From "
BE TRANSFORMED"
By Warren W. Wiersbe
We Share His Life (John 17:1-5 )
Our Lord began this prayer by praying for Himself, but in praying for Himself, He was also praying for us. “A prayer for self is not by any means necessarily a selfish prayer,” wrote Dr. R.A. Torrey, and an examination of Bible prayers shows that this is true. Our Lord’s burden was the glory of God, and this glory would be realized in His finished work on the cross. The servant of God has every right to ask his Father for the help needed to glorify His name. “Hallowed be Thy name” is the first petition in the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9 ), and it is the first emphasis in this prayer.
“Father, the hour is come,” reminds us of the many times in John’s Gospel when “the hour” is mentioned, beginning at John 2:4 . Jesus had lived on a “divine timetable” while on earth and He knew He was in the will of the Father. “My times are in Thy hand” (Ps. 31:15 ).
The important word glory is used five times in these verses, and we must carefully distinguish the various “glories” that Jesus mentions. In John 17:5 , He referred to His preincarnate glory with the Father, the glory that He laid aside when He came to earth to be born, to serve, to suffer, and to die. In John 17:4 , He reported to the Father that His life and ministry on earth had glorified Him, because He (Jesus) had finished the work the Father gave Him to do. In John 17:1 and 5, our Lord asked that His preincarnate glory be given to Him again, so that the Son might glorify the Father in His return to heaven.
The word glory is used eight times in this prayer, so it is an important theme. He glorified the Father in His miracles (John 2:11 ; 11:40 ), to be sure; but He brought the greatest glory to the Father through His sufferings and death (see John 12:23-25 ; 13:31-32 ). From the human point of view, Calvary was a revolting display of man’s sin; but from the divine point of view, the cross revealed and magnified the grace and glory of God. Jesus anticipated His return to heaven when He said, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do” (John 17:4 ). This “work” included His messages and miracles on earth (John 5:17-19 ), the training of the disciples for future service, and most of all, His sacrifice on the cross (Heb. 9:24-28 ; 10:11-18 ).
It is on the basis of this “finished work” that we as believers have the gift of eternal life (John 17:2-3 ). The word give is used in one form or another in this prayer at least seventeen times. Seven times Jesus states that believers are the Father’s gift to His Son (John 17:2 , 6 , 9 , 11-12 , 24 ). We are accustomed to thinking of Jesus as the Father’s love gift to us (John 3:16 ), but the Lord affirms that believers are the Father’s “love gift” to His beloved Son!
“Eternal [everlasting] life” is an important theme in John’s Gospel; it is mentioned at least seventeen times. Eternal life is God’s free gift to those who believe on His Son (John 3:15-16 , 36 ; 6:47 ; 10:28 ). The Father gave His Son the authority to give eternal life to those whom the Father gave to the Son. From the human viewpoint, we receive the gift of eternal life when we believe on Jesus Christ. But from the divine viewpoint, we have already been given to the Son in divine election. This is a mystery that the human mind cannot fully understand or explain; we must accept it by faith.
What is “eternal life”? It is knowing God personally. Not just knowing about Him, but having a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot know the Father apart from the Son (John 14:6-11 ). It is not enough simply to “believe in God”; this will never save a lost soul from eternal hell. “The devils [demons] also believe, and tremble” (James 2:19 ). Our Lord’s debate with the Jewish leaders (John 8:12ff ) makes it clear that people may be devoutly religious and still not know God. Eternal life is not something we earn by character or conduct; it is a gift we receive by admitting we are sinners, repenting, and believing on Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.
The Father answered His Son’s request and gave Him the glory. There is in heaven today a glorified Man, the God-Man, Jesus Christ! Because He has been glorified in heaven, sinners can be saved on earth. Anyone who trusts Jesus Christ will receive the gift of eternal life.
Because we share His life, we are overcomers; for we also share His victory! “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4 ). When you were born the first time, you were born “in Adam” and were a loser. When you are born again through faith in Christ, you are born a winner!
Satan has tried to obscure the precious truth of the finished work of Jesus Christ, because he knows it is a basis for spiritual victory. “And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:11 ). Don’t let Satan rob you of your overcoming power through Christ’s finished work.
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We Know His Name (John 17:6-12 )
Christ has given His own eternal life (John 17:2 ), but He has also given them the revelation of the Father’s name (John 17:6 ). The Old Testament Jew knew his God as “Jehovah,” the great I AM (Ex. 3:11-14 ). Jesus took this sacred name “I AM” and made it meaningful to His disciples: “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:35 ); “I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12 ); “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11 ); etc. In other words, Jesus revealed the Father’s gracious name by showing His disciples that He was everything they needed.
But the Father’s name includes much more than this, for Jesus also taught His disciples that God—the great I AM—was their Heavenly Father. The word Father is used 53 times in John 13-17 , and 122 times in John’s Gospel! In His messages to the Jews, Jesus made it clear that the Father sent Him, that He was equal to the Father, and that His words and works came from the Father. It was a clear claim to Deity, but they refused to believe.
In the Bible, “name” refers to “nature,” because names so often were given to reveal something special about the nature of the person bearing the name. Jacob was a schemer, and his name comes from a Hebrew root that means “to take by the heel,” i.e., to trip up, to deceive (Gen. 25:26 ). The name Isaac means “laughter” (Gen. 21:6 ) because he brought joy to Abraham and Sarah. Even the name Jesus reveals that He is the Saviour (Matt. 1:21 ).
“I have manifested Thy name” means “I have revealed the nature of God.” One of the ministries of the Son was to declare the Father (John 1:18 ). The Greek word translated “declared” means, “to unfold, to lead, to show the way.” Jesus did not instantly reveal the Father in a blaze of blinding glory, because His disciples could not have endured that kind of experience. Gradually, by His words and His deeds, He revealed to them the nature of God, as they were able to bear it (John 16:12 ).
The emphasis in this section is on the safety of the believer; God keeps His own (John 17:11-12 ). Our safety depends on the nature of God, not our own character or conduct. When He was on earth, Jesus kept His disciples and they could depend on Him. “I kept them in Thy name” (John 17:12 ). If the limited Saviour, in a human body, could keep His own while He was on earth, should He not be able to keep them now that He is glorified in heaven? He and the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, are surely able to guard and secure God’s people!
Furthermore, God’s people are the Father’s gift to His Son. Would the Father present His Son with a gift that would not last? The disciples had belonged to the Father by creation and by covenant (they were Jews), but now they belonged to the Son. How precious we are in His sight! How He watches over us and even now prays for us! Whenever you feel as though the Lord has forgotten you, or that His love seems far away, read Romans 8:28-39 —and rejoice!
Our security rests in another fact: we are here to glorify Him (John 17:10 ). With all of their failures and faults, the disciples still receive this word of commendation: “I am glorified in them.” Would it bring glory to God if one of His own, who trusted in the Saviour, did not make it to heaven? Certainly not! This was Moses’ argument when the nation of Israel sinned: “Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth?’” (Ex. 32:12 ) Certainly God knows all things, so why save them at all if He knows they will fail along the way? Whatever God starts, He finishes (Phil. 1:6 ).
God has provided the divine resources for us to glorify Him and be faithful. We have His Word (John 17:7-8 ), and His Word reveals to us all that we have in Jesus Christ. The Word gives us faith and assurance. We have the Son of God interceding for us (John 17:9 ; Rom. 8:34 ; Heb. 4:14-16 ). Since the Father always answers the prayers of His Son (John 11:41-42 ), this intercessory ministry helps to keep us safe and secure.
We also have the fellowship of the church: “that they may be one, as we are” (John 17:11 ). The New Testament knows nothing of isolated believers; wherever you find saints, you find them in fellowship. Why? Because God’s people need each other. Jesus opened His Upper Room message by washing the disciples’ feet and teaching them to minister to one another. In the hours that would follow, these men (including confident Peter!) would discover how weak they were and how much they needed each other’s encouragement.
The believer, then, is secure in Christ for many reasons: the very nature of God, the nature of salvation, the glory of God, and the intercessory ministry of Christ. But what about Judas? Was he secure? How did he fall? Why did Jesus not keep him safe? For the simple reason that Judas was never one of Christ’s own. Jesus faithfully kept all that the Father gave to Him, but Judas had never been given to Him by the Father. Judas was not a believer (John 6:64-71 ); he had never been cleansed (John 13:11 ); he had not been among the chosen (John 13:18 ); he had never been given to Christ (John 18:8-9 ).
No, Judas is not an example of a believer who “lost his salvation.” He is an example of an unbeliever who pretended to have salvation but was finally exposed as a fraud. Jesus keeps all whom the Father gives to Him (John 10:26-30 ).
We are overcomers because we share His life. There is a third privilege that enables us to overcome.
