Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 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.
24. Father ] Comp. Joh 17:1 ; Joh 17:5 ; Joh 17:11, Joh 11:41, Joh 12:27. The relationship is the ground of the appeal; He knows that His ‘will’ is one with His Father’s.
I will ] Comp. Joh 21:22; Mat 8:3; Mat 23:37; Mat 26:39; Luk 12:49. He has already granted this by anticipation ( Joh 17:22); He wills that this anticipation may be realised.
they whom ] Literally, that which; the faithful as a body. See on Joh 17:2.
where I am ] Comp. Joh 14:3.
behold ] In the sense of sharing and enjoying it; for the faithful ‘shall also reign with Him.’ 2. Tim. Joh 2:12. This glory they behold with unveiled face, on which it is reflected as on the face of Moses. See on 2Co 3:18 and comp. 1Jn 3:2.
my glory ] Literally, the glory which is Mine, a stronger expression than that in Joh 17:22: see on Joh 14:27.
which thou hast given me ] Not the glory of the Word, the Eternal Son, which was His in His equality with the Father, but the glory of Christ, the Incarnate Son, with which the risen and ascended Jesus was endowed. In sure confidence Christ speaks of this as already given, and wills that all believers may behold and share it. Thus two gifts of the Father to the Son meet and complete one another: those whom He has given behold the glory that He has given.
for ] Better, because.
the foundation of the world ] Our Lord thrice uses this expression, here, Luk 11:50, and Mat 25:34. Two of those who heard it reproduce it (1Pe 1:20; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8): comp. Eph 1:4; Heb 4:3; Heb 9:26; Heb 11:11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will – This expression, though it commonly denotes command, is here only expressive of desire. It is used in prayer, and it was not the custom of the Saviour to use language of command when addressing God. It is often used to express strong and earnest desire, or a pressing and importunate wish, such as we are exceedingly anxious should not be denied, Mar 6:25; Mar 10:35; Mat 12:38; Mat 15:28.
Where I am – In heaven. The Son of God was still in the bosom of the Father, Joh 1:18. See the notes at Joh 7:34. Probably the expression here means where I shall be.
My glory – My honor and dignity when exalted to the right hand of God. The word behold implies more than simply seeing; it means also to participate, to enjoy. See the Joh 3:3 note; Mat 5:8 note.
Thou lovedst me … – This is another of the numerous passages which prove that the Lord Jesus existed before the creation of the world. It is not possible to explain it on any other supposition.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 17:24
Father I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me.
Christs last will
Jesus no longer says, I pray but I will. This expression, found nowhere else, in the mouth of Jesus, is generally explained by saying that the Son thus expressed Himself, because He felt Himself on this point so fully in accordance with the Father. But this He felt in every prayer, and this unique expression must be taken in its relation to the unique character of the situation. It is the saying of a dying man: Father, My last will is It is truly His testament which Christ thus deposits in His Fathers hands. (F. Godet, D. D.)
Christs wish for man
The truth that men are judged by their desires finds its highest illustration in Jesus. The perfection of His nature is shown in the perfectness of His wishes. When His desires shall be all fulfilled, then there will be nothing more in the universe to be desired. The wish of the text is a prayer; but a prayer is merely a wish turned Godward. It was the instinct of Christs nature that He looked for the fulfilment of His wishes, not to Himself, and not to the things about Him, but to His Father. He was desiring in His heart
I. THAT HIS PEOPLE SHOULD BE WITH HIM.
1. The obvious meaning of this is the Saviours affection for His disciples. When friend is going away from friend, how naturally the wish springs up into words: Oh, if I could only take you with me! Now, the sublimity and the charm of the earthly life of Jesus consist in large part in the broad and healthy action of the simplest human powers which it exhibits. The simplest natures are the grandest natures always. And so it is a part of the greatness of Jesus that He so simply feels and utters this cordial human affection, and says, I shall miss you. I wish you could go with Me. We want not merely to admire this in Jesus; not merely to feel its charm. We want to catch it from Him. Elaborate civilization is always making elaborate, artificial standards.
2. But these primary emotions are deeper and richer in Him than in ordinary men, in proportion to the depth and richness of His nature.
(1) The same emotion exists in different men, but it becomes more full and perfect as the man becomes greater. Nowhere is all this more true than about companionship. For two beings to be with one another always means the same simple thing, and yet its meaning runs up through all the ascending scale of human character. A herd of brutes are satisfied if they can feed in the same field; and there is an animal companionship even amongst men, which makes them like to be with one another, to sit in the same room, to walk in crowded streets. Next higher than that, companionship means identity of work and occupation. This is the companionship of business men. Next higher still is the companionship of opinion. Beyond all these lies the highest companionship of character. We have a fine illustration of the desire for this last and highest sort of companionship in the famous words which St. Paul said to Agrippa, I would, that thou and all who hear me, &c. Those words seem to be the echo of his Masters. Paul wanted Agrippa. From the dignity of his prisoners stand, he yearned over that poor dissolute who was seated upon the throne. And this must always be the first joy of any really good life–the desire that others should enter into it. Indeed, here is the test of a mans life. Can you say, I wish you were like me? If you are trying to serve Christ, however imperfect be your service, still you can say this to your child, your friend. But I am afraid that there are people whose lives could not begin to stand that test. With awkward hands you bring out virtues which you will not practice yourself, and put them before your children and say, These are good. I advise you to practice these. What a condemnation of a mans life is that! It is not good for a man to be living any life which he would not desire to see made perfect and universal through the world. The dying Christian tells those beside him of the blessedness of serving Christ. The dying murderer with his last breath warns men from the scaffold not to be what he has been. Test your lives thus!
(2) Thus, then, we understand Christs longing for the companionship of His disciples. He wanted them to be with Him. I do not think that we can tell how much it signifies, this wish of Jesus, in its lower meaning of physical companionship. I am sure it does mean something. The seeing His face, the walking with Him in white, in heaven, are not wholly figures. But yet Gods guidance has drawn the minds of Christians to think of heaven less as a place than as a character. Never, never are we with
Christ till we are like Him. Not till He is formed in us do we enter truly into Him.
II. THAT THEY MIGHT BEHOLD HIS GLORY. Perhaps this sounds to us a little strange at first. The schoolboy wants his schoolfellow to come home with him that he may see the state in which his father lives. The American says to the foreigner, Come, see our land, its vastness, its resources, its progress. The Christian says, Come to my church. You shall hear our music, &c. Before the words can be cut entirely free from low associations, we must remember what Christs glory is. The heart and soul of it must be His goodness. What outward splendour may clothe Christ eternally we cannot know, but this we are sure of, that in at its very centre the glory of God must issue from and consist in the goodness of God, not in His power. Think for a moment of what prospects that wish of our Lord opens. Nowadays men are telling one another how tired they are of seeing sin on every side. We cheat ourselves if we think that it is peculiar to our times, for it has always been so. We cheat ourselves if we think that it is universal, for there is bright and glorious goodness around us, mixed with the sin on every side. But how imperfectly we see it! How much goodness there must be in Him which we do not see! For here this truth comes in, that only the like can see its like; only the good can really discern, appreciate, and understand goodness. Men live alongside of the best saints, and never know that they are good. The higher we climb, the more the peaks open around us. Now apply all this to the Saviours prayer. Only by growth in goodness can His goodness open itself to us. What is He praying for, then? Is it not that which we traced before, that we might be like Him? So only can we see Him. It is His glory that He wants us to see, but, back of that, He wants us to be such men and women that we can see His glory. I think of Jesus as He walked through Jerusalem. Men passed Him by; others just looked at Him, and sneered, and went their way. Do you think that did not give Him pain? Surely it did. They could not see His glory. But was not His pain that He saw them incapable of apprehending Him? Was not this what He was really mourning for when He sat on the Mount of Olives? Not, Woe is me! but O Jerusalem? Sometimes, in very far-off way, it is given to a man to echo this experience of Jesus. Sometimes a man is living for the good of other people, and other people will not see it, and he is left to sit upon the mountain and look down in sorrow upon the city which he longs to save. At such a time a man wants, and often enough he fails to get, the spirit of Christs prayer. He wants men to see His glory, and they will not. Is it for himself or for them that he is disappointed? The man whom you helped yesterday and who ungratefully slanders you to-day, are you indignant about yourself or pitiful over him? It is hard to keep out pride and jealousy, but let us remember how He wanted men to see Him because it was so wretched for them, not for Him, that they should be blind to Him. I think, then, that we have reached the meaning of this prayer of Jesus; and we are struck immediately by seeing how it really is identical with all His prayers for men. It is always that men might be saved from sin, that His goodness might come to us and we might be good. (Phillips Brooks, D. D.)
Christs prayer for His people
I. THE TONE OF THE PRAYER.
1. Wonderful majesty. Father, I will! How awful this sounds! Such a petition was never heard before. Compare it with the prayers of the most eminent of Gods people–Abraham, David, and Solomon.
2. Authority as well. Here is no condition, qualification, or contingency expressed or implied. It is the language of Him whose will is absolute law through all the universe. And this is the foundation on which the ultimate salvation of the redeemed is made to rest.
II. THE SCOPE OF THE PRAYER
1. The persons prayed for are–those whom Thou hast given Me–believers of every age. It takes in all the redeemed.
2. What is asked is that they be with Me where I am. This is a comprehensive petition. It embraces all that Christ could ask for His people, all that they can desire, or that God can give. There has been much curious discussion of the question whether heaven is a state or a place. It is clear from the teachings of the chapter, that heaven is a stale (Joh_17:21; Joh_17:23). The unity prayed for in the former and the perfection in the latter of these verses prove this conclusively. No locality can be heaven to us, unless we attain unto the state there described. At the same time this verse proves that heaven is a distinct locality (Joh 14:2). If He were speaking here as the Creator alone, the language used would not necessarily imply locality. But He is speaking as the Man Christ Jesus. True, where I am is a wide, wide phrase. Where He is, heaven is; where He is not, there is hell. A throne without Him is but the devils dungeon of darkness, wherever it be placed; a dungeon with Christ in it, a fiery furnace with Christ in the midst, is a palace of glory. If we be where He is, what is there that can be worth seeing, or knowing, or having besides? Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
III. THE DESIGN OF THE PRAYER. That they may behold My glory, &c. This refers to the glory which pertains to Him by virtue of His mediatorial office. It is the glory of revealing Gods will; of bringing to an end the great rebellion which sin had introduced into Gods dominions; of lifting off the curse from this groaning creation; of making all things new; of gathering His elect out of all nations, of raising them from the dead, and carrying them with approval through the solemn scenes of the last judgment, and assigning them the place of dignity they will occupy in His everlasting kingdom; and of conducting the affairs of that kingdom through all eternity.
IV. THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH THE PRAYER RESTS. For Thou lovedst Me, &c. There is something very striking and sublime in this argument. It is not our love for one another or of God, nor Christs or the Fathers love for us, but Gods love of His own blessed Son. In conclusion, this subject suggests
1. How unspeakable is the glory on which the redeemed will gaze!
2. The true philosophy of salvation, or the secret of the Christians security. (R. Newton, D. D.)
The Lords last prayer for His people
We mark
I. HIS LAST AND DEEPEST DESIRE CONCERNING US.
1. There is something unspeakably affecting in the designation those whom Thou hast given Me. Many titles He had already given His people–disciples, friends, brethren, &c.; names advancing in depth of tendernessas the end drew nigh; but here at the last He recalls one that He had used among the first. He does not point to the larger gift of the human race (Psa 2:1-12.); nor does He indicate any fragment predestined to be His; the sentiment is that all whom the Father teaches He draws by His Spirit, that He may consign them to His Son for salvation. The fact that they are the Fathers gift makes them unspeakably precious to Jesus, who therefore wishes the eternal society of His own.
2. But it is for our sake that He makes the request. His people are not with Him in the fall meaning of the word. When departing He said He would be with them, not that they should be with Him. Save in a few swift glimpses His Church has never seen Him since, save by the eye of faith.
(1) The disembodied are with Him where He is; and that is all we know or need to know about Him.
(2) When every one of the Fathers gifts has been gathered to Him, the whole great gift shall be restored to perfection: His people in body and soul shall be with Him eternally.
3. Whilst we might be musing as to the glory of the place, our Lord attracts back our thoughts to Himself that they may behold My glory. This is twofold
(1) The glory of His holiness, by beholding which we are now changed into the same image.
(2) It is however in the great hereafter that the Lords glory will be seen–the glory which He had with the Father before the world was. They shall see God was His promise to the pure; and now He makes that the vision of Himself. For ever He will say, He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. We shall see Him as He is, and share and reflect the glory that we contemplate.
II. THE STRENGTH OF THE PECULIAR EXPRESSION, I WILL
1. Whence has He that strong confidence on our account, sinners as we are?
(1) From the eternal love that existed between the Father and the Son.
(2) But the entire tenor of the prayer also implies that the Son makes His demands on the ground of a sealed and ratified covenant. The Son appeals to His righteous Father as Head of the redeeming scheme, speaks as having sanctified Himself, and demands all the blessings for which He shed His blood. Hence the intercession of the Son for His own is almighty.
2. What is the object of His intercession?
(1) The prayer demands that the infinite attributes of the all-holy Name should be pledged for His disciples defence. Keep through Thine own name.
(2) Sanctify them through Thy truth stipulates that all needful grace shall be imparted in order to the consecration of His saints for Himself.
3. The prayer is granted. Whatsoever is necessary for our perfect deliverance from sin is here pledged, and hereafter there will be a most glorious answer when the saints, body and soul, are presented faultless by the Son to the Father.
III. THIS DEEP DESIRE AND STRONG INTERCESSION IS UTTERED IN OUR HEARING for our instruction and encouragement.
1. We are taught, by the connection of our text with the fact that Christ prays not for the world, how important it is to our peace that we should know that we are given of the Father to the Son. There is a terrible distinction. Our Lord says nothing further about those that are not His. They will not be with Him where He is. With whom then, and where?
2. With what transcendent honour are we here invested. To be the elect of God, the peculiar heritage of Christ–Where I am there shall My servant be, &c. With what ardour should we be inflamed to make ourselves worthy of this honour.
3. The prayer is our strong assurance while we watch and labour and pray.
4. Oar Lord permitted us to hear this prayer for our strong consolation in surrendering our friends to Him in death. (W. B. Pope, D. D.)
Christs unveiled glory
I. OF WHAT STATE OF MIND THIS IS THE EXPRESSION ON THE PART OF CHRIST.
1. It expresses the depth and intensity of His love to the Church He has redeemed. Montaigne says, We hate those we injure–certainly we love those whom we have blessed. Christ having redeemed us in this life is intent on blessing us in the next.
2. It turns on the principle that sympathy is most precious to the noblest natures. Christ could not think of the splendours of His throne without connecting them with His people.
3. It contains the idea of personal interest in them as precious property by special donation from the Father. What more valued than a fathers gift, especially when given as an expression of love and for a sublime purpose.
II. WHAT VIEWS IT FURNISHES OF THE FUTURE LIFE.
1. The happiness of heaven will be realized in the immediate presence and unveiled glory of Christ. The king makes the court, not the court the king.
2. Whatever displays are made in that life of the majesty of the Godhead, will be made in the Person of Christ. To all eternity He will be Emanuel–God with us. How transporting itwill be to find His glory that of the Lamb that was slain!
III. WHAT REFLECTIONS THE SUBJECT SHOULD AWAKEN.
1. Earnest desire to be one with Christ.
2. Adoring gratitude that He has invested us with this hope which cannot die.
3. A deep concern for the religious welfare of others. (S. T. Day.)
The glorification of the Church
I. ITS SIGNIFICANCE EXPLAINED.
1. Co-existence with Christ. Now He co-exists with the Church Mat 18:20; Mat 28:20); then the Church will co-exist with Him Mat 12:26; 1Th 4:17). Now He comes down, then He will take us up. Now the place where they are together is the scene of the Churchs trials, conflicts, labours, discipline: then the place will be the house of many mansions, the scene of Christs exaltation and glory.
2. Communion with Christ. Christ and His Church have that here (1Jn 1:3). Here we see Him, but not with open vision (1Co 13:12). There the vision will be unveiled and full (1Co 13:12; 1Jn 3:2; Rev 22:4). They shall behold His glory, not only its outward symbol–the throne, sceptre, angels, trumpets, &c.
but the eternal, perfect love of the Father to Him, and the glory which, moved by that love, the Father put upon Him when He constituted Him the Crown of redeemed humanity (Eph 1:22; Php 2:9-10; 1Pe 3:22).
3. Conformity to Christ. This is realized here in part (2Co 4:18), there it will be complete (Rom 8:29; 1Jn 3:2).
4. Co-partnership with Christ. Christ is here co-partner of the Church s sufferings (Heb 4:15); by and by we shall participate in His glory (verse 22; Rev 3:21; 2Ti 2:12).
II. ITS CERTAINTY GUARANTEED.
1. By the I will of the Divine Servant. Having accomplished the work (verse 4) Christ was entitled to claim the stipulated reward–not merely to ask or wish, though that would have been enough. And as failure is impossible with reference either to Gods promise (Heb 5:13), or Christs reward (Isa 53:2), so certainly Christs believing people will eventually be glorified with Him in heaven.
2. By the I will of the Divine Son. As such Christ had power to bestow eternal life (verse 2), and so the ultimate glorification of the Church is seen.
III. ITS JUSTICE VINDICATED (verse 25, 26).
1. If the world is not glorified it is because it cannot be. Eternal righteousness forbids the glorification of such as know not the Father.
2. If the Church is glorified, it is because glory is the necessary outcome of grace. Lessons:
1. The blessedness of heaven.
2. The certainty of salvation.
3. The necessity of growing in knowledge.
4. The righteousness of the unbelieving worlds doom.
5. Grace the song of the glorified. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
Why they leave us
1. The prayer of the Saviour rises as it proceeds. He asked for His people that they might be preserved from the world, then that they might be sanctified, and then that they might be made manifestly one; and now He reaches His crowning point–that they may be with Him where He is, and behold His glory. That prayer is most after the Divine pattern which, like a ladder, rises round by round, until it loses itself in heaven.
2. This last step of our Lords prayer is not only above all the rest, but it is a longer step than any of the others. He here ascends, not from one blessing which may be enjoyed on earth, to higher, but mounts right away from all that is to that which is reserved for the eternal future.
3. Not only does it rise as to its subject, but it even ascends as to the place which the Intercessor appears to occupy. Has it not been so with yourselves in prayer, that you might have cried with Paul, Whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell.
4. Still the prayer rises, not only as to its matter and place, but in a higher style. Before, our Lord had asked and pleaded; but now He says, Father, I will. It is well not only to groan out of the dust as suppliant sinners, but to seek unto our Father in the spirit of adoption with the confidence of children, and then, with the promise of God in our hand, lay hold upon the covenant angel, and cry, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Importunity is a humble approach to this Divine I will.
I. Let us begin as our text begins with THE HOME-WORD–Father. Is it not the centre of living unity? If there is to be a family gathering and reunion, where should it be but in the fathers house?
1. What can be more right than that children should go home to their Father? From Him they came, to Him they owe their life, and should not this be the goal of their being, that they should at last dwell in His presence?
2. Father! why, it is a bell that rings us home. He who hath the Spirit of adoption feels that the Father draws him home, and he would fain run after Him. How intensely did Jesus turn to the Father!
3. This is the consummation which the First-born looks for, and to which all of us who are like Him are aspiring also, namely, that God may be all in all. Our Brother is gone; but we ask, Where is He gone? and when the answer comes, He is gone to the Father, all notion of complaint is over. To whom else should He go? A child may be happy at school, but he longs for the holidays. Is it merely to escape his lessons? Ask him, and he will tell you, I want to go home to see my father.
II. THE HOME IMPETUS. How shall the chosen get home to the Father. I will, said Jesus, that they be with Me; and with Him they must be. Examine the energy of this I will, and you will see that it hath the force of
1. An intercessory prayer. I cannot imagine our Lords interceding in vain. If He asks that we may be with Him where He is, He must assuredly have His request. You cannot hold your dying babe, &c.; for Jesus asks for it to be with Him. Will you come into competition with your Lord?
2. A testamentary bequest and appointment. No man who makes his will likes to have it frustrated. Our Saviours testament will assuredly be carried out in every jot and tittle.
3. Desire, resolve, and purpose. If Jesus saith, I will, then it is yours to say, Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.
III. THE HOME CHARACTER. They also, whom Thou hast given Me. The Greek is somewhat difficult to translate. There is here a something in the singular as well as persons in the plural. Father, I will concerning that which thou hast given Me, that they may be with Me where I am.
1. Our Lord looked upon those whom the Father gave Him as one–one body, one Church, one bride: He willed that as a whole the Church should be with Him where He is.
2. Then He looked again and saw each of the many individuals of whom the one Church is composed, and He prayed that each, that all of these, might be with Him and behold His glory. Jesus never so prays for the whole Church as to forget a single member; neither does He so pray for the members individually as to overlook the corporate capacity of the whole.
3. I feel glad that there is no sort of personal character mentioned here, but only–Those whom Thou hast given Me. It seems as if the Lord in His last moments was not so much looking at the fruit of grace as at grace itself; He did not so much note either the perfections or the imperfections of His people, but only the fact that they were His by the eternal gift of the Father. The Father gave them as a love-token and a means of His Sons glorification. If I possess a love-token that some dear one has given me I may rightly desire to have it with me. Nobody can have such a right to your wedding-ring, good sister, as you have yourself, and are not Christs saints, as it were, a signet upon His finger, a token which His Father gave Him of His good pleasure in Him? Should they not be with Jesus where He is, since they are His crown jewels and His glory?
IV. THE HOME COMPANIONSHIP.
1. The nearness of the saints to Christ in glory–that they may be with Me. In heaven the saints will be nearer to Christ than the apostles were when they sat at the table with Him, or heard Him pray. For ever with the Lord–this is heaven.
2. They must occupy a place: that place will be where Jesus is. We are to be, not metaphorically and fancifully, but really, truly, literally with Jesus.
3. Notice the occupation of those who are with Jesus: That they may behold My glory. Love always pines for a partner in its joys. When I have been specially charmed with glorious scenery, I have felt myself saying, How I wish that my dear wife could be here! How unselfish it is on our Lords part to think Himself not fully glorified till we behold His glory! How unselfish He will make us also, since it will be our glory to see His glory! Who would keep a brother out of it an hour?
4. Observe the fellowship which exists in the glory land. That they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me. So when the Lord brings His people home, we shall be one with Him, and He one with the Father, and we also in Him one with the Father, so that we shall then find boundless glory in beholding the glory of our Lord and God.
V. THE HOME ATMOSPHERE. Love: Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. Can you follow me in a great flight? There was a day before all days, when there was no day but the Ancient of Days. Oh the intensity of the Divine love of the Father to the Son! There was no universe, but God alone; and the whole of Gods omnipotence flowed forth in a stream of love to the Son, while the Sons whole being remained eternally one with the Father by a mysterious essential union. Love is both the source and the channel, and the end of the Divine acting. Because the Father loved the Son He gave us to Him, and ordained that we should be with Him. Let our saintly ones go home if that is the design of their going. Since all comes of Divine love, and all sets forth Divine love, let them go to Him who loves them. Hold your friends lovingly, but be ready to yield them to Jesus. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Eternal glory
I. THE OBJECTS OF THIS PRAYED. That which Thou hast given to Me and they also. But in what respects were this people given by the Father to the Son?
1. In the first instance, He gave them to Him in the everlasting covenant.
2. But, in the second instance, the Father gives them to His Son in the day of their espousals–in the day of their effectual calling. All that the Father giveth Me, saith Jesus, shall come to Me (Joh 6:37),–not all that the Father gave Me,–as if He were speaking merely of some transaction in the past,–but all that the Father giveth Me–referring to the day of their espousals to Christ. Wherefore, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure (2Pe 1:10). It is for souls, that are effectually called and justified, that Jesus prays that they may be with Him in glory.
II. THE MANNER AND SPIRIT OF THIS PRAYER. Jesus no longer says, I pray (Joh 17:9; Joh 17:15; Joh 17:20), but I will. Oh, what a wonderful prayer is this! We never read of any prayer like this, offered up by any saint on earth. Some of them, indeed, attained to great nearness to the Lord–such as Abraham, and Jacob, and Moses and David–and yet they never did, or ought to, use such language to God. And what shall we make of this prayer?
1. I think we may say, in the first instance, there is in it a beaming forth of His Divine glory, as the Eternal Son of God.
2. And surely this expression sets forth the reality and intensity of the Saviours love. It was in the exercise of infinite love that He laid down His life for them.
3. Further, we may well believe, that this is an expression of will, founded on acknowledged right. Jesus had the price of our redemption now in His hand, ready to lay it down.
4. And, as has often been remarked, this I will on the part of Christ is in perfect accord with the known will of His Father. Father, I will, says Christ; and I will too, re-echoes the voice of the Father. Oh, blessed harmony this between the will of Christ and the will of His Father!
5. But I apprehend, that this unique expression is to be explained by the unique character of the situation. Jesus is just about to lay down His life for them, and He now expresses His last will and testimony: Father, My last will is. It is truly His testimony which Jesus deposits in His Fathers hands.
III. WHAT THE BLESSINGS REALLY ARE, which Jesus thus asks for those that the Father gave Him: That where I am, there they also may be with Me, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me, &c.
1. He asks that where He is, there they also may be with Him. Ah! yes, such is His love to them, that as He came from heaven to earth to save them, so He will never be at rest until He has them with Him where He is. And is not this heaven–its chiefest, choicest ingredient–to be where Christ is? (Php 1:23).
2. But why does He pray that they may be with Him where He is? How are they to be employed? That they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me.
3. Notice here the object to be beheld–My glory which Thou hast given to Me–My glory peculiarly and emphatically,–and yet My glory which Thou hast given to Me,–not His essential glory as the Son of God viewed abstractly, and by itself; but the glory given to Him as Immanuel, God-man, Mediator. Oh, who can tell what glory now encircles Him, as the Son of Man exalted to the right hand of God? But did they not behold this glory already? Assuredly they did by faith. And it is indeed a solemn truth, that none shall behold His glory by sight in heaven that do not first behold it by faith on earth. Some beheld this glory before He came in the flesh (Joh 8:56; Joh 12:40). Some beheld it by faith while He tabernacled upon earth (Joh 1:14). And some behold it now, though He is in heaven, and they upon the earth (2Co 3:18). But the beholding mentioned in the text is something higher, nearer than all this. This is the beatific vision, to which they shall attain when He has gathered them home to be for ever with Himself. It is impossible to behold this glory and to remain a mere spectator of it. To behold it is to partake of it–to become a sharer with Him in His glory. Then shall be fulfilled the words: And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them. This is the height to which Jesus elevates His Church.
4. And one of the most interesting and delightful things connected with this glory, which they are to behold, will be to trace the source of it in the Fathers everlasting love: The glory which Thou hast given Me, in that Thou lovedst Me. The Father loved the Son with an everlasting love as His Son–His Only-Begotten Son. But He also loved Him with an everlasting love as Mediator. Then I was by Him as one brought up with Him, and I was daily His delight (Pro 8:30). Oh, surely it will be an eternal feast to the hearts of the redeemed in heaven to see the glorious unfoldings of the Fathers love towards their Covenant Head. Such, then, the two great blessings which Jesus here asks for the collective body of believers, viz., spiritual unity and eternal glory. (C. Ross, M. A.)
Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world.–The Unitarian conception of the Divine Unity being arithmetical, not dynamical, its advocates deny plurality of persons or hypostases in the Godhead. And yet they loudly proclaim the truth that God is love, a truth which most strongly urges on our acceptance the doctrine of plurality. Love always demands two at least–a subject and an object, one to love and another to be loved. If God is love, as we most emphatically believe, then He must have had some one from eternity to love. Who then is that one Himself? But self-love is no love, it is the denial of love. Who then? The Church answers–His Son, the brightness of His glory, and the express image of HisPerson. Plurality of persons must not, however, be confounded with plurality of Gods. When men are invited to Christ they are not enticed away from God, for Christ is with God; when they are called to worship Christ, they are not bidden to serve an idol, for Christ is God. (J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 24. That they may behold my glory] That they may enjoy eternal felicity with me in thy kingdom. So the word is used, Joh 3:3; Mt 5:8. The design of Christ is, that all who believe should love and obey, persevere unto the end, and be eternally united to himself, and the ever blessed God, in the kingdom of glory.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Here our Saviour wills his disciples eternal life; or rather prays to his Father, that he would preserve his disciples unto, and at last bestow upon them, eternal life and salvation; so as the phrase,
whom thou hast given me, is not to be restrained to the apostles, but to be extended to all those who, belonging to the election of grace, shall hereafter be made heirs of glory, and have everlasting life and happiness. This he expresses under the notion of being with him where he is, as Joh 14:3; which is called a being ever with the Lord, 1Th 4:17; and certainly this is the highest happiness, to be where the Son of God is.
That they may behold my glory, is the same thing with, that they may be made partakers of my glory: as to see death, is, in Scripture phrase, to die; and to see life, is to live; so, to behold the glory of God, is to be glorified.
For, saith our Saviour, thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world, both as thy only begotten Son, and as the person in whom thou hast chosen all them, and whom thou hast set apart to be the Mediator between God and man; and therefore I know that thou wilt glorify me, and that thou wilt in this thing hear my prayers, and glorify them also, whom thou hast given to me to be redeemed by my blood.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24-26. Father, I willThemajesty of this style of speaking is quite transparent. No pettycriticism will be allowed to fritter it away in any but superficialor perverted readers.
be with me where I am(Seeon Joh 14:3).
that they may behold my glorywhich thou hast given me(See on Joh17:5). Christ regards it as glory enough for us to be admitted tosee and gaze for ever upon His glory! This is “thebeatific vision”; but it shall be no mere vision, for “weshall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is” (1Jo3:2).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me,…. Not all the world, but a select number; not apostles only, nor as such; nor believers, or as such, for as such they were not given to Christ; nor as considered in the effectual calling; but as the elect of God, and by that eternal act of his grace; when they were given to Christ as his children, as his spouse, as his church, as the sheep of his hand, as his portion, and to be preserved by him; which is known by their calling and conversion: the form in which these words are delivered, is not so much by way of entreaty, as demand; they are a declaration of Christ’s will, in which he insists on it as his right, upon the foot of his purchase, and those covenant transactions which passed between him and his Father, on the behalf of those that were given to him: that they
be with me where I am; not where he was then, unless it may be meant of him as the omnipresent God, and as such then in heaven; though he rather designs where he should be as man, after his resurrection, and where the souls of saints are after death; and where they will be, soul and body, when raised again; and which is desirable both to Christ, and to his people; this was the joy that was set before him, and what they comfort one another with, that they shall be for ever with him:
that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me; not the simple abstract glory of his deity; which, as it was not given to him, is not to be seen by them; but his glory as Mediator: this was seen, though imperfectly by some, in the days of his flesh; and in the glass of the Gospel, a believer now has some views of it, and by faith sees, knows, and is assured that Christ is glorified in heaven; but hereafter the saints in their own persons, and with their own eyes, shall see him as he is, and appear in glory with him; which sight of his glory will be near, and not at a distance, appropriating and assimilating, rejoicing, satisfying, and for ever:
for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world; this is mentioned both as a reason why such a glory was given him, because of his Father’s early love to him as Mediator; and as an argument why he might expect to be heard and answered, because of the interest he had in his affections, which had been strongly towards him, even from everlasting; and because the persons he asks, or rather demands these things for, shared in the same ancient love.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Christ’s Intercessory Prayer. |
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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. 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26 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 is, I. A petition for the glorifying of all those that were given to Christ (v. 24), not only these apostles, but all believers: Father, I will that they may be with me. Observe,
1. The connection of this request with those foregoing. He had prayed that God would preserve, sanctify, and unite them; and now he prays that he would crown all his gifts with their glorification. In this method we must pray, first for grace, and then for glory (Ps. lxxxiv. 11); for in this method God gives. Far be it from the only wise God to come under the imputation either of that foolish builder who without a foundation built upon the sand, as he would if he should glorify any whom he has not first sanctified; or of that foolish builder who began to build and was not able to finish, as he would if he should sanctify any, and not glorify them.
2. The manner of the request: Father, I will. Here, as before, he addresses himself to God as a Father, and therein we must do likewise; but when he says, thelo—I will, he speaks a language peculiar to himself, and such as does not become ordinary petitioners, but very well became him who paid for what he prayed for. (1.) This intimates the authority of his intercession in general; his word was with power in heaven, as well as on earth. He entering with his own blood into the holy place, his intercession there has an uncontrollable efficacy. He intercedes as a king, for he is a priest upon his throne (like Melchizedek), a king-priest. (2.) It intimates his particular authority in this matter; he had a power to give eternal life (v. 2), and, pursuant to that power, he says, Father, I will. Though now he took upon him the form of a servant, yet that power being to be most illustriously exerted when he shall come the second time in the glory of a judge, to say, Come ye blessed, having that in his eye, he might well say, Father, I will.
3. The request itself–that all the elect might come to be with him in heaven at last, to see his glory, and to share in it. Now observe here,
(1.) Under what notion we are to hope for heaven? wherein does that happiness consist? three things make heaven:– [1.] It is to be where Christ is: Where I am; in the paradise whither Christ’s soul went at death; in the third heavens whither his soul and body went at his ascension:–Where I am, am to be shortly, am to be eternally. In this world we are but in transitu–on our passage; there we truly are where we are to be for ever; so Christ reckoned, and so must we. [2.] It is to be with him where he is; this is not tautology, but intimates that we shall not only be in the same happy place where Christ is, but that the happiness of the place will consist in his presence; this is the fulness of its joy. The very heaven of heaven is to be with Christ, there in company with him, and communion with him, Phil. i. 23. [3.] It is to behold his glory, which the Father has given him. Observe, First, The glory of the Redeemer is the brightness of heaven. That glory before which angels cover their faces was his glory, ch. xii. 41. The Lamb is the light of the new Jerusalem, Rev. xxi. 23. Christ will come in the glory of his Father, for he is the brightness of his glory. God shows his glory there, as he does his grace here, through Christ. “The Father has given me this glory,” though he was as yet in his low estate; but it was very true, and very near. Secondly, The felicity of the redeemed consists very much in the beholding of this glory; they will have the immediate view of his glorious person. I shall see God in my flesh,Job 19:26; Job 19:27. They will have a clear insight into his glorious undertaking, as it will be then accomplished; they will see into those springs of love from which flow all the streams of grace; they shall have an appropriating sight of Christ’s glory (Uxor fulget radiis mariti–The wife shines with the radiance of her husband), and an assimilating sight: they shall be changed into the same image, from glory to glory.
(2.) Upon what ground we are to hope for heaven; no other than purely the mediation and intercession of Christ, because he hath said, Father, I will. Our sanctification is our evidence, for he that has this hope in him purifies himself; but it is the will of Christ that is our title, by which will we are sanctified, Heb. x. 10. Christ speaks here as if he did not count his own happiness complete unless he had his elect to share with him in it, for it is the bringing of many sons to glory that makes the captain of our salvation perfect, Heb. ii. 10.
4. The argument to back this request: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. This is a reason, (1.) Why he expected this glory himself. Thou wilt give it to me, for thou lovedst me. The honour and power given to the Son as Mediator were founded in the Father’s love to him (ch. v. 20): the Father loves the Son, is infinitely well pleased in his undertaking, and therefore has given all things into his hands; and, the matter being concerted in the divine counsels from eternity, he is said to love him as Mediator before the foundation of the world. Or, (2.) Why he expected that those who were given to him should be with him to share in his glory: “Thou lovedst me, and them in me, and canst deny me nothing I ask for them.”
II. The conclusion of the prayer, which is designed to enforce all the petitions for the disciples, especially the last, that they may be glorified. Two things he insists upon, and pleads:–
1. The respect he had to his Father, v. 25. Observe,
(1.) The title he gives to God: O righteous Father. When he prayed that they might be sanctified, he called him holy Father; when he prays that they may be glorified, he calls him righteous Father; for it is a crown of righteousness which the righteous Judge shall give. God’s righteousness was engaged for the giving out of all that good which the Father had promised and the Son had purchased.
(2.) The character he gives of the world that lay in wickedness: The world has not known thee. Note, Ignorance of God overspreads the world of mankind; this is the darkness they sit in. Now this is urged here, [1.] To show that these disciples need the aids of special grace, both because of the necessity of their work–they were to bring a world that knew not God to the knowledge of him; and also, because of the difficulty of their work–they must bring light to those that rebelled against the light; therefore keep them. [2.] To show that they were qualified for further peculiar favours, for they had that knowledge of God which the world had not.
(3.) The plea he insists upon for himself: But I have known thee. Christ knew the Father as no one else ever did; knew upon what grounds he went in his undertaking, knew his Father’s mind in every thing, and therefore, in this prayer, came to him with confidence, as we do to one we know. Christ is here suing out blessings for those that were his; pursuing this petition, when he had said, The world has not known thee, one would expect it should follow, but they have known thee; no, their knowledge was not to be boasted of, but I have known thee, which intimates that there is nothing in us to recommend us to God’s favour, but all our interest in him, and intercourse with him, result from, and depend upon, Christ’s interest and intercourse. We are unworthy, but he is worthy.
(4.) The plea he insists upon for his disciples: And they have known that thou hast sent me; and, [1.] Hereby they are distinguished from the unbelieving world. When multitudes to whom Christ was sent, and his grace offered, would not believe that God had sent him, these knew it, and believed it, and were not ashamed to own it. Note, To know and believe in Jesus Christ, in the midst of a world that persists in ignorance and infidelity, is highly pleasing to God, and shall certainly be crowned with distinguishing glory. Singular faith qualifies for singular favours. [2.] Hereby they are interested in the mediation of Christ, and partake of the benefit of his acquaintance with the Father: “I have known thee, immediately and perfectly; and these, though they have not so known thee, nor were capable of knowing thee so, yet have known that thou hast sent me, have known that which was required of them to know, have known the Creator in the Redeemer.” Knowing Christ as sent of God, they have, in him, known the Father, and are introduced to an acquaintance with him; therefore, “Father, look after them for my sake.”
2. The respect he had to his disciples (v. 26): “I have led them into the knowledge of thee, and will do it yet more and more; with this great and kind intention, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Observe here,
(1.) What Christ had done for them: I have declared unto them thy name. [1.] This he had done for those that were his immediate followers. All the time that he went in and out among them, he made it his business to declare his Father’s name to them, and to beget in them a veneration for it. The tendency of all his sermons and miracles was to advance his Father’s honours, and to spread the knowledge of him, ch. i. 18. [2.] This he had done for all that believe on him; for they had not been brought to believe if Christ had not made known to them his Father’s name. Note, First, We are indebted to Christ for all the knowledge we have of the Father’s name; he declares it, and he opens the understanding to receive that revelation. Secondly, Those whom Christ recommends to the favour of God he first leads into an acquaintance with God.
(2.) What he intended to do yet further for them: I will declare it. To the disciples he designed to give further instructions after his resurrection (Acts i. 3), and to bring them into a much more intimate acquaintance with divine things by the pouring out of the Spirit after his ascension; and to all believers, into whose hearts he hath shined, he shines more and more. Where Christ has declared his Father’s name, he will declare it; for to him that hath shall be given; and those that know God both need and desire to know more of him. This is fitly pleaded for them: “Father, own and favour them, for they will own and honour thee.”
(3.) What he aimed at in all this; not to fill their heads with curious speculations, and furnish them with something to talk of among the learned, but to secure and advance their real happiness in two things:–
[1.] Communion with God: “Therefore I have given them the knowledge of thy name, of all that whereby thou hast made thyself known, that thy love, even that wherewith thou hast loved me, may be, not only towards them, but in them;” that is, First, “Let them have the fruits of that love for their sanctification; let the Spirit of love, with which thou hast filled me, be in them.” Christ declares his Father’s name to believers, that with that divine light darted into their minds a divine love may be shed abroad in their hearts, to be in them a commanding constraining principle of holiness, that they may partake of a divine nature. When God’s love to us comes to be in us, it is like the virtue which the loadstone gives the needle, inclining it to move towards the pole; it draws out the soul towards God in pious and devout affections, which are as the spirits of the divine life in the soul. Secondly, “Let them have the taste and relish of that love for their consolation; let them not only be interested in the love of God, by having God’s name declared to them, but, by a further declaration of it, let them have the comfort of that interest; that they may not only know God, but know that they know him,” 1 John ii. 3. It is the love of God thus shed abroad in the heart that fills it with joy, Rom 5:3; Rom 5:5. This God has provided for, that we may not only be satisfied with his loving kindness, but be satisfied of it; and so may live a life of complacency in God and communion with him; this we must pray for, this we must press after; if we have it, we must thank Christ for it; if we want it, we may thank ourselves.
[2.] Union with Christ in order hereunto: And I in them. There is no getting into the love of God but through Christ, nor can we keep ourselves in that love but by abiding in Christ, that is, having him to abide in us; nor can we have the sense and apprehension of that love but by our experience of the indwelling of Christ, that is, the Spirit of Christ in our hearts. It is Christ in us that is the only hope of glory that will not make us ashamed, Col. i. 27. All our communion with God, the reception of his love to us with our return of love to him again, passes through the hands of the Lord Jesus, and the comfort of it is owing purely to him. Christ had said but a little before, I in them (v. 23), and here it is repeated (though the sense was complete without it), and the prayer closed with it, to show how much the heart of Christ was sent upon it; all his petitions centre in this, and with this the prayers of Jesus, the Son of David, are ended: “I in them; let me have this, and I desire no more.” It is the glory of the Redeemer to dwell in the redeemed: it is his rest for ever, and he has desired it. Let us therefore make sure our union with Christ, and then take the comfort of his intercession. This prayer had an end, but that he ever lives to make.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
I will (). Perfect identity of his will with that of the Father in “this moment of spiritual exaltation” (Bernard), though in Gethsemane Jesus distinguishes between his human will and that of the Father (Mr 14:36).
Where I am ( ). That is heaven, to be with Jesus (John 12:26; John 13:36; John 14:3; Rom 8:17; 2Tim 2:11).
That they may behold ( ). Another purpose clause with and the present active subjunctive of , “that they may keep on beholding,” the endless joy of seeing Jesus “as he is” (1Jo 3:2) in heaven.
Before the foundation of the world ( ). This same phrase in Eph 1:4; 1Pet 1:20 and six other times we have (Matt 25:34; Luke 11:50; Heb 4:3; Heb 9:26; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8). Here we find the same pre-incarnate consciousness of Christ seen in 17:5.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
They – whom [] . The best texts read o, that which. The construction is similar to that in ver. 2, “that He should give eternal life,” etc. Like pan, all, in that passage, that which here refers to the body of believers taken collectively.
I will [] . See on Mt 1:19. 51 My glory. The glory which is mine. ===Joh18
CHAPTER XVIII
Compare Mt 26:30; 36 – 46; Mr 14:26; 32 42; Luk 22:39 – 46.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Father, I will that they also,” (pater thelo hina kakeinoi) “Father I will or earnestly desire in order that those also;” He could now say “I will,” while we are to say, “thy will,” Joh 7:17; Php_2:5-7; Mat 6:33; 1Co 10:31.
2) “Whom thou hast given me,” (ho dedokas moi) “Whom you have given to me,” both as believers and the church or my bride, Rev 19:5-9; Eph 5:25.
3) “Be with me where I am;” (hopou eimi ego osin me emou) “May be with me where I am,” where I am going, in glory, in your estate, Joh 14:1-3. This is the height, the apex, the consummate goal of Divine blessedness in Christ.
4) “That they may behold my glory,” (hina theorosin ten doksan ten emen) “in order that they may observe my glory,” as it is restored to me, when I return to you, Joh 17:4-5; 1Th 4:17. The glory of Christ, even now shared with His disciples, through His church, and through suffering, 2Ti 2:12; Rev 3:21.
5) “Which thou hast given me:” (hen dedokas moi) “Which you have given to me,” In my birth, Joh 1:14; In my baptism, Mat 3:16-17; In my transfiguration, Mat 17:1-5; And in my resurrection body, as I shall appear before you, 1Co 15:43; Luk 24:26.
6) “For thou lovest me,” (hoti egapesas me) “Because you did love me;” He who “loved the world,” surely first loved His Son, Joh 3:16; Joh 3:35; Joh 5:20; Mat 3:17.
7) “Before the foundation of the world.” (pro kataboles kosmou) “Before (prior to) the foundation of the present world order,” Rom 5:8-11; 2Co 5:18-19; 1Pe 1:18-21; Act 2:22-24.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
24. Father, I will. To will is put for to desire; (129) for it expresses not a command but a prayer. But it may be understood in two ways; either that he wills that the disciples may enjoy his eternal presence, or, that God may, at length, receive them into the heavenly kingdom, to which he goes before them.
That they may behold my glory. Some explain beholding his glory to mean, partaking of the glory which Christ has. Others explain it to be, to know by the experience of faith what Christ is, and how great is his majesty. For my own part, after carefully weighing the whole matter, I think that Christ speaks of the perfect happiness of believers, as if he had said, that his desire will not be satisfied till they have been received into heaven. In the same manner I explain the Beholding of the glory. At that time they saw the glory of Christ, just as a man shut up in the dark obtains, through small chinks, a feeble and glimmering light. Christ now wishes that they shall make such progress as to enjoy the full brightness of heaven. In short, he asks that the Father will conduct them, by uninterrupted progress, to the full vision of his glory.
For thou lovedst me. This also agrees better with the person of the Mediator than with Christ’s Divinity alone. It would be harsh to say that the Father loved his Wisdom; and though we were to admit it, the connection of the passage leads us to a different view. Christ, unquestionably, spoke as the Head of the Church, when he formerly prayed that the apostles might be united with him, and might behold the glory of his reign. He now says that the love of the Father is the cause of it; and, therefore, it follows that he was beloved, in so far as he was appointed to be the Redeemer of the world. With such a love did the Father love him before the creation of the world, that he might be the person in whom the Father would love his elect.
(129) “ Quand il dit, Je veux, c’est comme s’il disoit, Je desire ; ” — “When he says, I will, it is as if’ he had said, I desire.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(24) Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.Better, Father, I will that that which Thou hast given Me, even they may be with Me where I am. The thought of the unity of the Church is still prominent. It is conceived as one collective whole, that which Thou hast given Me (comp. Joh. 6:39), and the members of it are thought of as individuals composing the whole, even they may be.
The I will expresses the consciousness that His will was that of the Father, and is the prayer of Him who is one with the Father. He had before said, I pray (Joh. 17:9, and Note on Joh. 17:20), but the thought of the union with the Father, expressed in Joh. 17:23, leads to the fuller expression of His confidence that the prayer will be answered.
For the words, with Me where I am, comp. Note on Joh. 14:3.
That they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.Comp. Note on Joh. 17:22. That we are to think of the future glory of the divine-human nature of Christ, is shown by the addition of the words, which Thou hast given Me. The pre-incarnate glory of the Son was of His divine nature only, and is not, therefore, spoken of as given to Him, nor could it be given to those who believe in Him (Joh. 17:22). That with which the Father has glorified the Son, is the glory which He had with the Father before the world was (Joh. 17:5), but it is the Son of man who is glorified with it, and therefore it is that human nature is made capable of receiving it.
For thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.Comp. Note on Joh. 17:5.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. I will Not I pray, nor I ask; but this is my will. He speaks as a Son returned to his Father’s house, who tells, in loving confidence, how he will have things. He will bring his beloved comrades with him, that they may see what a glorious Prince he is, and in what a glorious palace
That they may behold my glory And themselves participate and possess it, just as seeing the kingdom of God is sharing it. (Joh 3:3.) So, beholding his glory, we are all changed into the same image from glory to glory. (2Co 3:18.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Father, that which you have given me, I will that where I am they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
‘That which you have given me’. This refers to the gift from the Father to the Son of His true people, seen as one. (Although some authorities have ‘those whom you have given me’). In them will be fulfilled all the spiritual blessing of Eph 1:3-14, for it is to this that He has called and chosen them. They are ‘His own people’ set apart to reveal His excellencies (1Pe 2:9), chosen by God, set apart and precious, and secure in His hand (Joh 10:28-29)
‘I will that –’. Christ expresses His will for His people. He wants them to be with Him beholding all the glory which is His, the glory which He once laid aside, but which was now about to be restored to Him by the Father (Joh 17:5) in accordance with His eternal love for His eternal Son.
‘That they also may be with me’. His desire for them is that finally they may see and share His glory. What a wonder this is, that we are to share His glory. This is expressed vividly and pictorially in Rev 21:22-23 where the light of the ‘city of God’ is the Lamb, a light to be enjoyed by His people. Yet as Paul makes clear there is a sense in which His people may now share that position and that glory by faith as they recognise that they have been raised with Him and seated in heavenly places in Christ (Eph 1:19 to Eph 2:6). We do not have to wait for eternity to be with Him and to behold His glory (2Co 3:18 to 2Co 4:6).
‘My glory which you have given me –’ This is not the glory which was His by right as very God. That was His by right, and only His (Joh 17:5). It is rather the glory given Him by the Father when He was chosen to be the Redeemer, the Saviour of mankind, a choice made before the foundation of the world when we also were chosen with Him (Eph 1:4), and it is His glory as glorified man.
‘Loved me before the foundation of the world’. He was not only chosen before the foundation of the world but was also loved as well, for unlike us He was there to enjoy the love of the Father from before the beginning.
That Jesus was the means by which, with the Spirit, the Godhead acted in the creation of the world, that He was the means by which the Godhead wrought salvation for the world, also along with the Spirit, means that sometimes we see Him described as though He were in a subordinate position to the Father within the Godhead. But we should recognise that this is as seen from our point of view and is more apparent than real. For they were always together as One, face to face in glorious unity (Joh 1:2), working as One for the fulfilment of Their purposes, always at One in will and purpose. It was only in their presentation to man, and in the positions that they took in the carrying out of the divine plan, that this idea of subordination was suggested. It describes more man’s way of looking at things than God’s. It was a subordination of presentation rather than of reality. In eternity they are co-equally One.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 17:24. Father, I will, &c. See Joh 17:5. “Not only with respect to those apostles whom thou hast particularly given me, but also to those in every age and country, who shall sincerely and perseveringly believe in and obey me, my will is, that, after their work here is over, they may be with me in heaven, whither I am going, (Joh 17:11.) That they may behold thefull splendor of my glory, and be made happy with seeing me so, and enjoying me for ever. (1Jn 3:2.) For thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. As thou lovedst me before I came into the world, nay, even before the world was, that is to say, from all eternity, I shall not be less the object of thy love now that I have accomplished the work which thou gavest me to perform. My disciples, therefore, in beholding the glory which I shall enjoy with thee in my glorified humanity,will be completely happy, both as it will shew them how much thou approvest my design, and how infinitely happy I am made thereby,and by the fruition and communication of thy glory.” See Joh 17:26.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 17:24 . What He has already bestowed on them, but as yet as a possession of hope (Joh 17:22 ), He wills ( ) that they may also partake of in reality. He does not merely wish it (against Beza, Calvin, B. Crusius, Tholuck, Ewald), but the Son prays in the consciousness of the bestowed on Him by the Father according to Joh 17:2 , for the communication of eternal life to His own. This consciousness is that of the most intimate confidence and clearest accord with the Father. Previously He had said ; “nunc incrementum sumit oratio,” Bengel. The idea of the last will, however (Godet), is not to be imported here.
The relative definition is placed first emphatically, because justifying the according to its contents. This is neutral ( , see the critical notes), whereby the persons ( , i.e . the disciples and all believers, Joh 17:20 ) are designated in abstracto , according to their category (comp. Joh 17:2 ; Joh 6:37 ), and the moment of , which is a motive cause to the granting of the prayer, becomes more prominent in and of itself .
] Purpose of (they should , etc.), and therewith its contents ; see on Luk 6:31 .
, , . . .] shall be realized at the Parousia . [200] See on Joh 14:3 , also on , . . ., Joh 6:39 .
] behold , experimentally, and with personal participation , as , Rom 8:17 ; Rom 8:29 , and , 2Ti 2:12 . The opposite: behold death, Joh 8:51 . [201] Against the interpretation that the beholding of the of Christ in itself (its reflection, as it were) constitutes blessedness (Olshausen, comp. Chrysostom and Euth. Zigabenus), Joh 17:22 testifies, although it is also essentially included in it, 1Jn 3:2 ; Heb 12:14 .
, , . . .] Further added in childlike feeling of gratitude to , and that proleptically (comp. ), because the Lord is on the point of entering into this (Joh 17:1 ), as if He had already received it (comp. Joh 17:22 ): whom Thou gavest me, because (motive of the .) Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world ( . . not belonging to . . , as Paulus and B. Crusius think). The of Christ, as the (Joh 17:5 ), was, according to the mode of view and expression of the N. T., not one imparted to Him from love, but in virtue of the ontologically Trinitarian relation to the Father, [202] that which pertained with metaphysical necessity to the Son in the unity of the divine nature, the , which He as , Joh 1:1 , had , being from eternity eternally with the Father (Joh 17:5 ); whereas the here intended is in His exaltation after the completion of His work, since it concerned His entire person, including its human side, that given to Him by the Father from love (Phi 2:9 ), from that love, however, which did not first originate in time, but was already cherished by the Father toward the Son before the foundation of the world. That possessed by Jesus before His incarnation, to which for the most part (as still Luthardt, Ebrard, Hengstehberg) reference is wrongly made, whereby, according to Joh 17:5 , would have to be conceived of as brought about through the generation of the , was the purely divine ; that given to Him through His exaltation is indeed the same, into which He now again has entered, but because it is the glory of the , divine-human in eternal consummation (Phi 2:9 ). Comp. on Joh 17:5 ; Joh 1:14 . Nowhere in the N. T. is the premundane of the Son designated as given to Him (Phi 2:6 ; Col 1:15 ; 2Co 8:9 ), although this would be imaginable in and of itself as an eternal self-communication of Fatherly love (comp. Brckner and Ebrard). [203] Further, it is strangely incorrect that the , which the Father has given to the Son, has been explained here differently from that in Joh 17:22 .
The love of the Father to the Son before the foundation of the world implies the personal pre-existence of the latter with God, but is not reconcilable with the idea of the pre-temporal ideal existence which He has had in God, as the archetype of humanity. This in answer to Beyschlag, p. 87, who considers the relation as analogous to the eternal election of grace, Eph 1:4 , Rom 8:29 ; which is not appropriate, since the election of grace concerns those as yet not in existence , namely, future believers, whom God as future. The Son, however, whom He loved, must personally exist with the Father, since it was in Christ that the motive already lay for the election of grace (see on Eph 1:4 ). Comp. also on Joh 17:5 . To suppose that God, according to the present passage, had loved His own ideal of humanity before the foundation of the world, the idea consequently of His own thought, is an idea without any analogy in the N. T., and we thereby arrive at an anthropopathic self-love , as men form to themselves an ideal, and are glad to attain it.
[200] The intermediate state denoted in Phi 1:23 (see in loc. ) is not meant (Hengstenberg), nor a part of the meaning (Godet), but as what follows shows, the completed fellowship of glory . Comp. 1Jn 3:2 .
[201] Baur thus explains away the historical sense: “They behold this glory, see it in reality before them, if in them, through the communication of the true God consciousness, and of the eternal life thereby conditioned, through which they have become one with Jesus and the Father, just as He is one with the Father, the divine principle ( to this , according to Baur, , ver. 22, refers) has realized itself as that which it is in itself.”
[202] Comp. J. Mller, Von der Snde , II. p. 183 f.
[203] Euth. Zigabenus: , , , , . But in the N. T. this mode of presentation is unsupported; in ver. 26, to which Johansson appeals, in truth refers first to the time of the sending into the world.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1716
CHRISTS INTERCESSION
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.
THERE is an height, and depth, and length, and breadth in the love of Christ, which can never be explored. His assumption of our sinful nature, and his submission to the accursed death of the cross for our sake, will fill the universe with wonder to all eternity. Next to those unparalleled instances of his love, we cannot but notice the concern which he expressed for his peoples welfare in the last hours of his life. Well did he know all that was coming upon him; yet instead of being occupied, as might have been expected, about his own sufferings, he was intent only on the salvation of others. Having prayed in the hearing of his Disciples that they, and all his followers to the end of the world, might be preserved and sanctified, he adds the petition which we have now read; in discoursing on which we shall consider,
I.
The subject-matter of the petition
The manner in which it is expressed is worthy of notice.
[It is generally considered as an authoritative demand, which he made in consequence of the right he had in them, and with a more especial view to their comfort. Certain it is that, as his people had been given him by the Father, and as he was now about to confirm his title to them by the surrender of his own life in their stead, he might justly claim the blessings which he asked in their behalf. But the same expression is elsewhere used where nothing more is intended than great earnestness in the request [Note: Mar 6:25; Mar 10:35.]; and this seems to be the real import of the words before us. Our Lord had come down from heaven to rescue his people from destruction; nor could he endure the thought of returning thither without first securing them to himself as the trophies of his victory. Hence was there an extraordinary emphasis laid on this petition, because, if that should not be granted, all which he had done and suffered for them would be in vain.]
The petition itself represents the final glorification of all his Disciples
[Jesus was now going to his Father in heaven. He was already in heaven as to his divine nature; but his human nature also was speedily to be removed thither. A short separation from them was necessary, in order that he might prosecute his mediatorial work in heaven, and they discharge their apostolic office on earth. But he had promised that, where he was, there should also his servants be [Note: Joh 12:26.]; and that, as he was going to prepare mansions for them, so he would surely come again and receive them to himself, that they might be with him for ever [Note: Joh 14:3.]. Besides, he had already given them a glimpse of his glory, which they had seen through the veil of his flesh [Note: Joh 1:14. 2Pe 1:16-17.]; and taught them to expect that what they had beheld in the dawn, should be revealed to them in its meridian splendour [Note: Mat 19:28.]. These expectations he would never disappoint. Hence in his intercession he gave them an additional assurance, that they should in due time possess the promised bliss. At the same time he taught them by his example, that the promises of God were not to supersede, but to encourage prayer: and that, however secure they might feel themselves in knowing the eternal purposes of God, they were never to relax their earnestness in prayer till every decree of God should be finally accomplished [Note: To the same effect see Jer 29:11-12 and Eze 36:37.].]
As we cannot conceive any petition more important, we shall proceed to mark,
II.
The blessedness of those who are interested in it
There are two things suggested for their comfort,
1.
Their security in this world
[The saints are frequently, especially in this intercessory prayer, spoken of as given to Christ by the Father. And when were they given him, but from all eternity [Note: Eph 1:4.]? Nor was it merely in his personal, but also in his official character, as the head and representative of his elect, that the Father loved Christ from before the foundation of the world [Note: Isa 42:1.]. Can we suppose then that they were given to Christ, and that it was left uncertain whether he should ever enjoy the gift? Has not our Lord himself repeatedly declared, that they should never perish, and that none should ever pluck them out of his hand [Note: Joh 10:28-29.]? Further, it was for them that Jesus prayed; and we know that him the Father heareth always. For them too he is carrying on his intercession in heaven; and is not he an all-prevailing Advocate? yea, is not his intercession for them a ground of assurance, that he both can, and will, save them to the uttermost [Note: Heb 7:25.]? Fear not then, little flock, for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom [Note: Luk 12:32.]. Rejoice in your security, and know that having loved you, our Lord will love you to the end [Note: Joh 13:1.] having bought you with a price, he will never suffer himself to be deprived of his purchased possession.]
2.
Their felicity in the world to come
[It is the glory of Christ which irradiates heaven, and makes it what it is; the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Hence the Apostle speaks of being with Christ, and being present with the Lord, as terms equivalent with the glorification of his soul: yea, he mentions it as that which conveys the most consoling idea of heaven [Note: 1Th 4:18.]. Now if we only consider what unspeakable joy arises from a view of Christ, through the medium of the written word, we may well conceive that an immediate vision of his unveiled glory constitutes the felicity of heaven. And this, believer, is thy portion: it is reserved for thee, and thou for it. Thou shalt behold him face to face [Note: 1Co 13:12.]. Though now thou canst not endure the splendour of the meridian sun, thou shalt soon have thine organs of vision strengthened to gaze on him, who is the brightness of the Fathers glory and the express image of his person. What felicity must this be! If the Queen of Sheba, enraptured with the glory of Solomon, exclaimed, Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants who stand before thee, and that hear thy wisdom [Note: 1Ki 10:8.] what must be the happiness of those who behold the Lamb upon his throne, and enjoy that beatific vision without weariness or intermission? O that we might all aspire after this honour, and that not one of us might ever come short of it!]
Application
1.
Let every one of us now inquire, Am I interested in this prayer?
[This surely is an important inquiry: it is, in fact, to ask, Shall I behold my Saviours face with joy, or shall I behold it only at an unapproachable distance, a wretched outcast from heaven, an hopeless monument of Gods displeasure? Let us enter into this inquiry with fear and trembling. But it may be asked, Is it not presumptuous to attempt an answer to such an inquiry? for who can specify the persons that have been. given to Christ? who hath looked into the book of Gods decrees, that he shall undertake to answer such a question as this? We answer, that the question may easily be resolved, without presuming to pry into the secrets of God. The point may be determined by asking, Have I given myself to Christ? Have I as a guilty, helpless, and undone creature, given up myself to Christ, to be washed in his blood, and to be sanctified by his Spirit? Have I done this repeatedly, with deep humiliation, with fervent prayer, with faith unfeigned? If our consciences bear witness that we have indeed done this, then do we know that the Father gave us to him from all eternity; for we love him because he first loved us [Note: 1Jn 4:19.]; and we chose him only in consequence of our having before been chosen of him [Note: Joh 15:16.]. Hither then let our researches be directed; nor let us ever conclude ourselves his, till we have shewn ourselves willing and desirous to he his.]
2.
Let us all live as those who are looking for a speedy answer to it
[How worthless would all earthly vanities appear, if we were looking daily for the glory that shall be revealed! and how effectually would death be disarmed of its sting! Methinks, we should be looking for and hasting to the coming of that day: we should be desiring to depart, that we may be with Christ, and that mortality, with all its cares or pleasures, may be swallowed up of life, Let this be your state, brethren, and you have nothing to fear. Only maintain habitual fellowship with Christ here, and doubtless ye shall be with him hereafter. Be daily surveying his glory now, and you shall assuredly behold it in the world to come. His prayer was offered not for his immediate Disciples only, but for all who should believe on him through their word. Be ye of this number, and all the glory of heaven shall be yours.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Ver. 24. Father, I will, &c. ] Every word is full of life and joy. I would not (saith Mr Baxter) for all the world that one verse had been left out of the Bible. And again the same author elsewhere saith, there is more worth in those four chapters, Joh 14:1-31 ; Joh 15:1-27 ; Joh 16:1-33 ; Joh 17:1-26 , than in all the books in the world besides. (Saint’s Everlasting Rest.)
Be with me, where I am ] It is part of Christ’s joy that we shall be in the place where he is. He will not therefore be long without us. David is sent by God to Hebron to be crowned: he will not go up alone, but takes with him all his men, with all their households. They shall take such part as himself, notwithstanding their recent rebellion at Ziklag. So dealeth the Lord Christ with all his, and this should digest all their sorrows. Christ will not be happy alone; as a tender father, he can enjoy nothing if his children may not have part with him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
24. ] The neuter has a peculiar solemnity, uniting the whole Church together as one gift of the Father to the Son: see ch. Joh 6:39 , note. Then the resolves it into the great multitude whom no man can number, and comes home to the heart of every individual believer with inexpressibly sweet assurance of an eternity with Christ.
is not the of ch. Joh 12:21 : 1Co 7:7 , but more like that of Mar 6:25 , an expression of will founded on acknowledged right: compare , Luk 22:29 .
Compare also the and . , with ch. Joh 5:21 ; Joh 6:44 .
] i.e. in the glorified state: see ch. Joh 12:26 and note: also ch. Joh 14:3 .
. ] This is the completion of Joh 17:22 , the open beholding of His glory, spoken of 1Jn 3:2 , which shall be coincident with our being changed into His perfect image.
. is to behold and partake the very case supposes it. No mere spectator could behold this glory. See Rom 8:17 end, and 2Co 3:18 .
. . ] The most glorious part of this sight of glory will be to behold the whole mystery of redemption unfolded in the glory of Christ’s Person, and to see how, before the being of the creature, that eternal Love was, which gave the glory to Christ of which all creation is but the exponent.
On . . see reff.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 17:24 . , , “that which Thou hast given me,” i.e. , the community of believers; , “I will,” no longer, , “that where I am, there they may be also”; resolved into individuals. To share in the destiny of Christ has already been promised to His followers, Joh 10:26 ; cf. Joh 14:3 . This is the consummation of Christian blessedness. They are not only in the same condition as their Lord, but enjoy it in fellowship with Him, . . To see Christ honoured and supreme must ever be the Christian’s joy. But this glory of Christ resulting from the eternal love of the Father is not only seen but shared in by the disciples in the measure of their capacity, Joh 5:22 , 2Ti 2:12 , Rev 3:21 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
John
THE HIGH PRIEST’ S PRAYER
THE FOLDED FLOCK
Joh 17:24
This wonderful prayer is a for Jesus Himself, b for the Apostles, c for the whole Church on earth and in heaven.
I. The prayer.
We have here a glimpse of the blessed state of the dead in Christ.
a Local presence with Christ. His glorified body is somewhere. The value of this thought is that it gives solidity to our ideas of a future life. There they are. We need not dwell on the metaphysical difficulties about locality for disembodied spirits.
If a spirit can be localised in a body, I suppose it can be localised without a body; but passing by all that, we have the hope held out here of a real local presence with the glorified humanity of our Lord. We speak of the dead as gone from us, and we have that idea far more vividly in our minds than that of their having gone to Him. We speak of the ‘departed,’ but we do not think of them as ‘arrived.’ We look down to the narrow grave, but we forget ‘He is not here, He is risen. Why seek ye the living among the dead?’ Ah! if we could only bring home to our hearts the solid prose of the conviction that where Christ is there His servants are, and that not in the diffused ubiquity of His Divine Omnipresence, it would go far to remove the darkness and vague mist which wrap the future, and to set it as it really is before us, as a solid definite reality. We see the sails glide away out into the west as the sun goes down, and we think of them as tossing on a midnight sea, an unfathomable waste. Try to think of them more truly. As in that old miracle, He comes to them walking on the water in the night watch, and if at first they are terrified, His voice brings back hope to the heart that is beginning to stand still, and immediately they are at the land whither they go. Now, as they sink from our sight, they are in port, sails furled and anchor dropped, and green fields round them, even while we watch the sinking masts, and cannot yet rightly tell whether the fading sail has faded wholly.
b Communion with Christ.
Our Lord says not only ‘that where I am, they also may be,’ but adds ‘with Me.’ That is not a superfluous addition, but emphasises the thought of a communion which is more intimate and blessed than local presence alone would be.
The communion here is real but imperfect. It is perfected there on our part by the dropping away of flesh and sin, by change of circumstances, by emancipation from cares and toils necessary here, by the development of new powers and surroundings, and on His side by new manifestations.
c Vision of His glory.
The crown of this utterance of Christ’s will is ‘that they may behold My glory.’ In an earlier part of this prayer our Lord had spoken of the ‘glory which I had with Thee before the world was.’ But probably the glory ‘given’ is not that of essential Divinity, but that of His mediatorial work. To His people ‘with Him where He is,’ are imparted fuller views of Christ as Saviour, deeper notions of His work, clearer perception of His rule in providence and nature. This is the loftiest employment of the spirits who are perfected and lapped in ‘pleasures for evermore’ by their union with the glorified Jesus.
Surely this is grander than all metaphorical pictures of heaven.
II. The incipient fulfilment now going on.
We need not discuss difficulties about the ‘intermediate state,’ for this at all events is true, that to be ‘absent from the body’ is to be ‘present with the Lord.’
A Christian death is an answer to this prayer. True, for Christians as for all, the physical necessity is an imperative law. True, the punitive aspect of death is retained for them. But yet the law is wielded by Christ, and while death remains, its whole aspect is changed. So we may think of those who have departed in His faith and fear as gone in answer to this prayer.
How beautiful that is! Slowly, one by one, they are gathered in, as the stars one by one light up. Place after place is filled.
Thus through the ages the prayer works on, and our dear ones have gone from us, but they have gone to Him. We weep, but they rejoice. To us their departure is the result of an iron law, of a penal necessity, of some secondary cause; but to them it is seen to be the answer to His mighty prayer. They hear His voice and follow Him when He says, ‘Come up hither.’
III. The final fulfilment still future.
a Perfect in degree.
b Perfect in extent, when all shall be gathered together and the ‘whole family’ shall be ‘in heaven,’ and Christ’s own word receives its crowning realisation, that ‘of all whom the Father hath given Him He has lost nothing.’
And these are not some handful picked out by a decree which we can neither fathom nor alter, but Christ is given to us all, and if we choose to take Him, then for us He has ascended; and as we watch Him going up the voice comes to us: ‘I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
will. Greek. thelo. App-102. Compare Joh 12:21; Joh 15:7; Joh 16:19.
behold. Greek. theoreo. App-133. Compare Joh 2:23,
the foundation, &c. See App-146.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
24. ] The neuter has a peculiar solemnity, uniting the whole Church together as one gift of the Father to the Son: see ch. Joh 6:39, note. Then the resolves it into the great multitude whom no man can number, and comes home to the heart of every individual believer with inexpressibly sweet assurance of an eternity with Christ.
is not the of ch. Joh 12:21 : 1Co 7:7, but more like that of Mar 6:25,-an expression of will founded on acknowledged right: compare , Luk 22:29.
Compare also the and . , with ch. Joh 5:21; Joh 6:44.
] i.e. in the glorified state: see ch. Joh 12:26 and note: also ch. Joh 14:3.
.] This is the completion of Joh 17:22,-the open beholding of His glory, spoken of 1Jn 3:2, which shall be coincident with our being changed into His perfect image.
. is to behold and partake-the very case supposes it. No mere spectator could behold this glory. See Rom 8:17 end, and 2Co 3:18.
. .] The most glorious part of this sight of glory will be to behold the whole mystery of redemption unfolded in the glory of Christs Person,-and to see how, before the being of the creature, that eternal Love was, which gave the glory to Christ of which all creation is but the exponent.
On . . see reff.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 17:24. , whom) He returns to the apostles: in Joh 17:25, these.-, I will) He had said in Joh 17:9; Joh 17:15; Joh 17:20, , I ask; now His language assumes an increase in force. It is to be interpreted, I will; for, I would desire, is too weak a rendering. Jesus asks with the right of a claim, and demands with confidence, as the Son, not a servant. Comp. Psa 2:8, Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee, etc.; Mar 10:35, James and John say, Master, we would () that Thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire; Joh 6:25, the daughter of Herodias to Herod, I will () that thou give me forthwith. [In a different tone from what He used in behalf of Himself at the Mount of Olives, Mat 26:39, Let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.]-) that they may behold, viz. in enjoying it.-, before) Construe with, Thou lovedst Me. The economy of salvation flows from eternity to eternity. Between eternity and the foundation of the world no intervening period is admissible (is given). For in the beginning God created, etc. [Joh 17:5].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 17:24
Joh 17:24
Father, I desire 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.-When they became the children of God, this love was intensified and he desired that they should be with him, see his glory in the world of glory bestowed upon him by his Father, and share that glory with him. The Father loved him before the world was, and gave him the glory that he now desired them to behold and share.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I will: Joh 12:26, Joh 14:3, Mat 25:21, Mat 25:23, Mat 26:29, Luk 12:37, Luk 22:28-30, Luk 23:43, 2Co 5:8, Phi 1:23, 1Th 4:17, Rev 3:21, Rev 7:14-17
may: Gen 45:13, 1Co 13:12, 2Co 3:18, 2Co 4:6, 1Jo 3:2, Rev 21:22
for: Joh 17:5, Pro 8:21-31
Reciprocal: Gen 45:10 – be near Gen 47:11 – Rameses 1Ch 16:27 – Glory Psa 15:1 – Lord Psa 41:12 – settest Psa 45:14 – She Psa 73:24 – receive Psa 101:6 – that they Psa 140:13 – the upright Pro 8:23 – General Son 6:2 – and to Son 7:10 – his Isa 33:17 – eyes Isa 35:2 – they shall Isa 66:18 – and see Mal 3:17 – they shall Mat 13:35 – from Mat 17:2 – his face Mat 17:4 – it is Mar 10:40 – General Luk 9:32 – they saw Luk 10:21 – I thank Joh 6:37 – that Joh 7:34 – General Joh 8:58 – Before Joh 10:17 – General Joh 14:2 – I go Joh 16:26 – that Joh 17:2 – give Joh 17:6 – the men Joh 17:23 – and hast Joh 18:11 – my Rom 8:17 – heirs of Rom 8:30 – he justified Eph 1:4 – before Col 1:13 – his dear Son Col 3:4 – ye 2Th 2:14 – to 2Ti 1:9 – before 2Ti 2:10 – obtain Tit 1:2 – before Heb 9:26 – the foundation Rev 2:27 – even Rev 17:8 – from Rev 21:23 – for Rev 22:3 – but Rev 22:4 – they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
CHRISTS WISH FOR HIS PEOPLE
Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory.
Joh 17:24
The truth that men are judged by their desires finds its highest illustration in Jesus. The perfectness of His wishes. This is one of Christs wishes. What does it mean? What would be the effect of its fulfilment? A prayer is merely a wish turned Godward. Christ looked for the fulfilment of His wishes, not to Himself and not to the things about Him, but to His Father; and so in His prayer we have simply the utterance Godward of what He was desiring in His heart.
I. This wish was spoken at Christs Last Supper with His disciples.It is an expression of the Saviours affection for His disciples, His dread of being separated from them. When friend is going away from friend, how naturally the wish springs up into words, Oh, if I could only take you with me! These primary emotions do exist in Jesus, the proof-marks of His true humanity, the patterns for all humanity; but they are deeper and richer things in Him than in ordinary men, in proportion to the depth and richness of His human nature and the Divinity that was mingled with it. Thus, then, we understand Christs longing for the companionship of His disciples. He wanted them to be with Him. That wish of His must have run through all the scale of companionship; but it must have completed itself in the desire that they should be like Him, that they should have His character, that in the obedience and communion of God, where He abode, they should abide with Him. I do not think that we can tell how much it signifies, this wish of Jesus, in its lower meaning of physical companionship. I am sure it does mean something. I am sure that in the Bible something is promised, some close perpetual association of the souls of Christs redeemed to Him, which, over and above the likeness which is to come between their souls and His, shall correspond in some celestial way to that close, visible, tangible propinquity with which they sat by one another at the table in the upper chamber. The seeing His face, the walking with Him in white in heaven, are not wholly figures.
II. He wants them to be with Him, that they may behold His glory.Before the words can be cut entirely free from low associations and soar into the high, pure meaning which belongs to them, we must remember what Christs glory is which He wants us to see. Its essence, the heart and soul of it, is His grace and goodness. What outward splendour may clothe Christ eternally we cannot know. But this we are sure of, that the glory of God must issue from and consist in the goodness of God, not in His power. It is the very purpose of religion, it is the battle that Christianity has been fighting with the standards of the world for all these centuries, to make men know that power without goodness is not really glorious. In Him, too, nothing but goodness can be really glorious in the eyes of moral creatures. His power is the emphasis set upon His goodness; the brilliant light thrown through the perfect window, showing the windows glory, not its own. It is the prerogative of our morality that only in a moral character can it discover the glory that shall call out its fullest adoration. It is Christs goodness, then, that He would have His people see. In various words, under various figures, Christ is the intercessor, always offering prayers for men; but all His prayers resolve themselves into the same wish; all are asking for the one same thing. It is always that men become saved from sin, that His goodness might come to us and we become good. There is something very impressive, I think, about this, as it becomes more and more plain to us. I hear God at work everywhere on the lives of men. Wherever I go I hear men answering to some touch of His. They may not know that it is His touch which they are answering; but one who believes in Him knows that these things about us are not all doing themselves, but He does them.
III. Christ asked His Father simply for this, that those whom He loved might come to Him in spiritual likeness.We use still, in our religious talk, the words which express what Christ desired, but too often they have acquired some small meaning and degenerated into cant. We talk about a man being far from Christ. Men mean by that too often something technical, something narrow; the not having undertaken certain ceremonies, or passed through certain experiences. But how much the words really mean. What a terrible thing it is to be really far from Christ! To be far from purity is to be impure. To be far from spirituality is to be sensual. To go away from the light is to go into the outer darkness. Not to be with Him where He is is to be away from Him where He is not, where sin is and the misery that belongs to sin. And then that other phrase, which we use so often, Coming nearer and nearer to Christ, we say; that does not mean creeping into a refuge where we can be safe. It means becoming better and better men; repeating His character more and more in ours. The only true danger is sin, and so the only true safety is holiness. What a sublime ambition! The dearest and noblest being that our souls can dream of stands before us and says, Come unto Me; stands over us and prays for us, Father, bring them where I am.
Bishop Phillips Brooks.
Illustration
Bunyans words are worth quoting. The immortal dreamer says: Now, just as the gates were opened to let in the men, I looked in after them, and behold the city shone like the sun; the streets also were paved with gold, and in them walked many men, with crowns on their heads, palms in their heads, and golden harps, to sing praises withal. There were also them that had wings, and they answered one another without intermission, saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. And, after that, they shut up the gates, which, when 1 had seen, I wished myself among them, I wished myself among them. I marvel not at that wish; it was realised in Bunyans case when he entered into the joy of his Lord. Ah! I dare say many a burdened heart echoes that wish. I wish myself among them. Here I am tossed about with conflict, and sin, and fear. Oh, that I were yonder! But, hush! Gods time is best. And be very sure Christ wont be in glory and leave you behind.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
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This part of the prayer was looking forward to the time after the judgment. It is the same thing that Jesus promised them in chapter 14:3. Again he refers to the glory he had with the Father when he was wholly divine. In order for that to be possible with the disciples, so that they could also have at least some measure of the same personal glory, they would have to be faithful servants of their Master to the end of life. After the resurrection they will be in the glorified state and fit for the association with Jesus in glory. World is from KOSMOS which means the inhabitants of the earth. Jesus existed before all other beings except his Father, and enjoyed His love such as a fond parent bestows on his child.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 17:24. Father, what thou hast given me, I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, because thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. Having prayed for the spirituality and unity of all His disciples, Jesus now, in the closing petitions of His prayer, passes to the thought of their complete deliverance from the troubles of the world, and of their entrance with Him upon that glory with which He Himself was about to be glorified. It is difficult to translate the Greek verb rendered I will in the Authorised Version. I will is too strong; perhaps I desire comes nearest to the original. The peculiar structure of the verse, in which the clause what Thou hast given Me is so remarkably thrown forward, arises from the fact that believers are viewed not so much distributively as in the unity immediately present to the Redeemers mind. It is the perfect glory of Jesus not only as Son of God but also as Son of man that is spoken of,His glory shining forth in undimmed brightness in the heavenly world. There is the true home of His being; and hence not I shall be, but I am, as in chap. Joh 14:3. Again, however, we must remember that this glory is not that of outward estate. It is the spiritual glory of perfect union with the Father, seen and shared in apart from the shadows of earth. Hence the last words of the verse do not contain a statement of the ground upon which Jesus prays for His own, but of the nature of the glory which they are to behold when the ineffable, everlasting love of the Father to the Son is seen by them poured forth on Him who has taken the human nature into perfect union with the Divine. That had not been beheld in the Man of Sorrows: it shall be beheld whenHis sorrows over, but His humanity as true as it had been upon the earthHe is crowned with glory. The full, the perfect love of God will then be seen to have embraced humanity in its tenderest outgoings, and the joy of the redeemed in the vision and fruition of that love will be complete (comp. on Joh 17:22).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our Saviour had prayed for his disciples’ sanctification before, here he prays for their glorification:
1. That they may be where he is; now Christ is with them in his ordinances, in his word, and at his table; ere long they shall be with him as his friends, as his spouse, as his companions, in his kingdom.
2. That they may be with him where he is; that is more than the former; a blind man may be where the sun is, but not with the sun, because he doth not enjoy the light and benefit of it. To be with Christ where he is, imports union and communion with him.
3. That being with him where he is, they may behold his glory; that is, to see it, and everlastingly to possess and enjoy it.
Learn, 1. That all those that are given to Christ as his charge, and as his reward, shall certainly come to heaven to him; Father, I will that they be with me; because I have merited that they should be with me; I will that they behold my glory, because I have purchased it at so dear a rate.
Learn, 2. That the work and employment of the saints in heaven chiefly consist in seeing and enjoying Christ’s glory; for it will be a possessive sight; the language of every look will be, “This happiness is mine, this glory is mine.”
3. That the top and height of the saints’ happiness in heaven consists in this, that they shall be with Christ; Father, I will that they may be with me, to behold my glory.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Joh 17:24. Father, I will He asks as one having a right to be heard; and prays, not as a servant, but as a Son; that they also whom thou hast given me Not only my apostles and first disciples, but all my believing, loving, and obedient people; may be with me where I am Namely, in that heavenly world to which I am now removing. As if he had said, Since no improvements, either in holiness or comfort, can completely answer the purposes of my love and the promises of my grace to them; therefore I request felicity for them in another and more perfect state of things; that they may behold May contemplate with everlasting and delightful admiration; my glory, which thou hast By thy sure appointment; given me And art just ready to bestow upon me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world And didst then decree for me that mediatorial kingdom with which thou art now about to invest me. Observe, reader, the happiness of heaven chiefly consists in beholding the glory of the Father and of the Son, Mat 5:8; 1Jn 3:2.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 24. Father, my will is that those 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.
Perfect unity is the last step before the goal of perfect glory. The repetition of the invocation Father, Joh 17:24-25, indicates the increasing urgency with which Jesus prays, as He draws nearer the end. The reading , that which thou hast given me, is probably the true one; it brings out the unity of the believers, that perfect which the body of the elect will form (Joh 17:23). : Jesus no longer says, I pray, but I will! This expression is found nowhere else on His lips; it is ordinarily explained by saying that the Son expresses Himself thus, because He feels Himself fully in accord on this point with the Father. But was not this the case in general in all His prayers! This unique expression must be in harmony with the unique character of the situation. And the unique point in this latter is that it is a question of Jesus as dying. It is His testament which Jesus here places in the hands of His Father, and, as the expression is, His last will.
All that which Jesus has just asked for them had for its aim to render them fit for the immediate beholding of His glory, from the very moment of their death (Joh 14:3). There is no question here of the Parousia, as Weiss thinks. The sphere of this divine manifestation is at once inward and heavenly. Meyer thinks that the glory, of which Jesus says that the Father has given it to Him, cannot be His divine glory before the incarnation, and must designate His glory after His exaltation, and He sees in the following words: for thou lovedst me before,…the ground on which God thus glorifies Jesus. But the ground of the exaltation of Jesus is quite differently described, not only by Paul (Php 2:9-11), but also by John himself, Joh 10:17, Joh 13:32, Joh 15:10 : it is His perfect obedience even to death and even to the death of the cross.
The therefore means: in that, and serves to explain wherein this glory of the Son consists: it is in having been the eternal object of the Father’s love. Is there any glory to be compared with this? The word given may be incompatible with a certain conception of the divine Trinity; it is not so with that of John, which includes as a necessary element the relation of subordination between the Son and the Father; comp. Joh 1:1 (with God); Joh 1:18 (in the bosom of the Father);Joh 5:26 (it has been givenhim to have life in himself), etc. The words: before the foundation of the world, imply eternity, for the world includes all that which has come into existence. This saying of Jesus is that which leads us farthest into the divine depths. It shows Christian speculation on what path it must seek the solution of the relations of the Trinity; love is the key of this mystery. And as this love is eternal, and consequently has no more an end than it has had a beginning, it may one day become for believers the permanent object of an immediate contemplation, through which they will find themselves initiated into the mystery of the essence of the Son and of His eternal generation. Far more; as, by the complete community which the Son has succeeded in establishing between them and Him, they are the objects of a similar love to that of which the Son is the object, they will find themselves thus introduced into the eternal movement of the divine life itself. This appears from the word behold. One does not behold a fact of this order without being in some manner associated with it. Here is the height to which Jesus elevates the Church. After having drawn His spouse from the midst of a world sunk in evil, He introduces her into the sphere of the divine life.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Verse 24
Where I am; am to be.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
The request for glorification 17:24-26
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Here Jesus’ request clearly included the Eleven with all the elect. He wanted them all to observe (Gr. theorosin) the glory that the Father would restore to the Son following His ascension (Joh 17:5; cf. 1Jn 3:2). This appears to be a reference to Jesus’ essential preexistent glory. His humiliation in the Incarnation was only temporary. Glorification will begin for Christians initially at death or the Rapture, whichever comes first (cf. Joh 14:2-3; 2Co 5:6-8). Our glorification includes being with Jesus forever (cf. Col 3:4; 1Th 4:17). Since Jesus’ will (Gr. thelo) was identical with the Father’s will (cf. Joh 4:34; Joh 5:30; Joh 6:38), we can know that the Father will grant this request.
This is one of the clearest passages in the New Testament that sets forth the eternal subordination of the Son to the Father (cf. 1Co 15:24; 1Co 15:28; Eph 3:21; Php 2:9-11). [Note: See John V. Dahms, "The Subordination of the Son," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37:3 (September 1994):351-64.]