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 17:6-9
John 17 [1.] Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you; even as you gave him authority over all flesh, he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him. This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
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.
Meaning:
Jesus had told the Father, “I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do,” and asked to be glorified with the glory he had before the world existed (John 17:4-5). Now his prayer turns to the disciples. He describes what he has done for them, how they have responded, and why he prays especially for them.
- “I revealed your name”
In the Bible a name stands for the person and character. God revealed his name to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14) and later proclaimed himself as “Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth” (Exodus 34:6). Jesus revealed that name more fully than ever before. In his words, works and character the disciples came to know God as Father. The psalmist had said, “I will declare your name to my brothers” (Psalm 22:22), and Jesus fulfilled it.
- “Whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours”
The disciples belonged to the Father before they belonged to Jesus. The Father drew them and gave them to his Son, so their following Jesus rested on God’s gracious initiative. They were taken “out of the world,” not physically removed from it, but called out of its ways to belong to God.
- “They have kept your word”
This is a generous assessment. The disciples had often misunderstood, and within hours they would all flee. Yet at heart they had received and held on to Jesus’ teaching. Peter had confessed, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Jesus speaks of them with the affection of a teacher who sees past their weakness to their genuine faith.
- “They received them, and knew for sure that I came from you”
The disciples’ faith centred on Jesus’ origin and mission. They had come to believe that he came from the Father and was sent by him. This is the core of saving faith in John’s Gospel: recognising who Jesus is and trusting him.
- “I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world”
Jesus does not mean he has no concern for the world. God “so loved the world” that he gave his Son (John 3:16). Later in this same prayer Jesus asks that “the world may believe that you sent me” (John 17:21), and on the cross he prayed for his enemies, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). But here he prays specifically for the disciples, because they would be his witnesses to the world. He had already told Peter, “I prayed for you, that your faith wouldn’t fail” (Luke 22:32).
- “For they are yours”
Jesus bases his request on the Father’s ownership of the disciples. They belong to the Father and to the Son together, and so Jesus can confidently ask the Father to care for them.
The Significance of John 17:6-9
- Known by name, belonging to God
Believers are those to whom Jesus has revealed the Father’s name. They belong to God, given by the Father to the Son. This gives a deep sense of identity and security.
- Jesus prays for his people
Jesus still intercedes for those who belong to him. When believers feel weak, they can be encouraged that their Lord prays for them.
Cross-References:
Exodus 34:6: "Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth," God's name and character.
Psalm 22:22: "I will declare your name to my brothers." The name declared by the Messiah.
John 6:68: "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life." The disciples kept his word.
Luke 22:32: "but I prayed for you, that your faith wouldn’t fail." Jesus prays for his own.
Conclusion: Jesus told the Father that he had revealed his name to the disciples whom the Father had given him, and that they had received his words and believed he was sent from God. He then prayed specifically for them, because they belonged to the Father. These verses show the security of believers who are known, kept and prayed for by Jesus.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible