John 17:24–26 (WEL) “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so they may see my glory which you gave me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 “O righteous Father, though the world hasn’t known you, I have known you, and these have known that you sent me. 26 “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.”
V24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so they may see my glory which you gave me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Jesus has desires, one of which is He wants believers to be with Him in Heaven. That prayer has been answered. When we die, or are raptured, we will forever be with the Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:23, and 1 Thessalonians 4:17).
Those who believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith alone in Jesus Christ alone) will see Jesus’s glory (Ezekiel 1 especially Ezekiel 1:26–28). Compare 2 Peter 1:17 and Luke 9:28–29.
God the Father has an eternal love for His Son, Jesus.
Before the foundation of the world implies that Jesus Christ is eternal without beginning or end.
V25 “O righteous Father, though the world hasn’t known you, I have known you, and these have known that you sent me.
The world of humanity (all humans) does not and cannot know God other than conscience (Romans 2:14–15) and the faint light of creation (Romans 1:19–21).
Conscience is (Easton’s Bible Dictionary) “that faculty of the mind, or inborn sense of right and wrong, by which we judge of the moral character of human conduct. It is common to all men. Like all our other faculties, it has been perverted by the Fall (John 16:2; Acts 26:9; Romans 2:15). It is spoken of as ‘defiled’ (Titus 1:15), and ‘seared’ (1 Timothy 4:2). A ‘conscience void of offense’ is to be sought and cultivated (Acts 24:16; Romans 9:1; 2 Corinthians 1:12; 1 Timothy 1:5, 1 Timothy 1:19; 1 Peter 3:21).”
Regarding the Greek word conscience:
(Baker Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words) syneidēsis (συνείδησις) 4893 30x, n., conscience; consciousness. The word syneidēsis can indicate either the ability to tell right from wrong or an internal awareness of one’s own condition or obligation. Related to the verb synoraō, the noun syneidēsis conveys the sense of mental seeing or perception.
Jesus has eternally known the Father. Jesus is the revealer—Matthew 11:27 and John 5:20.
V26 “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.”
Your name stands for all that God is. It refers to His essence, that is, the stuff that God is (God is a Spirit—John 4:24) and all the character traits of God both incommunicable and communicable.
Because of love for us believers, God wants His glory known to us. In doing so, He reveals God’s love for us. Compare 1 John 2:5, Romans 8:38, and Ephesians 3:18–19.
We learn:
- About prayer as Jesus gives us an example.
- Jesus has revealed many things about God.
Questions:
- How is your prayer life?
- How do you learn about God, His ways, His character, His worldview, rules, and lifestyle?