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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadSpurgeon Verse Expositions - John 17:1 - 17:26
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Joh_17:1-2. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Here the doctrines of a general and a particular redemption sweetly blend “As thou hast given him power over all flesh,” they are all under Christ’s mediatorial government by virtue of his matchless sacrifice; but the object in view is specially the gift of everlasting life to the chosen people: “that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”
Joh_17:3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
No man has life eternal, then, who is in ignorance of God, and of his Son, Jesus Christ; but once to know God, and to know Christ, is sure evidence that we possess a life that can never die: “This is life eternal.”
Joh_17:4-6. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Is not that sweetly put on the part of our divine Lord? These chosen men had been poor creatures at the very best; very forgetful and very erring; yet their Lord brings no charges against them but be says to his Father, “They have kept thy word.”
Joh_17:7. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
“They have learnt to link the Father and the Son; they know that though I am the channel of all blessing, yet thou, O my Father, art the fountain from which it flows.”
“
Thy God and ours are both the same;
What heavenly blessings from his throne
Flow down to sinners through his Son!”
He is looking at them in contrast with the world which utterly rejected him; in contrast with that world, the disciples had received and known Christ. Oh, what a blessed distinction does the grace of God make between men! We were all blind by nature; and now that we see, it is because the sacred finger of Christ hath touched our eyes, and opened them. Let him have all the glory of it; yet let us note how well he speaks of his people 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.”
Joh_17:9-10. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Oh, the blessed union of interests between Christ and the Father! How surely do we belong to the Father if we in very deed belong to Christ, and what a holy unity is thus established!
Joh_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.
Here is a prayer, then, for the preservation and the unity of the people of God; two very necessary petitions. Would God that they might be fulfilled in us, that we might be kept, and kept even to the end, and then kept in living union with all the people of God, and with the Father and with the Son!
Joh_17:12-13. 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. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
In this wondrous prayer, note the special design of the words of Christ; not only that we might have joy, but that we might have Christ’s joy, and not merely have a little of it, but might have it fulfilled in ourselves.
Joh_17:14-16. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Jesus puts twice over this most special and important fact, which we must never forget: “They are not of the world.” Let us never live as if we were of the world; but where such a vivid distinction has been made, God grant that there may be an equal distinction in our lives! Now comes the prayer for sanctification.
Joh_17:17-18. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Christ was the great Missionary, the Messiah, the Sent One; we are the minor missionaries, Sent out into the world to accomplish the Father’s will and purpose.
Joh_17:19-20. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
That shows that Christ’s prayer embraces us also who have been brought to believe on him through the word which the apostles declared. Christ, with prescient eye, looked on every one of us who believe on him, and prayed for each one of us as much as he did for John, and Peter, and James.
Joh_17:21-22. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in as: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: Unity is the glory of the Church of Christ. It shall be the very crown of the Church of the living God; and when she puts it on, then will the wondering world acknowledge and accept her Lord.
Joh_17:23. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.
Wonderful words! How shall we dive into their depths? To think that the Father should have loved us even as he loved his only-begotten Son; oh, the heights and depths of this wondrous love!
Joh_17:24-25. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
You notice the division that there is here. There are two parties; there is the world, and there is the Church; what is it that divides them? Read these two clauses: “The world hath not known thee:” “These have known that thou hast sent me.” What stands between? “But I have known thee.” It is Christ himself, coming in between the two parties, like the cloudy-fiery pillar, black with darkness to the Egyptians, but bright with light to the Israelites. Oh, to have Christ between you and the world! It is the best form of separation: “I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.”
Joh_17:26. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it
I read it to you as it stands. Our good translators were always afraid of using a word too often, for fear of falling into tautology; so for what they considered the beauty of the language they used the word “declared instead of I made known”; but why should they have done so? Who were they that they should have wanted to improve on Christ’s words? It should be the same word right on: “The world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have made known unto them thy name, and will make it known:”
Joh_17:26. That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Oh, that this love may be in us, for Christ’s sake! Amen.
This chapter contains the marvellous prayer of our Great High Priest. May the Holy Spirit apply its teaching to our hearts as we read it!
Joh_17:1. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
The great design of Christ, all through his life on earth, was to glorify the Father. He came to save his people, but that was not his first or his chief aim. It was his object, through the salvation of myriads of the sons of men, to glorify the Father.
Joh_17:2. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him
Here we have both the universality and the speciality of the work of divine mercy. Christ has power over all flesh, men are in the power of the one Mediator, but there is this special object ever before him: “that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”
Joh_17:3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
This does not mean mere head-knowledge; but to know in the heart and soul the one only true God, and Jesus Christ who was sent of him to the sons of men, “this is life eternal.” God without Christ brings not eternal life, and Christ, if he were not sent of God, would not bring eternal life to us, but knowing God in Christ Jesus is eternal life.
Joh_17:4. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Here our Saviour speaks by anticipation. He foresaw that he would pass through his passion, that all the work of his people’s redemption would be fully accomplished, and in this his final prayer on earth to the Father he could truly say, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” May you and I be able to say the same when we depart out of this world! Not boastingly, — there was no boasting in our Lord, — but truthfully conscientiously, from the bottom of our heart may each one of us be able to say, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do”!
Joh_17:5. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
After the finished work, Christ was to have the glory. O worker for God, seek not glory before thy work is done! Expect not honour among men because thou hast begun the work so earnestly; plod on until it is finished, then shall the glory come. “Verily I say unto you, they have their reward,” said our Lord concerning the scribes and Pharisees who sought the praise of men; but you have not your reward at present, it is yet to come. Wait for it, for it is sure to come.
Joh_17:6. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
How tenderly he speaks about them! He says the best he can of them; they were faulty, feeble folk, but he says, “They have kept thy word.” So they did. Oh, that you and I may do the came, and not be swept away by the drift of the current of unbelief! If we are not perfect, if we fail in some respects, yet may the Master be able to say of us to God, “They have kept thy word”!
Joh_17:7. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
How the blessed Christ loves to lay aside all honour to himself even in his own gospel! He said that the things which he had taught to his disciples were not his own, they were the Father’s. The Father always honours the Son, and the Son takes care always to honour the Father.
Joh_17:8-10. 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. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Every true child of God glorifies Christ; and if you cannot say that you are glorifying Christ, you should question whether you really belong to him. If you are his, it is true of you, “I am glorified in them,” —not only by them, but in them, — “their suffering with patience, in their labouring with diligence, in their faith, in their trustfulness in me, ‘I am glorified in them.’”
Joh_17:11. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, —
We also know that we, too, are in the world; we have good reason to feel it, and sometimes to mourn it.
Joh_17:11. 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.
When God keeps us, he keeps us in unity, our divisions are not the result of his work. When we get away from his keeping, and get away from his Word, then we are sundered in heart from him and from one another; but by his keeping he keeps his children one.
Joh_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.
The Scripture was fulfilled in the preservation of his own, and also fulfilled in the destruction of the traitor. God’s Word will be fulfilled anyhow. Oh, that it may be to us a savor of life unto life, that we may be kept by it, and not a savor of death unto death, as it was to Judas, who was blinded by the very light that shone upon him! That fierce light that beat about the King of kings fell on him, and it blinded him eternally. God save us from such an awful doom as that!
Joh_17:13. And now come I to thee;
I can only read you this wonderful chapter, but what must it have been to have heard it! I think I see the look on the Saviour’s face as he says to his Father, “And now come I to thee.” May something like that look be on your faces, my beloved, when your last moments come! Looking away from your dear ones whom you must leave as Jesus left his disciples, may you each one be able to say, “And now come I to thee”!
Joh_17:13. And these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
While he drained the cup of sorrow to the dregs, and went forward to all the agonies of the cruel cross, he wanted his disciples to have his joy fulfilled in them, that they might be filled full with his joy.
Joh_17:14. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
This does not look like trying to please the world, to adapt our method to the spirit of the age, to come as near to the world as ever we can, to dabble in its politics, and join in its schemes. This has to me a very different tone in it from all that.
Joh_17:15. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, —
Christ and his people did not go together out of the world all at once that would have been to leave the world in an utterly forlorn condition, without any help whatever, so he says to his Father, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world,” —
Joh_17:15-16. But that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
You cannot make Christ a worldling; do what you will with his character; twist it as you like, you must see that there is something unworldly, otherworldly, about him. So let it always be with his people.
Joh_17:17. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word in truth.
Thank God for that: “Thy word is truth.” Not, “Thy word contains the truth with an admixture of error;” or, “Thy word has some truth in it;” no, but, “Thy word is truth.” Not only is it true, but it is truth, the very essential truth.
Joh_17:18-19. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, —
“I separate myself to this work, I dedicate, devote, consecrate myself wholly for their sakes,” —
Joh_17:19-20. That they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, —
This little handful of disciples who had been gathered to his name, —
Joh_17:20. But for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Thank God that he will bless our word as well as his own Word! When our word is based upon his Word, when we do but expound what Christ has given us to say, then men shall believe on him through our word.
Joh_17:21-23. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
This is a wonderful expression. Does the Father love his people as he loves Christ? Then his love to them must be without beginning, without change, without measure, without end. Oh, it would ravish your heart, it would carry you away to the very heaven of heavens, if you could get the full meaning of this expression, “and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me”!
Joh_17:24. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.
This is Christ’s last will and testament: “Father, I will.” It is not merely his prayer, but he makes this as one clause in his will, that all whom the Father gave him should be with him to behold his glory. And it will be so, beloved. He will not lose one of his own. He will never drop from that dear pierced hand any portion of the eternal gift of his Father.
Joh_17:25-26. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Here the doctrine becomes a matter of experience. May we never rest till we get the full experience of it, that the very love which God gives to Christ may be found in our hearts shed abroad by the Holy Ghost! Amen.
This matchless chapter contains that great intercessory prayer of Christ for his people which may most properly be called “the Lord’s prayer.”
Joh_17:1. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
What a sight it must have been to see the Divine Intercessor in this his last great prayer before he poured out his soul unto death! We can never read this chapter so as fully to enter into its meaning, for there must always be in it a depth far greater than our experience can fathom. A man must die, and enter heaven, before he can fully realize all that Christ meant when he said, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.”
Joh_17:2. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Notice the doctrine of this verse. Here is the mention both of a general and a particular relation to Christ. “Thou hast given him power over all flesh.” Never think of setting a limit to the value of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, never dream that you can understand all its influences and all its bearings; by his death, Christ has power over all flesh. But notice also the special purpose and object of redemption, observe how it applies particularly to the elect of God. The motive for the Father’s giving to Christ power over all flesh is this, “that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”
Joh_17:3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
The knowledge of God, and the knowledge of the Messiah, the Sent One, — this is not only life, but it is life that can never die: “This is life eternal.” Have you, dear friend, received this eternal life? Do you know the only true God? Do you know Jesus Christ whom he has sent? Then, at this very moment, you possess eternal life, and you shall never perish, for eternal life is a life that cannot possibly die.
Joh_17:4-5. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
This is such a prayer as never could have been prayed by a mere man and you cannot understand this prayer at all apart from the manhood and the Deity of Christ combined. No human being could have written such a prayer as this even if it had been proposed to him to write a prayer that should be equally suitable to God and man. It is only suitable to Christ, the God-man, and it is in itself one of the best evidences of the inspiration of Scripture. I dare take my stand upon this chapter alone, and say that here we have the finger of God, the writing of the Holy Ghost, and here we have the very words of him who was God and man in one person.
Joh_17:6. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
How gracious it was on our Lord’s part to say the best he could of his disciples! These twelve men had learned but little of the Divine Word, but they had believed what they had been taught; so Jesus could say of them to his Father, “Thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.”
Joh_17:7-8. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 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.
I want you to notice how the Lord Jesus Christ makes no boast of being “an original thinker.” On the contrary, he says to his Father concerning his disciples, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.” I would rather repeat the Word of God, syllable by syllable, than I would dare to think for myself apart from the revealed will of God. What are men’s thoughts, after all, but vanity educed from vanity? But the Word of the Lord endureth for ever; it shall abide when even heaven and earth shall pass away. Hence our Saviour lays great stress upon this fact, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.” Brother minister, may you and I, when we come to die, be able to say to the Lord concerning our people, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.”
Joh_17:9. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
In this, our Lord’s last great intercessory prayer, he was especially engaged in petitions for his own people. There is a sense in which he intercedes for all mankind; but in the higher and more special sense referred to in this verse, Christ’s own chosen ones occupied all his thoughts: “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.”
Joh_17:10-11. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.
Christ is God, and therefore, looking into the future, he can speak of his approaching departure as though it had already happened.
Joh_17:11. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
See the plaintive power of this prayer of a tender heart. First, our Lord shows his love by praying for us, and then by dying for us. Notice what importance he attaches to the unity of his people: “that they may be one, as we are.” Let us all try to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of piece.” I suppose that, while we are in this world, we shall never all think alike; but let us all think alike about our Lord, and gather to his name, and feel a holy unity through his Spirit. When shall it be again said that all Christ’s disciples have “one lord, one faith, one baptism”? Alas! they rent his seamless robe, and it still remains torn through the schisms and errors which divide his people one from another.
Joh_17:12-13. 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. And now come I to thee;
These are sweet words with which to die. Oh, that you and I might have them in our hearts if not on our lips in our expiring moments! “And now come I to thee.” Our Lord thinks nothing of the bloody way by which he was to go to the Father. What though the cross, and nails, and spear, are in the road? He thinks comparatively little of all those terrible things, for he looks beyond them, and he says, “Now come I to thee.”
Joh_17:13. And those things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Have you ever obtained this blessing, brethren, — Christ’s joy in you, —what is more, Christ’s joy fulfilled in you? God grant to all of us to know by happy experience the meaning of this wondrous expression!
Joh_17:14-15. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
“Do not let the world so besmear and defile them as to do them mischief. Let them keep on as lamps burning in dark places. Take them not out of the world, but keep them from the evil.”
Joh_17:16-18. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
As the Father took Jesus out of the bosom of his love, and bade him go as his missionary to men, so does Jesus keep us for a while away from the bosom of his glory that we may stop here to be missionaries amongst our fellow-men. Are we fulfilling our calling? Are we justifying the commission which Christ has laid upon us? Oh, that we were doing so to the fullest extent that is possible to us!
Joh_17:19. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, —
“For their sakes I set myself apart,” —
Joh_17:19-20. That they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, —
This little handful of followers gathered about me, —
Joh_17:20. But for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
In the glass of prevision, Christ saw us, my brethren, and he saw all the myriads, yet unborn, who are to be gathered to his cross, and to bow before his feet, and he prayed for them all: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.”
Joh_17:21-22. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Let us more and more lay aside everything that divides, especially that evil heart of unbelief, and pride, and self-seeking, which is the great sect making faculty. May we get rid of that evil, and come more and more to realize that all men who are really in Christ are of God and must be one. If we are members of one body, one blood courses through our veins, and gives us life. One Spirit is in the one body of Christ. There cannot be two lives, there cannot be two beings within the one body of Christ. All true believers must be one, and truly, if we speak truth to one another concerning our Lord, and especially if we speak much to God together in prayer, we straightway perceive that we are one.
Joh_17:23-26. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have-known thee, and those have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Here the Master ended his sweet prayer, and went off to his terrible passion in Gethsemane.
Joh_17:1. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; —
That tremendous hour which was the very hinge of history, — that hour in which he must suffer, and bleed, and die, to pay up the ransom price for his people: “Father, the hour is come;” —
Joh_17:1. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
In the endurance of the cross, there was a mutual glorification. It was the time of the Saviour’s humiliation, and yet, in a certain sense, he was never so glorious as when he died upon the tree. Then, too, he glorified his Father, vindicating divine justice, and manifesting divine love.
Joh_17:2. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou, hast given him.
Christ, by his death, had power given him over all flesh; — that is the universal aspect of it; but there was a special purpose hidden within it: “that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”
Joh_17:3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Dost thou really know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, his Son? Hast thou been brought into such familiar acquaintance with God as to accept Jesus Christ as thy Saviour? Then, thou hast eternal life, and thou mayest rejoice that thou hast a life like that of God himself, which can never die.
Joh_17:4. I have glorified thee on the earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
What a blessed thing that our Saviour was able to say this just before his death! Oh, that you and I may be able to utter some humble echo of this speech when we come to the end of our lives! This is indeed a life worth living.
Joh_17:5. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
“Take me up from earth again, reclothe me with that glory which, for a while, I have laid aside,”
Joh_17:6. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
What high praise this was of Christ’s disciples! “They have kept thy word.” Poor creatures that they were, they often turned aside from the right path, they were oftentimes very ignorant, and very willful, yet the Lord knew that their hearts were right towards him, and that they willed to learn, and desired to believe. So he saw in them what was often hidden even from themselves, and he testified to his Father, “They have kept thy word.”
Joh_17:7-8. How they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me;
Every preacher of the gospel should ask is it that this is true concerning himself. When we pass on to the people the words which God has given to us, we supply them with real spiritual food, and so we glorify God; but if we only give them our own words, we do but mock their hunger, and we dishonour God. Our blessed Master, though quite able to speak his own original thoughts, kept to the words of his Father; let us be careful to imitate his example.
Joh_17:8-9. And they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
There was a specialty in Christ’s prayer now that he was nearing the end of his earthly life. He concentrated his intercessions upon the chosen people for whom he was about to shed his blood.
Joh_17:10-11. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.
The disciples were going to be left alone, and Christ’s tender heart made him lessen the pain of the separation by offering this great petition on their behalf: —
Joh_17:11. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
This was as though he had said, “Thou hast given them to me, my Father, to become my bride; and now I am about to die, and to return to thee, I give back this bride of mine into thy charge. Take care of her, I pray thee, till I can come back again, and receive her unto myself.” There is such holy unity between these Divine Persons of the Godhead that the Father first gives the elect to Christ, and then Christ commits the elect into the Father’s keeping.
Joh_17:12-13. 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. And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Are you dull and sad today? Does anything depress your spirits? It is not according to your Saviour’s mind that you should be unhappy; it is his will and purpose that the joy should be fulfilled in you. Ask for a sip from his cup of joy at this moment, one drop of his joy will make the dullest to be bright, and the saddest to be glad.
Joh_17:14. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. He was a stranger here, and his people are also strangers and foreigners.
We are not so much to be unworldly as to be other-worldly. We belong to another world, to another kingdom, even the kingdom of heaven.
Joh_17:15. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
“Keep them in the world to battle with the evil; make them the salt that prevents putrefaction, and let them not lose their savor, let them not be contaminated by the evil in the midst of which they dwell.”
Joh_17:16-17. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
It almost looks as though our Lord anticipated that question of Pilate, “What is truth?” Here is his answer: “thy word is truth.”
Joh_17:18. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Christ was the sent One, and every Christian is also sent. All believers should be missionaries, sent forth upon a mission to bless the sons of men.
Joh_17:19-20. And for their sakes I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Christ knew that his Church would grow. He did not merely pray for the little handful of disciples who were with him there, but he preyed for all who, in after years, should believe on him.
Joh_17:21. That they all may be one, —
That is the great prayer of Christ. There are not two churches, but one Church. Christ is not the Head of two bodies, he hath but one mystical body. There is but one Bridegroom, and there is but one bride, — that bride is his indivisible Church. Hence his prayer, “That they all may be one;” —
Joh_17:21. As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Can the world believe in Christ till his Church becomes more manifestly one? I fear not, so let us each one aim at the true unity of the one Church of Jesus Christ. There are come who aim at this by separating themselves from everybody else, but I do not see how they promote unity in that way, I clearly and painfully see how they increase divisions and multiply strife wherever they go. But let us, beloved, to the utmost of our power, promote the unity of the body of Christ.
Joh_17:22-23. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, —
Do you understand this wonderful union? Jesus Christ in you: “I in them,” and then the Father in Christ: “and thou in me,” —
Joh_17:23. That they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me,
This is a wonderful truth, — that the Father loves the Church even as he loves Jesus Christ his Son. When shall the world ever know this till the unity of the Church is more clearly seen?
Joh_17:24-26. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Oh, for a blessed fulfillment of that prayer in our experience this very moment, for Christ’s sake! Amen.
Can there be found, in all the records of mankind, in all the documents that have ever been preserved, anything that can match this record of our Saviour’s great intercessory prayer? He seems to pray here as if he stood already within the veil; not pleading in agony as he did in the garden of Gethsemane, but speaking with that authority with which he is clothed now that his work on earth is done. There is as much of the divine as of the human in this prayer, and it is remarkable that in it our Lord does not make any confession of sin on account of his people. He does not come before God here, as it were in form a pauper is, with many pleas, but the burden of his prayer is that he may be glorified, and that his Father may be glorified in him. The words of the prayer are amongst the most simple that could have been selected, but oh, the depths that lie hidden beneath them! I do not think that, this side of heaven, any of us can know to the full the meaning of this wondrous chapter. May the Holy Spirit graciously grant us a glimpse of the glorious truths that are here revealed!
Joh_17:1. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven,-
Not his hands, as we do who are poor suppliants; but his eyes, indicating whither his thoughts went. He “lifted up his eyes to heaven,”-
Joh_17:1.And said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.
No mere man would have dared to pray such a prayer as this. Jesus asks that he may be gloried by his Father that he also may glorify his Father, he put the two things together: “Father, glorify thy Son that thy Son may also glorify thee.” This is not a plea that is fit for merely human lips. It is Jesus the Son of God who, in receiving glory from his Father, is also able to return it to his Father.
Joh_17:2-3. As thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom though hast sent.
See how he puts himself side by side with God as no mere man might dare to do. Only he who was equal with the Father could venture to plead thus, claiming power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as the Father had given him. Here we learn that it is eternal life to know God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.
Joh_17:4. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
“My teaching is all done, my ministry is finished; and though there are still some arrears of suffering, yet those shall be fully discharged in due time. ‘I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.’”
Joh_17:5. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
You must try and think of who it is that is thus pleading, for so you will get at least some faint idea of the intercession of our great High Priest in heaven, for after this fashion he still prays to his Father before the eternal throne.
Joh_17:6. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
“They were thine, my Father, under thy direct government, but thou hast transferred them to my mediatorial sovereignty, and thou hast given them up to be mine, in a very special sense, beyond all the rest of mankind and this is one of their distinguishing characteristics, that they have kept thy word.’”
Joh_17:7-8. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them. Is it so with you, dear friend? Have you received Christ’s words the very words which the Father gave to him, and which he has in his turn given to you? O soul, thou art indeed happy if this is the case with thee!” I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them,” —
Joh_17:9. And have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world,” —
That is, not in the same special sense as he prays for his people, not with that personal pleading which he offers on behalf of his own chosen ones: “I pray not for the world,” —
Joh_17:9. But for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine
In the 6th verse, Jesus had said to his Father, “Thine they were; “ and here, in this 9th verse, he says, “They are thine.” They still belonged to the Father, the transference of them mediatorially to the Son having made no change in the Father’s relation to them.
Joh_17:10. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
I can understand a man saying to God, “All mine are thine;” but no man, unless he is something more than man, dares to say to God, “Thine are mine.” But Jesus Christ, who is both God and man, gives all that he has to God, and all that God has belongs to him, so that he can truly say, “All mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.”
Joh_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.
It has been well said that this expression, “My Father,” is a binding up of the Old and New Testaments in one. The Old Testament reveals the holiness of God, but it is the New Testament that is peculiarly the revelation of God as the Father. We put the two together, as Jesus does, and thus he speaks, “Holy Father, make my people one, and keep them one.” Let us close up our ranks, brethren. Let us love each other more; and as Christ has prayed that we may be one, let us constantly seek to manifest our oneness among the sons of men,
Joh_17:12-17. 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. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth:
How wondrously our Saviour’s prayer advances! He asks for his people’s unity; he asks for their joy, he asks for their preservation, and now he asks for their purification, their sanctification: “Sanctify them through thy truth:”
Joh_17:17-20. Thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone,
“For these who are already converted, I pray also for those who are not yet called by grace.”
Joh_17:20-22. But for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them: —
Who amongst us knoweth the full meaning of that wondrous declaration?
“The glory which thou gavest me I have given them:” —
Joh_17:22-23. That they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, and thou hast loved me.
What a glorious assurance is that! It amazes us to know that the Father has loved us even as he loved his Son.
Joh_17:24-26. Father, I will that they also, whom thou had given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them.
Joh_17:1. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Jesus is going forth to die, and he knows it; yet he prays to his Father, “Glorify thy Son.” There was no way of his coming to that glory except by passing through tears, and blood, and agony, and death. He only asks that he may be glorified in what he is about to do, and to suffer, and he is ready for it all: “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.”
Joh_17:2. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
In that saying of our Lord we have an explanation of what he did by his redemption. There was a universal aspect of it: “Thou hast given him power over all flesh.” There was a special design in it: “That he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” Sometimes, two views of the same thing may appear to contradict each other; but when we are taught of God, we soon discover that they do not really do so, and that a grand truth may be contained in the two descriptions of it. Christ had, by virtue of his death, power over all flesh; but it was for a distinct purpose: “that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”
Joh_17:3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
By this, then, dear friends, we can know whether we have eternal life or not. Do we know the Father? Do we know Jesus Christ as the Messiah the Sent One? Are we resting in that blessed knowledge? If so, he has given to us eternal life.
Joh_17:4-5. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do, And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
In deep humility, Jesus had laid that glory aside for a while. He had tabernacled in human flesh; and when he spoke these words, the time was approaching when, All his world and warfare done, he should go back to his pristine glory with something more added to it.
Joh_17:6. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world:
They had not all of them clearly seen that manifestation. Jesus had to ask the question, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?” Still, that was not the fault of the manifestation; Christ had manifested the name — that is, the character — of God unto those who had been given to him out of the world.
Joh_17:6. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
We might have expected that the verse would end, “and I have kept them.” But their keeping God’s Word is the evidence that Christ has kept them. Whenever a soul loves the Word of God, delights in the teaching of Christ, glories in those things which the world called dogmas,— as if they were so much dog’s meat,— when you and I can feed upon these things,— when every utterance of Christ is dear and precious to us,— that is good evidence of our being called out of the world, and separated unto Christ; it is one of the marks of divine grace which Jesus works in those whom the Father has given him: “Thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy Word.”
Joh_17:7. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
The Father gives Christ the truth which Christ gives to as. The Father gives Christ the souls which Jesus keeps until the day of his power. There is mutual communion between God the Father and his blessed Son; let us never say a word that might look as if we did not understand the oneness the everlasting and infinite oneness — which there is between the sacred persons of the Divine Unity.
Joh_17:8. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me;
You know how men talk against “verbal inspiration.” Yet Christ says, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.” Many are trifling with the teaching of God’s Word, as if it were of no importance at all Not so did Christ: “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.”
Joh_17:8. And they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou, didst send me.
Firmly do we believe this, and in our heart of hearts we do accept every part of the teaching of Christ, no matter what it is. I hear people say, sometimes, “Oh, but that is not essential!” There is a great deal of mischief hatched out of that egg. O friends, it is essential that Christ’s disciples should treasure whatever he has said! Never trifle with that part of the Word of God which seems to be less essential to salvation than another portion; for if it is not essential to salvation, it may be essential to your comfort, or your holiness, or your strength, or your usefulness; and if it be essential to God’s glory, let us never trample it in the mire, or in any way dishonour it. Who am I that I should say, “This which God has spoken is important, but that other is not”? It does not do for us to presume to judge the Word of God; we should rather let the Word of God judge us.
Joh_17:9. I pray for them: —
Blessed word! Christ prays for his own people: “I pray for them:”
Joh_17:9. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me,
In that last hour, just before his Passion, his thoughts were separating the precious from the vile; and his prayer ascended for his own people: “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me;
Joh_17:9-10. for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them
It is a wonderful thing that Christ should be glorified in his people. Can it be that he shall be glorified in me? Dear child of God, you sometimes sit in the corner, and think to yourself, “How insignificant I am! The church on earth would not miss me if I were taken away; and the choirs of heaven cannot need me.” Oh, but your Lord is glorified in you! If you are one of his chosen and redeemed people, in your very weakness and need he finds opportunity to glorify his strength and his fullness. He knows the truth about this matter, and he says, “I am glorified in them.”
Joh_17:11. And now I am no more in the world,—
He was going away; he has gone now.
Joh_17:11. But these are in the world,—
We know we are; do we not, brethren? We have a thousand things some of them very painful and humiliating to us,— to remind us that we are still in the world.
Joh_17:11. 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.
Oh, what blessed keeping is that; to be kept in spiritual oneness! I do not expect to see the people of God in visible oneness; but as there was a secret, invisible union, most real and most true, between the Father and the Son, so there is, at this time, a secret union in the hearts of all believers, most deep, most real, most true. I may never have seen that good friend before; but as soon as ever we begin to talk of Jesus and his love, if we are the living children of the living God, the bond of unity is felt at once by both of us. “One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.”
Joh_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.
What a blessed Shepherd is this who never lost a sheep! Judas crept in among the flock, but he never was truly one of the flock. He was never a son of God, he was “the son of perdition” all along. Christ has kept all his sheep, and all his lambs; and he will do the same, dear friends, even to the end.
Joh_17:13. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
What an unselfish Saviour! His heart is ready to break with his impending sufferings, and yet he prays for us, that we may be filled with his joy. I suppose that it is true that the Man of sorrows was the happiest man who ever lived. “For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame;” and, notwithstanding his boundless and bottomless grief, yet there was within him such communion with God, and love to men, and the certainty of his ultimate triumph, that kept him still joyous above the seas of tribulation. He prays that that same joy may be fulfilled in us; may God graciously grant it to all of us who believe in Jesus!
Joh_17:14-15. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
There is a reason for God’s elect being allowed to remain in the world. They are never left, like wheat in the field, to perish through the damp and cold, or to be devoured by the birds of the air. Oh, no! We are left for God’s glory, that men may see what the grace of God can do in poor frail bodies; for the service of Christ’s Church, that we may be here for a while to carry on the cause of God, to be the means of comforting the little ones, and to seek the conversion of sinners. We are to be like salt to prevent putrefaction. We are God’s preventive men, to prevent as much of the evil as we can; and we are to fight with the evil that cannot be prevented, and to seek to overthrow it in Christ’s name.
Joh_17:16. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Many, nowadays, say that we ought to blend the church with the community, and that it is a great pity to have any division between them. A great many good people are outside the church; therefore try to make the church as much like the world as ever you can! That is a silly trick of the devil which the wise servants of God will answer by saying, “To whom we give place by subjection, no, not for an hour.” There must ever be a broad line of demarcation between the Church of Christ and the world, and it will be an evil day when that line is abolished. The sons of God took to themselves wives of the daughters of men, but that kind of union brought mischief with it, and it will ever do so.
Joh_17:17. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
We cannot afford to give up God’s inspired Word, because it is a means of our sanctification; and if this be taken away, it is not such-and-such a dogma, as they call it, put into the background, but it is truth that would sanctify us which is discarded, it is God’s own Word that is flung to the dogs; and that must never be.
Joh_17:18-19. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. “I set myself apart unto holiness, that they also might be set apart unto holy uses through the truth.”
Joh_17:20. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Our Lord knew that the little circle around him would grow into a multitude that no man can number, out of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues; so he prayed for all whom his Father had given him,
Joh_17:21-22. That they all may be one; as thou. Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
The Church will never know her true glory till she knows her perfect oneness; the One Church will be the glorious Church.
Joh_17:23. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
That is a grand expression: “Thou has; loved them, as thou hast loved me.” What ! with the same love? It is even so; — a love without beginning, a love without change, a love without bounds, a love without end: “Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me.”
Joh_17:24-26. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
This blessed prayer was heard by the Father; all of it must be fulfilled, and untold blessings do and shall come to us through this intercession of our Lord, blessed be his holy name!
This exposition consisted of readings from John 17.; and Joh_18:1-9.
Joh_17:1. These words spake Jesus, and lifted Up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son; that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Christ’s great intercessory prayer begins with his appeal to his Father to glorify his Son. Christ knew all that he would have to suffer during that “hour” to which he had looked forward from eternity, but his eye could see, beyond the cross with all its shame, the crown with all its glory. The Son being glorified, he would also glorify his Father, and there is a wondrous glory that comes to the Father through the death of his Son upon the cross.
Joh_17:2. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Some people seem unable to see that there is perfect harmony between the general and the particular aspects of Christ’s atonement. As the one Mediator between God and men, he has absolute power over all men, to do with them as he wills, yet that power has a special relation to those whom his Father gave him before the foundation of the world, and they are those who come to him in accordance with his declaration, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
Joh_17:3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
So that the only way to obtain eternal life is to know God the Father and God the Son, and the best way to know them is to ask God the Holy Spirit to teach us what is revealed concerning them in the Sacred Scriptures which he inspired holy men of old to write.
Joh_17:4-5. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which had with thee before the world was.
As Christ had carried out his Father’s will, and done the work he had been sent to do, he was but right that he should go back to the glory which he had for a season voluntarily laid aside. You notice that, although he had not then died upon the cross, he was certain that be would there complete his great mediatorial work that he spoke of it as being already “finished.”
Joh_17:6. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
No one but Christ could or would have borne such a testimony concerning his fickle, feeble followers, happy will it be for us if he can say also concerning us who profess to be his disciples, “They have kept thy word.”
Joh_17:7-8. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 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.
You see how the truth reached these disciples. The Father gave the words to his Son in his mediatorial capacity, and he gave those words to his disciples, and they received them, and believed that Christ was indeed the Sent One from the Father.
Joh_17:9-10. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
See what perfect union there is between the Father and the Son, and note their mutual relationship to the chosen people, “They are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine.”
Joh_17:11-12. 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. 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.
So it is clear that Judas was not amongst those who were given to Christ by his Father; if he had been, he also would have been “kept.”
Joh_17:13. And now come I to thee;
Christ looked beyond all that was to happen to him before he could return to his glory, and as he saw his Father waiting to welcome him, he cried “And now come I to thee.” These might be appropriate words in the mouth of a dying believer: “And now come I to thee.”
Joh_17:13-14. And these things I speak in the word, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Never did anyone more thoroughly mix with men than Christ did, and never had anyone greater sympathy with human beings than he had, yet everyone knows that he never was “of the world.” He was distinct from all who were round about him, and he says that his disciples were as he was: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world “Christ’s people have a life that others have not; they have a relationship to God that others have not, they are swayed by motives which others understand not; and they are journeying onward toward a perfection to which others do not even desire to attain. So they are not of the world, and the world treats them as speckled birds, and hates them even as it hated their Lord and Master.
Joh_17:10. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil.
Christ did not pray that there might be monasteries and nunneries where his servants might be shut away from the world, nor even that his followers might die in early youth, and go home to heaven; but he prayed that, remaining in the world for gracious purposes, —to be its salt and its light—, they might themselves be kept from the evil that is in the world. It would be a dreadful thing indeed if the chosen people of God were to be overcome by the world; so Christ prayed that his Father would keep them from the evil, for he well knew that they could not be kept from it by any power that was not divine. There is no less power needed for the preservation of a believer than for his regeneration. The sustentation of a Saint is a constant miracle, which can only be wrought by God himself.
Joh_17:16-17. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Some men tell us that the truth is in the Word, but that the Word is not the truth. I read, the other day, that we might regard the Bible as a casket which contained the jewel of the truth, but was not itself the jewel. Christ did not talk in that fashion, for he said to his Father, “Thy word is truth.” This shows that God’s Word is not merely the casket of truth, but is the truth itself.
Joh_17:18. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
They are sent ones, even as Christ was the Sent One. As he is the Christ, they are Christians, anointed with the same anointing as he himself is, and they should endeavor to be in all respects missionaries to the world, even as Christ was God’s great Missionary to the lost.
Joh_17:19. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
“I set myself apart wholly for them, that they also may be set apart for holy uses.”
Joh_17:20. Neither pray I for these alone,-“
For these who are already saved by my word,” —
Joh_17:20. But for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
And so his blessed arm encircled not only the converts gathered to him by his own personal ministry, but also those who should, in after days, be converted under his servants’ ministry; and it always seems to me to have been great condescension on his part to have said, “I pray for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” We should have expected that he would have said, “through my word;” and, indeed, it is his Word that leads sinners to repent and to believe; yet Christ puts this honour upon those who speak his Word out of the fullness of their hearts. They have by experience made it their own, so he calls it theirs, and gives them this honourable position as the messengers of the gospel of salvation.
Joh_17:21. That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
I wish that we could see more of this blessed unity, yet it does exist, even if we cannot see it. Wherever there is any true spiritual life, —it matters not how much it may be marred by denominational divisions, —there is and there always must be, an essential unity. All Christians are one family in Christ. I do not mean all who call themselves Christians, but all who really are believers in Christ. The inner life is one, the source of that life is one, the nourishment of that life is one, and the end of that life is one, so that all who possess it must be one, —one in Christ, and one with one another, even as Christ is one with the Father.
Joh_17:22-23. And the glory which thou givest me I have given them; that they maybe one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; —
That is the real secret of the saints’ unity: “I in them,” together with the everlasting union of Christ Jesus with the Father: “and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one;” —
Joh_17:23. And that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me
This is a great deep, the words are very simple and clear, but their meaning is unfathomable. Is it really true that the Father has loved his chosen ones as he has loved his only-begotten Son? It is such a wondrous thing that one might be willing to lie awake at night to meditate upon the amazing truth here revealed in our Saviour’s words: “Thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”
Joh_17:24. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Some foolish folk talk about the saints being put away for a while into some purgatorial “limbo” in order that they may be made ready for heaven but Christ speaks not so, he says, “I will that they be with me where I am.” We care not to answer curious questions about the disembodied state, it is enough for us that Christ knows all, and that we shall be with him for ever.
What shall be the occupation of those who are with Christ? “That they may behold my glory.” There will be something worth looking at, something to be delighted with for ever and ever: “the glory which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” So God must have loved his people before the foundation of the world, for he hast loved them as he has loved his Son. There was no beginning and there shall be no end to the Father’s love to his people; he says to each one of them, “I have loved thee, with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” Here are waters to swim in, plunge into them, and revel in the bliss they are meant to convey to all who are in Christ Jesus.
Joh_17:25-26. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
How rich is this language! How musical! Surely, never did any human poem match this peerless prose of the Divine Teacher. And now, what a descent it is as we pass on to the next scene in his life!
This exposition consisted of readings from John 17, and Joh_18:1-9.
Joh_17:1-2. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Here we have the two doctrines of a general and a particular redemption. Through his death, Christ has power given him over all flesh, but the distinct, especial object is the salvation of his own — “that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”
Joh_17:3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
To know God in the sense of being acquainted with him — loving him —abiding in fellowship with him — this is life eternal. To know God in Christ Jesus is to be saved indeed.
Joh_17:4. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Which no other man could ever have said — not even Adam in his perfection, for his work was not finished; and, alas! how marred it was before it came near to finishing! And the most gracious man that ever died could not, in his last moments, say, “I have finished the work which them gavest me to do,” for it was still imperfect. There were many things which he would wish to have done, and many error which he would wish to have rectified; but our Lord is more than man, and rises to this point — “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”
Joh_17:5. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
“I have disrobed myself to be thy servant. Clothe me again with the garments of my majesty. Let me come back to the palace when I shall have passed through the stream of death.” So far is the prayer for himself. Now he prays for his people.
Joh_17:6-7. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
“They have not accepted me as a human teacher on my own account, unsent and uncommissioned, but they perfectly understand that there is a union between the Father and the Son. The things that thou hast given me are of thee.”
Joh_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.
There are great depths in these words. One of the greatest of German divines always refused to preach from this chapter, for he said he felt that few of God’s people had a sufficient measure of faith to understand it; and when he came to die, he had this read to him three times before he fell asleep. There is a world of wonderful mystery. Though the words are short and plain, yet the sense is fathomless.
Joh_17:9. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou has given me; for they are thine.
There is an intercession of Christ which is for all the world, but his choicest intercession — his effectual prayer — is for his own. Nothing, perhaps, makes men so angry as this statement. They cannot endure that God should dispense his gifts according to his own will; but so it standeth true. There is an intercession in which none have a part but his own. “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine.”
Joh_17:10-11. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.
They will be left therefore. The shepherd will be gone. They will seem to be like orphans with their best friend departed.
Joh_17:11-13. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with therein 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. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
He asks not only that they may be kept and so unharmed, but that they may be comforted, and so made glad. O sad hearts, hear your Redeemer’s prayer for you — and do not doubt that it is answered — “that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”
Joh_17:14. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
If nobody hates you for being a Christian, are you a Christian at all? If you find that you run with the general herd, and swim with the current, can you be a follower of that Christ who was despised and rejected of men?
Joh_17:15. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Not that they should shut themselves up in monasteries and convents. That is not the prayer of Christ. “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”
Joh_17:16-19. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Sanctify myself — consecrate myself — set myself apart — for their salvation that they also might be sanctified, consecrated, set apart through the truth. Now comes a third part of the prayer, in which he pleads for the whole church — for that part of it at that time not saved — for the unborn ones — for us.
Joh_17:20-21. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word: That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Our Saviour knew how apt we should be to split up into sects, and to be divided into parties, and so he prays again and again that we may be one. Cultivate the spirit of Christian affection. It there be divisions, let them not come through you. Contend earnestly for the faith, but also let us love one another.
Joh_17:22-23. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Surely the passage seems to culminate here. These words rise like the peak of a mighty Alp almost out of our sight into the clear brightness of heaven — “hast loved them as thou has loved me.” Now, believer, thou canst not fully comprehend this, but believe it — that as surely as the Father loves the Son, as and after the same manner also he loves you — without beginning, without measure, without change, without end “Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me.”
Joh_17:24-26. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved we may be in them,
Let us read that wonderful passage again — “that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them.”
Joh_17:26. And I in them.
Sacred, mystical union! May our souls enjoy it day by day.
This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 32; John 17.
Joh_17:1. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, thee hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
The hour has come. The most important, the darkest, the most dreadful hour of Christ’s life was come. But he had only one thought in his mind. “Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.” Beloved, when our hour comes — and we shall have hours of darkness — may we have nothing on our mind but that, — that God would help us to glorify his name. We shall not dread suffering if that be our one desire, became we shall see that suffering often gives opportunities to God for manifesting his own glory in the patience of his people.
Joh_17:2. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
I think this verse is a solution of the problem about general redemption and particular redemption. Christ, by his death, has obtained power over all flesh. There is a universality about his redemption, but the object of it still was that he should give eternal life to “as many as thou hast given me.” There is a specialty and peculiarity about the grand ultimate result and design of the death of our Lord. Let us believe both truths.
Joh_17:3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Is the knowledge of God life? Is the knowledge of Jesus Christ life? It is even so. But what a blessed form of knowledge this is! It is taught to us by the Spirit of God in a special and remarkable way. This is life eternal.
Joh_17:4-6. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou invest me to do And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world:
The best the clearest manifestation of the name or character of God is to be found in the person, the life, the work, the love of Jesus Christ. Well did he say in another place, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.”
Joh_17:6. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
It has been their treasure. They have preserved it as a priceless blessing. They would never let it go.
Joh_17:7-8. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou invest 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.
Now that description of the people of God in Christ’s day is true of us today. We have received the words which the Father has given the Son, and we believe of a surety that the Father has sent Jesus Christ into the world.
Joh_17:9. I pray for them:
Oh! how emphatically true this is! Christ always prays for them — for them, one by one — with most effectual prevalence. It is because- he prays that any of us are preserved. “I pray for them.”
Joh_17:9. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me:
There is a specialty in intercession, as well as in redemption. “I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me.”
Joh_17:9-11. For they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.
And now they are left. Their great guardian and protector has gone. They have no visible Head left. “I am no more in the world, but these are in the world.” You and I know that we are in the world. The world makes us know that. We are in an enemy’s country. We are in a land which is not our rest; and however happy our portion may be an Christ the world takes care that we should understand that we are aliens and foreigners in it; hurrying through it towards our abiding home.
Joh_17:11. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we are.
Do all that you can, beloved, to promote the unity of the people of God, not only on the larger scale, wherein all churches snail be brought together in loving accord, but also on the smaller scale among your own friends, and those Christian brethren who are in your own church. Let none of us break the concord. Oh! may we always be of a gentle, generous, Christlike spirit, that we may be one, as the Father is one with the Son.
Joh_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.
It is, perhaps, more wonderful that there were not more like Judas than that there should have been one like him. I wonder whether we can hope that in our churches there would be found as few as one in twelve who are not in heart with Christ. It is very wonderful that the rest should have been kept, and that this son of perdition should have been left to perish.
Joh_17:13-15. And now come I to thee: and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Either by death, or by shutting them up in monasteries, or causing them to dwell in caverns alone. “I do not pray for that.” Do not take them out of the battle, but save them from the deadly arrow.
Help them to play the man, and win the victory, and not desert the colors.
Joh_17:16-18. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Do you recognize your mission, dear friends? Do we all catch it? — that, as truly as Christ was the messenger of the Father, so every believer is the messenger of Christ. You are sent into this world to do an errand, not for yourselves, but for your Master. Are you doing it?
Joh_17:19. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Christ sets himself apart for us, that they may set us apart for him. Have you realized this, my brother — that you are dedicated to Christ — that every breath you breathe, and thought you think, and word you speak, and act you do, should all be done as unto him? He lived alone for you.
Live alone for him.
Joh_17:20. Neither pray I for these alone.
These saved ones.
Joh_17:20-22. But for them also which shall believe on me through their word: That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one;
Christ prays for us before we believe, and we believe in answer to his prayer. Oh! what glorious words. The very glory which the Father gave to the Only-begotten has that Only-begotten handed over to his people. “that they may be one, even as we are one.”
Joh_17:23. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Now drink that in — all the sweetness of it — that the Father has loved his people even as he loved his Only-begotten.
Joh_17:24. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am: that they may behold my glory. which thou hast given me: for then lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
He will not be in glory, and leave me behind him. He is a bridegroom that cannot be satisfied unless his bride be a partaker of all his joy. He is so one with us, that as the head can never be content to be crowned, and the rest of the body be disgraced, so neither could Christ. We must be, if he wills it, where he is. We must behold his glory; we must share it.
Joh_17:25. O righteous Father, the world hath not know thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
It is delightful to hear Jesus praying in this way for us, side by side with himself, though we are unworthy of so unspeakable an honour; praying for us as if his own self, his own glory, depended upon our safety. If Christ prayed thus for us, how ought we to pray for one another!
Joh_17:26. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it:
As long as the Christ lived, he showed forth his Father’s glory, and so should we. If we have declared it, we should say, “And will declare it.” “That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Thus the glorious union stands. May we always rejoice in it.
Joh_17:26. That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Joh_17:1. These words spake Jesus, and, lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come;
The hour to which he had so long looked forward, the hour which he had anticipated with ardent desire: “The hour is come.” On the very night that Jesus prayed this prayer, Luke’s record tells us, “When the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them,
With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer;” So he began his great intercessory prayer, “Father, the hour is come, —
Joh_17:1-2. Glorify thy Son that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
In these words we have both the general and the special aspects of redemption. Christ has received power over all flesh, but with this peculiar design, that he should give eternal life to as many as his Father has given him. Who are they who have been given to him by his Father? All who come to him by faith, even as he said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” To all of these Jesus gives eternal life.
Joh_17:3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Do you know God? Do you know Jesus Christ? Are you on speaking terms, on loving terms, with them? Are they your friends? Then, you have eternal life; for “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
Joh_17:4-6. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
What a sweet thing for the Lord Jesus to say of that poor, much-erring company of disciples, “They have kept thy word”! “They have not been all they might have been, nor all they ought to have been, but, O my Father, they have kept thy word!” I trust that we may be found faithful to the truth that the Holy Spirit has taught us, and obedient to its precepts, that our Lord may be able to say to his Father concerning us also, “They have kept thy word.”
Joh_17:7-8. Now they have known that all things to whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 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.
See how the Lord Jesus himself takes all his teaching from the Father. You never hear from him any boast about being the originator of profound thoughts. No, he just repeated to his disciples the words he had received from the Father: “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.” If Jesus acted thus, how much more must the messengers of God receive the word from the Lord’s mouth, and speak it as they receive it!
Joh_17:9-10. I pray for them: I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them.
Is not this a wonderful prayer? If anybody, possessing the greatest possible inventive faculty, were asked to produce a prayer which could be fitly prayed by a person who was both God and man, it would be an impossible task. This chapter has about it all the air of truthfulness, it ought to be sufficient to convince any man that Christ was God and man. There is such a wonderful mixing of the two natures, without any confusion of ideas, so manifestly does he plead as man, and yet so clearly does he also pray as none but the Son of God could pray, that he must be the God-man, the one mediator between God and man.
Joh_17:11-12. 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. 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.
It was known and foretold that Judas would be lost; therefore, the Saviour, the great Keeper of the sheep, is not to be held responsible for the loss of “the son of perdition”, who was never committed to his charge.
Joh_17:13-17. And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Our Divine Lord seems to think nothing about his own sufferings; all his thoughts are occupied with that which concerns his people. All his prayers are for them, that they may be made holy, and that so God may be glorified in them.
Joh_17:18-19. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself,
Or, “I set myself apart.”
Joh_17:19-20. That they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
They were only a handful of disciples, but you cannot tell what a multitude will believe on Christ through their word. There were but twelve apostles; yet John beheld a hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel, and after that he beheld a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palms in their hands. The Saviour doubtless linked his little band of disciples with the ancient promise, “There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains, the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon.” What great events from little causes spring! Whenever you are doing good, remember not only those who are immediately saved, but the others who will be blessed through them, even as our Saviour said, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” We who have believed on Jesus, through the word preached or written by the apostles, are also included in this prayer of their Lord and ours. Notice what our Saviour asked of his Father for them and for us: —
Joh_17:21. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
And when Christians, being one in Christ, and one in the truth, shall become more manifestly one in heart, and life, and faith, what glad days we may hope to see!
Joh_17:22-23. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them: that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and them in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
This is a wonderful expression, where will you find anything like it! It is indeed marvellous that God should have loved his people even as he loved Christ his Son, yet that is what the Lord Jesus here says: “Thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”
Joh_17:24-26. Father. I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name,
“Thy character, thy work,” —
Joh_17:26. And will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
This prayer is for you, and for me, as much as for the twelve apostles. May the Lord fulfill it in all of us as well as in them, for his dear name’s sake!
Amen.