission, will soon return to the one who sent him (cf. Isa. 55:10–11).

GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE

A very old olive tree in the traditional site of the garden on the Mount of Olives.

He looked toward heaven and prayed (17:1). See comments on 11:41.

Father (17:1). See comments on 11:41.

Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you (17:1). The Old Testament says that God will not give his glory to another (e.g., Isa. 42:8; 48:11). Jesus’ sharing his Father’s glory thus implies that he is God. In a religious papyrus, a miracle worker prays, “Isis … glorify me, as I have glorified the name of your son Horus” (P. Lond. 121.503–504).508 However, while the terminology is strikingly similar, in the wonder-worker’s case he prays to be glorified because he has glorified the name of Horus, while Jesus prays to be glorified in order that he many glorify the Father.509

You granted him authority (17:2). God’s granting of authority to Jesus marks the inbreaking of a new era (cf. Isa. 9:6–7; Dan. 7:13–14).510

All people (17:2). Literally, “all flesh,” a Semitism.

This is eternal life: that they may know you (17:3). The Old Testament relates life after death to the knowledge of God (e.g., Jer. 31:34). Hosea records the divine lament, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6), while both Isaiah and Habakkuk envision a future day when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:9; Hab. 2:14). God’s people are to acknowledge him in all their ways (Prov. 3:6) and to live lives of wisdom (3:18; 11:9). The principle of wise living is also affirmed in later rabbinic teaching.511

“Knowing God” does not merely refer to head knowledge (the Greek conception). Rather, it means living in fellowship with God. Of course, God can also be known to a limited extent through creation (e.g., Wisd. Sol. 13:1–9; Rom. 1:18–25). But ultimately, knowledge of God is contingent on religious salvation, as was acknowledged even in Hellenistic Jewish literature: “For to know you is complete righteousness, and to know your power is the root of immortality” (Wisd. Sol. 15:3).

In the Qumran scrolls, “life” and “eternal knowledge” are set in close parallelism: “May he illuminate your heart with the discernment of life and grace you with eternal knowledge” (1QS 2:3; cf. 4:22; 11:3–4). The phrase “eternal life” is found in these writings as well (CD 3:20). In Hellenistic and oriental cults, it was the vision of God received by the initiate that was considered to be the source of life and salvation. Philo wrote, “holding that the knowledge of him is the consummation of happiness. It is also agelong life” (Spec. Laws 1.345; cf. God 143).

The only true God (17:3). This entire verse conforms closely to the pattern underlying 1 Corinthians 8:6: “there is but one God, the Father … and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ.” Similar expressions are also found in New Testament confessions of faith and liturgical formulas (e.g., 1 Thess. 1:9: “the living and true God”; 1 Tim. 1:17: “the only God”; 6:15–16: “God, the blessed and only Ruler … who alone is immortal”; 1 John 5:20: “the true God and eternal life”; Rev. 6:10: “Sovereign Lord, holy and true”) as well as in Philo (Alleg. Interp. 2.68: “the only true God”; Spec. Laws 1.332: “the one true God … the Being who truly exists, even God”; Embassy 366: “the true God”) and in other Jewish writings (3 Macc. 6:18: “most glorious, almighty, and true God”). See comments on John 5:44 (“the only God”).

Jesus Christ (17:3). This phrase occurs elsewhere in this gospel only in 1:17; see also 1 John 4:2. It may strike the modern reader as curious that Jesus should call himself “Jesus Christ,” but self-reference in the third person was common in antiquity (cf. John 21:24 and note).512

Before the world began (17:5). Preexistence is also ascribed to wisdom in intertestamental wisdom literature (e.g., Wisd. Sol. 7:25; 9:10–11) on the basis of its portrayal in the Old Testament book of Proverbs (esp. Prov. 8:23, 30); but see comments on John 1:1.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples (17:6–19)

You (17:6). Literally, “your name” (also in 17:26). God’s “name” enshrines who God is (cf. Ex. 3:13–15). Because his name is glorious, God wants it to be made known.513 In the Old Testament, knowledge of God’s name implies a commitment of life (Ps. 9:10), and God’s name is put on the central sanctuary (Deut. 12:5, 21). John takes over both aspects: Jesus’ revelation of God’s name to his followers must be met with obedience; and Jesus is shown to replace both tabernacle and temple, so that he has become the “place” where God has put his name (see also Isa. 55:13; 62:2; 65:15–16).

Speculation about the divine name was common in the Judaism of Jesus’ day. In particular, people wondered about the angel of the Lord referred to in Exodus 23:20–21: “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared…. My Name is upon him.” In later Jewish literature, the name of God became enshrined in the sacred tetragrammaton (Yahweh), so that “the Name” served as a substitute for pronouncing this divine name.

The Odes of Solomon states that “the Messiah … was known before the foundations of the world, that he might give life to persons forever by the truth of his name” (41:15); moreover, God placed his name on the head of his people because they are free and they are his (42:20). In gnostic literature, “name” refers to the knowledge (gnōsis) mediated by the redeemer. This name is revealed only to certain individuals who thereby acquire a share in God’s life, light, and joy.

I gave them the words you gave me (17:8). The portrayal of Jesus in the present passage is reminiscent of the description of the prophet like Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18.

Holy Father (17:11). The same phrase is found in Odes of Solomon 31:5. The concept goes back to Leviticus 11:44 (cf. Ps. 71:22; 111:9; Isa. 6:3). Similar addresses are found in Jewish literature: “O holy Lord of all holiness” (2 Macc. 14:36); “O Holy One among the holy” (3 Macc. 2:2); “You are holy and your Name is awesome” (Shemoneh ʿEsreh 3). Holiness is also ascribed to God in the book of Revelation (e.g., Rev. 4:8; 6:10). However, unlike in other Jewish contexts, Jesus’ address of God as holy does not create a distance between him and God; for Jesus, God is his holy Father.

Protect them by the power of your name (17:11). The phrase “by the power of your name” is probably a Semitic expansion on “by [the instrumentality of] your name.” Yet because God’s name is powerful, it can be viewed as synonymous with power (see, e.g., Ps. 54:1, where “your name” and “your might” occur in parallelism). The psalmist knows that deliverance from his enemies and help in times of trouble are from the Lord: “Through your name we trample our foes” (44:5); “save me, O God, by your name, vindicate me by your might” (54:1); “our help is in the name of the LORD” (124:8).

The name you gave me (17:11). Exodus 23:21 says of the guardian angel of the people, “my Name is in him”; in Numbers 6:27, the “name” of Yahweh is “put on the Israelites” by the priestly blessing; according to Jeremiah 23:6, the “name” of the messianic King will be “The LORD Our Righteousness.” As Paul sums it up, to Jesus God gave “the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow … and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil. 2:9–10; cf. Rev. 19:12).

I protected them and kept them safe…. None has been lost (17:12). Jesus protected his disciples and kept them safe, just as Wisdom did Abraham: “Wisdom … preserved him blameless before God and kept him strong” (Wisd. Sol. 10:5). The juxtaposition of the verbs “protect” and “keep safe” reflects Semitic parallelism (see also Prov. 18:10)

The one doomed to destruction (17:12). Lit., “son of destruction.” The expression can refer either to Judas’s character514 or his destiny.515 The NIV rendering “doomed to destruction” suggests the latter, though of course both are true. The noun “destruction” (apōleia) commonly refers in the New Testament to final condemnation. The expression “son of perdition” also occurs in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, there with reference to “the man of lawlessness,” that is, the antichrist. This suggests that “son of destruction” labels Judas Iscariot as part of a typology of evil personages across the sweep of salvation history seeking to thwart God’s sovereign purposes. The phrase “son of” is a Semitism,516 though it is also attested in classical Greek.517 Similar expressions (in the plural) are also found in the Qumran writings.518

So that Scripture would be fulfilled (17:12). The antecedent passage is probably Psalm 41:10 (applied to Judas in John 13:18). Other Old Testament passages fulfilled through Judas are Psalm 69:25 and 109:8 (cited in Acts 1:20).

Not that you take them out of this world but that you protect them from the evil one (17:15). Parallel wording is attested in rabbinic literature both for “take out of this world”519 and for “protect from the evil one.”520 Moses (Num. 11:15), Elijah (1 Kings 19:4), and Jonah (Jonah 4:3, 8) all asked to be taken out of this world, but none of their prayers was answered (though Elijah was taken up to heaven at a later time).

Sanctify (17:17). The address “Holy Father” in 17:11 would suggest to the Jewish mind that holiness was also expected of Jesus’ followers, according to the principle enunciated in the book of Leviticus (11:44; 19:2; 20:26).

Your word is truth (17:17). The present phrase is similar to Psalm 119:142: “Your law is true” (cf. 119:151, 160). David likewise acknowledged, “Your words are trustworthy” (2 Sam. 7:28; cf. Ps. 19:7). In common Jewish prayer, it was acknowledged that God sanctifies people through his commandments.

As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world (17:18). A partial Old Testament parallel is the instruction to Moses, who had himself been consecrated by God (Sir. 45:4) in order to consecrate others so that they too may serve God as priests (Ex. 28:41).

For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified (17:19). Jesus’ sanctification “for” (hyper) others is similar to atonement passages elsewhere in the New Testament (e.g., Mark 14:24; John 6:51; 1 Cor. 11:24). It is also reminiscent of the Old Testament notion of “setting apart” sacrificial animals (e.g., Deut. 15:19).

Jesus Prays for All Believers (17:20–26)

My prayer is not for them alone (17:20). See the parallel in Deuteronomy 29:14–15: “I am making this covenant … not only with you … but also with those who are not here today.”

So that the world may believe that you have sent me (17:21). The coordination between unity and love is paralleled by exhortations to brotherly love and harmony in Jewish testamentary literature, which attributes this parting concern to Noah (Jub. 7:26), Rebecca (Jub. 35:20), Isaac (Jub. 36:4), Zebulon (T. Zeb. 8:5–9:4), Joseph (T. Jos. 17:2–3), and Daniel (T. Dan. 5:3).

Brought to complete unity (17:23). The Qumran covenanters also saw themselves as a yaḥad (“union”) and displayed a keen consciousness of their election.521

REFLECTIONS

Jesus’ parting prayer is for believers’ love and unity, so that unbelievers may come to know him through them. The church has miserably failed to live up to this longing of Jesus’ heart. It has constantly been plagued by painful divisions, competitiveness, and an unforgiving spirit. How can we expect unbelievers to be attracted to Jesus if this is the state of the company of his followers? We must repent and make it our ambition to promote love and unity with other Christians so that those outside the faith will see Christ in us.

To let the world know that you sent me (17:23). This phrase is reminiscent of Old Testament passages such as Zechariah 2:9: “Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me.”

Before the creation of the world (17:24). Literally, “before the foundation of the world.” The phrase “from the beginning of the world” was frequently used in Judaism.522 A suggestive parallel is found in Odes of Solomon 41:15, where the Messiah is said to have been “known before the foundations of the world, that he might give life to persons forever by the truth of his name.”

Righteous Father (17:25). The Old Testament commonly teaches that God is righteous and just.523 With Jesus’ betrayal and innocent suffering imminent, he affirms the righteousness of God his Father.

I myself may be in them (17:26). Subsequent to the giving of the law at Sinai, the glory of God displayed on the mountain (Ex. 24:16) came to dwell in the midst of Israel in the tabernacle (40:34). As the Israelites moved toward the Promised Land, God frequently assured them that he was in their midst (29:45–46; Deut. 7:21; 23:14). In John’s prologue, Jesus is said to have come to dwell (lit., “tabernacle”) among his people (John 1:14; see comments), and now Jesus’ earthly presence is about to be transmuted into his spiritual presence in his followers in keeping with Old Testament notions of a new covenant.