John 17:8 — “For I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest me…”

For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

John 17:8 — King James Version

“For the words that you gave me I have given them, and they have received them and known truly that I have proceeded from unity with you.”

John 17:8 — Aramaic Bible in Plain English

because I gave them the message that you gave me. They have accepted this message, and they know for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.

John 17:8 — God’s Word Translation

John 17 Complete Jewish Bible (CompleteJewishBible)

1 After Yeshua had said these things, he looked up toward heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you — ² just as you gave him authority over all mankind, so that he might give eternal life to all those whom you have given him. ³ And eternal life is this: to know you, the one true God, and him whom you sent, Yeshua the Messiah.

⁴ “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ Now, Father, glorify me alongside yourself. Give me the same glory I had with you before the world existed.

⁶ “I made your name known to the people you gave me out of the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, ⁸ because the words you gave me I have given to them, and they have received them. They have really come to know that I came from you, and they have come to trust that you sent me.

⁹ “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given to me, because they are yours. ¹⁰ Indeed, all I have is yours, and all you have is mine, and in them I have been glorified. ¹¹ Now I am no longer in the world. They are in the world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, guard them by the power of your name, which you have given to me, so that they may be one, just as we are. ¹² When I was with them, I guarded them by the power of your name, which you have given to me; yes, I kept watch over them; and not one of them was destroyed (except the one meant for destruction, so that the Tanakh might be fulfilled). ¹³ But now, I am coming to you; and I say these things while I am still in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.

¹⁴ “I have given them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world — just as I myself do not belong to the world. ¹⁵ I don’t ask you to take them out of the world, but to protect them from the Evil One. ¹⁶ They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁷ Set them apart for holiness by means of the truth — your word is truth. ¹⁸ Just as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ On their behalf I am setting myself apart for holiness, so that they too may be set apart for holiness by means of the truth.

²⁰ “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will trust in me because of their word, ²¹ that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are united with me and I with you, I pray that they may be united with us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. ²² The glory which you have given to me, I have given to them; so that they may be one, just as we are one — ²³ I united with them and you with me, so that they may be completely one, and the world thus realize that you sent me, and that you have loved them just as you have loved me.

²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am; so that they may see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. ²⁵ Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these people have known that you sent me. ²⁶ I made your name known to them, and I will continue to make it known; so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I myself may be united with them.”

Context

Prayer for the Disciples
…7“Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8for 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. 9“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;…

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

John 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.

Thoughts on Today’s Verse

By Elizabeth Haworth

Throughout the Old Testament God gradually unveiled His character, His names and His attributes to the race of fallen man, as little by little He unfolded His eternal plan of salvation. But when the fullness of the time had come, God revealed Himself in a new and unique way – by sending His only begotten Son as the Word made flesh, to live a perfect life, to die a sacrificial death and to reveal Himself to a race of condemned sinners.

As God’s only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus is the perfect radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His Person and during His earthly life Christ manifested the word of God to His disciples and revealed to them the very essence of God’s being – in the life that He lived and the death that He died.

He was filled with the Holy Ghost and lived His life in spirit and truth. He spoke only those things that He heard from the Father – preforming only those acts as authorized by God’s Holy Spirit. Although He was fully God, the Lord Jesus did not speak or act under His own authority, but only as instructed by His heavenly Father.

As the cross loomed ever closer Jesus was able to pray in spirit and truth: the words which You gave Me I have given to them They had heard His gracious words, observed His tender acts of mercy, witnessed His supernatural signs and had themselves been empowered by Jesus to also carry out the wondrous works of God.

Slowly and unhurriedly He revealed more of His Father’s words to His followers until He was able to declare the astonishing truth: I and My Father are One. And as the nature and character of God was increasingly unveiled.. Christ’s dearly beloved yet bewildered disciples finally confessed Jesus, as the promised Messiah – the Son of the living God.

His work on earth was complete and Jesus was able to say to the Father, the hour has come. I have glorified You on earth by completing the work that You gave me to do. He had manifested God’s name and revealed God’s words to those that God had given Him –  and in His High Priestly prayer Christ was finally able to announce: they received Your Word and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

We are all God’s gift to His Son, for we too have been bought with a price – the precious blood of our Saviour, Jesus Christ – the Word made flesh. May we learn to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the Word of truth in the Word of God. May we receive the good news of Christ willingly and joyfully.. and truly understand that Christ is One with the Father – for He came forth from the Father to be born as our Saviour so that believing on Him we might have life everlasting.

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, we praise You for Your gracious plan of salvation and for sending Your incarnate Word to reveal Your divine attributes and holy nature to sinful man, Thank You that Christ came was sent to become our Saviour through the life that He lived, the death that He died and His glorious resurrection from the grave. There is much that I still don’t understand, but this I know – that He died to pay the price for my sins and rose again to break the power of sin in my life, May I life to Your praise and glory.. in Jesus name, AMEN

Cross References:

 
Deuteronomy 18:18
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.

John 3:17
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 6:68
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

John 8:42
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.

John 12:49
For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.

John 15:15
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

John 16:27
No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

John 16:30
Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

John 17:7
Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.

John 17:14
I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

John 17:18
As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

John 17:21
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

John 17:23
I in them and you in me–so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

John 17:25
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.

John 17:26
I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Revelation 1:1
The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,