John 17:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.

NIV: Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.

NASB: Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;

CSB: Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me.

NLT: O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me.

KJV: O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

NKJV: O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.

In general, biblical context, "the world" is a reference to all humanity, or all of mankind. Therefore, "the world" also implies a belief system which rejects God and denies Christ (Romans 5:8; John 3:16). This is why Christians are called on to be influencers "in" the world (Matthew 5:13–16; John 17:18, 23), but not be "of" the world (John 17:16; Romans 12:2–3). Here, Jesus highlights that idea by noting that "the world," in a broad sense, does not know Him or accept Him (Romans 1:18–20).

This lack of personal knowledge makes it impossible for non-believers to fully understand truth (1 Corinthians 2:14). They cannot "see" or understand God, which is why Christians are meant to represent God's truth to the world (1 Peter 2:12). Some will violently reject this truth (John 16:1–4); others will properly respond by coming to faith (1 Corinthians 6:9–11; Titus 3:5; 1 Timothy 1:16). Those who truly follow Christ are not perfect, but they accept that He is who He claims to be (John 17:6–8).

John 17:20–26 completes the High Priestly Prayer offered by Jesus just before He goes to Gethsemane, where He will be captured by His enemies. His prayer has included requests on behalf of Himself and His closest disciples. Now, Christ begins to pray for those who will come to faith in Him through the writings and teachings of those apostles. A major theme of this prayer is for love and unity.

In this passage, known as the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus speaks to God about three main topics. First is Christ Himself, asking God the Father to glorify Him so He can glorify the Father. Next, Jesus prays for the faith and courage in His closest disciples. Finally, He prays for those who will come to faith because of the apostles' writing and teaching. This moment occurs before Jesus enters Gethsemane, where the other Gospels will record His final anguished prayers before being arrested (Matthew 26:36–46; Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:39–46).

Over the last several chapters (John 13—16), Jesus has been giving last-minute instruction to His closest disciples. These lessons composed a large part of the Last Supper. Among those teachings were several warnings about persecution, with the encouragement of knowing the Holy Spirit would come. In chapter 17, we read Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, making requests on behalf of Himself, the apostles, and future believers. After this, Jesus will go into Gethsemane where Judas will turn Him over for arrest and His eventual execution.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.

Accessed 5/6/2024 7:08:08 AM