17:6 {3} I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: {c} thine they were, and thou {d} gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
(3) First of all he prays for his disciples by whom he would have the rest of his disciples gathered together, and commends them unto the Father (having already rejected the whole company of the reprobate) because he received them from his Father into his custody, and because by embracing his doctrine, they will have so many and so mighty enemies, that there is no way for them to be in safety, except by his help.
(c) He shows by this the everlasting election and choice, which was hidden in the good will and pleasure of God, which is the groundwork of our salvation.
(d) He shows that the everlasting and hidden purpose of God is declared in Christ, by whom we are justified and sanctified, if we lay hold of him by faith, so that we may eventually come to the glory of the election.
17:6 I have revealed thy name to the men which thou gavest me, etc. In the first five verses he had prayed for himself. Now he prays for his disciples. The apostles are especially meant.
17:6 I have manifested thy name - All thy attributes; and in particular thy paternal relation to believers; to the men whom thou hast given me - The apostles, and so John 17:12. They were thine - By creation, and by descent from Abraham. And thou hast given them me - By giving them faith in what I have spoken. So John 17:9.
17:6-10. Christ prays for those that are his. Thou gavest them me, as sheep to the shepherd, to be kept; as a patient to the physician, to be cured; as children to a tutor, to be taught: thus he will deliver up his charge. It is a great satisfaction to us, in our reliance upon Christ, that he, all he is and has, and all he said and did, all he is doing and will do, are of God. Christ offered this prayer for his people alone as believers; not for the world at large. Yet no one who desires to come to the Father, and is conscious that he is unworthy to come in his own name, need be discouraged by the Saviour's declaration, for he is both able and willing to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God by him. Earnest convictions and desires, are hopeful tokens of a work already wrought in a man; they begin to evidence that he has been chosen unto salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. They are thine; wilt thou not provide for thine own? Wilt thou not secure them? Observe the foundation on which this plea is grounded, All mine are thine, and thine are mine. This speaks the Father and Son to be one. All mine are thine. The Son owns none for his, that are not devoted to the service of the Father.
