Discovery BoxJohn 17:4-5 
Context17:4 I glorified you on earth by completing 1 the work you gave me to do. 2 17:5 And now, Father, glorify me at your side 3 with the glory I had with you before the world was created. 4
John 17:24-26
Context17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, 5 so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world 6 . 17:25 Righteous Father, even if the world does not know you, I know you, and these men 7 know that you sent me. 17:26 I made known your name to them, and I will continue to make it known, 8 so that the love you have loved me with may be in them, and I may be in them.”
1 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).
2 tn Grk “the work that you gave to me so that I may do it.”
3 tn Or “in your presence”; Grk “with yourself.” The use of παρά (para) twice in this verse looks back to the assertion in John 1:1 that the Word (the Λόγος [Logos], who became Jesus of Nazareth in 1:14) was with God (πρὸς τὸν θεόν, pro" ton qeon). Whatever else may be said, the statement in 17:5 strongly asserts the preexistence of Jesus Christ.
4 tn Grk “before the world was.” The word “created” is not in the Greek text but is implied.
sn It is important to note that although Jesus prayed for a return to the glory he had at the Father’s side before the world was created, he was not praying for a “de-incarnation.” His humanity which he took on at the incarnation (John 1:14) remains, though now glorified.
5 tn Grk “the ones you have given me, I want these to be where I am with me.”
6 tn Grk “before the foundation of the world.”
7 tn The word “men” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The translation uses the word “men” here rather than a more general term like “people” because the use of the aorist verb ἔγνωσαν (egnwsan) implies that Jesus is referring to the disciples present with him as he spoke these words (presumably all of them men in the historical context), rather than to those who are yet to believe because of their testimony (see John 17:20).
8 tn The translation “will continue to make it known” is proposed by R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:773).
