John Calvin Commentary John 17:25

"O righteous Father, the world knew thee not, but I knew thee; and these knew that thou didst send me;" — John 17:25 (ASV)

Righteous Father. He compares His disciples to the world to describe more fully the approval and favor they had received from the Father. For it is proper that those who alone know God, whom the whole world rejects, should be distinguished above others; and Christ most properly pleads with particular warmth for those whom the unbelief of the world did not prevent from acknowledging God.

By calling Him Righteous Father, Christ defies the world and its malice, as if He had said, “However proudly the world may despise or reject God, it still takes nothing from Him and cannot hinder the honor of His righteousness from remaining unimpaired.”

By these words He declares that the faith of the godly ought to be founded on God, so that, though the whole world should oppose, it would never fail. This is just as, in the present day, we must charge the Pope with injustice so that we may vindicate for God the praise that is due to Him.

But I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. Christ does not merely say that God was known by the disciples, but mentions two steps: first, that He has known the Father; and, secondly, that the disciples have known that He was sent by the Father. But as He adds immediately afterwards, that He has declared to them the name of the Father, He praises them, as I have said, for the knowledge of God, which separates them from the rest of the world.

Yet we must attend to the order of faith as it is here described. The Son came out from the bosom of the Father, and, properly speaking, He alone knows the Father. Therefore, all who desire to approach God must go to Christ who meets them and must devote themselves to Him. And, after He has been known by the disciples, He will finally raise them to God the Father.