O righteous Father, the world has not known you: but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.
righteous.
John 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Isaiah 45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
Romans 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
the world.
John 8:19,55 Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also…
John 15:21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
John 16:3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
but.
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
John 5:19,20 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise…
John 7:29 But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.
these.
John 17:8 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.
John 6:19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.
John 16:27,30 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God…
Although the world has not known You
The "world" often refers to humanity in rebellion against God. This phrase underscores the spiritual blindness and ignorance prevalent among those who do not follow God (1 Corinthians 2:14). It reflects the theme of light versus darkness found in John 1:10-11, where the world did not recognize Jesus.
I know You
Jesus' knowledge of the Father is unique and complete, signifying His divine nature and unity with God (John 10:30). This intimate knowledge is a fulfillment of the prophetic relationship between the Messiah and God, as seen in Isaiah 53:11, where the Servant knows God's will.
And they know that You sent Me
"They" refers to the disciples and believers who recognize Jesus as the Messiah. This acknowledgment is a result of divine revelation and faith (Matthew 16:16-17). The sending of Jesus by the Father is a central theme in John's Gospel, emphasizing His mission and divine authority (John 3:17). This also connects to the concept of Jesus as the Apostle, or "sent one," fulfilling the role of the ultimate prophet and mediator between God and humanity.
• Jesus addresses God as “Righteous Father,” underscoring God’s flawless justice and moral purity (Psalm 145:17; Revelation 15:3).
• This title reassures the disciples that every part of the plan unfolding—even the cross looming hours away—is rooted in God’s perfect righteousness (Acts 2:23).
• By using “Father,” Jesus reminds us of the intimate relationship He shares with God, inviting believers into that same family dynamic (Romans 8:15-16).
• “The world” represents humanity organized in rebellion against God (John 15:18-19).
• Spiritual blindness keeps people from recognizing God’s character and saving purpose (2 Corinthians 4:4).
• Despite creation’s testimony (Romans 1:20), willful unbelief leaves the world estranged from its Maker (Ephesians 4:17-18).
• Jesus declares His unique, perfect knowledge of the Father, a knowledge rooted in eternal co-existence (John 1:1-2; Matthew 11:27).
• This claim validates every teaching and action of Christ; He speaks firsthand for God (John 5:19-20).
• Because Jesus fully knows the Father, He can reveal Him without error (Hebrews 1:1-3).
• “They” refers to the believing disciples who have received Christ’s word (John 17:6-8).
• Their recognition that the Father sent the Son is the core confession of saving faith (John 3:17; 1 John 4:14).
• This knowledge unites them with the Father and Son, distinguishing them from the unbelieving world (John 17:23; 1 John 5:1).
• The disciples’ faith becomes the foundation for the church’s witness, so that others also may believe (John 20:21).
John 17:25 shows the contrast between a righteous God known by His Son and a world that remains ignorant of Him. Jesus confidently affirms His intimate, eternal knowledge of the Father and celebrates that His followers now recognize His divine mission. The verse assures believers that their faith rests on the unbreakable bond between the righteous Father and the sent Son, a bond that secures their place in God’s family and propels them to bear witness in an unbelieving world.
(25) O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee.--Better, . . . the world indeed knew Thee not. In these closing words of His prayer, our Lord again solemnly appeals to the Father (comp. Notes on John 17:1; John 17:5; John 17:11), but now with the special thought of the Father's righteousness. This thought follows upon the prayer that those whom the Father had given Him may be where He is, and behold the divine glory; and the connection seems to be in the thought that sinful humanity cannot see God and live. The world, indeed, knew not God (comp. John 15:21; John 16:3), but the Son knew God, and the disciples had recognised that He had been sent by God, and in their knowledge of Him had passed through a moral' change, by which they were no longer of the world, but were sons of God (John 1:12). . . . Verse 25. - The prayer is thus over, and once more the great High Priest and Victim declares concerning himself some of the mysteries of his Person and of his relation with his disciples and with the world. O righteous Father (cf. Vers. 1, 5, Πάτερ simply; Ver. 11, πάτερ α{γιε; Ver. 24, Πάτερ without any characterization). The righteousness of God is a more exalted perfection than his holiness, one that might seem more at variance with the exercise of his paternal compassion; yet this righteousness is conspicuously displayed in the redemptive love which Christ had thus manifested, and the beloved disciple (1 John 1:9) declares that God is faithful and "righteous" in forgiving the repentant sinner. The blending of the idea of righteousness with Fatherhood is the sublime revelation made by the Lord Jesus, and he gathers the two ideas together into an indissoluble unity. Justice and mercy are seen by the whole work of the Son of God to have been the outflow and effulgence of the one all-comprehending and infinite love. The καὶ that here follows has created some difficulty, though some manuscripts emit it (D and Vulgate), probably in consequence of its inappropriateness; but it is received on strong ancient authority. Meyer and Hengstenberg take it thus: Righteous Father (yea, such thou art), and (yet) the world knew thee not. But would our Lord have hesitated, as it were, to express this truth, without justifying it against the unbelief of the world? Moulton tries to explain the simple adversative force of the καὶ and δὲ by "both the world learned not to know thee, but I learned to know thee." Godet has expressed the καὶ more effectively by translating, The world, it is true, knew thee not, but I knew thee. The Revised Version has, with the Authorized Version, simply omitted the καὶ. It is one of the most solemn of the Lord's condemnations of the κόσμος. The Apostle Paul said (1 Corinthians 1:21), "The world through its wisdom knew not God;" and in Romans 1:18-23 he shows that this ignorance was willful and practical and without excuse. The history of the struggling of the world after God has shown how dense the human darkness is. There have been signs that men groped after the idea of a Father who should be blind to their faults and indifferent to their follies, and utter a righteous Lord who has exalted righteousness and hated iniquity; but it was left for Christ to blend these apparently discordant beams into the radiance of a perfect glory. How many illustrations do the sad and shameless perversions of human intelligence supply! But I knew thee, because of the eternity of that ineffable love wherewith thou hast loved me, and because of the depth of that righteous love which thou hast manifested to the world in sending me upon my mission. And these knew - came to know by personal intuition - that thou didst send me (cf. John 16:27, and Vers. 8, 23) on the mission of redeeming the world. They have learned that I have come with all thy authority and in all thy power; that I have come out from thee; that I entered into the world; that I have glorified thee among men; that my thoughts are thy thoughts, and my "words" (ῤημάτα) are thy (Logos) "Word;" that my works of love are the works of the Father; and that my promises are the manifestation of thy Name to the men whom thou hast given me.