John 17:12
While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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Jesus emphasizes His active role in guarding his disciples, not just preserving them, which suggests a protective watchfulness. The stark exception of Judas as the "son of perdition" highlights that even those who appear to be part of the flock can ultimately perish by their own wilful choice, fulfilling Scripture.
Jesus is praying for His disciples as His earthly ministry is drawing to a close, acknowledging His Father's role in giving them to Him and His own role in faithfully keeping them. He then highlights the one exception, Judas, whose loss fulfilled Scripture, setting the stage for His plea for the Father to keep the remaining disciples after His departure.
Jesus didn't just passively hold onto His disciples; He actively preserved and protected them. What does this active care look like?
In this prayer, Jesus speaks of His past actions towards His disciples with a sense of completion. He uses two related but distinct verbs to describe His work:
He emphasizes that He performed both actions faithfully throughout His earthly ministry. This wasn't a passive hope, but a completed work of divine preservation and watchfulness.
Jesus makes a startling exception to His perfect record of keeping His own. Who is this 'son of perdition,' and why is his loss significant?
The loss of Judas is framed not as a failure of Jesus' power, but as a necessary part of God's plan, specifically to fulfill Scripture.
Understand the original words
apōleia · Greek Noun
A designation for a person destined for ruin or eternal separation from God due to their rejection of Him. It indicates one who embodies or is characterized by destruction.
graphē · Greek Noun
The written Word of God, considered to be inspired, authoritative, and infallible. It is the record of God's will and plan, which must be accomplished in human history as He has decreed.
Jesus is reflecting on His ministry just before His crucifixion. He emphasizes that while He was physically present with His disciples, He protected them in His Father's name. The only one lost was Judas, the 'son of perdition,' a term that highlights his destiny of destruction and fulfills prophecy.
c. 30 AD— this verse
Jesus' Final Week in Jerusalem
Jesus enters Jerusalem for Passover, teaches in the Temple, and institutes the Lord's Supper with His disciples.
c. 30 AD
Jesus' Arrest in Gethsemane
Following the Last Supper and His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested by Jewish authorities.
c. 30 AD
Jesus' Trial and Crucifixion
Jesus is tried by the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate, then crucified on Golgotha.
c. 30 AD
Jesus' Resurrection
Three days after His crucifixion, Jesus is resurrected from the dead, appearing to His followers over the next forty days.
c. 30 AD
This verse directly echoes Jesus' words about a close companion betraying Him, highlighting the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy in Judas's actions, as Jesus alludes to here.
John 18:9This passage shows Jesus referencing the fulfillment of Scripture, specifically His own prayer in John 17, when He secures the safety of His disciples during His arrest, mirroring the sentiment of preservation found in John 17:12.
2 Thessalonians 2:3This passage speaks of the 'son of perdition' in relation to the end times, providing a theological parallel to the specific use of the phrase in John 17:12, identifying Judas with a figure destined for destruction.
1 Samuel 18:23While not a direct quote, this passage showcases David’s humble reflection on his own worthiness and God’s providence, resonating with Jesus’s humility in attributing His keeping of the disciples to the Father's name and power.
vincentJohn 17:12: "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled."
In the worldOmit.I kept (ἐτήρουν)Imperfect tense. I continued to keep. The I is emphatic: I kept them, now do Thou keep them.I kept (ἐτήρουν)Rev., rightly, I guarded. The A.V. overlooks the distinction between the two words for keeping. The former word means, I preserved them; the latter,…
jfbJohn 17:12: "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled."
- I kept—guarded.them in thy name—acting as Thy Representative on earth.none of them is lost, but the son of perdition—It is not implied here that the son of perdition was one of those whom the Father had given to the Son, but rather the contrary (Joh 13:18) [Webster and Wilkinson]. It is ju…
Jesus emphasizes His active role in guarding his disciples, not just preserving them, which suggests a protective watchfulness. The stark exception of Judas as the "son of perdition" highlights that even those who appear to be part of the flock can ultimately perish by their own wilful choice, fulfilling Scripture.
Jesus is praying for His disciples as His earthly ministry is drawing to a close, acknowledging His Father's role in giving them to Him and His own role in faithfully keeping them. He then highlights the one exception, Judas, whose loss fulfilled Scripture, setting the stage for His plea for the Father to keep the remaining disciples after His departure.
Jesus is praying for His disciples as His earthly ministry is drawing to a close, acknowledging His Father's role in giving them to Him and His own role in faithfully keeping them. He then highlights the one exception, Judas, whose loss fulfilled Scripture, setting the stage for His plea for the Father to keep the remaining disciples after His departure.
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The Ascension of Jesus
Jesus ascends into heaven in the presence of His disciples, promising the coming of the Holy Spirit.
c. 30 AD
Pentecost and the Coming of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit descends upon the disciples in Jerusalem, empowering them to spread the Gospel.
"While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled." — Jesus emphasizes His active role in guarding his disciples, not just preserving them, which suggests a protective watchfulness. The stark exception of Judas as the "son of perdition" highlights tha…
