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An Exposition of John Seventeen
Martin Luther's Exposition of the seventeenth chapter of John's Gospel - the prayer of the Lord Jesus to his Father just before he laid down his life as an atoning sacrifice for his people.
129 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 15, 2019
About the author
Martin Luther
5,133 books855 followersMartin Luther (1483-1546) was a German monk, theologian, university professor and church reformer whose ideas inspired the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western civilization.
Luther's theology challenged the authority of the papacy by holding that the Bible is the only infallible source of religious authority and that all baptized Christians under Jesus are a spiritual priesthood. According to Luther, salvation was a free gift of God, received only by true repentance and faith in Jesus as the Messiah, a faith given by God and unmediated by the church.
Luther's confrontation with Charles V at the Diet of Worms over freedom of conscience in 1521 and his refusal to submit to the authority of the Emperor resulted in his being declared an outlaw of the state as he had been excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. Because of the perceived unity of the medieval Church with the secular rulers of western Europe, the widespread acceptance of Luther's doctrines and popular vindication of his thinking on individual liberties were both phenomenal and unprecedented.
His translation of the Bible into the vernacular, making it more accessible to ordinary people, had a tremendous political impact on the church and on German culture. It furthered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the translation of the English King James Bible. His hymns inspired the development of congregational singing within Christianity. His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage within Protestantism.
Much scholarly debate has concentrated on Luther's writings about the Jews. His statements that Jews' homes should be destroyed, their synagogues burned, money confiscated and liberty curtailed were revived and used in propaganda by the Nazis in 1933–45. As a result of this and his revolutionary theological views, his legacy remains controversial.
Luther's theology challenged the authority of the papacy by holding that the Bible is the only infallible source of religious authority and that all baptized Christians under Jesus are a spiritual priesthood. According to Luther, salvation was a free gift of God, received only by true repentance and faith in Jesus as the Messiah, a faith given by God and unmediated by the church.
Luther's confrontation with Charles V at the Diet of Worms over freedom of conscience in 1521 and his refusal to submit to the authority of the Emperor resulted in his being declared an outlaw of the state as he had been excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. Because of the perceived unity of the medieval Church with the secular rulers of western Europe, the widespread acceptance of Luther's doctrines and popular vindication of his thinking on individual liberties were both phenomenal and unprecedented.
His translation of the Bible into the vernacular, making it more accessible to ordinary people, had a tremendous political impact on the church and on German culture. It furthered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the translation of the English King James Bible. His hymns inspired the development of congregational singing within Christianity. His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage within Protestantism.
Much scholarly debate has concentrated on Luther's writings about the Jews. His statements that Jews' homes should be destroyed, their synagogues burned, money confiscated and liberty curtailed were revived and used in propaganda by the Nazis in 1933–45. As a result of this and his revolutionary theological views, his legacy remains controversial.
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February 7, 2026
People forget just how intelligent Martin Luther was.
In this commentary, he masterfully articulates the importance of christology in the Gospel of John, and how it culminates in this chapter.
He expounds the wording of this chapter in a way that makes it clear and almost comical how impossible it is to understand this chapter without an orthodox view of the Holy Trinity.
In doing so, he also demonstrates the sheer power of Scripture to make clear this doctrine. Tbh, I’d recommend any Roman Catholic who wishes to understand the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura to read this book.
Luther is a master theologian who is always downplayed and even sometimes condemned in Protestantism today, but I think Protestants today could learn a lot from going back to his writings, commentaries and doctrines.
“Therefore, when they thus set at nought the humanity and consider it useless, it justly happens to them that they lose the divinity also!” - Luther’s Exposition of John Seventeen, p.66
In this commentary, he masterfully articulates the importance of christology in the Gospel of John, and how it culminates in this chapter.
He expounds the wording of this chapter in a way that makes it clear and almost comical how impossible it is to understand this chapter without an orthodox view of the Holy Trinity.
In doing so, he also demonstrates the sheer power of Scripture to make clear this doctrine. Tbh, I’d recommend any Roman Catholic who wishes to understand the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura to read this book.
Luther is a master theologian who is always downplayed and even sometimes condemned in Protestantism today, but I think Protestants today could learn a lot from going back to his writings, commentaries and doctrines.
“Therefore, when they thus set at nought the humanity and consider it useless, it justly happens to them that they lose the divinity also!” - Luther’s Exposition of John Seventeen, p.66
Displaying 1 of 1 review