Did Jesus Exclude Himself as God?

Hey Andy, why did Jesus exclude Himself and the Holy Spirit from being God in John 17:3?

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Hi, I’m not sure where you get the idea that Jesus excluded Himself as being God in this verse (nor anywhere else, for that matter). Let’s look at this, taking a running start from verse 1:

John 17:1-5

(1) After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. (2) For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. (3) And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. (4) I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. (5) Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.”

First, when reading and trying to make sense of Scripture, we can’t just take a single verse out of context — we need to keep it all together. We also have to remember that, especially when in the same letter or book, that the same theme remains throughout. So let’s compare this passage with its context:

Keeping with John’s Theme That Jesus is God

In John 1:1-5, John reveals that Jesus Is God, God the Son, the Word of God, and the supreme Creator of all that exists:

“(1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was with God in the beginning. (3) Through Him, all things were made; without Him, nothing was made that has been made. (4) In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (5) The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

What Jesus Said About Himself

So comparing this to what Jesus says about Himself and the Father in chapter 17:

1. 17:2 = The Son gives Eternal Life.
   1:4a = In the Son was life.
2. 17:3 = the way to have eternal life is to know God the Father and God the Son, who is Jesus Christ.
   1:4b = that life (God the Son) was the light of all mankind.
3. 17:5 = God the Son and God the Father shared ultimate glory before the world began.
   1:1-2 = God the Son (Jesus) was not created, but with God the Father since the beginning.
4. 17:1 = God the Father gave God the Son His glory.
   1:3 = God the Son created everything that was made. In other words, God the Son was given the glory of being the Supreme Creator of everything that exists.
5. All throughout the Gospel, the theme is “seeing”. In fact, when my wife and I studied through John’s Gospel, we found that in every chapter, John revealed Jesus’ deity — every chapter.

So with that in mind, we know that God the Son (Jesus Christ) is also God, that John keeps to this theme all throughout his Gospel, and that when Jesus mentions Himself here in 17:3, there’s no need to mention Him as being God, because John revealed this all throughout his Gospel.

Jesus calling Himself the Son of God

Paul often mentioned that those of us who have put our faith in Christ have become His heirs of the Kingdom. John 1:12 also says that all those who receive Christ by believing in His name are given the right (or power) to become children of God. But by being children of God, we’re in no way saying that we’re equal to God, for children are by no means equal to their parents, right? So when we look at places like John 5:18, where Jesus called Himself the Son of God, it’s difficult to understand why the Jews at the time felt reason enough to try and stone Him for saying so. Therefore, we need to look at Hebrew culture of the time, and this is revealed in the verse itself:

For this reason they tried all the more to kill Him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

So by claiming to be the Son of God, or by even calling God His own Father, Jesus was claiming Himself as being equal with God. Therefore, there was no need for Jesus to include Him and the Holy Spirit in verse 17:3, because John has revealed the connection all throughout the Gospel.

How One Obtains Salvation

Let’s look again at 17:3: “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”

So the way to have eternal life is to know God the Father, and to know Jesus Christ, whom God the Father had sent to earth. If Jesus was not God, then how could knowing Him be the way to eternal life? Humans can’t even control what happens to us here in this temporary life, so how could we control what happens to us in the next one that’s eternal? Only God, who’s outside of time and the physical realm, so to say, can grant eternal life. So again, Jesus isn’t excluding Himself here in 17:3, but including Himself by stating that the only way to eternal life is to know God the Father, and to know God the Son, who is Himself.

What Does the Greek Say about John 17:3?

“And this is the way to eternal life: γινώσκωσιν σὲ τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεὸν καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν.”

Notice the underlined words: θεὸν (God) and  Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν (Jesus Christ). They’re both Accusative, Masculine, Singular, but the accusative endings are the main part to be aware of. “God and the one who you sent, Jesus Christ.” All these (except “you sent”) are accusative, showing that it’s all together as one phrase. It’s sort of lost in the English.

So Jesus is not separating Himself from God, but including Himself as God in the phrase.