“Now they know that all things whatever you have given me are from you. For the words which you gave me I have given them, and they received them and knew of a truth that I came forth from you, and they believed that you sent me.”
‘Now they know.' This especially refers to John 16:29-30. They have professed to this understanding and He is satisfied that it is true in so far as was possible at this stage. They implicitly believe that what He has taught and revealed is of the Father, and they have received His words and accept their source in the One Who sent Him. Indeed they see clearly that Jesus was sent by the Father. They are thus worthy recipients of His favour, not because they deserve it, but because they have believed in the One Whom He sent, and have believed that He sent Him.
‘The words which you gave me --.' Jesus' words are words given to Him by the Father. In Deuteronomy 18:18 God promised to Moses, “I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him." While originally these words simply conveyed the promise of a continual line of prophets for each generation, in Jewish tradition it was interpreted as signifying a Prophet who was expected in the end times. It thus finds fulfilment in Jesus Whose words were the very words of God and were passed on to the people of God. That they were treasured comes out in the epistles and in the fact that they are recorded in the Gospels.