John 17

John 17:1

John tells the Good News about Jesus An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Gospel of John www.easyenglish.info Marion Adams This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 17 Jesus prays on his own behalf 17:1-5 v1 After Jesus said all these things, he looked up towards heaven. He prayed:

‘*Father, the time has come. Bring *glory to your Son, so that your Son can give *glory back to you. v2 You gave authority over all people to your Son. So your Son will be able to give *eternal life to everybody that you give to him. v3 To have *eternal life means to know you, the only real God. And to have *eternal life means also to know me, Jesus *Christ. You sent me to the earth. v4 I did everything that you told me to do here on the earth. In this way, I brought *glory to you. v5 I shared *glory with you before the world began. Now, *Father, as I return to you, I ask you to bring me back into that same *glory.’

The whole of chapter 17 records Jesus’ prayer. In his prayer, Jesus prayed on his own behalf. Then he prayed on behalf of his *disciples. Finally, he prayed on behalf of everyone who would become *Christians in the future. This includes us. Jesus prayed often. We know this because the authors of the *Gospels recorded this. But we have the words of only a few of his prayers. This is the longest of Jesus’ prayers that we have.

Verses 1-3 Already Jesus had made reference to his ‘time’ (for example, John 2:4; 12:23). That time had come, because that night, soldiers would arrest him. And a few hours afterwards, he would die on a *cross. This had to happen. It was the only way to save people from the results of their *sins. And when he became alive again, he defeated death. Then all who *believe in him will have new *life. This new *life continues after death, too.

There is only one way to receive this new *life that continues after death. In verse 3, Jesus explains it clearly. We must know God. It is not enough just to know that God exists. Even the devil knows this! We must know God as our *Father and our friend. We can know God in this way by means of his Son, Jesus *Christ. Then, we ask God to forgive us because of all the bad things that we have done. We tell God that we want to obey his rules. And we do not want to *sin. And he will forgive us, because his Son Jesus died on behalf of us. Jesus is our *Lord and our *Saviour. When we *believe in him, the *Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. We receive this new *life that goes on *forever. We become God’s friends instead of God’s enemies.

Verses 4-5 Jesus, God’s Son, has always existed. Before he came to the earth, he was in heaven with the *Father and the *Holy Spirit. So Jesus is God. And the *Father is God. And the *Spirit is God. But there are not three Gods. There is only one God.

Jesus did not remain in heaven. Instead, he was born on the earth as a man. He came to *save us. He obeyed God always. He did everything that God asked him to do. His life, death and *resurrection all brought *glory to God. Here, Jesus asked God to give to him again the *glory that they had shared in heaven. God granted this request. When Jesus returned to heaven, he took a position of honour and authority, next to God the *Father (Acts 7:55-56). Jesus prays on behalf of his *disciples 17:6-19 v6 ‘You have given to me some *disciples from this world. And I have shown to them what you are like. They belonged to you, but you gave them to me. They have obeyed you. v7 You have given to me everything that I have. They know this. They know that it all comes from you. v8 I told my *disciples what you wanted me to say. They believed your words. They know that I came from you. And they *believe that you sent me.

v9 I am praying on behalf of these *disciples. I am not praying on behalf of the people who belong to the world. My *disciples belong to you. And you have given them to me. So I am praying on their behalf. v10 All that I have is yours. And all that you have is mine. And my *disciples have brought *glory to me.

v11 *Holy *Father, I am leaving the world. I am coming to you. But my *disciples are still in this world. Protect them by means of your name’s power. This is the name that you have given to me [see note on John 14:13-14]. *Father, cause them to be united, even as we are one God. v12 I protected them while I was with them. I kept them safe by means of the power that you gave to me. I protected them. I did not lose any of them, except for one man. His character is to destroy. The *scriptures said that this would happen.

v13 Now I am coming to you. But I am saying these things while I am still in the world. Then, my *disciples will have the complete joy that I have. v14 I have told to them what you wanted me to tell them. And the people in this world hate them, because, like me, they do not belong to this world. v15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world. But I am asking you to keep them safe from the devil. v16 They do not belong to this world. And I do not belong to this world. v17 Your words are true. Teach my *disciples the truth so that they will be holy. v18 You sent me into the world. And I am sending them into the world. v19 I give myself completely to you. This is so that they can be completely yours.’

Verses 6-12 In John’s *Gospel, the ‘world’ refers to everybody and everything that opposes God. It does not mean just the physical earth. Of course, Jesus’ *disciples lived on the earth. They had physical bodies. But they did not belong to the ‘world’, because they had new *spiritual *life. Jesus had shown to them what God is really like. And they *believed in Jesus. So they belonged to God.

While they remained in the world, they would have trouble. People opposed Jesus, so they would oppose his *disciples, too. The *disciples would be in much danger, just because they followed Jesus. When Jesus was on earth with them, he looked after them. For example, the *Jewish leaders said that they (the *disciples) were not obeying the *Law. But Jesus spoke on their behalf (Matthew 12:1-8). Also he protected them *spiritually. He taught them to love and to obey God. He showed to them the truth about God. They belonged to God. So, when he left the earth, Jesus trusted God to protect them. He asked that they should be in complete unity with each other. He wanted them to love each other. Then they would be strong together, although the world hated them.

‘And my *disciples have brought *glory to me’ (verse 10). Jesus’ *disciples brought *glory to him because they showed his character. They had his qualities. They behaved like he did. They loved people like he did. People knew what Jesus was like because of his *disciples. All *Christians should bring *glory to Jesus.

‘This is the name that you have given to me’ (verse 11). Jesus, God’s Son, had the power and authority of God. The *Father had given this power and authority to Jesus. This is because the *Father, the Son and the *Holy Spirit are in complete unity with each other.

‘I did not lose any of them, except for one man’ (verse 12). Jesus’ *disciples belonged to him, as sheep belong to a *shepherd (see John 10:14-16). Sheep can wander and they can become missing. But Jesus kept all his *disciples safe. However, Judas Iscariot *betrayed Jesus. Judas had every opportunity to be a good *disciple. However, Judas chose to leave Jesus, in order to hand Jesus over to his enemies. There was a *prophecy about this (Psalms 41:9). And bad things happened to Judas (Matthew 27:3-10).

Verse 13 Although Jesus knew that his death was very near, still he talked about the complete joy that he had. And he wanted his *disciples to have this joy also. Jesus had this complete joy always, because he was always in complete unity with his *Father. It did not matter to Jesus that bad things would happen to him. Jesus knew that his *Father loved him. Jesus knew that his *Father would defeat death and the devil by means of Jesus’ own death and *resurrection.

We can have this joy, too. People may hate us. But we can be sure that God loves us. We know that we are very precious to him. Bad things may happen. But we can be sure that God will look after us. He will never allow the devil to defeat us. When we depend on God in all circumstances, this joy will become real to us. We will feel it in our hearts and minds.

Verses 14-16 In John’s *Gospel, the ‘world’ refers to everything and everybody that opposes God. And people who oppose God cannot belong to him. They belong to the devil, whether they realise this or not. The devil is God’s enemy. Therefore, people who belong to the devil hate Jesus. And they hate those people who belong to Jesus. That is why many people hate *Christians.

But Jesus did not ask his *Father to remove his *disciples from the world. Instead, he asked God to protect them from the devil. Jesus’ *disciples had to remain in the world, so that they could tell people about Jesus. They would spread the good news that Jesus *saves people. Some people would *believe in Jesus. They would accept him as their *Lord and *Saviour. But other people would *reject him. People needed to hear about Jesus, or they could not make a decision about him. Of course, the devil would attack Jesus’ *disciples *spiritually. But God would keep them safe.

Verses 17-19 The word ‘holy’ referred to something or somebody who was separate from other things or people. This was so that God could use the thing or the person for his special purposes. Jesus asked God to make his *disciples become holy because they belonged to him.

We cannot become holy by our own efforts. We can only become holy because of what God has done on our behalf: by Jesus’ death on the *cross. Holiness (a holy state) is God’s gift to us when we *believe in him. Jesus prays on behalf of all *Christians 17:20-26 v20 ‘I am not praying on behalf of these *disciples only. Other people will *believe in me because of what my *disciples say about me. I am praying on behalf of all these people, too. v21 My prayer is that they will love each other. *Father, I belong to you. You belong to me. I ask that they will give themselves to us completely. Then the people in this world will believe that you have sent me.

v22 You have given these people to me. And I have given to them the same *glory that you gave to me. This is so that they will love each other as one family. *Father, you and I are one God. v23 They belong to me. And I belong to you. So cause them to be content together and to love each other. Then the people in this world will know that you have sent me. You love my people as much as you love me. The people in this world will realise this, too.

v24 *Father, you have given these people to me. I want all of them to be with me, where I am. Then they will see my *glory. You gave this *glory to me because you loved me. You loved me even before you created the world. v25 *Holy *Father! The people in this world do not know you. But I know you. And my *disciples know that you sent me. v26 I showed to them what you are like. I will continue to show to them what you are like. Then the love that you have for me will be in them, too. And they will belong to me completely.’

Verses 20-26 After Jesus’ death and *resurrection, his *disciples told many people about him. They spoke in public about *salvation. They used Jesus’ name (see note on John 14:13-14) to do *miracles. The good news about Jesus spread quickly.

Later, the authors of the *Gospels recorded Jesus’ words and acts. The *church has continued to grow during the last 2000 years. *Christians have continued to teach each other about Jesus. People have translated the Bible into many different languages. We know about Jesus because of all this.

So this last part of Jesus’ prayer is on our behalf particularly. He prayed that all *Christians would love each other as one family. This can happen only when we are in a close relationship with God. Like Jesus’ *symbol of the *vine (John 15:1-17), we must remain in a close relationship with him. And we must love other *Christians. We are all God’s children. It does not mean that we must agree about everything. It does not mean that we must all *worship God in *exactly the same way. But we must *believe in Jesus *Christ. We must believe that the Bible is true. And we must love and respect each other.

It does not matter if we are old or young. It does not matter which country we live in. It does not matter if we have had a good education or not. It does not matter if we are rich or poor. We belong to Jesus. And we belong to each other. So we must help each other. We must pray on behalf of each other. We must encourage each other. This is a powerful way to show to non-*Christians that our *faith is real and genuine. (Non-*Christians are people who are not real *Christians.)

And the *Father loves us all as much as he loves his own Son! When we know Jesus personally, we can remain united with God all the time. And we can even share his *glory (verse 22).

In the original language of this book, Jesus used simple words to emphasise this close relationship with God. But it is difficult to translate the complete meaning of these words into EasyEnglish. For example, in the *Greek language, verse 23 begins, ‘I am in them. And you (the *Father) are in me.’ So Jesus lives in us by means of the *Holy Spirit (see John 14:23). We belong to Jesus. He leads us. He guides us. He provides for us. He cares for us. And he is always with us.

© 2006, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

November 2006

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var w0 = new Array;w0[0]=’<b%3EFather</b%3E ~ God. Jesus taught us to call God ‘Father’. All Christians are God’s children.