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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - John 17:6 - 17:8
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Christ prays for the disciples as such that have kept the Word:
v. 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.
v. 7. Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given Me are of Thee.
v. 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 prayer of the Lord now concerns His disciples, specifically His apostles. To them He has manifested, revealed, the name of the Father; the whole essence and glory of the Father Jesus has proclaimed and taught to those men whom the Father had given Him out of the world as His, own. He has shown them what the feeling and. intention of the Father is toward sinful men. By this preaching and the call which it included certain men were separated out of the world by the Father and allotted, given, to Christ. They were God's own by His choice and selection; and the Father gave them to Christ in time, in order that the latter might give them the revelation and knowledge necessary for obtaining eternal life. This object was realized; the men accepted and kept the Word of the Gospel; the faith which was worked in their hearts clings to the promises of the Gospel. The disciples, first of all, had gained the understanding that Jesus was not acting in an independent capacity, apart from the will and counsel of God, but that all the gifts and powers and words which He displayed and taught were from the Father. Then also, when Jesus had delivered to them the words which He had received from His Father, they had accepted them in faith. By their acceptance of the words, of the teaching of Christ with this understanding, they have shown that they have true faith and correct knowledge. So the disciples have the true knowledge, the certainty of faith, that Christ really came from the Father, that He was the Messenger and Ambassador of the Father to mankind. To accept the Word of God, to cling to the promises and statements of the Gospel, that is the characteristic attitude and work of the believers. So much the ministry of Jesus and His testimony had effected in their case.