Scofield Reference Bible Notes
John 17

Jhn 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

Bible prayers (N.T.). Act 1:24-25. (Mat 6:9; Rev 22:20.)

glorify thy Son

Seven petitions:

1. That Jesus may be glorified as the Son who has glorified the Father (Jhn 17:1, Phl 2:9-11;
2. for restoration to the eternal glory (Jhn 17:5);
3. for the safety of believers from
   1. the world (Jhn 17:11),
   2. the evil one (Jhn 17:15);
4. for the sanctification of believers (Jhn 17:17);
5. for the spiritual unity of believers (Jhn 17:21);
6. that the world may believe (Jhn 17:21);
7. that believers may be with Him in heaven to behold and share His glory (Jhn 17:24).

Jhn 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

give eternal life

Christ's gifts to those whom the Father gave Him:

• Eternal life (Jhn 17:2);
• the Father's name (Jhn 17:6, 26; 20:17);
• the Father's words (Jhn 17:8, 14);
• His own joy (Jhn 17:13);
• His own glory (Jhn 17:22).

thou hast given him

Seven times Jesus speaks of believers as given to Him by the Father (Jhn 17:2, 6 [twice]; Jhn 17:9, 11-12, 24). Jesus Christ is God's love-gift to the world (Jhn 3:16), and believers are the Father's love-gift to Jesus Christ. It is Christ who commits the believer to the Father for safe-keeping, so that the believer's security rests upon the Father's faithfulness to His Son Jesus Christ.

Jhn 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

life eternal [See also Jhn 17:2]

Life (eternal). Jhn 17:2-3; 20:31. (Mat 7:14; Rev 22:19.)

they might know thee

Jer 9:23-24.

Jhn 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

I have finished the work

Jhn 19:30; Dan 9:24.

Jhn 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

the glory which I had with thee

Jhn 1:1-2; Phl 2:6; Heb 1:3, 10.

world [See also Jhn 17:24.]

i.e. earth.

Jhn 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

world [See also Jhn 17:11-13, 15, 18, 21, 23, 25.]

kosmos (Mat 4:8) = mankind.

Jhn 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

the words

Inspiration. Jhn 17:8, 17, 20; Act 1:8, 16. (Exo 4:15; Rev 22:19.)

thou didst send me

Deu 18:15, 18-19.

Jhn 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

world

kosmos = world-system. John 17:14, 16. (Jhn 7:7; Revelation 13:3).

Jhn 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

keep…those whom thou hast given me

Assurance. Act 13:38-39. (Isa 32:17; Jde 1:1.)

Jhn 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

thy word

Psa 119:42, 50, 161; Mar 16:15; Act 4:29.

world [See also Jhn 17:16.]

kosmos = world-system. John 18:36. (Jhn 7:7; Revelation 13:3).

Jhn 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

not of the world

Separation. Jhn 17:4, 14-16; Rom 12:2. (Gen 12:1; 2 Cor 6:14-17.)

Jhn 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

sanctify

Sanctify, holy (persons) (N.T.). Jhn 17:11, 17, 19; Act 3:21. (Mat 4:5; Rev 22:11.)

Jhn 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

That they all may be one

Rom 12:5; Eph 4:1, 6.

Jhn 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

the glory which thou gavest me

2Co 3:18.

Jhn 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

perfect

Scofield Matthew 5:48, note.

Jhn 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

be with me where I am

1Th 4:17.

Jhn 17:26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

declared unto them thy name

Exo 34:5, 7.

the love wherewith thou hast loved me

Eph 3:16, 19.