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John 17:24-26
He ends by asking that his people be with him to see his glory, reaffirming the Father’s name made known.
Meaning in context
He ends by asking that his people be with him to see his glory, reaffirming the Father’s name made known.
Section 6 of 6
Final desire and closing reaffirmation
He ends by asking that his people be with him to see his glory, reaffirming the Father’s name made known.
Movement
From signs to believing life
Artifact
Witness to the Word made flesh
Biblical Timeline
Jesus' Ministry
John context: AD 29 - AD 33
Biblical Timeline
Jesus' Ministry
John context
Jesus' Ministry / AD 29 - AD 33
John context is set in Jesus' ministry, where Jesus' public ministry, teaching, signs, death, and resurrection.
Scripture Text
Thesis
He ends by asking that his people be with him to see his glory, reaffirming the Father’s name made known.
Verse by Verse
Jesus’ final desire—presence with him and sight of his glory Jesus addresses God as “Father” and states his desire that those the Father has given him will be with him “where I am.” The purpose is that they may see his “glory,” described as something the Father has given him. He adds a reason that reaches back before creation: the Father loved him “before the foundation of the world,” making this request rest on a relationship older than the current mission.
A contrast—who knows the Father Jesus calls God “Righteous Father” and draws a contrast: “the world” did not know the Father, but Jesus did know him. Then he adds what his followers have come to know: that the Father sent Jesus. Knowledge here is relational recognition expressed in accepting Jesus’ origin and commission.
Ongoing disclosure—so love and Jesus’ presence are shared Jesus says he has made God’s “name” known to them and will continue to make it known. He gives the goal: that the love with which the Father loved Jesus may be “in them,” and that Jesus himself may be “in them.” The closing connects ongoing revelation about God to an inward sharing of love and Jesus’ continuing presence among his people ().
Literary Context
These verses conclude Jesus’ long prayer at the end of the farewell section (John 13–17), spoken on the eve of his arrest. Earlier in the prayer, Jesus speaks about his completed mission, asks for protection and unity for his followers, and extends the request to future believers who will come through their message (John 17:20). The closing lines gather key themes from the chapter—“given,” “glory,” “knowing,” and “love”—and press them toward an end-point: shared presence with Jesus, a clear vision of his honor, and an ongoing deepening of relationship with the Father through what Jesus continues to make known.
Historical Context
In the story world of John, this prayer is located in Jerusalem during a major festival period, with Roman rule in the background and local religious leadership closely watching Jesus. Speaking openly about being “sent,” about “the world” not knowing God, and about a special group “given” to him would sound like a strong claim to unique authority and identity, likely heightening tension in a public-religious environment. At the same time, within the Gospel’s later readership, such language speaks to communities defining themselves amid social pressure, using “world” as a broad category for the surrounding order that does not recognize Jesus’ source or the Father he reveals.
Theological Significance
Questions
Keep Studying
Jesus ends his prayer by naming what he wants: the people the Father has given him will be with him “where I am” and will see his “glory” (explicit). That hope is grounded in the Father’s prior love for the Son “before the foundation of the world” (explicit), which points to a relationship that predates Jesus’ public ministry.
He also draws a contrast about “knowing” God: “the world” did not know the Father, Jesus did know the Father, and “these” (his followers) came to know that the Father sent Jesus (explicit). In this passage, “know” is not just having information; it is recognition of who Jesus is in relation to the Father (inference from the stated contrast and “sent me”).
Finally, Jesus says he has made the Father’s “name” known and will continue to make it known, with the stated aim that the Father’s love will be “in them,” and that Jesus will be “in them” (explicit).
1) What “where I am” refers to. Some read it mainly as Jesus’ presence with the Father after his death and resurrection, implying a future “being with” him. Others think it includes Jesus’ present reality and mission even before the cross, so “be with me” can also mean sharing his life and path now, not only later.
2) What it means to “see my glory.” Some take “glory” here as Jesus’ visible honor in his final revelation (resurrection/exaltation and ultimate unveiling). Others emphasize that in John, Jesus’ “glory” is already displayed in the cross and the love revealed there, so “seeing” can include perceiving that meaning, not only a future sight.
3) Who “the world” is. Some hear “world” as humanity as a whole in its general failure to know God. Others hear it more specifically as the surrounding order that resists Jesus and does not recognize the Father through him.
4) What “I in them” describes. Some understand it mainly as Jesus’ personal presence shared with believers (real but not physical). Others connect it closely to Jesus’ continued self-disclosure through his message and the Father’s love, so “in them” highlights relational indwelling expressed through shared knowledge, love, and allegiance.
Why the disagreement exists John uses short phrases with big theological reach (“where I am,” “glory,” “world,” “name,” “in them”). The immediate context does not spell out a timeline, and John elsewhere speaks of glory, presence, and “world” in more than one way. Readers therefore weigh different nearby themes (cross, resurrection, exaltation, ongoing revelation) when deciding what is foregrounded here.
What this passage clearly contributes This closing ties together Jesus’ mission and his intended outcome: (1) Jesus’ followers ultimately belong with him and are meant to behold his Father-given glory; (2) knowing the Father is bound to recognizing Jesus as the one sent; (3) Jesus’ work of making God known is not described as finished at this moment (“will make it known”); and (4) the stated goal of that ongoing disclosure is shared love—“the love” the Father has for the Son—and Jesus’ continuing presence “in them.” It reinforces that relationship (knowing, love, presence) is central to the chapter’s ending, not only protection or unity.