John 17:4

17:4 I glorified you on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

John 17:8

17:8 because I have given them the words you have given me. They accepted them and really understand that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

tn Or “by finishing” or “by accomplishing.” Jesus now states that he has glorified the Father on earth by finishing (τελειώσας [teleiwsas] is best understood as an adverbial participle of means) the work which the Father had given him to do.

sn By completing the work. The idea of Jesus being sent into the world on a mission has been mentioned before, significantly in 3:17. It was even alluded to in the immediately preceding verse here (17:3). The completion of the “work” the Father had sent him to accomplish was mentioned by Jesus in 4:34 and 5:36. What is the nature of the “work” the Father has given the Son to accomplish? It involves the Son’s mission to be the Savior of the world, as 3:17 indicates. But this is accomplished specifically through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross (a thought implied by the reference to the Father “giving” the Son in 3:16). It is not without significance that Jesus’ last word from the cross is “It is completed” (19:30).

tn Grk “the work that you gave to me so that I may do it.”

tn Grk And they.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

tn Or “received.”

tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

tn Or “truly.”

tn Or have come to know.”