(Suggested Reading: John 17)
Inside God's House the Holy of Holies
In the 17th of John the curtain is pulled back, so to speak, and we are allowed to hear the Lord addressing His Father before He went to the cross. Great was the privilege of His own in hearing these words; privileged are we that they have been written down for us.
The Lord speaks as though the cross were all over even though He has not gone to it. This is because He is a Divine Person for whom failure is impossible. So the chapter views the Lord on the other side of death and in certain parts of it interceding for His people as their High Priest. This interpretation is confirmed by Paul's statement "for if He were on earth, He should not be a priest" Heb. 8:4,4For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: (Hebrews 8:4) which also agrees with the character of the Lord's ministry on earth, for at no time did He act as a priest on earth. (1) Viewed then as on the other side of death, the Lord is in the Holy of Holies.
Inside the Holy of Holies
We have seen how the Tabernacle chapters have displayed this approach Godwards John 12 The brazen altar, John 13 the laver, John 14-16 the golden lampstand and now in this chapter the Holy of Holies. But because the Lord is on the other side of death the veil is viewed as rent Matt. 27:5151And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; (Matthew 27:51) and so the golden altar of incense comes into view with the Lord Jesus, as the great High Priest of His people, interceding for them before God at that golden altar.
One might wonder why the Spirit of God arranged the chapters of the gospel of John so as to outline for us the desert journey from Egypt to Canaan and especially the detail of the Tabernacle from John 12-17. The answer may well be found in Psa. 73. There David wondered at the prosperity of the wicked "until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end" Psa. 73:1717Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. (Psalm 73:17). So it is that this chapter brings all these things into focus the world, a world which had rejected Christ at the outset John 1:5-14,5And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:5‑14) the Father, the Son of the Father's love the family of God taken out of the world. In the light of the sanctuary we bow to God's judgment that a world that rejected our Savior God can only be a desert to us a desert through which we are journeying to the place of God's rest where together with our fellow pilgrims from all ages we shall be re united in the blessed family of God to praise and worship our Savior and the Father who sent Him.
The theme of chapter 17 is the Father and the world with the Lord presenting us first as Himself in the Father's presence and then in the presence of the world. It is anticipating the Holy City Jerusalem in which the saints are seen in these two characters before the Father and before the world. Indeed a chain links the Lord's prayer, His prayers here to His Father, and the Holy City Jerusalem the answer to both.(2)
With these introductory remarks we may now look at the Lord's words and His prayer to the Father. These are separate and distinct. John 17:11These 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: (John 17:1) marks the beginning of His words "these words spake Jesus John 18:1 The end of His words "when Jesus had spoken these words." In between His words His two prayers to the Father are recorded.
The Lord's Opening Words to His Father
The sublime words that the Lord uttered from verses 1-8 are, not a prayer, but the Lord as God's blessed Son, addressing His Father as an equal in the Godhead. The Scripture is careful to note this distinction with the opening expression "these words spoke Jesus" with the Son making a demand not a request on His Father as One equal with Him in the Godhead "glorify Thy Son" and with the tenor of these introductory words which concern the glory of the Son His Person and His work before the Father and before the world. He was the Word of creation. It is this and other aspects of His Divine glory, which the Lord brings before His Father.
“The hour has come" He says, looking forward to the cross, and "I have finished the work Thou gavest Me to do" looking past it. The cross is not His subject here but His own rightful glory. So He lifts up His eyes to heaven and says "glorify Thy Son that Thy Son also may glorify Thee." Well, the Father heard the Son's voice that He should be glorified. His answer is found in Psa. 21:3-53For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. 4He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. 5His glory is great in thy salvation: honor and majesty hast thou laid upon him. (Psalm 21:3‑5)— "for Thou goest before Him with the blessings of goodness Thou settest a crown of pure gold on His head. He asked life of Thee and Thou gavest it Him, even length of days for ever and ever. His glory is great in Thy salvation, honor and majesty hast Thou laid upon Him." These verses give us the Father's reply raising Him from the dead, giving Him length of days for ever and ever as Man, and crowning Him with a pure gold crown to make it clear that He is the True King. Following that He is invested with honor and majesty. His enemies are destroyed and "we will sing and praise Thy power." All this is to be on earth. It was on the earth He had glorified God in His life and in His death. It will be on the earth that God will exalt and glorify Him in the coming thousand year kingdom. Then as Man He will fulfill His words to the Father "that Thy Son also may glorify Thee." A Man will establish a one world government over this earth and rule it in perfect righteousness. That is how the Son will glorify the Father, for nothing like that has ever happened in this world. We get the type of this in Joseph to whom Pharaoh said "only in the throne will I be greater than you" Gen. 41:4040Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. (Genesis 41:40). "And they cried before him (Joseph) bow the knee and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt" Gen. 41:4343And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 41:43).
Great as this future glory will be there is still another namely that the Father has given Him authority over all flesh. At present men may deny the Lord who bought them. But the Father who judges no man but has committed all judgment to the Son will see that they bow the knee in the day of judgment if they refused to do so now see Phil. 2:9 11. This authority is exercised over all flesh God will be glorified in judgment if man rejects Christ, but He will also be glorified in blessing when man accepts Him. Here believers are viewed in a special way as the Father's gift to Christ v 2. How a man's son treasures a watch his father gave him, not because it is a watch but because he will always remember it as his father's gift. So Christ cherishes us as the Father's gift to Him and to these He exercises His authority to give eternal life. His disciples longed to enjoy it. Peter said "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life" John 6:6868Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. (John 6:68). The following verse makes it clear that the great characteristic of this life is the knowledge of the Father and the Son.
The Lord's first demand was that the Father should glorify His Son so that His Son, as Man, might glorify Him in the administration of the coming kingdom. Now He demands that the Father glorify Him but with a different glory that glory which He had with His Father before the world was. Thus, the Son, in receiving a future glory, is not to lose any of the glory He had with the Father in the past because He became a Man.
But, one might ask, what has this to do with the remainder of His words to the Father concerning those whom the Father gave Him. The answer is that this was settled in the counsels of the Godhead in a past eternity "according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love" Eph. 1:44According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Ephesians 1:4). And so the Lord tells the Father that He has made His name known to the Apostles "the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world." They had kept the Father's word the Old Testament Scriptures. But there was more than that. The Father had words divine communications from Himself to pass on to them. This the Lord had done on the earth. They had received these words from the Father and believed that the Son had come out from the Father and that the Father had sent Him. This ends the Lord's words to His Father for the moment, though they will be resumed later.
The Lord's Two Prayers to His Father—the Golden Altar of Incense
The Lord is seen here as the Great High Priest of His people. He says "for their sakes I sanctify Myself." To sanctify is to set apart in holiness. Since the Lord was the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world the meaning of this Scripture is that the Lord has set Himself apart to fulfill a new office in the heavens that of High Priest. That is why His prayers here are in the present tense with a few exceptions which can be explained but do not affect the force of this remark. There are really two prayers, commencing with verses 9 and 15 with expressions which reverse themselves. Thus in verse 9 the Lord says that He prays for them and prays not for the world; in verse 15 He prays not that the Father would take them out of the world but He does pray that they might be kept from the evil. Thus it is clear that the relationship of the saints to the world is in question here. The Lord prays not for the world and He prays not that the Father would take those whom He had given Him out of the world. Now let us examine the two prayers to see what He does pray for.
The first prayer: This begins with the Apostles. "I pray for them...whom Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine." For them He prays that they might be kept in that blest name of Holy Father in which He had kept them while He was in the world and that they might have His joy fulfilled in themselves. His joy was founded on His obedience to His Father's will. As about to possess His life the life of the new man, the great principle of which is obedience He prays that His joy might be fulfilled in themselves that is that they might taste the joy Christ had in His path by obeying the Father's will.
The second prayer: This also commences with the Apostles, but is not restricted to them. It broadens to a wider circle ourselves v. 20 and then the whole family of God v. 21. Like a stone thrown into a pool we get ever widening circles until we come to the confines of the pool God Himself "That they also may be one in us." The purpose of this unity of believers in the family of God is that "The world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. "In stating these truths it cannot be overemphasized that everything begins with the Apostles and the foundation truths established in their writings the Holy Scriptures. In praying for us the Lord lays great emphasis on this. He prays "for those also who shall believe on Me through their (i.e. the Apostles') word. The second prayer then, is about the family of God. What does the Lord petition His Father for concerning this family? First that we may be kept from the evil of the world then that this might be done by sanctifying them through His Truth His Word. This prayer has surely been answered. Nothing sanctifies us keeps us from the evil of the world but the Word of God. Then the Lord prays for the unity of the family of God a subject we shall take up later. The Lord's closing thoughts carry us beyond a world that must soon pass away. At the close He prays the Father that we might be with Him, where He is, and behold His glory.
The prayer which the Lord taught His disciples to pray ended with 'Amen' since they were to say it. Not so the Lord's prayers here which need no confirmation, being perfect. Only He could begin by saying "Amen Amen I say to you." In this chapter the Lord's second prayer ends at verse 23.
The Lord's Closing Words
Verses 24 to 26 bring us back to what we had in verse 1-8 the Lord's words to His Father. His two prayers came in between. His closing words summarize what He was occupied with before His Father the world, the Father, Himself, and His own.
With the Lord's closing words we have covered the 17th chapter of John's gospel in the verse by verse order in which the Lord spoke. But certain things the Lord said run through His opening words, His two prayers, and His closing words. These things should occupy our attention.
Internal Themes Found in the Lord's Words and His Prayers to the Father
As might be expected in such sublime words and prayers, perfection is featured everywhere, but in varied star bursts of glory.
a. The perfection of the Last Adam's work: The first man Adam had nothing worthwhile for God. He and all his race were thieves and robbers stealing from God His glory. But the Lord Jesus, the last Adam, restored that which He took not away Psa. 69:44They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away. (Psalm 69:4) i.e. He never robbed God of His glory but rather restored it. When He restored it He added a fifth part Lev. 5:1616And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him. (Leviticus 5:16) i.e. He not only settled the question of sin to God's glory but gave God greater glory than if sin had never entered. He has filled the whole universe with the light of God's glory.
All this comes out beautifully when we compare the works of the two men, Adam and Christ. The first man Adam begat a son in his own likeness not God's Gen. 5:33And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: (Genesis 5:3). When the law was given to a people specially favored by God brought out of Egypt and the Red Sea they soon betrayed the fact that they were in the likeness of the first Adam. Given the law they broke the first commandment by worshipping the golden calf(3)— thus really breaking all the ten commandments. Now the last Adam appears on the scene. He receives not ten commandments but one commandment and fulfills it in ten wondrous ways. The one commandment is clear "I know that His commandment is life eternal" John 12:5050And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. (John 12:50). The ten ways in which He displayed this life eternal are woven throughout the fabric of John 17 both the Lord's opening words, His two prayers and His closing words, for they knit it all together. Here they are:.. I have glorified Thee on the earth.
.. I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.
.. I have manifested Thy name unto the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world.
.. I have given to them the words which Thou gavest Me.
.. I have kept those whom thou gavest Me.
.. I have given them Thy Word.
.. I have also sent them into the world.
.. I have given them the glory which Thou gavest Me.
.. I have known Thee.
.. I have declared to them Thy name.
b. The Unity of the family of God: There are three unities. The first concerns the Apostles v. 11; the second we who believe on the Apostles' word v. 21. The third v. 22 is the whole family of God in the full glory of God with the Father displayed in the Son and the Son in the saints "that they may be perfected into one." Christ and the saints will be displayed before the world which will then know that the Father sent the Son.
The unity of the family of God is dear to the Lord's heart for it is the subject of His prayer to the Father. The unity the Lord prayed for here must not be confused with the unity of the Church. No He is not praying for that, but for the unity of the family of God before the world a prayer that has been answered. We are divided on many things but where do you find a believer who will repudiate another believer's faith in Christ before a world hostile to both of them? The unity of the body of Christ in unbroken display must await the glory; the unity of the family of God in confessing Christ before the world is a very real thing in spite of the disarray of the Church. The purpose of this unity is stated by the Lord that the world might believe that the Father sent the Son and know that God loves all His children even as He loves His Son.
c. The world and the Father: The last two verses are not part of the Lord's prayers. He specifically stated "I pray not for the world." The world and the Father are always opposed in Scripture c.f. 1 John 2:1515Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15). So it is that the world is mentioned 18 times the Father 6 times. It is the Lord's witness that the world cannot satisfy the heart of man. The Father can. So He calls His own out of the world to the Father.
Where the Father and the Son are concerned the Lord uses the term "the earth" God's word for the dry land what God Himself called it. When He uses "the world" it is for man's home and the system of things man has fashioned here to give him a home other than the Father's house.
These many references to the world end with "the world has not known Thee" a statement in complete contrast to the beginning life eternal v. 3 the knowledge of the Father and the Son. For this reason the Father gave the Son men out of the world v. 6 men whom the world hated because they did not belong to it v.14 even as the Lord did not. He did not pray that they might be taken out of the world v.15 but rather that they should be sent into it as He was v. 18 to testify to it that the Father sent the Son v.23 and loved Him v.24 before the foundation of the world. But they are in the world though He is not v. 11 and must experience its hatred v.14 because the world, in spite of the testimony of the Lord v.13 and His own v. 21, had not known the Father. These divine communications tell us that the world is not the home of God's people but that it is the will of God that they should pass through it testifying to it of the Lord Jesus as the sent One of the Father until taken out of it.
A backward glance will now make it clear that we have come from the inner circle the Father and the Son to the Apostles then to us who believe on the Lord through the Apostles' word then the whole family of God and finally to the outer circle the world. But since the Lord prayed not for the world, the question arises why is the world brought in at all?
It is a good question. But let us remember that at the beginning the Lord reminded the Father of the glory that He had with Him before the world was. He was in the world and the world was made by Him but the world knew Him not. Was He always, along with those given Him by His Father, to be shut off from the world He had created to be cut off from His inheritance forever? The answer to this question is that Christ and His own have a present position of public rejection and a future position of public display. It is our present position that elicits the Lord's supplicating prayers to His Father. His desire is that we might have His position as the rejected One before the Father and before the world. This is like the little book in Rev. 10:1010And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. (Revelation 10:10) in our mouths sweet as honey, but bitter in our bellies. That is, His position before the Father is sweet as honey to our taste we enjoy that. What is bitter is His position before the world rejected, despised. Since we belong to Him we soon find that the world hates us as it hated Him no matter what we do what abilities we possess or anything else. It takes a while for the Christian to digest this fact. But when he accepts it, it is bitter in his belly unless and until he realizes that this is exactly what the Lord prayed to the Father that our position in this world should be.
But then there is another side to this. We who share His reproach shall also share His glory. In the widest sense the answer to the Lord's prayers is the Holy City Jerusalem. This world will yet learn that God is a righteous Father when the Holy City Jerusalem reigns over it. And in the new earth the expression is "behold the tabernacle of God is with men." The key word is men not Israel and the Church any more but the widest possible circle of blessing men. This was the word the Lord employed in His prayer to the Father "the men that Thou gavest Me." His inclusion of the largest circle the world looks onward then, not only to millennial glory but to the day of God when God Himself shall rest, surrounded by myriads of blessed beings from all ages who love Him and have been brought into the good of His ways. Before the world was created the Father loved the Son and we were chosen in Christ before its deep foundations were laid. If a world of the ungodly comes in between the Father's counsels and their execution it is but a momentary delay until new heavens and a new earth are created in which righteousness dwells.
It is blessed to turn from a world opposed to the Father to the Father Himself. He is mentioned six times in the chapter as already noted. But these mentions are in three groups of two thus a full divine testimony to the world. The first group gives us the relationship of the Son to the Father v.1 and 5 He is the Son whom God must glorify as Man in the future administration of the earth that in so doing the Father might be glorified. The Father must also glorify Him with the glory He had with the Father before the world was. This is the universal message of John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) although it goes beyond it. It is a testimony to the world of who Jesus is and the Father's recognition of it. The next group gives us the relationship of the world and the saints to the Father. As to the world it did not know Him and to it He must be a "righteous Father." But to God's children He is a "Holy Father." This is another testimony to the world that God has a people in it who love Him and walk in His ways. The final testimony is the beginning of that cry "Abba Father" "Father Father" of the child of God. This is found in vs. 21, 24. Here we find the sense of our unity in God's family and that we are to be taken out of the world to see God's Son the full consummation of our joy where in seeing Him we shall see the Father.