Preface
This chapter records what is accurately termed as the “Lord’s Prayer,” which is substantially different from the “Model Prayer” given as a pattern for prayer by the Lord in Matthew 6:9-13. This, the Lord’s Prayer, is the longest prayer recorded in the Bible. Jesus prays this prayer for Himself, for His disciples and for His Church--the body of believers who throughout history would believe in Him.
A portion of the prayer brings to light the Doctrine of Election, which has always been an apparent paradoxical teaching of contention between Christians of varying viewpoints throughout history. Even though this doctrine may be better left for a topical (more exhaustive) study to be included in the appropriate section in www.bibleone.net, it will be addressed to some degree in this commentary on chapter 17 of the Gospel of John.
The Doctrine of Election is a theological truth that threads throughout God’s Word. Note the following remarks by C. Fred Dickason, Th.D., Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, Illinois, as recorded in the Wycliffe Bible Dictionary (Hendrickson Publishers).
ELECT. “Chosen” or “selected.” The main OT verb for this is “bahar” a deliberate selecting of something or someone with attendant preference or pleasure. The NT verb “eklegomai” means to choose or select out of a larger group something or someone for oneself. The related adjectives “hahir” and “eklektos” are translated “elect” or “chosen” and are the result of an act of selection. The words are used of choices human (Gen 6:2; Deut 30:19; Lk 10:42; 14:7) and divine for salvation (Eph 1:4), and for service (Jn 15:16).
Various objects are termed “elect” or “chosen” by God: the nation Israel for special favor and purpose (Isa 44:1; 45:4); several individuals, such as Abraham (Neh 9:7), Aaron (Ps 105:26), David (1 Sam 16:8 ff.); Jerusalem (2 Chr 6:6); a remnant of Jews near the second coming of Christ (Mt 24:22; Isa 65:9); the Church, the body of Christ
(1 Pet 2:9; 5:13; Col 3:12; Tit 1:1); Christ Himself (Isa 42:1; 1 Pet 2:6); the “lady”
(2 Jn 1); and angels (1 Tim 5:21). Elect men are chosen by God’s grace (Rom 11:5) and love (Rom 8:33-39; 11:28; Eph 1:4-5) and according to His foreknowledge (1 Pet 1:2); it is never on the basis of human merit (Rom 9:11; cf. 2 Tim 1:9)
Election, as it applies to the salvation of a person, encompasses several steps, e.g., predestination, calling, justification and glorification (Romans 8:29, 30). The difficulty lies in reconciling the sovereignty of God in Election with the freedom of man to choose in the matter of eternal salvation for any individual. God chose every person who would be saved before the foundation of the world, i.e., before creation (Ephesians 1:4, 5). Man’s merit or his works have nothing to do with the election process or the act of salvation, since man has no merit and could not generate any merit from the time of his fall in the Garden of Eden onward. Even though man is capable of producing “human good,” this commodity is as “filthy rags” in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6) and is totally insufficient for the purpose of achieving eternal salvation for anyone. Only faith alone in Christ alone brings eternal salvation to the recipient. God chose those who are to be saved strictly in accordance with His purpose, pleasure and will (Acts 4:28; Romans 9:11; Ephesians 1:5; 3:11)
Therefore God, in accordance with His purpose and before time, selected every single person who was to be saved through Jesus Christ. On the “other side of the coin” the Bible clearly specifies that salvation is for everyone. Note the following passages of Scripture.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)
And it shall come to pass that whosoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. (Acts 2:21)
To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whosoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43)
Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. (Romans 5:18)
For whosoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3, 4)
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men . . . . (Titus 2:11)
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. (1 John 5:1)
And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whosoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)
Therefore it is just as clear in the Word of God that the love and grace of God is provided for every single man and woman within the realm of time through the sacrifice of His Son. What’s more, every person may obtain this love and grace of God as expressed in His gift of eternal life by exercising his will (choice) to receive by faith (trust in) Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and the sacrifice of Jesus as the only requirement for his personal salvation.
How does a believer reconcile “election” with “free agency?” It is fact that the Bible supports both doctrines. To the rational mind they conflict with each other, but it is not totally unreasonable to believe that God has allowed man sufficient mental capacity to understand each doctrine and how they fit together in God’s purpose and plan. Of course the simplistic approach could be to simply deny man’s ability to reconcile these doctrines, relegating the entire matter to the arena of faith.
There is of course merit in the simplistic approach. Reason can never be elevated over supernatural revelation. If every aspect of God’s plan could be reduced to the level of human reason, there would be no need for faith. The reconciliation of these two doctrines may very well fall within the purview of the following two passages of Scripture.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8, 9)
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29)
Nevertheless, the number of words penned in commentary regarding the relationship of these two doctrines over the centuries is legion. On the one hand you have the strictly Calvinistic approach stating that man essentially has no say in his salvation, that even his ability to choose must be activated--maybe even controlled-- by God. Then there is the strictly Arminian view that has God’s plan teetering on man’s will. There is truth in both views and maybe even some error. So what is the solution? The following is offered as a possibility and not as a concrete (dogmatic) fact--based on the following:
- God has elected everyone that is to be saved prior to time and creation.
- God has offered the possibility of salvation to everyone.
- Christ paid for the sins of everyone on the cross.
- Man was created in the image of God, i.e. with a mind, soul and spirit and with the ability to chose (free agency).
- God has stipulated to man that he must exercise his will and receive (trust in) His Son for salvation.
- Although God chose before time in accordance with His purpose, He made His selection in conjunction within an orderly process--a prescribed set of steps (Romans 8:29, 30), which are foreknowledge, predestination, calling (otherwise known as the convicting power of the Holy Spirit), justification (by faith alone in Christ alone) and glorification (sanctification from time and into eternity).
- Foreknowledge appears to be the foundational or commencement step in the election process (Romans 8:29, 30; 1 Peter 1:2)
- God’s election was not made in a vacuum. The election process cannot be divorced from all of God’s attributes, such as His sovereignty (Lord over all), His immutability (unchanging), His omnipotencey (all-powerful), His omniscience (all-knowing), His omnipresence (present everywhere regardless of time and eternity) His holiness and His justice--all such attributes coming to focus and to appliance at the moment of selection.
The conclusion is this. Since both doctrines are true and since God transcends all dimensions, to include time and eternity past and present, simultaneously, they (election and man’s choice) must transpire in the mind of God at the same time. God’s election does not precede man’s choice and man’s choice does not precede God’s election. One does not depend on the other; rather, they materialize hand-in-hand and are co-dependent on each other in the mind of God.
This may be something akin to the “chicken and the egg first” riddle or an accusation of “fence-riding,” unless of course one takes into account the nature of God. Multiple transactions that are separated by both time and eternity transpiring simultaneously may be impossible with man, who is confined to four dimensions (width, length, height and time), but it presents no difficulty with God who is not confined to any dimension. In fact science now believes there may be upwards to ten or eleven dimensions. God is not only present in each of them, and probably many more, but He also exists everywhere throughout eternity before and after time. In other words He is everywhere (in every dimension) simultaneously. He is at the beginning, at the end and at all in between simultaneously. This then appears to clarify the meaning of “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God . . .” (1 Peter 1:2) and “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined . . .” (Romans 8:29).
Election therefore does not cancel out free agency, and free agency does not cancel out election. Neither doctrine invalidates the other. They compliment each other. God does in fact elect a person to be saved, but He does it in conjunction (partnership) with the person who exercises his God-given capability to accept His Son once the person has been awakened to his sin and need of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. This process--both the act of electing and the person’s exercise of will to receive--happens at the same exact moment in the mind of God who exists before time and creation and at the moment of a person’s salvation, all simultaneously. Both acts--one by God and one by man--are executed together in the mind of God “before the foundation of the world.”
This concept does not invalidate man’s God-given ability and responsibility to choose. Furthermore it does not violate God’s sovereignty or any other of His attributes. In fact, it may very well clarify the concept of foreknowledge and its commencement relationship to the election process. As a person, in time, is faced with the decision to either by faith accept or by works reject God’s offer of salvation, God by means of His foreknowledge and attendance fully comprehends the decision the person will make and correspondingly elects the person to eternal life. One may argue that this subjugates God to man, but this writer differs with that assessment. Since the ability and obligation for man to make a choice comes from God in the first place, God is therefore supreme in the entire process. The process is totally in accordance with God’s purpose and plan. It may be supposed that God being sovereign could have brought man to eternal life--even kicking and screaming--anyway He would choose. The fact is that He has opted to do it within the parameters of mercy and grace--and the will of man.
Regardless of what position a believer may take regarding these two doctrines, there is one way a person may know if someone is one of the “elect.” He need only apply the test of John 3:18, which is “He who believes in Him [Jesus Christ] <.i>is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he had not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Furthermore even if a believer is an adherent to the strict Calvinist viewpoint, he is still under the obligation to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone in accordance with the commission given to him by Christ. In the words of J. Vernon McGee in his Thru the Bible commentary, “If God would somehow reveal to me who are the elect ones, I would give the gospel only to them. But God does not do this. He has said that whosoever will may come. That is a legitimate offer to every person.”
John 17:1-3
Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
The words, “Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said,” are more accurately translated by the NIV Bible, “After Jesus said this [that which He spoke in chapters 14-16], He looked toward heaven and prayed.” It is unclear whether or not Jesus verbalized His prayer or prayed in silence. He first acknowledged that “the hour” had come. What hour? The hour of his crucifixion and death! The “religious” Jews had sought repeatedly to murder Jesus during His ministry on earth, but they always failed because God’s plan required that Jesus be delivered to this “hour.”
Jesus entreats the Father to glorify His Son so that He might in turn glorify the Father. The Father would glorify Jesus by raising Him from the dead after three days. If Christ would have stayed in the grave, He would have been just another man. But by raising Christ from the dead, it would prove that He was indeed the Son of God and the Messiah who had been proclaimed by numerous prophets throughout the years. He would further be glorified by the Father as He ascended to the Father’s right hand in heaven and crowned with glory and honor forever.
As a predestined response to Christ being glorified by the Father, Jesus would then glorify the Father, which is subsequently explained in the rest of the verse. Jesus was given authority over all flesh in order that He might grant eternal life to everyone whom God had given Him (Election--see Preface). Jesus always had creative authority over all flesh from the very beginning. Now He was to have redemptive authority on the bases of His death on the cross of Calvary. It brings great glory to the Father when men and women turn from themselves, from religion and from all “good works” to Jesus Christ alone by faith alone in receiving Him as their personal Savior. It further glorifies the Father when after accepting Christ as personal Savior, converted men and women live out their lives by allowing Christ to live through them via the means of the filling (control) of the Spirit of God.
Finally Christ makes it very clear that eternal life is to “experientially” (from the Greek use of the word) know the Father and the Son. Three important lessons come from these words of Christ.
- To “experientially” know Christ is to accept Him by faith.
- To know Christ by faith is to also know the Father--another claim of Deity by Christ.
- To know Jesus is to know Christ--the Messiah. Here Jesus specifically used the term “Christ” to refer to Himself.
John 17:4-10
“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your Word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.”
Here Jesus is speaking to the Father, having completed everything required of Him in so far as a sinless life upon earth. He had glorified the Father by His holy life, by His miracles and by His teachings. He would soon bring further glory to God, and in turn be gloried, by His suffering and death. As J.C. Ryle in his Expository Thoughts on the Gospels puts it:
The crucifixion brought glory to the Father. It glorified His wisdom, faithfulness, holiness, and love. It showed Him wise, in providing a plan whereby He could be just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly.--It showed Him faithful in keeping His promise, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head.--It showed Him holy, in requiring His law’s demands to be satisfied by our great Substitute.--It showed Him loving, in providing such a Mediator, such a Redeemer, and such a Friend for sinful man as His co-eternal Son.
The crucifixion brought glory to the Son. It glorified His compassion, His patience, and His power. It showed Him most compassionate, in dying for us, suffering in our stead, allowing Himself to be counted sin and a curse for us, and buying our redemption with the price of His own blood.--It showed Him most patient, in not dying the common death of most men, but in willingly submitting to such pains and unknown agonies as no mind can conceive, when with a word He could have summoned His Father’s angels, and been set free.--It showed Him most powerful, in bearing the weight of all transgressions of the world, and vanquishing Satan, and despoiling him of his prey.
Yet as Jesus was now looking toward the cross, He couldn’t help but look beyond the cross toward that time when His glory, which He had with His Father before coming to earth, would be restored. The phrase, “glorify Me together with Yourself,” was another validation of Christ’s Deity--for only He could truly be “together” with the Father. Again and again, God’s Word declares that Jesus Christ is God (John 1:1-2; 10:30; 14:9; Philippians 2:6; Colossians 1:15, 17; Hebrews 1:3, 10).
In verse 6 Jesus turns His attention to His disciples, those who have been given Him by the Father. Again, the fact that they were given to Christ by the Father speaks of the doctrine of Election (see Preface). This verse through verse 8 reveals the following factors pertaining to these disciples:
- They kept (obeyed) God’s Word.
- They understood that Christ received all things from the Father.
- Christ’s gift to them was the Word of God.
- They received the Word of God.
- They believed (faith) in Jesus Christ.
Today, even more than then, believers have the comprehensive and complete Word of God--canonized in 66 books called the Bible. Today as then believers should (1) understand that Bible doctrine is a supernatural revelation from Jesus Christ and (2) be diligent in studying it. Also, today as then, it is faith in Jesus Christ that honors God. In fact the reception of, the obedience to and faith in the Word of God are the keys to a successful spiritual life.
Because of this, Jesus states in verse 9 that He not only prays specifically and uniquely for His disciples, but He truly recognizes His unity with the Father and with them. With another reference to His Deity, Jesus simply states that everything that belongs to Him belongs to the Father and everything that belongs to the Father belongs to Him. Because of this unity that is established by their faith in Him, Jesus Christ is honored and glorified. Every soul today that comes to Christ alone by faith alone brings to the Son of God the same honor and glory. This is the purpose of those who are saved.
John 17:11-13
“Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.”
Now as Jesus again mentions His soon departure by way of the cross, the grave and His resurrection, He prays for two things for His disciples. First He prays that His Father keep (protect) them (by the authority of God’s name) and that they be united as one (in purpose and in love) even as God the Father and God the Son are One. It is clear from verse 15 that Christ’s request is for the protection for His disciples and that the protection be as strong and as secure as the name of God--there can be no better guarantee. The second part of His request was that His disciples be “one as We are.” Theoretically, all believers are one by the baptizing and infilling work of the Holy Spirit. Practically, believers often are not harmonious in their relationships due to sin and obstinacy. While Christ was on earth He kept (protected) His disciples. The only one who was lost, the “son of perdition,” was lost from the beginning in accordance with prophecy. J. Vernon McGee in his Thru the Bible commentary has this to say:
He prays for two wonderful things. He prays for us to be kept. You will be kept because you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and because your Savior is praying for you.
His other request is that we should be one. He prays for the unity of believers. He’s not praying for an ecumenical movement or that we all join the same denomination. There has been much wrong teaching about this. First of all, He prays the Father that His own might be one. Notice that He isn’t praying to us or to some church authority; He is praying to the Father. And He prays that we should be one “as we are;” that is, as the Father and the Son are one. There is an organic unity which God had made. The Holy Spirit takes all true believers and baptizes them into the body of Christ, identifies them in the body of Christ. The disgrace of it all is that down here the believers are pretty well divided. But there is only one true church, and every believer in Jesus Christ is a member of that church. It is called the body of Christ.
These things Christ prayed--for the Father to protect His disciples and that His disciples would truly be united--so that they might experience the true joy of Jesus Christ in themselves. God wants His children to be children of joy and gleeful expectation. There is no reason for a believer to be somber or sad. If God’s Word (promises) are true, and they most definitely are, then the believer cannot help but know the joy of Jesus Christ.
John 17:14-19
“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. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”
This is a principal passage within the Word of God regarding the importance of Bible doctrine in the believer’s life. Previously in this prayer Jesus affirmed that He had given God’s Word to His disciples (vs. 8), and in this passage He expands on this the most beneficial gift to the believer during his lifetime on this earth. It is only through the study of God’s Word--learning Bible doctrine--that a believer may know the mind of Christ. To know and adhere to Bible doctrine will not achieve popularity with the world for the believer. On the contrary, the world cares nothing for the Bible and even less for the one who attempts to live by it. No Christian can be blamed for desiring the quick return of Jesus Christ in the clouds of glory. All believers who live for Christ anxiously look forward to being delivered from the corruption on this world.
Yet Christ did not pray to the Father to take His disciples out of the world, but He prayed earnestly that the Father would protect them from the evil one--Satan. When a person accepts Jesus alone by faith alone he no longer is a citizen of this wicked world. From that point on he is a citizen of heaven, just as much as Jesus Christ is a citizen of heaven. But while he remains on earth it is critical that he be “sanctified” (Gk. hagiazo--“to set apart”) or set apart for service to God. This sanctification process is accomplished primarily by the believer studying and learning Bible doctrine. The specific prayer by Jesus regarding this issue was “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth.” His point is this. There is no spiritual activity more important to the Christian (young or mature) while remaining here on earth than sanctification process by means of the continuous acquisition of Bible doctrine.
This sanctification process is important because just as Christ was sent into the world, He commissions all believers to go into the world and share the Gospel--the good news of Jesus Christ. It was for this that Christ sanctified or set Himself apart by leaving heaven to die on the cross of Calvary. His death, burial and resurrection has made it possible for anyone to truly know God through faith alone in Christ alone, which then leads to further sanctification through God’s Word.
John 17:20-26
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
This part of The Lord’s Prayer is no longer for His disciples standing before Him. This passage reflects His prayer for persons who would eventually believe in Him and become children of God from then until the end of time. Commentary for this passage from the Believer’s Bible Commentary by William MacDonald follows:
Now the High Priest extended his prayer beyond the disciples. He prayed for generations yet unborn. In fact, every believer reading this verse can say, “Jesus prayed for me over 1900 years ago.”
The prayer was for unity among believers, but this time it was with the salvation of sinners in view. The unity for which Christ prayed was not a matter of external church union. Rather it was a unity based on common moral likeness. He was praying that believers might be one in exhibiting the character of God and Christ. This is what would cause the world to believe that God had sent Him. This is the unity which makes the world say, “I see Christ in those Christians as the Father was seen in Christ.”
In verse 11, the Lord prayed for unity in fellowship. In verse 21, it was unity in witness-bearing. Now it is unity in glory. This looks forward to the time when saints will receive their glorified bodies. “The glory which you gave Me” is the glory of resurrection and ascension.
We do not have this glory yet. It has been given to us as far as the purposes of God are concerned, but we will not receive it until the Savior returns to take us to heaven. It will be manifested to the world when Christ returns to set up His kingdom on earth. At that time, the world will realize the vital unity between the Father and the Son, and the Son and His people, and will believe (too late) that Jesus was the Sent One from God.
The world will not only realize that Jesus was God the Son, but it will also know that believers were loved by God just as Christ was loved by God. That we should be so loved seems almost incredible, but there it is!
The Son desires to have His people with Himself in glory. Every time a believer dies, it is, in a sense, an answer to this prayer. If we realized this, it would be a comfort to us in our sorrow. To die is to go to be with Christ and to behold His glory. This glory is not only the glory of deity which He had with God before the world began. It is also the glory He acquired as Savior and Redeemer. This glory is proof that God loved Christ before the foundation of the world.
The world failed to see God revealed in Jesus. But a few disciples did, and they believed that God had sent Jesus. On the eve of his crucifixion, there were only a few faithful hearts in the whole of mankind--and even those were about to forsake Him!
The passage ends with Christ’s desire that the love the Father had for Him would also be in all believers. And the way this is accomplished in the life of any believer is by the believer submitting himself to the Holy Spirit and His control in the believer’s life. This then allows Christ to live and work through the believer.
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