25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
The last two verses of Jesus’ prayer concluded His requests to the Father. The argument of verses 25 and 26 is that as Jesus lived and acted on earth believers are to live and act. Those who follow Christ are to have a clear mission.
17:25
O righteous Father!
The word “righteous” here does not refer to moral righteousness of the Father but rightness in terms of truth, His viewpoint from eternity. The only true truth comes by divine revelation.
The world has not known [recognized] You,
Jesus made a clear distinction between the world and His followers. It is because God is righteous that He distinguishes between the world and believers. It is a matter of consistency of His attributes. God cannot be inconsistent with Himself, otherwise He would not be just. He always deals justly with Himself and the world.
but I have known [acknowledge] You;
Jesus in His humanity knew the Father; He “manifested” the Father to the world (Jn 17:6). He knew that the Father was completely just in His dealing with people. This is something that the world knows nothing about. The primacy of Jesus’ role was to make the Father known, that He is just in dealing with the world.
and these have known that You sent Me.
The “these” here are future believers. They have all that they need to know about the purpose of Jesus’ ministry on earth by His teaching.
17:26
And I have declared to them Your name,
Jesus drew His prayer to a close with this verse. He had made it abundantly clear what the essence and attributes of the Father were all about in His ministry on earth.
and will declare it,
He would make clear the nature of the Father in the future. He would do this by dying on the cross. The cross resolved the issue of the Father’s righteousness; He paid for sin and declared righteous all those who believe on Him (Ro 5:9).
that [purpose] the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
The Father loved Jesus with a special love. The purpose (“that”) of the Father’s love toward the Son might be in the disciples of Jesus. The followers of Christ are to carry the love of the Father.
PRINCIPLE:
There is a connection between the Father’s love and the indwelling of Christ in the believer.
APPLICATION:
The followers of Christ are to go into the world with a spirit of the Father’s love. They can know God’s love because the Son dwells in them. Come what may, the Father and Jesus’ love will be with us.
