Christ's Doctrine of Faith: A Study of "Believing" in John's Gospel (John 17:8)

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In John 17:8, we come across the ninetieth time the idea of “believing” occurs in the Gospel of John. Here, the Lord Jesus Christ says: “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” (KJV). So, first, what is the context, and, second, what are some facts about faith that this passage teaches us?

First, what is the context of this passage? After Jesus asks His disciples if they now believe, He declares that the hour is coming (and indeed has arrived) that the disciples will be scattered, every man to his own, and leave Him alone, while He is, ultimately, not alone, because the Father is with Him. These things, He goes on to say, He has spoken to them so that they would have peace in Him. He tells them that they will have tribulation in the world, but to be of good cheer, because He has overcome the world. The scene then shifts to Jesus lifting up His eyes to Heaven and praying to the Father, starting off by stating that the hour has come and asking Him to glorify His Son so that His Son may also glorify Him. He says to the Father that He has given Him power over all flesh, so that His Son would give eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him. He then declares that it is eternal life to know the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom the Father has sent. Christ says that He has glorified the Father on the earth and finished the work that God gave Him to do. He then asks the Father to glorify Him with the Father with the glory He had with the Father before the world existed. Jesus declares that He has manifested God’s name to the men whom the Father gave Him out of the world, clarifying that these men were the Father’s, the Father gave them to Him, and they have kept the Father’s Word, before saying that they now have know that all things whatsoever He has given Christ are of the Father. Why? Because Jesus gave the disciples the words the Father gave Him, and the disciples received them, known surely that Christ came out from the Father, and have believed that the Father sent Christ. This is the context of John 17:8!

Second, what are some facts about faith this passage teaches us? One, belief in Jesus is receiving the Father’s words, which the Father gave to Christ. Because this is how the Lord, in John 17:8, characterizes His disciples’ response of faith. Two, belief in Jesus Christ means knowing, with sureness, that 1) Christ came from the Father and 2) the Father sent Christ, which are, obviously, just two sides of the same action. These are some facts about faith from John 17:8!