Christ's Doctrine of Faith: A Study of "Believing" in John's Gospel (John 17:20)

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As we continue our journey through the Gospel of John, we encounter the Gospel’s ninety-first occurrence of “believing” in John 17:20. Here, speaking of His eleven apostles, the Lord Jesus Christ prays, to the Father: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (KJV). Now, what is the context of this passage, and what are some facts about faith in this passage?

First, what is this passage’s context? In verse 8, the God-Man has said, in His prayer to His Father, that He has given the apostles the words the Father gave Him, and the apostles have received them, known surely that Christ came out from the Father, and believed that the Father sent Him. After that, the Lord continues, saying that He prays for them, adding that He is not praying for the world but for those whom the Father had given Him, because they are the Father’s. He then states that all that are His are the Father’s and the Father’s are His, and He is glorified in them. Then, He says that He is now no more in the world, but His followers are in the world, before saying that He comes to the Father. Addressing God the Father as “Holy Father,” He asks Him to keep through His own name those whom He has given His Son, that they may be one as the Father and Son are. Christ explains that, while He was with His disciples in the world, He kept them in the Father’s name, before stating that those the Father gave Him He has kept, with none of them being lost except the son of perdition (i.e., Judas) so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. He declares that He now comes to the Father and that He says these things in the world so that His disciples may His joy fulfilled in them. He says that He has given His disciples the Father’s Word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as Christ is not of the world. Jesus clarifies that He is not praying for the Father to take them out of the world, but instead for the Father to protect them from the evil, before repeating that His disciples are not of the world, even as He is not of the world. He then prays that the Father would sanctify them through His truth, immediately afterward declaring that His Word is truth. Jesus says that, as the Father has sent Him into the world, even so has He sent His disciples into the world. The Lord then states that, for His apostles’ sake, He sanctifies Himself, so that the disciples also might be sanctified through the truth. He clarifies that He is not praying for His apostles alone, but also for them who will believe on Him through their Word. This is the context of John 17:20!

Second, what are some facts about faith from this passage? First, the Word of the apostles is the means through which faith in Jesus is brought about. Because, in this post’s passage, the Lord Jesus Christ clearly says that future Christians will believe in Jesus “through” the word of Christ’s apostles, or messengers. [1] Second, if you believe in Christ, you are an object of Christ’s prayer here. Because the Lord says in this very prayer that He is not merely coming to the Father for the apostles, but for those who will believe on Christ through their Word, which Word we have written for us in the New Testament. These are some facts about faith from John 17:20!

[1]https://biblehub.com/topical/a/apostle.htm#:~:text=A%20person%20sent%20by%20another%3B%20a%20messenger%3B%20envoy.,Sent%20of%20the%20Father%20%28Hebrews%203%3A1%3B%20John%2020%3A21%29.