John 17:2 says, “Even as You have given Him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him.” We admit that this prayer of the Lord contains many great expressions. We do not have time to cover them one by one, and some we cannot cover thoroughly. For instance, the glory we have just spoken of and the eternal life here are both very great items.
Verse 3 continues, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Him whom You have sent, Jesus Christ.” This eternal life has a particular function within man, which is to cause man to know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom God has sent. This eternal life within man has the function to cause him to know God and Christ; hence, it is related to the glory of the Son of God and the expression of God Himself as well.
Verse 4 says, “I have glorified You on earth, finishing the work which You have given Me to do.” This word is hard to understand. I would like to ask you, brothers and sisters, to what does the Lord refer when He says that He glorified the Father while He was on earth, finishing the work which He gave Him to do? We can explain it this way: The Lord Jesus did many things on earth, and everything was done according to God’s will. However, here the work which God had given Him to do refers specifically to the Lord’s expressing God on the earth. “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (1:18). “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (14:9). These words indicate that God sent the Lord to the world with the intention of expressing Himself. The Lord came to the earth to declare God, explain God, express God, and impart God to man. In so doing, the Lord glorified the Father. Therefore, the Lord said that He had finished the work which the Father had given Him to do.
John 17:5 says, “And now, glorify Me along with Yourself, Father, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” The Lord seemed to be saying, “Previously I was with You, but when I became flesh, I came out from You into the world. Now I ask you to take Me back that I may participate in the glory along with You, in the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
Verse 6a says, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world.” The name here is another great item. In this chapter we see three great items. The first item is glory; the second, life; and the third, the name. What did the Lord mean when He said, “I have manifested Your name to the men...”? We know that the name denotes the person; the name is the person. That the Lord manifested the Father’s name to the disciples means that He manifested the Father to them. The Lord not only gave them the eternal life, but He also manifested the Father’s name to them that they might know who the Father was.
Verses 6b through 8 continue, “They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that all that You have given Me is from You, for the words which You gave Me I have given to them, and they received them and knew truly that I came forth from You, and they have believed that You sent Me.” By now the disciples understood that the Lord came forth from God, but they still did not understand that the Lord was going back into God. By now the disciples knew that the Lord was the incarnated One, but they still did not understand that the Lord would also be the One who died and resurrected. Now they truly knew that the Lord came forth from the Father and was sent by the Father.
Verses 9 and 10a say, “I ask concerning them; I do not ask concerning the world, but concerning those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours; and all that is Mine is Yours, and Yours Mine.” The beginning of verse 10, which says, “All that is Mine is Yours, and Yours Mine,” is a great utterance. This is a matter of oneness. If you can tell the Lord, “All that is mine is Yours,” then you can also tell Him, “All that is Yours is mine.” This is similar to the relationship of a husband and wife. Because the husband and wife have become one, all that the wife has belongs to the husband, and all that the husband has belongs to the wife.
Verse 10b says, “And I have been glorified in them.” This means that because the disciples belonged to the Lord, the Lord was then expressed and glorified. Then verse 11 begins, “And I am no longer in the world; yet they are in the world, and I am coming to You.” The disciples did not understand this word yet. They understood only the first half, that is, that the Lord came forth from the Father. This verse ends with, “Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given to Me, that they may be one even as We are.” The name God gave to the Lord is a very great item. The Lord asked that those who belonged to Him be kept by God in the name God gave to Him, in order that they might become one even as the Triune God is one.
Verses 12 through 16 continue, “When I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given to Me, and I guarded them; and not one of them perished, except the son of perdition [Judas], that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to You, and these things I speak in the world that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You would take them out of the world, but that You would keep them out of the hands of the evil one [Satan]. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Your word in verse 14 is another great item; glory, life, the name, and the word are four great items.