While I was with them in the world,.... This does not imply that Christ was not in the world now, for he was; but signifies that he was just going out of it; and that his continuance in it was very short: nor that he was, and would be no longer with his disciples; for this is to be understood of his bodily, not of his spiritual presence; in which respect Christ is with his people whilst they are on earth, and they are with him when he is in heaven:I kept them in thy name; by his Father's authority and power, in his doctrine:those that thou gavest me I have kept; that is, those that were given him to be his apostles;and none of them is lost; these he kept close to himself, and from the evil of the world, and from temporal and eternal ruin:but the son of perdition; Judas, a child of Satan, whose name is Apollyon the destroyer, who was now about to betray his Lord and master; and was one that was appointed to eternal ruin and destruction, of which he was justly deserving; and which is no instance of the apostasy of saints, since though he was given to Christ as an apostle, yet not in eternal election, to be saved by him:that the Scripture might be fulfilled; this respects either Christ's keeping of his people, and their final perseverance, whereby the Scriptures that speak of it are fulfilled; or rather the destruction of Judas, whereby such passages as speak of that, have their accomplishment, particularly Ps 109:8; Some have thought that this only refers to the general sense of the Scriptures, both the law and prophets; that some are chosen to everlasting life, and others are appointed to wrath; that some are saved, and others lost; some sons of God, and others sons of perdition; but it rather seems to regard some particular passage or passages of Scripture relating to Judas, his character, condition and end, and which are very manifestly pointed at, in the psalm referred to;"As for the servants whom I have given thee, there shall not one of them perish; for I will require them from among thy number.'
Bible Commentary
John 17:12
John 17:12
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain
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John 17 — OverviewJohn 17 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleThis chapter is a prayer, it is the Lord's prayer, the Lord Christ's
prayer. There was one Lord's prayer which he taught us to pray, and did
not pray himself, for he needed not to pray for the forgiveness of sin;…John 17 — OverviewJohn 17 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeJohn 17:1, Christ prays to his Father.John 17 — OverviewJohn 17 · Little Bible — for children and parentsBefore His arrest, Jesus prays to the Father about His completed mission, His disciples, and future believers. He asks that they be kept in truth, made holy, united, and filled with divine love.
Jesus shares eternal…John 17:11-16John 17:11-16 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleAfter the general pleas with which Christ recommended his disciples to
his Father's care follow the particular petitions he puts up for them;
and, 1. They all relate to spiritual blessings in heavenly things. He…John 17:12John 17:12 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeI kept: John 6:37, John 6:39-40, John 10:27-28; Hebrews 2:13
and: John 13:18, John 18:9; Luke 4:26-27; 1 John 2:19
the son: John 6:70-71, John 13:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:3
that: Psalms 109:6-19; Acts 1:16-20, Acts 1:25John 17:12John 17:12 · Little Bible — for children and parentsJesus preserved the apostolic group entrusted to him, yet Judas—the ‘son of perdition’—followed the path that fulfilled Scripture. Christians differ on whether Judas exemplifies apostasy, a false disciple never savingly…
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