John 17:14

My Notes

What Does John 17:14 Mean?

John 17:14 is part of Jesus' High Priestly Prayer — His final extended prayer before the cross, spoken in the presence of His disciples. He's praying to the Father about His followers, and He names both a gift and its consequence in the same breath: "I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them."

The Greek logos (word) here isn't a single teaching but the totality of God's revelation delivered through Jesus — His entire message, character, and truth. The giving was complete: dedoka (I have given, perfect tense) indicates a finished, permanent transfer. The disciples now carry God's word inside them. And that word has made them foreign to the world they live in.

The hatred (miseo — to hate, detest, regard with hostility) isn't incidental. It's causal: "because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." The Greek ek tou kosmou (of the world) means originating from, belonging to the world's system. The disciples still live in the world, but they no longer belong to it. They've been re-sourced — their origin, identity, and allegiance have shifted. And the world, which can tolerate almost anything except genuine otherness, hates them for it. Jesus doesn't pray to remove the hatred. He doesn't apologize for causing it. He simply states it as the natural consequence of having received God's word. The gift and the hostility are a package deal.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Jesus connects receiving God's word with receiving the world's hatred. Where has carrying God's truth cost you acceptance or approval?
• 2.Jesus doesn't pray for the hatred to stop — He prays for protection inside it. How does that change your expectations about the Christian life?
• 3.The world hates what it recognizes as foreign. Does the world around you perceive you as different because of your faith, or have you blended in too completely?
• 4.Jesus says 'even as I am not of the world' — He experienced the same rejection. How does knowing He faced this before you affect how you carry the hostility?

Devotional

Jesus gave you God's word, and the world hated you for it. He says both in the same sentence, as if they're inseparable — because they are. The word made you different, and the difference made you a target. That's not a design flaw. That's the design.

Notice what Jesus doesn't pray for here. He doesn't ask the Father to make the disciples more palatable to the world. He doesn't ask for the hatred to stop. He doesn't even ask for the disciples to be removed from the hostile environment (verse 15 makes this explicit: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world"). He leaves them in the world, carrying a word that makes the world hostile toward them, and prays for their protection inside that hostility. The call isn't to escape the tension. It's to endure it.

The phrase "even as I am not of the world" is the comparison that settles everything. Jesus experienced the same foreignness, the same hostility, the same world that couldn't tolerate His otherness. He's not sending you into something He didn't face Himself. And He's praying this prayer — to His Father, out loud, where you can hear it — so you know: when the world pushes back against you, it's because you remind them of Someone they already rejected. The hostility isn't proof that you're doing something wrong. It might be proof that you're carrying the right word.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture