Final requests: A commentary on John 17

Immediately before his trial and death, Yeshua gave his final message in a prayer
to the Father. In his final words, there a few key topics repeatedly emphasized.
If a mans words are ever important, it is certainly at the time before his death.
Let us examine Yeshuas final words.
Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said,
Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify
You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You
have given Him, He may give eternal life.
1

From the beginning, we see that obedience even to death is a glorious thing,
not only for Yeshua but also for anyone who has life or death circumstances.
The Father gave Yeshua all authority over all things on earth, yet he chose to
give it up in obedience even to death so that all the people from his ministry
may have eternal life.
This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom You have sent.
3

Religious systems and society have their own definition of eternal life, but this
is the only one that is true. Buddhism has no Father and claims that the final
Buddha is the prophet. Islam claims Allah is god and Mohammed is the prophet.
But the Hebrews claim that Yehovah is the Father and Christians claim that
Yeshua is His prophet. This is the faith: Yehovah is the only true God and Yeshua
is the Prophet.
I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You
have given Me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself,
with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
4

Yeshua claims his existence before the creation of the earth. While he did not
say that he was uncreated, it is clear that he existed before he was physically
born from Mary, which leaves the possibility of being uncreated, or at least
ageless in some aspect. The Book of Enoch, copies of which have been found in
Israel going back to 200BC, records this: And at that hour that Son of Man was
called near the Lord of the spirits, and his name before the Head of days. And
before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of heaven were
made, his name was called before the Lord of the spirits (1 Enoch 48:2-3). The

same pre-existence of Yeshua is described in Philippians 2:7 and 1 Timothy 3:16

among other passages.
I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of
the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept
Your word.
6

Yeshua instructed his disciples about the use of the Fathers name, Yehovah,
which conflicted with the stipulations of its use at that time in history. Despite
the Greek and Roman ban to pray and worship in the name of Yehovah, Yeshua
confirmed the Fathers name with his disciples. He also instructed them to keep
Yehovahs word, which was the Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi at that time.
Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is
from You; 8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and
they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and
they believed that You sent Me.
7

Yeshua reiterates the fact that he is a prophet, perhaps the Prophet that the
Scriptures commanded Israel to listen to when he comes.
I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those
whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are
Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.
9

Yeshua does not include the world in his last prayer, but only his chosen ones.
He speaks as though he is in complete unity with the Father.
I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world,
and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which
You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12 While I was
with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me;
and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of
perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
11

In verse 11, it is important to note that Yehovah is the Holy Father. In Matthew
23:8-9, Yeshua himself instructed his disciples to call no man Father. Yet today,
the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church claims that he is the Holy Father. Yeshua
also instructed his disciples to call no man Rabbi, which means my master. Yet
today, all of the teachers in Judaism are called Rabbi.

Continuing on in Yeshuas prayer, even though Yeshua knew he would leave this
world and return to his Father, his disciples were still going to live in the world
and this was a concern for him because he is the Good Shepherd. Consequently,
Yeshua invoked the name of the Father for protection over his chosen ones.
There is no greater way to petition and there is nothing greater to pledge with
than with the name of Yehovah. Apostle John gives us a clue regarding the
kingship and deity of Yeshua by including these verses in the prayer. Twice
Yeshua says that Yehovah gave him His name. That could mean that: (1) Yeshua
inherited the name of Yehovah while still on earth (see Hebrews 1:4) (2) and/or
Yehovah revealed His name to Yeshua in order that he would also teach his
disciples the name of Yehovah (see John 17:6). Yeshua perfectly obeyed his
Father in his earthly ministry in that he can boast that he did not lose one
disciple except for Judas, who was appointed to be the betrayer.
"But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that
they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 I have given them Your
word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. 15 "I do not ask You to take them out of the
world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 "They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world.
13

If Yeshua had asked his Father to remove his disciples from the world, then they
could all have escaped martyrdom. But as it was, that was not the Yehovahs nor
Yeshuas intention. Just a few verses prior in John 16:33, Yeshua told them, In
the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.
His disciples were not chosen to live a life of monastic solitude, but interact with
the world without being part of it. They were supposed to be in the world and
protected from the Evil One by Yehovah Himself.
Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into
the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 For their sakes I sanctify
Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
17

In order to be in the world but not of the world, Yeshua asked his Father to set
his disciples apart according to the Scriptures. Obedience to the Scriptures,
which were at that time Genesis to Malachi, is what kept his disciples in the
world but distinct from it. These Scriptures were the truth that the disciples
needed; they did not need any other truth, whether hidden from them or

revealed to them. Just as Yeshua was set apart from the world in obedience to
the Scriptures, so his disciples were to be set apart.
I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe
in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father,
are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may
believe that You sent Me. 22 The glory which You have given Me I have
given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and
You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may
know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
20

For the first time in the prayer, Yeshua directly refers to us. He not only prayed
for his disciples, but also for those who were to come after them. In other words,
the requests and statements of truth that He made regarding His disciples also
apply to us. The message of unity is repeated again here in almost poetic
dissertation. Being one does not necessary mean being the same entity or
person as another, but being in unity. People cannot be one person, but they
can agree and be in unity. If the Son was in unity with the Father, we ought also
to be in unity with Him and with others who believe and obey Him.
Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me
where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for
You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
24

One day, we will see Yeshua in his glory and we will become like him (1 John
3:2) perfect in resurrected bodies, having everlasting life, and living with him.
O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have
known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made
Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with
which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.
25

Yeshua finished his prayer with one last profound statement. After again
repeating that his disciples believed him to be sent from the Father, he
reiterated that he had taught the Fathers name of Yehovah to his disciples and
would continue to do so perhaps until his death and resurrection, or perhaps
in Spirit until he returns again. The one cause of love and unity among all of his
disciples and all of those that would come later was the confession of the
Fathers name, the one true God whose name is Yehovah.