Matthew Henry Commentary John 17:6-10

"I manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them to me; and they have kept thy word. Now they know that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are from thee: for the words which thou gavest me I have given unto them; and they received [them], and knew of a truth that I came forth from thee, and they believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me; for they are thine: and all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them." — John 17:6-10 (ASV)

Christ prays for those who are His. You gave them to Me, as sheep to the shepherd, to be kept; as a patient to the physician, to be cured; as children to a tutor, to be taught. Thus He will deliver up His charge. It is a great satisfaction to us, in our reliance upon Christ, that He, all He is and has, and all He said and did, all He is doing and will do, are of God.

Christ offered this prayer for His people alone as believers, not for the world at large. Yet no one who desires to come to the Father, and is conscious of being unworthy to come in their own name, need be discouraged by the Savior's declaration, for He is both able and willing to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him. Earnest convictions and desires are hopeful signs of a work already worked in a person; they begin to show that such a person has been chosen for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.

They are Yours; will You not provide for Your own? Will You not secure them? Observe the foundation on which this plea is grounded: All mine are thine, and thine are mine. This shows the Father and Son to be one. All mine are thine.

The Son acknowledges none as His who are not devoted to the service of the Father.