All
things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves. I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
John 17:10-14
John 17 [5.] Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed. I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word. Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you, for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
John 17 [10.] All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves. I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
John 17 [15.] I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
Meaning:
Jesus had begun to pray for his disciples, “for they are yours” (John 17:9). In these verses he asks the Father to keep them. He is leaving the world, but they must remain in it, and he prays for their protection, unity and joy.
- “All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine”
Anyone could say to God, “All that is mine is yours.” Only the Son could add, “and yours are mine.” These words show the complete sharing between Father and Son. The disciples belong to both, and Jesus says, “I am glorified in them.” Weak as they were, Jesus’ glory would be seen in their faith, their love and their witness.
- “Holy Father, keep them through your name”
Only here does Jesus address God as “Holy Father.” The title joins God’s holiness and his fatherly love. Jesus asks the Father to keep the disciples by his name, that is, by his revealed character and power. The purpose of this keeping is unity: “that they may be one, even as we are.” The unity Jesus prays for is modelled on the unity of the Father and the Son. Paul urges believers to be “eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
- “I kept them... None of them is lost, except the son of destruction”
During his ministry Jesus had guarded his disciples like a shepherd. He had said, “This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing” (John 6:39). The one exception was Judas, “the son of destruction,” a phrase describing someone whose character and end are ruin. His fall did not catch God by surprise; it fulfilled Scripture, including the psalm Jesus had quoted: “He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me” (John 13:18; Psalm 41:9). Yet Judas remained responsible for his choice.
- “That they may have my joy made full in themselves”
Jesus prayed aloud so that the disciples could hear and be encouraged. He wanted them to share his own joy, the joy of perfect fellowship with the Father. Earlier he had said, “I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11).
- “The world hated them, because they are not of the world”
Jesus had given them the Father’s word, and receiving it set them apart. That is why the world hated them, as he had warned: “because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).
The Significance of John 17:10-14
- Kept by the Father
Believers are not left to protect themselves. Jesus asked the Father to keep them, and that prayer still covers his people today.
- Unity as a gift and a calling
Christian unity flows from the unity of the Father and the Son. Believers are called to guard it through love, humility and patience.
- Joy in a hostile world
Jesus wants his people to have full joy, even while the world opposes them. That joy comes from belonging to him and the Father.
Cross-References:
John 6:39: "of all he has given to me I should lose nothing," Jesus keeps those the Father gives him.
Psalm 41:9: "my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me." The Scripture fulfilled in Judas.
Ephesians 4:3: "being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Guarding the unity Jesus prayed for.
John 15:11: "that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full." Jesus' joy in his disciples.
Conclusion: Jesus prayed that the Holy Father would keep his disciples through his name, so that they would be one as the Father and the Son are one. He had kept them during his ministry, losing none except Judas, as Scripture foretold. He prayed that they would share his full joy, even though the world would hate them because they did not belong to it.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible