With the revelation of the New Covenant being made between the Father and his Son (John 17:1-5), and that covenant being ratified during the meal with the passing of the bread and the wine (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20), Jesus at this point began describing his disciples (John 17:6-10). This is the second of three parts to his prayer to his Father that evening. He began by describing his relationship with these men, saying he manifested his Father’s name unto them, whom the Father had given him. They were the Father’s men, that is, they were the ones he had chosen out of the world, and he gave them to Jesus (John 6:37, 44). Moreover, while they were with Jesus, they kept the Father’s word (John 17:6). But, what did Jesus mean by this?
Jesus had previously claimed that the words he had spoken weren’t his, vis-à-vis they weren’t words he thought up. Rather, Jesus’ words were also his Father’s words, in that his Father dwelt in Jesus (John 14:10), and Jesus spoke, as his Father moved him or gave him utterance (John 3:32-34; 7:16; 8:40; 12:49; cp. Acts 2:4). When Jesus said that his disciples had kept the Father’s word (John 17:6), he meant they kept the words that Jesus taught them (John 17:14), which words were truth (John 17:17).
Jesus’ disciples were fishermen, tax collectors, zealots and the like. They weren’t scholars or theologians, nor did they understand all the things Jesus said. But, this much they knew: all the things Jesus said and did were given him by the Father. This is why they trusted him (John 11:27), and this is why they received (G2983) him, giving him access to themselves (John 1:12).
When Jesus was washing his disciples’ feet, Peter objected (John 13:6-8), but the Lord told him, you don’t understand (G1492) what I’m doing, but afterward you will know (G1097), which is the word Jesus used to say his disciples had known (G1097) ‘all things’ the Father had given him really came from the Father (John 17:7). In other words, what Jesus said and did in the disciples’ presence began with not understanding (G1492), but they received it anyway, trusting him, because they believed he was the Messiah (John 6:69). In doing so, they had come to know (G1097) that what Jesus said and did had come from God. Jesus had given them the words he received from his Father, and the disciples received them through Jesus’ teaching. Thus, by believing Jesus’ teaching, they believed God had sent him and that he had come out from the Father (John 17:8). This is where they were at this point in time, and Jesus could take them no further (cp. John 13:36; 16:16), without sending them the Comforter that would abide in them (John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7).
Next, Jesus tells his Father that his prayer, this prayer, is for his disciples alone, it is not for the world, but only for those the Father had given him, for he (the Father) had chosen them for to be his own children. Later, Jesus would pray for future generations (John 17:20), but at this point in his prayer, he spoke only of those disciples with him in the upper room (John 17:9), saying, “And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them” (KJV) or as the Revised Version puts it: “and all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them” (John 17:10). But, although this sounds very beautiful and poetic, what does Jesus mean?
First of all, and keeping in mind that Jesus is praying aloud, so he is as much teaching his disciples, as he is speaking to his Father, Jesus is saying that not only do Jesus’ disciples belong to the Father, but everything Jesus ever said or did came from the Father. He did the works (John 5:19-20; 14:10) and even the words Jesus uttered were also his (John 3:34; 17:8). Not only so, but Jesus claimed all that was the Father’s was also his. In other words, all the Father said or did belonged to Jesus. Those whom the Father claimed to be his own, also belonged to Jesus, and as the Father is glorified in what he says and does, so is Jesus, and this includes those who were chosen and stood in the upper room listening to Jesus speak with his Father (John 17:10).
Nevertheless, Jesus’ words go much deeper than what we take in with a cursory read. Jesus is the Son of God, and what he says here also belongs to the Father’s adopted sons. All of ours belongs to the Father, vis-à-vis our life, our death, what we say and what we do, all of it has been given us by God, and we shall give an account to him concerning what we did with all we were given. Moreover, we can also conclude that all of what the Father has is ours, whether brethren or Jesus in whom is found every spiritual blessing the Father could ever give us (Ephesians 1:3), for he has become for us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1Corinthians 1:30). So, all are ours, the brethren, including the writers of the New Covenant text: Matthew, Peter, Luke, John, Paul, James and Jude. These men are ours, what they said and did are ours, the world, life, death, the present and the future is ours (1Corinthians 3:21-22), and the canvas we paint it all on is our own lives, and all of this is supposed to glorify God (John 17:10). Therefore, we need to be careful how we work it all out, because whether or not a reward is received is dependent upon how we work it all out (1Corinthians 3:11-15, 23).
Smoodock's Blog 