Chapter BY Chapter

John 17:20-26

​

Jesus Prays for All Believers

​

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,  I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.  Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.  I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

*******  

Now Jesus reveals that he is not only praying for the disciples, but for all those who will believe as well.  All that he prayed for his disciples (what we learned in the last lesson) also applies to all believers. 

The future believers will believe in Jesus through the word (logos) of the disciples (that is their message).  A different word could be used for message here even though the meaning would be the same.  Jesus sticks to using logos here because it carries significance. 

In the last section, Jesus said “The word truth is.”

What is that significance?

The significance is this: that the beginning of John’s gospel claims that the logos was in the beginning, and that the logos was God.  The fact that Jesus so explicitly uses logos to refer to himself in John 17 and how John uses in in John 1:1 is testament to the point that this was a regular doctrine of Jesus.  Jesus taught the trinity.  That cannot be denied.  Jesus told the disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  There is one name for the three persons.  And if one has what God has, what does that make him? That makes him God.  John 1:3 says that all things were made through the word and without him nothing was made that was made.  In Genesis 1:1, we are told that God made everything.  In Genesis 1:2, we are told that the Spirit of God was hovering over all there was to enact creation.  In Genesis 1:3 we find that God speaks his Word and all things are created at the command of his Word.  So, before creation, we have God, the Spirit of God, and the Word.  Jesus claims to be the Word. 

The idea that the Word of God had the power of God was not a new idea.  In Psalm 33:4-9, we read:

“For the word of the Lord is right and true;
    he is faithful in all he does.
 The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of his unfailing love.

 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into heaps;
    he puts the deep into storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.”

In this Psalm, you have both the idea that The Word is truth, but that by the Word of God, heavens and earth were created.

There are a number of significant uses of the word logos in the gospel of John.

John 2:22, “After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.”

John 4:41, “And because of his words many more became believers.”

John 4:50, “The man took Jesus at his word and departed.”

John 5:24, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”

John 5:38, “nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.”

John 7:40, “When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”

John 8:31-32, “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:37, “I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.”

John 8:43, “Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.”

John 8:51, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

John 8:55, “But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word.”

John 10:19, “There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.” (This is right after Jesus says he has authority to lay down his life and authority to take it up again.)

John 12:48, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”

John 14:23-24, “Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.”

John 15:3, “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.”

John 15:20, “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”

John 15:25, “But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’”

John 17:6, ““I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.”

John 17:14, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

John 18:9, “This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” (Notice that Jesus just spoke this in his prayer at the Garden of Gethsemane.  Now, even though his disciples are at risk, their lives are spared because of the fact that Jesus spoke these words.)

John 18:32, “This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” (Notice again that Jesus speaks a word and that word is fulfilled later).

In the way that John uses logos in his gospel, John is presenting to us here that God’s power in in the Word Jesus Christ and that His words, Jesus’ words, are the Power of God.

Jesus prays that all believers may all be one.  He is saying that the believers should be one with themselves.  Some people misconstrue this passage to be saying the believers will be one with God and Jesus as God and Jesus are one.  They use that to make the point that if we are one with God like Jesus is one with God, then Jesus cannot be God since it is talking about a unity in purpose, not in being. 

That is not the case here.  What Jesus is saying is that may the believers be as closely united as Jesus and the Father are closely united. 

Now there has been in history some fighting between different kinds of Christians.  However, it is very minor compared to other religions.  There are other religions that even teach that if your fellow in religion doesn’t believe exactly as you do, then you should kill him.

Are people in the world going to believe a bunch of people that are always fighting and killing each other?

No.  They might join one side or the other if they are forced to, but they won’t really believe it in their heart.

How should we treat Christians that believe differently?

How should we treat those Christians that believe Jesus was not God, but still believe that Jesus paid for their sins with his death on the cross?

John 10:37-38,

“ If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

How should we treat those Christians that believe that the atonement that Jesus provided was limited?

How should we treat those Christians that believe their salvation is based on good works?

How should we treat those Christians that believe all the right doctrines, but are living in sin?

Notice the extent to which Jesus wants the believers to be one.  He even gives them his glory. 

Verse 22,

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—“

To start off, we need to make a note that it does not say here that we are one with Jesus and the Father as they are one.  It is saying that the believers may be as closely united as one just as how close Jesus and the Father are united as one. 

The glory that God gave Jesus, Jesus has given to the believers. 

We need to examine what glory this is and how it is now the possession of the believers. 

Earlier in the chapter, we discussed that Jesus’ death on the cross for the sins of the world was his glory.

Does Jesus mean that we also will die for the sins of the world?

Our death could never cover anyone else’s sins. 

What Jesus means here is that we possess that salvation that he has provided.  That is his glory.  That is also been given to us.  We possess the love that he outpoured with this act of love for us.  Relishing that love basks us in the glory of the Son. 

Verse 23,

“I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Notice the first 7 words here.  “I in them and you in me.”  The only way that we get God in us is if we have Jesus in us.

How do we get Jesus in us? (Ask him into our heart.  Obey his commands.)

Now, what effect did it have for The Father to be in Jesus?  (Jesus could only do what The Father was doing).  In the same way, Jesus wants to be in us.  So that we will only do what Jesus is doing.  So that they may have complete unity.

Then – then the world will know that God sent Jesus and loves the believers just as he loves Jesus. 

Notice here that it is not so much about doctrine here, but it is about God’s love.  More than having the right doctrine in believing in the deity of Jesus, is the fact of God’s love.  Nothing more can show unity than the overwhelming power of God’s love. 

Verse 24,

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

Jesus prays that his believers will be with him when he is with the Father.  So far, everything that Jesus says comes to pass.  Do you think that the believers will be in heaven with Jesus?

You better believe it.  Jesus is a keeper of promises.  His words come to pass. 

Why did God give Jesus his glory?

          Because God loved Jesus before the foundation of the world.

And why does God love Jesus?

Jesus said in John 10:17, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.”

Verse 25,

“O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.”

Jesus knows the Father in the deepest sense.  Jesus must know the Father in ways that we never can.  At this point, the disciples at least know that the Father has sent Jesus.  They have much yet to know about Jesus.  After his crucifixion and his resurrection, and after he teaches them all that Moses and the prophets spoke about him, they will understand more.

Verse 26,

“I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Jesus comes back to “the name” again.  He has made God’s name known to the disciples as well as to all believers.  And he will continue to make it known.

How does Jesus make God’s name known?

1. By revealing the meaning of the name.

2. By taking the name for himself.

3. By doing the deeds of the Father.

What is the purpose of revealing the name?

1. That the love God has for Jesus will be in us. What is going to happen in the next chapter?(This is just before Jesus is going to be crucified and the last thing that Jesus reminds us of is that the love of God will be in us).

2. That Jesus will be in us.

What also happens when Jesus is in us?

This is a repetitive theme in the gospel of John. 

In John 14:20, Jesus says, “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”

​

 

He is With Us by Love & The Outcome

​