As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
The Father has given the Son jurisdiction and authority over all people and all humanity, so that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him. Those given to Him include His disciples in every age, who become His by choosing to receive Him and believing in Him as personal Saviour, and no one can take them from His hand. The eternal life He gives is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. That knowing is right, experimental and personal knowledge gained by laying hold of Christ by living faith, loving Him, and receiving and keeping His words, and it begins as spiritual life in this present existence and continues as eternal life in God's kingdom free from sin, suffering and death. He received this authority after humbling Himself in leaving heaven and its royal throne, and He made this life available by giving Himself as an offering for sin and opening the way to the kingdom of heaven.
Prayer’s Setting and Manner
Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven and spoke this as His farewell prayer in the upper room after closing His instruction in John 13-16. Judas had gone out and withdrawn, leaving Him alone with the eleven, and He prayed just before His betrayal, His agony in Gethsemane, His trial and His crucifixion. It is His last recorded prayer with His disciples, containing important truth profitable to consider and to be studied from the first verse to the last. He gave it because they needed special instruction for the future work appointed them in blessing humanity when they would no longer have Him as visible counselor to take responsibility in all matters.
He poured out the burden of His soul in words of comfort, counsel and prayer, closing His instruction with strong, hopeful words. He spoke to prepare their minds for the coming trial and the separation shortly to take place, and for the rejection and suffering and wicked things they would see Him suffer at the hands of men, including betrayal by Judas into the hands of wicked men. He prepared them for hatred, affliction, and great temptation to lose faith in the world, mingling warning of dark trials with the bright and hopeful future, and for their future work when divine power must be combined with human effort lest it prove a failure. That mingled warning and hope is of highest value for every soul consecrating life to the service of God.
Even the disciples could not fully understand such sacred truths until after the resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit. They kept the words imprinted on mind and heart and repeated them to stay their sinking hearts in disappointment and trial. Through their testimony those upper-chamber truths have spread over all lands and through all ages to comfort the desponding and give peace and hope to thousands who believe.
He prayed as a human suppliant in dependence on the Father, seeking grace and fresh grace and strength. He sought it so He could strengthen His followers with assurance and hope, and His prayer was offered on their behalf and on humanity's behalf. Though sharing human infirmities and facing temptation, He remained without sin, and though adored by angels His dependence shows the necessity of prayer for His humanity.
He spoke looking upon His disciples with divine love and tenderest sympathy. He spoke in the language of one who has divine authority, as a consecrated high priest interceding for His people and as a faithful shepherd gathering His flock under the shadow of the Almighty into a strong and sure refuge as He went forth to meet the last battle with Satan. With His human arm He encircled the children of Adam in a firm embrace and with His strong divine arm grasped the throne of the Infinite, thus uniting earth to heaven and finite man to the infinite God in a petition deep and full, broad as the earth and reaching high heaven. He first directed their thoughts to the great object of His mission kept ever before Him, that all His humiliation and suffering would glorify the Father's name, and this was His joy, showing zeal directed toward God's glory rather than human advancement. That prayer shows the high value He places on human beings by purchasing them at the sacrifice of His life, so men must treat believers with forbearance and patience instead of wounding and bruising the hearts of brethren because they are the purchase of His blood.
The prayer was offered not for the eleven only but for His disciples in every age and for all who would believe through their word, and for readers of Scripture throughout time. The word believe means all believers through the whole Christian age, so its promises are not divided off to the first Christians only. In it He embraces believers as His children and prays that they may be one with God as He is one with the Father, sanctified through the truth and united with Christ in God. It shows the possibilities of Christian life and what believers may become as they strive to live in answer to it and in keeping with it.
Authority the Father Gave
The Father has given the Son power over all flesh, that is jurisdiction and authority over all people and all humanity, for the purpose that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him. That same authority extends over all humanity so that the life He gives begins as spiritual life in this present existence and continues as eternal life in God's kingdom. The Father's gift of people to Christ includes His disciples in every age, and no one can take them from Christ's hand.
People become His by choosing to receive Him and believing in Him as personal Saviour, and this choice answers God's prior choice and Christ's drawing. Christ's love and grace reach them before they love Him, and God knows those who will respond and those who will turn away under popular influence. Those who believe and receive Him in His name become His sheep by choice and are joined to Christ with their lives hidden with Him in God. They are dear to Him as chosen children and heirs, loved by the Father as the Father loved the Son.
Christ received this authority from the Father after humbling Himself in leaving heaven and its royal throne, and His exaltation made Him the Redeemer of the human family to whom the human family is entrusted. His work on earth as a man followed that great sacrifice for fallen humanity, which must not be treated lightly, and He came to give His life so people could receive life through His word. The Father glorifies the Son so the Son may glorify the Father, having given Him this power over all flesh for the giving of eternal life. He asks this having finished the work given Him on earth, having glorified God on the earth, having manifested the Father's name to those given Him out of the world, and having given them the Father's words which they received and kept. His work included living out a righteous character on earth as an example for people to follow, and having finished it He claimed the promised reward of those who believe in Him.
Eternal Life Defined
The verse that follows explains the eternal life the Son gives as knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. The Father gave the Son authority over all people and all humanity so that He could give that life to those the Father gave Him. That life begins as spiritual life in this present human existence and continues as eternal life in God's kingdom, and the right knowledge of God and Christ brings it. It is life with God lasting as long as God's life, free from sin, suffering, loss, infirmity and fear of death.
That knowing is experimental, personal and right knowledge, gained by laying hold of Christ by living faith, for no soul is saved apart from that grasp and knowing Him cannot exist without loving Him. It is gained by receiving and keeping His words as evidence of receiving Him, by eating His flesh and drinking His blood and abiding in Him with His words as spirit and life, while unbelief leaves one without life under wrath. It is learned daily in earnest prayer, in ceasing all criticism of others, and in coming to Christ in weakness to receive understanding of what He is and of His work in separating from the believer everything unlike His character. Education, travel, wealth and efforts to prolong earthly life cannot provide it. Gaining this knowledge requires following God's instruction and separating from work that hinders it.
Christ made this life available by giving Himself as an offering for sin, giving His life and opening the way to the kingdom of heaven to those who believe. In Him life and immortality are brought to light, and being one with Him is the only hope of reaching heaven. His purpose was to give what saves from sin and turns toward righteousness. That purpose of love and mercy placed eternal life within reach and came through His great sacrifice in leaving heaven and its royal throne for fallen humanity, which must not be treated lightly.
This knowledge is shown by revealing God in life and character and making Him known to others. Knowing Christ personally enables people to represent Him and to discern Satan's deceptions. The desire to know God and Christ should be the believer's single ambition and lead to a life pleasing to God. Even if believers die, His life is in them as they remain one with Him forever. The eternal life Christ has power to give is the knowledge of the Word of God received into the soul by daily eating the Word as His flesh and blood. As bodily blood is formed by food eaten, Christ is formed within, the hope of glory, by eating that Word, and through obedience the receiver becomes a partaker of the divine nature in vital union with Christ as the branch united fiber by fiber and vein by vein to the vine, with the entrance of the Word giving light and understanding, renewing the spirit of the mind and nourishing vitality of soul.
Christ’s Person and Work
The prayer shows the Father and the Son as distinct persons standing in relationship with each other, and their oneness does not erase the distinct personality of either. The Father gave the Son authority over all humanity, that He should give eternal life to those the Father gave Him. As the Father and the Son are one yet remain distinct, so the oneness of Christ's followers with Him preserves their individuality.
In this final prayer for His church, spoken in His last moments with His disciples, Jesus pleads for His followers as a consecrated high priest and gathers His flock as a faithful shepherd. It is a petition deep and full, broad as the earth and reaching high heaven, such as angels had never heard, expressing His care and pouring out the burden of His soul because the hour is come. He speaks in the language of one having divine authority, giving His elect church into the Father's arms and sheltering His flock under the shadow of the Almighty as a strong and sure refuge as He goes forth to meet the last battle with Satan, having finished the work given Him, glorified God on the earth, manifested the Father's name, and gathered out those who will continue His work among men. With His human arm He encircles the children of Adam in a firm embrace, and with His strong divine arm He grasps the throne of the Infinite, thus uniting earth to heaven and finite man to the infinite God.
The prayer illustrates the intercession Christ is making and will continue to make to the end of the world for those who believe in Him, carried on in heaven within the veil for all who receive Him and believe on His name, even to the ends of the earth. That continuing ministry as High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary was made possible by His sacrifice for sin just before His crucifixion, and it presents His ministry for people who come to Him humbly, renounce selfishness, and believe in His power to save. In that intercession He presents His bruised hands bearing the wounds of cruel spikes, having graven His church and the names of those who believe on Him upon the palms of His hands, pleading for ministers and congregations standing guilty in filthy garments and seeking pardon through the atoning sacrifice. Through His atonement and prevailing intercession at His Father's right hand, believers may receive pardon, be kept from sin and from falling, be prepared for eternal life, and receive power to become sons of God, so that because He lives they shall live also.
As the One given power over all flesh, Christ died to make atonement and paid the redemption price without which there could be no salvation, and He gave His life for those seeking salvation so they may receive power to become children of God and gain victory over sin. He gives eternal life to as many as were given Him through pardon, keeping from sin, and preparation for eternal life for obedient believers. The prayer presents the plan of redemption and describes the advantages He purchased for humanity by His sacrifice, and His power can be claimed in His name when people are tempted and tried. Those who believe and practice God's Word answer this prayer. It presents Christ as the Life-giver, whom people are to worship rather than trusting in human strength.
Oneness and Witness
John 17 calls believers to oneness with one another and with Christ, and through Christ with God, as Christ is one with the Father, entered when every wrong between a person and God and between a person and brethren is put out of the way and sins are confessed and forsaken so the blood of Jesus Christ is efficacious in their behalf. That close relation to Jesus is living union with God in which Christ is in His people and they are united to God their great Head, sanctified through the truth and united with Christ in God. Its meaning is known better when believers are meek and lowly in heart, close to Christ and close to one another in Christlike sympathy and love, giving confidence to the weak in Christlike fellowship and loyalty to Christ, so that a decided influence for good goes forth from them demonstrating the sanctifying power of truth upon heart and character. It is associated with the great power God has given Christ, who embraces believers as His children and received authority over all people so that He may give eternal life to those the Father gives Him.
That enduring union is the privilege of men and women worked by true grace in the heart that unites believers to Christ and to one another. It makes them partakers of the divine nature escaping the corruption in the world through lust, makes them one with Christ in God, and binds them together in Christian love. When they are changed from sin to holiness it brings them the Father's love as He loves His Son, and opens to them the source of rich and eternal happiness that outlives all earthly sinful enjoyment. When conviction of sin comes the light of the glory of God is revealed, and those in that union hate the sin that separates the soul from God as the result of the influence of the grace of God upon human hearts.
Lived out, that oneness is the evidence to give to the world that God sent His Son to save sinners, giving success to God's workers and convincing the world. Christ gives His true disciples the glory of His character and appears in their lives through the impartation of His Spirit, and as the Comforter He abides in the heart making joy full. His words become bread of life and strength to develop characters that honor God, with perfect Christian fellowship and the fruit of obedience, in a unity that preserves individuality as the unity of Father and Son does not erase either person's individuality. Followers answer that prayer in their life work by maintaining oneness with Him, representing Christ in character, correcting thoughts, words, and acts, reading and practicing God's Word, taking self sternly in hand, and becoming so kind, tender, loving, and Christlike that the world sees God has indeed sent His Son to save fallen humanity. This requires ceasing criticism and evil speaking and discord over little misunderstandings and differences, linking up with one another and with Christ, studying what the prayer means, and praying for union and then living in obedience to the truth so God can answer, as close as the union between the Father and the Son.
Difference and disunion dishonor God, and the whole prayer in John 17 is to guide the church as its creed. Introducing division and strife runs against Christ's desire that His followers be one with Him, united in faith and understanding of His word. Being at variance with one another is incompatible with being branches of the True Vine, and constantly seeking to answer His prayer for oneness in Him is required. Those words are not heeded when they gossip, accuse the brethren, pass judgment, and speak self-assured conversation that hurts souls and spoils God's work, handling strange fire instead of having cleansed lips whose counsels are a savor of life unto life. Satan understands this prayer better than members of churches and heads of families, and he does not want God's people to understand the advantages bestowed on them in it and to know the day of their visitation, so he keeps them in discord and strife over little misunderstandings and little differences that, dwelt upon, grow into variance and hatred, so that they will present before the world exactly the opposite of what God desires them to present.
The prayer is answered by entire consecration to God, by being purified, refined, and sanctified, which is the only hope for making certain work for eternity and obtaining a fitness for heaven here in this world. Believers are to seek sanctification through the truth and use their talents so that this prayer for unity is answered in their lives, overcoming division and standing together as Christ was one with the Father. That instruction must be believed and practiced to reach God's standard of unity, with every thread of selfishness taken out, heard and obeyed in working with God and Christ, dying to self, and letting Christ live in them, without which they cannot endure testing. Without Christ's love religious profession is empty, and that love leads people to love one another as Christ loved them, with hearts filled with the love of Christ where backbiting and criticizing cease, hands are strengthened instead of weakened, and the Lord is glorified in spirit and words and acts. Living that prayer in practical life brings unity with one another and with Christ, making them strong to withstand Satan's attacks and stand in the time of testing.
That instruction must be believed and practiced first in the home and then carried into the church, where obeying His words at home lets their influence reach others and supports the work of winning sinners to Christ. God measures church members by what they are in the home, where Christ's words are to be obeyed in tender, respectful, Christlike conduct while God is proving who is worthy of admittance into His family in the testing time. When obeyed in the home its influence extends to the church, keeps the Spirit of God in the home, unites believers in love as a symbol of the heavenly family, and makes their lamp burn brightly to give light to those in darkness and win sinners to loyalty. The discourse is needed by all and is to be presented in every home as a message from God about how to receive Christ's grace, whose stated conditions must be obeyed or people will be unready to stand before Him when He comes in glory.
In the prayer He identifies Himself with His believing people and joins them to Himself in the work of saving a lost world. The prayer was for His disciples and for all who would believe through their word, and shows what Christians may become and the possibilities of Christian life as they strive to live in keeping with it and in answer to it. Doing so makes them lights in the world. Preserving the unity it prays for raises fallen man, brings God's love to believers as He loved His Son, saves the sinner, and glorifies God eternally, to be read over and over and carried into practical life. Through that unity sinners are saved and God is eternally glorified, and answering it by consecration brings souls up onto a higher platform causing them to feel the worth of souls for whom Christ died and to realize how perilous is the condition of those doing nothing to bring souls to Christ. Becoming one with one another as represented in John 17 is connected with receiving God's love and power, so that when they become one with their fellow believers God's love and power flow richly into them and God's work remains one rather than divided.
Studying and Living Prayer
This prayer holds important truth that repays careful thought, essential instruction and eternal principles, a science that will stand the test of the ages. It is to be studied from the first verse to the last for its meaning, studied diligently and read over and over. Received into the treasure-house of the soul, it becomes the daily lesson of life and the rule of life, teaching how to pray and how to live the prayer. Spoken with eyes lifted to heaven after the instruction of John 13-16, in the last week together to prepare for coming trial and separation and suffering, it closes instruction with strong, hopeful words of comfort.
It directs education toward knowing God and His Word and leading students to Christ. That acquaintance with God is the true higher education that fits for eternal life, the power and soul and heart of true education, since eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. Christ gave Himself as an offering for sin to place that life within reach, expressing His purpose of love and mercy in giving eternal life to those given Him under authority over all humanity. This knowledge of God, of Bible history and truth, is the greatest of all science, to be learned as in the school of the prophets, and it requires schools conducted on altogether different principles to protect youth from injurious associations.
Its significance sustains courage, strengthens faith, and keeps souls in God's love. It calls for faith that takes hold of God's promises and claims them as personal, even Christ's purchased advantages and power to be claimed in His name when tempted and tried. It is a help in every emergency to the truly penitent who ask in faith for fresh grace, new supplies of strength, and the efficiency and power of the Holy Spirit.
It teaches that the disciples' future work of blessing humanity when they would no longer have Him as visible counselor, and the work today, would prove a failure unless divine power were combined with human effort. Success requires partnership between God and workers, with the Holy Spirit working through human agencies, man working because God works in him, building upon a divine Christ and never leaving the divine agency out. All responsibility rests on the human instrument, who must seek power from on high and improve the facilities God has provided to reach the highest standard and uplift fallen humanity.
It calls readers to examine where they stand and to frame themselves to love Christ and the truth and be one with Christ and the Father. It presents the need to acknowledge God in every way and to seek a fuller knowledge of God. Understanding it means being closely united with Christ, leaving no room for speculative theories, with those who teach truth purifying themselves as Christ is pure and devoting their abilities to bearing witness to the truth and seeking eternal life.
Those who live it stop all criticizing of others, ceasing criticism and evil speaking and discord over little misunderstandings and differences. They link up with one another and with Christ, spend more time in earnest prayer, come to Christ in weakness to receive understanding of what He is, and learn daily the lessons He would teach in separating from them everything unlike His character, bringing comfort and joy. They pray for union and then live in obedience to the truth in such a way that God can answer their prayers. Then Christ as the Comforter abides in their hearts making joy full, and His words become to them as the bread of life, giving strength to develop characters that honor God and reveal the power of grace, with perfect Christian fellowship and the fruit of obedience.
It teaches that Christians and the world cannot unite in fellowship because they serve different masters. God's people must stand in His strength and retain their individual responsibility before Him, with God as their strength, light, comfort, and joy. The whole prayer in John 17 is to guide the church as its creed, showing that difference and disunion dishonor God. The chapter shows how broad Christ's mercy and love are toward those who walk before Him in obedience and humility, bestowed on those who walk obediently and humbly with Him as a guide for Christian life and character.
The Father has given the Son jurisdiction and authority over all people and all humanity, so that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him. Those given to Him include His disciples in every age, who become His by choosing to receive Him and believing in Him as personal Saviour, and no one can take them from His hand. The eternal life He gives is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. That knowing is right, experimental and personal knowledge gained by laying hold of Christ by living faith, loving Him, and receiving and keeping His words, and it begins as spiritual life in this present existence and continues as eternal life in God's kingdom free from sin, suffering and death. He received this authority after humbling Himself in leaving heaven and its royal throne, and He made this life available by giving Himself as an offering for sin and opening the way to the kingdom of heaven.
Prayer’s Setting and Manner
Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven and spoke this as His farewell prayer in the upper room after closing His instruction in John 13-16. Judas had gone out and withdrawn, leaving Him alone with the eleven, and He prayed just before His betrayal, His agony in Gethsemane, His trial and His crucifixion. It is His last recorded prayer with His disciples, containing important truth profitable to consider and to be studied from the first verse to the last. He gave it because they needed special instruction for the future work appointed them in blessing humanity when they would no longer have Him as visible counselor to take responsibility in all matters.
He poured out the burden of His soul in words of comfort, counsel and prayer, closing His instruction with strong, hopeful words. He spoke to prepare their minds for the coming trial and the separation shortly to take place, and for the rejection and suffering and wicked things they would see Him suffer at the hands of men, including betrayal by Judas into the hands of wicked men. He prepared them for hatred, affliction, and great temptation to lose faith in the world, mingling warning of dark trials with the bright and hopeful future, and for their future work when divine power must be combined with human effort lest it prove a failure. That mingled warning and hope is of highest value for every soul consecrating life to the service of God.
Even the disciples could not fully understand such sacred truths until after the resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit. They kept the words imprinted on mind and heart and repeated them to stay their sinking hearts in disappointment and trial. Through their testimony those upper-chamber truths have spread over all lands and through all ages to comfort the desponding and give peace and hope to thousands who believe.
He prayed as a human suppliant in dependence on the Father, seeking grace and fresh grace and strength. He sought it so He could strengthen His followers with assurance and hope, and His prayer was offered on their behalf and on humanity's behalf. Though sharing human infirmities and facing temptation, He remained without sin, and though adored by angels His dependence shows the necessity of prayer for His humanity.
He spoke looking upon His disciples with divine love and tenderest sympathy. He spoke in the language of one who has divine authority, as a consecrated high priest interceding for His people and as a faithful shepherd gathering His flock under the shadow of the Almighty into a strong and sure refuge as He went forth to meet the last battle with Satan. With His human arm He encircled the children of Adam in a firm embrace and with His strong divine arm grasped the throne of the Infinite, thus uniting earth to heaven and finite man to the infinite God in a petition deep and full, broad as the earth and reaching high heaven. He first directed their thoughts to the great object of His mission kept ever before Him, that all His humiliation and suffering would glorify the Father's name, and this was His joy, showing zeal directed toward God's glory rather than human advancement. That prayer shows the high value He places on human beings by purchasing them at the sacrifice of His life, so men must treat believers with forbearance and patience instead of wounding and bruising the hearts of brethren because they are the purchase of His blood.
The prayer was offered not for the eleven only but for His disciples in every age and for all who would believe through their word, and for readers of Scripture throughout time. The word believe means all believers through the whole Christian age, so its promises are not divided off to the first Christians only. In it He embraces believers as His children and prays that they may be one with God as He is one with the Father, sanctified through the truth and united with Christ in God. It shows the possibilities of Christian life and what believers may become as they strive to live in answer to it and in keeping with it.
Authority the Father Gave
The Father has given the Son power over all flesh, that is jurisdiction and authority over all people and all humanity, for the purpose that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him. That same authority extends over all humanity so that the life He gives begins as spiritual life in this present existence and continues as eternal life in God's kingdom. The Father's gift of people to Christ includes His disciples in every age, and no one can take them from Christ's hand.
People become His by choosing to receive Him and believing in Him as personal Saviour, and this choice answers God's prior choice and Christ's drawing. Christ's love and grace reach them before they love Him, and God knows those who will respond and those who will turn away under popular influence. Those who believe and receive Him in His name become His sheep by choice and are joined to Christ with their lives hidden with Him in God. They are dear to Him as chosen children and heirs, loved by the Father as the Father loved the Son.
Christ received this authority from the Father after humbling Himself in leaving heaven and its royal throne, and His exaltation made Him the Redeemer of the human family to whom the human family is entrusted. His work on earth as a man followed that great sacrifice for fallen humanity, which must not be treated lightly, and He came to give His life so people could receive life through His word. The Father glorifies the Son so the Son may glorify the Father, having given Him this power over all flesh for the giving of eternal life. He asks this having finished the work given Him on earth, having glorified God on the earth, having manifested the Father's name to those given Him out of the world, and having given them the Father's words which they received and kept. His work included living out a righteous character on earth as an example for people to follow, and having finished it He claimed the promised reward of those who believe in Him.
Eternal Life Defined
The verse that follows explains the eternal life the Son gives as knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. The Father gave the Son authority over all people and all humanity so that He could give that life to those the Father gave Him. That life begins as spiritual life in this present human existence and continues as eternal life in God's kingdom, and the right knowledge of God and Christ brings it. It is life with God lasting as long as God's life, free from sin, suffering, loss, infirmity and fear of death.
That knowing is experimental, personal and right knowledge, gained by laying hold of Christ by living faith, for no soul is saved apart from that grasp and knowing Him cannot exist without loving Him. It is gained by receiving and keeping His words as evidence of receiving Him, by eating His flesh and drinking His blood and abiding in Him with His words as spirit and life, while unbelief leaves one without life under wrath. It is learned daily in earnest prayer, in ceasing all criticism of others, and in coming to Christ in weakness to receive understanding of what He is and of His work in separating from the believer everything unlike His character. Education, travel, wealth and efforts to prolong earthly life cannot provide it. Gaining this knowledge requires following God's instruction and separating from work that hinders it.
Christ made this life available by giving Himself as an offering for sin, giving His life and opening the way to the kingdom of heaven to those who believe. In Him life and immortality are brought to light, and being one with Him is the only hope of reaching heaven. His purpose was to give what saves from sin and turns toward righteousness. That purpose of love and mercy placed eternal life within reach and came through His great sacrifice in leaving heaven and its royal throne for fallen humanity, which must not be treated lightly.
This knowledge is shown by revealing God in life and character and making Him known to others. Knowing Christ personally enables people to represent Him and to discern Satan's deceptions. The desire to know God and Christ should be the believer's single ambition and lead to a life pleasing to God. Even if believers die, His life is in them as they remain one with Him forever. The eternal life Christ has power to give is the knowledge of the Word of God received into the soul by daily eating the Word as His flesh and blood. As bodily blood is formed by food eaten, Christ is formed within, the hope of glory, by eating that Word, and through obedience the receiver becomes a partaker of the divine nature in vital union with Christ as the branch united fiber by fiber and vein by vein to the vine, with the entrance of the Word giving light and understanding, renewing the spirit of the mind and nourishing vitality of soul.
Christ’s Person and Work
The prayer shows the Father and the Son as distinct persons standing in relationship with each other, and their oneness does not erase the distinct personality of either. The Father gave the Son authority over all humanity, that He should give eternal life to those the Father gave Him. As the Father and the Son are one yet remain distinct, so the oneness of Christ's followers with Him preserves their individuality.
In this final prayer for His church, spoken in His last moments with His disciples, Jesus pleads for His followers as a consecrated high priest and gathers His flock as a faithful shepherd. It is a petition deep and full, broad as the earth and reaching high heaven, such as angels had never heard, expressing His care and pouring out the burden of His soul because the hour is come. He speaks in the language of one having divine authority, giving His elect church into the Father's arms and sheltering His flock under the shadow of the Almighty as a strong and sure refuge as He goes forth to meet the last battle with Satan, having finished the work given Him, glorified God on the earth, manifested the Father's name, and gathered out those who will continue His work among men. With His human arm He encircles the children of Adam in a firm embrace, and with His strong divine arm He grasps the throne of the Infinite, thus uniting earth to heaven and finite man to the infinite God.
The prayer illustrates the intercession Christ is making and will continue to make to the end of the world for those who believe in Him, carried on in heaven within the veil for all who receive Him and believe on His name, even to the ends of the earth. That continuing ministry as High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary was made possible by His sacrifice for sin just before His crucifixion, and it presents His ministry for people who come to Him humbly, renounce selfishness, and believe in His power to save. In that intercession He presents His bruised hands bearing the wounds of cruel spikes, having graven His church and the names of those who believe on Him upon the palms of His hands, pleading for ministers and congregations standing guilty in filthy garments and seeking pardon through the atoning sacrifice. Through His atonement and prevailing intercession at His Father's right hand, believers may receive pardon, be kept from sin and from falling, be prepared for eternal life, and receive power to become sons of God, so that because He lives they shall live also.
As the One given power over all flesh, Christ died to make atonement and paid the redemption price without which there could be no salvation, and He gave His life for those seeking salvation so they may receive power to become children of God and gain victory over sin. He gives eternal life to as many as were given Him through pardon, keeping from sin, and preparation for eternal life for obedient believers. The prayer presents the plan of redemption and describes the advantages He purchased for humanity by His sacrifice, and His power can be claimed in His name when people are tempted and tried. Those who believe and practice God's Word answer this prayer. It presents Christ as the Life-giver, whom people are to worship rather than trusting in human strength.
Oneness and Witness
John 17 calls believers to oneness with one another and with Christ, and through Christ with God, as Christ is one with the Father, entered when every wrong between a person and God and between a person and brethren is put out of the way and sins are confessed and forsaken so the blood of Jesus Christ is efficacious in their behalf. That close relation to Jesus is living union with God in which Christ is in His people and they are united to God their great Head, sanctified through the truth and united with Christ in God. Its meaning is known better when believers are meek and lowly in heart, close to Christ and close to one another in Christlike sympathy and love, giving confidence to the weak in Christlike fellowship and loyalty to Christ, so that a decided influence for good goes forth from them demonstrating the sanctifying power of truth upon heart and character. It is associated with the great power God has given Christ, who embraces believers as His children and received authority over all people so that He may give eternal life to those the Father gives Him.
That enduring union is the privilege of men and women worked by true grace in the heart that unites believers to Christ and to one another. It makes them partakers of the divine nature escaping the corruption in the world through lust, makes them one with Christ in God, and binds them together in Christian love. When they are changed from sin to holiness it brings them the Father's love as He loves His Son, and opens to them the source of rich and eternal happiness that outlives all earthly sinful enjoyment. When conviction of sin comes the light of the glory of God is revealed, and those in that union hate the sin that separates the soul from God as the result of the influence of the grace of God upon human hearts.
Lived out, that oneness is the evidence to give to the world that God sent His Son to save sinners, giving success to God's workers and convincing the world. Christ gives His true disciples the glory of His character and appears in their lives through the impartation of His Spirit, and as the Comforter He abides in the heart making joy full. His words become bread of life and strength to develop characters that honor God, with perfect Christian fellowship and the fruit of obedience, in a unity that preserves individuality as the unity of Father and Son does not erase either person's individuality. Followers answer that prayer in their life work by maintaining oneness with Him, representing Christ in character, correcting thoughts, words, and acts, reading and practicing God's Word, taking self sternly in hand, and becoming so kind, tender, loving, and Christlike that the world sees God has indeed sent His Son to save fallen humanity. This requires ceasing criticism and evil speaking and discord over little misunderstandings and differences, linking up with one another and with Christ, studying what the prayer means, and praying for union and then living in obedience to the truth so God can answer, as close as the union between the Father and the Son.
Difference and disunion dishonor God, and the whole prayer in John 17 is to guide the church as its creed. Introducing division and strife runs against Christ's desire that His followers be one with Him, united in faith and understanding of His word. Being at variance with one another is incompatible with being branches of the True Vine, and constantly seeking to answer His prayer for oneness in Him is required. Those words are not heeded when they gossip, accuse the brethren, pass judgment, and speak self-assured conversation that hurts souls and spoils God's work, handling strange fire instead of having cleansed lips whose counsels are a savor of life unto life. Satan understands this prayer better than members of churches and heads of families, and he does not want God's people to understand the advantages bestowed on them in it and to know the day of their visitation, so he keeps them in discord and strife over little misunderstandings and little differences that, dwelt upon, grow into variance and hatred, so that they will present before the world exactly the opposite of what God desires them to present.
The prayer is answered by entire consecration to God, by being purified, refined, and sanctified, which is the only hope for making certain work for eternity and obtaining a fitness for heaven here in this world. Believers are to seek sanctification through the truth and use their talents so that this prayer for unity is answered in their lives, overcoming division and standing together as Christ was one with the Father. That instruction must be believed and practiced to reach God's standard of unity, with every thread of selfishness taken out, heard and obeyed in working with God and Christ, dying to self, and letting Christ live in them, without which they cannot endure testing. Without Christ's love religious profession is empty, and that love leads people to love one another as Christ loved them, with hearts filled with the love of Christ where backbiting and criticizing cease, hands are strengthened instead of weakened, and the Lord is glorified in spirit and words and acts. Living that prayer in practical life brings unity with one another and with Christ, making them strong to withstand Satan's attacks and stand in the time of testing.
That instruction must be believed and practiced first in the home and then carried into the church, where obeying His words at home lets their influence reach others and supports the work of winning sinners to Christ. God measures church members by what they are in the home, where Christ's words are to be obeyed in tender, respectful, Christlike conduct while God is proving who is worthy of admittance into His family in the testing time. When obeyed in the home its influence extends to the church, keeps the Spirit of God in the home, unites believers in love as a symbol of the heavenly family, and makes their lamp burn brightly to give light to those in darkness and win sinners to loyalty. The discourse is needed by all and is to be presented in every home as a message from God about how to receive Christ's grace, whose stated conditions must be obeyed or people will be unready to stand before Him when He comes in glory.
In the prayer He identifies Himself with His believing people and joins them to Himself in the work of saving a lost world. The prayer was for His disciples and for all who would believe through their word, and shows what Christians may become and the possibilities of Christian life as they strive to live in keeping with it and in answer to it. Doing so makes them lights in the world. Preserving the unity it prays for raises fallen man, brings God's love to believers as He loved His Son, saves the sinner, and glorifies God eternally, to be read over and over and carried into practical life. Through that unity sinners are saved and God is eternally glorified, and answering it by consecration brings souls up onto a higher platform causing them to feel the worth of souls for whom Christ died and to realize how perilous is the condition of those doing nothing to bring souls to Christ. Becoming one with one another as represented in John 17 is connected with receiving God's love and power, so that when they become one with their fellow believers God's love and power flow richly into them and God's work remains one rather than divided.
Studying and Living Prayer
This prayer holds important truth that repays careful thought, essential instruction and eternal principles, a science that will stand the test of the ages. It is to be studied from the first verse to the last for its meaning, studied diligently and read over and over. Received into the treasure-house of the soul, it becomes the daily lesson of life and the rule of life, teaching how to pray and how to live the prayer. Spoken with eyes lifted to heaven after the instruction of John 13-16, in the last week together to prepare for coming trial and separation and suffering, it closes instruction with strong, hopeful words of comfort.
It directs education toward knowing God and His Word and leading students to Christ. That acquaintance with God is the true higher education that fits for eternal life, the power and soul and heart of true education, since eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. Christ gave Himself as an offering for sin to place that life within reach, expressing His purpose of love and mercy in giving eternal life to those given Him under authority over all humanity. This knowledge of God, of Bible history and truth, is the greatest of all science, to be learned as in the school of the prophets, and it requires schools conducted on altogether different principles to protect youth from injurious associations.
Its significance sustains courage, strengthens faith, and keeps souls in God's love. It calls for faith that takes hold of God's promises and claims them as personal, even Christ's purchased advantages and power to be claimed in His name when tempted and tried. It is a help in every emergency to the truly penitent who ask in faith for fresh grace, new supplies of strength, and the efficiency and power of the Holy Spirit.
It teaches that the disciples' future work of blessing humanity when they would no longer have Him as visible counselor, and the work today, would prove a failure unless divine power were combined with human effort. Success requires partnership between God and workers, with the Holy Spirit working through human agencies, man working because God works in him, building upon a divine Christ and never leaving the divine agency out. All responsibility rests on the human instrument, who must seek power from on high and improve the facilities God has provided to reach the highest standard and uplift fallen humanity.
It calls readers to examine where they stand and to frame themselves to love Christ and the truth and be one with Christ and the Father. It presents the need to acknowledge God in every way and to seek a fuller knowledge of God. Understanding it means being closely united with Christ, leaving no room for speculative theories, with those who teach truth purifying themselves as Christ is pure and devoting their abilities to bearing witness to the truth and seeking eternal life.
Those who live it stop all criticizing of others, ceasing criticism and evil speaking and discord over little misunderstandings and differences. They link up with one another and with Christ, spend more time in earnest prayer, come to Christ in weakness to receive understanding of what He is, and learn daily the lessons He would teach in separating from them everything unlike His character, bringing comfort and joy. They pray for union and then live in obedience to the truth in such a way that God can answer their prayers. Then Christ as the Comforter abides in their hearts making joy full, and His words become to them as the bread of life, giving strength to develop characters that honor God and reveal the power of grace, with perfect Christian fellowship and the fruit of obedience.
It teaches that Christians and the world cannot unite in fellowship because they serve different masters. God's people must stand in His strength and retain their individual responsibility before Him, with God as their strength, light, comfort, and joy. The whole prayer in John 17 is to guide the church as its creed, showing that difference and disunion dishonor God. The chapter shows how broad Christ's mercy and love are toward those who walk before Him in obedience and humility, bestowed on those who walk obediently and humbly with Him as a guide for Christian life and character.