John 17:20

Next to their purity he prays for their unity; for the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable; and amity is amiable indeed when it is like the ointment on Aaron's holy head, and the dew on Zion's holy hill. Observe,

I. Who are included in this prayer (Joh 17:20): "Not these only, not these only that are now my disciples" (the eleven, the seventy, with others, men and women that followed him when he was here on earth), "but for those also who shall believe on me through their word, either preached by them in their own day or written by them for the generations to come; I pray for them all, that they all may be one in their interest in this prayer, and may all receive benefit by it." Note, here, 1. Those, and those only, are interested in the mediation of Christ, that do, or shall, believe in him. This is that by which they are described, and it comprehends all the character and duty of a Christian. They that lived then, saw and believed, but they in after ages have not seen, and yet have believed. 2. It is through the word that souls are brought to believe on Christ, and it is for this end that Christ appointed the scriptures to be written, and a standing ministry to continue in the church, while the church stands, that is, while the world stands, for the raising up of a seed. 3. It is certainly and infallibly known to Christ who shall believe on him. He does not here pray at a venture, upon a contingency depending on the treacherous will of man, which pretends to be free, but by reason of sin is in bondage with its children; no, Christ knew very well whom he prayed for, the matter was reduced to a certainty by the divine prescience and purpose; he knew who were given him, who being ordained to eternal life, were entered in the Lamb's book, and should undoubtedly believe, Act 13:48. 4. Jesus Christ intercedes not only for great and eminent believers, but for the meanest and weakest; not for those only that are to be employed in the highest post of trust and honour in his kingdom, but for all, even those that in the eye of the world are inconsiderable. As the divine providence extends itself to the meanest creature, so does the divine grace to the meanest Christian. The good Shepherd has an eye even to the poor of the flock. 5. Jesus Christ in his mediation had an actual regard to those of the chosen remnant that were yet unborn, the people that should be created (Psa 22:31), the other sheep which he must yet bring. Before they are formed in the womb he knows them (Jer 1:5), and prayers are filed in heaven for them beforehand, by him who declareth the end from the beginning, and calleth things that are not as though they were.

II. What is intended in this prayer (Joh 17:21): That they all may be one. The same was said before (Joh 17:11), that they may be one as we are, and again, Joh 17:22. The heart of Christ was much upon this. Some think that the oneness prayed for in Joh 17:11 has special reference to the disciples as ministers and apostles, that they might be one in their testimony to Christ; and that the harmony of the evangelists, and concurrence of the first preachers of the gospel, are owing to this prayer. Let them be not only of one heart, but of one mouth, speaking the same thing. The unity of the gospel ministers is both the beauty and strength of the gospel interest. But it is certain that the oneness prayed for in Joh 17:21 respects all believers. It is the prayer of Christ for all that are his, and we may be sure it is an answered prayer - that they all may be one, one in us (Joh 17:21), one as e are one (Joh 17:22), made perfect in one, Joh 17:23. It includes three things: -

1. That they might all be incorporated in one body. "Father, look upon them all as one, and ratify that great charter by which they are embodied as one church. Though they live in distant places, from one end of heaven to the other, and in several ages, from the beginning to the close of time, and so cannot have any personal acquaintance or correspondence with each other, yet let them be united in me their common head." As Christ died, so he prayed, to gather them all in one, Joh 11:52; Eph 1:10.

2. That they might all be animated by one Spirit. This is plainly implied in this - that they may be one in us. Union with the Father and Son is obtained and kept up only by the Holy Ghost. He that is joined to the Lord in one spirit, Co1 6:17. Let them all be stamped with the same image and superscription, and influenced by the same power.

3. That they might all be knit together in the bond of love and charity, all of one heart. That they all may be one, (1.) In judgment and sentiment; not in every little thing - this is neither possible nor needful, but in the great things of God, and in them, by the virtue of this prayer, they are all agreed - that God's favour is better than life - that sin is the worst of evils, Christ the best of friends - that there is another life after this, and the like. (2.) In disposition and inclination. All that are sanctified have the same divine nature and image; they have all a new heart, and it is one heart. (3.) They are all one in their designs and aims. Every true Christian, as far as he is so, eyes the glory of God as his highest end, and the glory of heaven as his chief good. (4.) They are all one in their desires and prayers; though they differ in words and the manner of expressions, yet, having received the same spirit of adoption, and observing the same rule, they pray for the same things in effect. (5.) All one in love and affection. Every true Christian has that in him which inclines him to love all true Christians as such. That which Christ here prays for is that communion of saints which we profess to believe; the fellowship which all believers have with God, and their intimate union with all the saints in heaven and earth, Jo1 1:3. But this prayer of Christ will not have its complete answer till all the saints come to heaven, for then, and not till then, they shall be perfect in one, Joh 17:23; Eph 4:13.

III. What is intimated by way of plea or argument to enforce this petition; three things: -

1. The oneness that is between the Father and the Son, which is mentioned again and again, Joh 17:11, Joh 17:21-23. (1.) It is taken for granted that the Father and Son are one, one in nature and essence, equal in power and glory, one in mutual endearments. The Father loveth the Son, and the Son always pleased the Father. They are one in design, and one in operation. The intimacy of this oneness is expressed in these words, thou in me, and I in thee. This he often mentions for his support under his present sufferings, when his enemies were ready to fall upon him, and his friends to fall off from him; yet he was in the Father, and the Father in him. (2.) This is insisted on in Christ's prayer for his disciples' oneness, [1.] As the pattern of that oneness, showing how he desired they might be one. Believers are one in some measure as God and Christ are one; for, First, The union of believers is a strict and close union; they are united by a divine nature, by the power of divine grace, in pursuance of the divine counsels. Secondly, It is a holy union, in the Holy Spirit, for holy ends; not a body politic for any secular purpose. Thirdly, It is, and will be at last, a complete union. Father and Son have the same attributes, properties, and perfections; so have believers now, as far as they are sanctified, and when grace shall be perfected in glory they will be exactly consonant to each other, all changed into the same image. [2.] As the centre of that oneness; that they may be one in us, all meeting here. There is one God and one Mediator; and herein believers are one, that they all agree to depend upon the favour of this one God as their felicity and the merit of this one Mediator as their righteousness. That is a conspiracy, not a union, which doth not centre in God as the end, and Christ as the way. All who are truly united to God and Christ, who are one, will soon be united one to another. [3.] As a plea for that oneness. The Creator and Redeemer are one in interest and design; but to what purpose are they so, if all believers be not one body with Christ, and do not jointly receive grace for grace from him, as he has received it for them? Christ's design was to reduce revolted mankind to God: "Father," says he, "let all that believe be one, that in one body they may be reconciled" (Eph 2:15, Eph 2:16), which speaks of the uniting of Jews and Gentiles in the church; that great mystery, that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body (Eph 3:6), to which I think this prayer of Christ principally refers, it being one great thing he aimed at in his dying; and I wonder none of the expositors I have met with should so apply it. "Father, let the Gentiles that believe be incorporated with the believing Jews, and make of twain one new man." Those words, I in them, and thou in me, show what that union is which is so necessary, not only to the beauty, but to the very being, of his church. First, Union with Christ: I in them. Christ dwelling in the hearts of believers is the life and soul of the new man. Secondly, Union with God through him: Thou in me, so as by me to be in them. Thirdly, Union with each other, resulting from these: that they hereby may be made perfect in one. We are complete in him.

2. The design of Christ in all his communications of light and grace to them (Joh 17:22): "The glory which thou gavest me, as the trustee or channel of conveyance, I have accordingly given them, to this intent, that they may be one, as we are one; so that those gifts will be in vain, if they be not one." Now these gifts are either, (1.) Those that were conferred upon the apostles, and first planters of the church. The glory of being God's ambassadors to the world - the glory of working miracles - the glory of gathering a church out of the world, and erecting the throne of God's kingdom among men - this glory was given to Christ, and some of the honour he put upon them when he sent them to disciple all nations. Or, (2.) Those that are given in common to all believers. The glory of being in covenant with the Father, and accepted of him, of being laid in his bosom, and designed for a place at his right hand, was the glory which the Father gave to the Redeemer, and he has confirmed it to the redeemed. [1.] This honour he says he hath given them, because he hath intended it for them, settled it upon them, and secured it to them upon their believing Christ's promises to be real gifts. [2.] This was given to him to give to them; it was conveyed to him in trust for them, and he was faithful to him that appointed him. [3.] He gave it to them, that they might be one. First, to entitle them to the privilege of unity, that by virtue of their common relation to one God the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ, they might be truly denominated one. The gift of the Spirit, that great glory which the Father gave to the Son, by him to be given to all believers, makes them one, for he works all in all, Co1 12:4, etc. Secondly, To engage them to the duty of unity. That in consideration of their agreement and communion in one creed and one covenant, one Spirit and one Bible - in consideration of what they have in one God and one Christ, and of what they hope for in one heaven, they may be of one mind and one mouth. Worldly glory sets men at variance; for if some be advanced others are eclipsed, and therefore, while the disciples dreamed of a temporal kingdom, they were ever and anon quarrelling; but spiritual honours being conferred alike upon all Christ's subjects, they being all made to our God kings and priests, there is no occasion for contest nor emulation. The more Christians are taken up with the glory Christ has given them, the less desirous they will be of vain-glory, and, consequently, the less disposed to quarrel.

3. He pleads the happy influence their oneness would have upon others, and the furtherance it would give to the public good. This is twice urged (Joh 17:21): That the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And again (Joh 17:23): That the world may know it, for without knowledge there can be no true faith. Believers must know what they believe, and why and wherefore they believe it. Those who believe at a venture, venture too far. Now Christ here shows,

(1.) His good-will to the world of mankind in general. Herein he is of his Father's mind, as we are sure he is in every thing, that he would have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, Ti1 2:4; Pe2 3:9. Therefore it is his will that all means possible should be used, and no stone left unturned, for the conviction and conversion of the world. We know not who are chosen, but we must in our places do our utmost to further men's salvation, and take heed of doing any thing to hinder it.

(2.) The good fruit of the church's oneness; it will be an evidence of the truth of Christianity, and a means of bringing many to embrace it.

[1.] In general, it will recommend Christianity to the world, and to the good opinion of those that are without. First, The embodying of Christians in one society by the gospel charter will greatly promote Christianity. When the world shall see so many of those that were its children called out of its family, distinguished from others, and changed from what they themselves sometimes were, - when they shall see this society raised by the foolishness of preaching, and kept up by miracles of divine providence and grace, and how admirably well it is modelled and constituted, they will be ready to say, We will go with you, for we see that God is with you. Secondly, The uniting of Christians in love and charity is the beauty of their profession, and invites others to join with them, as the love that was among those primo-primitive Christians, Act 2:42, Act 2:43; Act 4:32, Act 4:33. When Christianity, instead of causing quarrels about itself, makes all other strifes to cease, - when it cools the fiery, smooths the rugged, and disposes men to be kind and loving, courteous and beneficent, to all men, studious to preserve and promote peace in all relations and societies, this will recommend it to all that have any thing either of natural religion or natural affection in them.

[2.] In particular, it will beget in men good thoughts, First, Of Christ: They will know and believe that thou hast sent me, By this it will appear that Christ was sent of God, and that his doctrine was divine, in that his religion prevails to join so many of different capacities, tempers, and interests in other things, in one body by faith, with one heart by love. Certainly he was sent by the God of power, who fashions men's hearts alike, and the God of love and peace; when the worshippers of God are one, he is one, and his name one. Secondly, Of Christians: They will know that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Here is, 1. The privilege of believers: the Father himself loveth them with a love resembling his love to his Son, for they are loved in him with an everlasting love. 2. The evidence of their interest in this privilege, and that is their being one. By this it will appear that God loves us, if we love one another with a pure heart; for wherever the love of God is shed abroad in the heart it will change it into the same image. See how much good it would do to the world to know better how dear to God all good Christians are. The Jews had a saying, If the world did but know the worth of good men, they would hedge them about with pearls. Those that have so much of God's love should have more of ours.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

III. Our Lord's prayer for his Church, and for all who would believe on his name, through the preaching of the apostles and their successors: Joh 17:20-26. See Clarke on Joh 17:1.

Verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone] This prayer extends itself through all ages, and takes in every soul that believes in the Lord Jesus.

And what is it that Christ asks in behalf of his followers? The greatest of blessings: unity, peace, love, and eternal glory.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Joh_17:20-21

Neither pray I for these alone, but for those also which shall believe on Me through their word

Saving faith through the Word

I.

THE BENEFITS OF CHRISTS MEDIATION ARE LIMITED TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE ON HIM.

1. In the very passage of this prayer, in which He designs expressly to set forth the wide exercise of His mediation, He yet, in most positive terms, confines it within this limitation. Nor was this the first or the only occasion in which He stated and maintained the same truth. To Nicodemus, to Martha, to the Jews, and in the commission which He gave to His apostles He strongly asserted this fundamental principle. In fact this is the universal language of Scripture on this subject.

2. And the same language, which is thus used in respect to salvation in general, is equally used in respect to every blessing of the gospel. Is it pardon? Through His name whosoever believeth on Him shall receive remission of sins. Is it justification? By Him, all that believe are justified from all things. Is it adoption? As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. Is it sanctification? Saints are sanctified in Christ Jesus. Is it spiritual support and strength? He that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. Is it spiritual light and knowledge? I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me, should not abide in darkness. Is it spiritual peace and joy? Now the God of hope fill you with all peace and joy in believing.

II. THE SCRIPTURES ARE THE MEDIUM THROUGH WHICH THIS BELIEF IS PRODUCED (Rom_10:17; Joh_20:31).

1. They are the foundation on which it is built. Faith the substance of things hoped for, &c. But it is evident that such a belief supposes a certain degree of previous information. To believe then in Jesus Christ, and in the efficacy of His mediation, implies that we have a certain degree of previous knowledge on these subjects. And where is this knowledge to be obtained but from the Scriptures? Here only are we taught the way of salvation.

2. They are the instrument by which it is wrought in the heart. Faith is itself the gift and operation of God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. But the great instrument by which He works and operates is the written Word, which is, therefore, emphatically styled the Sword of the Spirit.

Conclusion:

1. Has Christ limited the benefits of His mediation to those who believe on Him? How strikingly does this truth show the importance of faith! How clearly does it point out the wide distinction between believers and unbelievers!

2. Do those who believe on Jesus Christ believe through the Word? Then how invaluable are the Scriptures!

(1) Are they the foundation of faith? Then how thankful should we be to God for this inestimable gift, how diligent should we be in the perusal of it, how widely should we disseminate it!

(2) Are they the instrument by which it is wrought? How powerfully should this consideration operate on our minds and conduct! Let us remember, when we read or hear the Word of God, that though we thus attain to a knowledge of the truths to be believed, yet the actual believing of them must be the effect of a Divine operation on our hearts. (E. Cooper.)

Christ in relation to His disciples in all future times

Observe

I. HIS REALIZATION OF THEIR ACTUAL EXISTENCE. The only disciples then living were the eleven, but He prays for them who should hereafter believe, &c. And how many have believed through their word, and will yet--a great multitude which no man can number. And yet all these seem present to Christ. His great soul realized each in His distinctive personality, and for them He prays. To a soul in vital fellowship with God, and inspired with the spirit of omniscience, time and space are of little account. The prophets threw their glance into the distant centuries, but none of them saw the future as the Incarnate Word. A Being who thus knows the future can never be disappointed.

II. HIS METHOD OF CALLING THEM INTO HIS SCHOOL.

1. They must believe on Him, not on what men say about Him and not on priesthoods, but on Him. This is the only way of becoming a disciple.

2. They must believe on Him through their word, i.e., their testimony of Him. It is a witnessing word. How can they believe on Him of whom they have not heard, &c. That is the method. Do not expect, any other.

III. HIS SUPREME DESIRE FOR THEM.

1. That they should be united on earth. Observe

(1) The nature of this unity.

(a) It is very vital. One living in another. I in them, &c. There is nothing uncommon in this idea. The object we love most lives in us as a living force. Friend lives in friend; the parent in the loving child. Love brings the distant object near, and enshrines it in the heart. Thus those who love Christ have Christ in them; and those whom Christ loves are in Him; and as Christ and His disciples both love the infinite Father, He is in them, and He loves them that are in Him.

(b) It is a unity of the Infinite with the finite, of the Creator and the creature. An attraction links the smallest atom to the highest orb of immensity, love links the humblest disciples to the great heart of the Infinite, and He to them.

(2) A reason for this unity--That the world, &c. No argument could be formulated so mighty as the thorough soul union of Christs disciples.

2. That they should dwell with Him in heaven (Joh_17:24).

(1) With Him in person as well as in sympathy.

(2) We behold His glory. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

That they all may be one

Unity in Christ

I. THE UNITY DESIRE. These words of the Saviour have been mischievously perverted. Ecclesiastics have dreamed of a great confederation, presided over by a number of ministers, these again governed by superior officers, and these again by others, and these topped at last by a supreme visible head, who must be either a person or a council: and what is worse, they turned the dream into a reality, and the time was when, from the centre at the Vatican, one united body covered all Europe. And what was the result? Did the world believe that God had sent Christ? The world believed the very opposite, that God had nothing to do with that great crushing, superstitious thing; and thinking men became infidels. Yet people dream that dream still.

1. What were the elements of this unity which Christ so anxiously desired? The unity was to be composed of the people who are here called they. Who are they?

(1) Persons specially given to Jesus by the Father (Joh_17:2). Not then of all men who happen to dwell in any particular district, or city, but a unity of persons who have received, not common life, as all have, but life eternal.

(2) Persons to whom Gods name has been manifested (Joh_17:6)--chosen men, not the mass, not kingdoms.

(3) Persons who have been schooled, and have learned unusual lessons (Joh_17:7), and they have learned their lesson well. They have kept Thy word.

(4) Persons prayed for by Christ, in a sense in which He never prays for the world (Joh_17:9).

(5) People in whom God is glorified (Joh_17:10). The one Church of God, is it composed of the Church of England, the Congregational Union, the Wesleyan Conference, and the Baptist body? No. Is not then the Church of England a part of the Church of Christ, and the Baptist denomination a part? No; but there are believers in all denominations of Christians, aye! and many in no visible Church at all, who are in Christ Jesus, and consequently in the great unity.

2. What is the bond which keeps these united ones together?

(1) They have the same origin. Every person who is a partaker of the life of God, has sprung from the same Divine Father.

(2) They are supported by f he same strength. The life which makes vital the prayer of a believer to-day is the same life which quickened the cry of a believer two thousand years ago.

(3) They have the same aim and object. The inward spirit is forcing its way to the same perfection of holiness, and is meanwhile seeking to glorify God.

(4) Above all, the Holy Spirit, who dwells in every believer, is the true fount of oneness. I meet an Englishman anywhere the wide world over, and I recognize in him some likeness to myself; and so I meet a Christian five hundred years back in the midst of Romanism and darkness, but his speech bewrayeth him; if my soul shall traverse space in one hundred years to come, although Christianity may have assumed another outward garb and fashion, I shall still recognize the Christian. This is a very different bond from that which men try to impose upon each other. They put straps round the outside, they tie us together with many knots, and we feel uneasy; but God puts a Divine life inside of us, and then we wear the sacred bonds of love with ease.

3. There are tokens which evidence this union, and prove that the people of God are one. We hear much moaning over our divisions. There may be some that are to be deplored among ecclesiastical confederacies, but in the spiritual church I am at a loss to discover the divisions which are so loudly proclaimed. There is a union

(1) In judgment upon all vital matters. I converse with a spiritual man, and no matter what he calls himself, when we talk of sin, pardon, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and such like themes, we are agreed.

(2) In experimental points.

(3) In heart. Where the Spirit of God is there must be love. How is it that I cannot help loving George Herbert and George Fox, who are in some things complete opposites? Because they both loved the Master.

(4) In prayer. Well-taught believers address the throne of Greece in the same style, whatever may be the particular form which their Church organization may have assumed.

(5) In praise. Our music goes up with sweet accord to the throne of grace.

(6) In action. True Christians anywhere are all doing the same work.

4. You say, But I cannot see this unity. Why? Perhaps

(1) Because of your want of information. I saw a large building the other day being erected, and puzzled myself to make out how that would make a complete structure; it seemed to me that the gables would come in so very awkwardly. But I dare say if I had seen a plan there might have been some central tower or some combination by which the wings, one of which appeared to be longer than the other, might have been brought into harmony, for the architect doubtless had a unity in his mind which I had not in mine. So you and I have not the necessary information as to what the Church is to be. The plan is not worked out yet. Shall the Master show you His plan? Not so; wait a while and you will find that all these diversities among spiritually-minded men, when the master-plan comes to be wrought out, are different parts of the grand whole. I go into a great factory: there is a wheel spinning away in that way perfectly careless of every ether wheel; there is another going in an opposite direction, and I say, What an extraordinary muddle this all seems! I do not understand the machinery. So when I go into the great visible Church of God, if I look with the eyes of my spirit I can see the inner harmony, but if with these eyes I look upon the great outward Church I cannot see it.

(2) Because of the present roughness of the material? See yonder a number of stones--here, a number of trees; I cannot see the unity. Of course not. When these trees are all cut into planks, when these stones are all squared, then you may begin to see them as a whole.

(3) Because you cannot see anything. Do not suppose that the unity of the Church is a thing that is to be seen by these eyes of ours. Never! Everything spiritual is spiritually discerned. You must get spiritual eyes before you can see it.

II. THE WORK THAT IS TO BE DONE BEFORE THIS UNITY CAN BE COMPLETE. There are many chosen ones who have not yet believed in Christ, and the Church cannot be one till these are saved. These chosen ones are to believe--that is a work of grace, but they are to believe through our word. If youwould promote the unity of Christs Church, look after His lost sheep. If you ask what is to be your word, the answer is in the text--it is to be concerning Christ. They are to believe in Him. Every soul that believes in Christ is built into the great gospel unity in its measure. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

True and false unity

There be two false peaces or unities: the one when the peace is grounded but upon an implicit ignorance; for all colours will agree in the dark; the other when it is pieced up upon a direct admission of contraries in fundamental points. For truth and falsehood in such things are like the iron and clay in the toes of Nebu chadnezzars image: they may cleave, but they will not incorporate. (Lord Bacon.)

Church unity

I. WHAT IS THE ONENESS? There is a widespread tendency to confound it with uniformity. But there may be unity without uniformity, and there may be uniformity without unity. In the planks of a timber yard, sawn of equal length, breadth, and thickness, there is uniformity, but it is the uniformity of death without unity. In the trees of the wood or forest there is unity of life and general structure, with great diversity of form, fibre, and foliage. The very absence of uniformity adds to the impressiveness of the unity which responds in every trunk and branch and leaf to the quickening influences of the spring and the calm decay of autumn. The uniformity of a Church or society may be like the uniformity of a graveyard in which all the tombs, monuments, and headstones are of one pattern: but unity can be found only amongst the living. The oneness which the Saviour sought was Divine

1. In its model: As Thou, leather, &c. These words remind us of Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. This is a unity

(1) Of life (Joh_5:26). Believers are begotten through the same wordof truth, born by the grace of the same Spirit, pervaded by the same principle of spiritual life, partakers of the same Divine nature, and adopted into the same family. How diversified soever they may be in age, or station, or attainment, they possess a life in common.

(2) Of character. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. The oneness of all Christian disciples is after this model. In so far as they are after the pattern of Christ, they see alike, feel alike, act alike on all moral questions. They must all have the Spirit of Christ, hate sin, live by faith.

(3) Of enjoyment. The joy of the Father was the delight of the incarnate Son; in blessedness they are one. So with the happiness of all His disciples. All drink of the water of that river which makes glad the city of God, and their purest joy is centred in things heavenly and Divine.

2. In its sphere--in us. It is obvious that Christ Jesus here claims for Himself equality with God. No mere man, without blasphemy, could use such language as this. The only sphere in which Christian unity can be realized, is in the reconciling Father and the redeeming Son. Very different are the thoughts of men on this great matter.

(1) The world says, Let nations be one in the reciprocities of commerce; let free trade bind human tribes together with the bonds of its golden girdle; let brotherhood be realized in the mysteries of freemasonry; let unity become a fact for mankind through the sceptre and shield of a universal monarchy. But the disruption and discord made by sin defy all such efforts at unification.

(2) Even the Church has said, Let us make oneness by the bonds of the same ecclesiastical polity and by the use of the same liturgical service; let us compel men to oneness of creed and worship by the force of law, or allure them at least to the appearance of it by the power of state patronage and worldly pomp. Christ says to the Father, Let them be one in us. Nowhere else, and in no other way, can this oneness become a spiritual fact.

II. THE GRAND PURPOSE CONTEMPLATED IN THE REALIZATION OF THIS ONENESS: That the world may believe, &c. One of the greatest obstacles to the triumphs of the gospel is in the contentions and separations which have prevailed in the Church of Christ. But when the world sees the Church, in all its sections, drawn and knit together, not to profess the same polity, and in spite of intellectual differences to show its oneness in Christ the living Head, then will the world believe that Jesus Christ has come as the sent of God for the cure of its ills and the relief of all its woes. It is not difficult to see how this spirit would operate in convincing the world. Would it not be a triumph of Christian love? God is love, but where is the evidence of this amidst the jealousy, sectarianism, and contentions of the disciples of Christ? In the first age of the Church the evidence was often impressive, and the heathen around them were led to exclaim, See how these Christians love each other. So it should be still. (J. Spence, D. D.)

The unity of the Church

I. THE INTIMATIONS TO BE FOUND IN THE WORDS OF OUR LORD. Observe

1. That there is a oneness between believers in Christ. The very essence of unity is that it proceeds from within, and is not impressed from without, that there is a common living spirit pervading and inter-penetrating all that mass, which but for it would be a multitude of separate parts. To fulfil, then, the words of our Lords prayer, His people must be all dwelt in by one and the same living Spirit, which so pervades every one of them that it gathers them up into a living body, communicating to them hereby a hidden principle of common life, which makes them one together, how many soever they be, and which, by the deep real separation of a distinct life, separates them from all others, how near soever such may seem to draw to them in outward things.

2. That this one life of the saints is the consequence of their union with 1Co_12:13; Col_3:3; Rom_8:9).

3. That this unity is a thing hidden, as are all the principles of life, but yet outwardly developed, as are all the forms of derived life in a visible body Rom_12:5; Eph_1:23; 1Co_12:13; 1Co_12:20; Col_1:18). From this it follows that the growth and development of this body, its form and shape, its acting and character, are all the putting forth of the powers of this indwelling Spirit of life.

(1) For this is the very first principle of organization as connected with life, even down to the lowest acting. That this will act according to its own laws; shaping to itself its own external development, casting itself forth now in massive branches, or in robust limbs, and then weaving for itself the most delicate tracery of the finest leaf or fibre; or gushing out, as in animal life, into the infinite subdivision of hair and plumage, even to the fine down upon the wing of the insect. And yet being truly in all of these the life from within, in its outward acting, and not any impress from without. So that unity may exist where the eye of man cannot trace even connection. For not apparent outward coherence but community of inner spirit is the formal and constituting essence of unity; and where this exists not, the impress of outward things cannot produce unity. For it is another part of the very law of life that external impressions can but interfere with, and mar the perfectness which it shapes for itself. That external impressions produce what we term monstrous or imperfect shapes. And still further, the interference of these external impressions may cause that life to withdraw itself from the immediate outward part, which is subjected to them, so that it dies and falls off, as some decaying branch or diseased limb, thereby cutting off at the same time its principle of unity, so that in a little while it is evidently severed from the body of which it once, but now no longer, forms a part. And further, we see that such separations from its frame cannot be effected without some injury to the very body itself; the health and soundness of which, even in its centre of being and action, depend in a marvellous way upon the just and equal development of these its remotest extremities.

(2) All which laws apply also to this body, of which Christ is the head.

(a) It is weaving forth for itself its own external increase (Eph_2:22; Eph_4:16; 1Co_12:6). And this it is doing in ten thousand ways; in the great limbs of Church polity and succession; in the hands wherewith at any moment the Church is ready to do her Masters work; in the societies she puts forth; the new combinations she forms; the new phases under which she shows herself; and so also in the details of every Christian mans character and conduct, for there is nothing so great that this life does not take it up into itself, and as it were reproduce it, nothing so small into which it cannot transfuse its own living energy, until it can fill and glorify all the minutest details of daily conduct, social intercourse, and natural affection.

(b) Then again, while outward things cannot perfect the working of this life, they may interfere with it, mar, and even extinguish it. The branch in this vine may wither, the inner life may draw itself back, until that outward part in which it once acted may be cut off from the life and unity of the stock. The spirit may be quenched. The individual Christian may be broken off from the living body of which he was a part. A whole branch of the Church may be withered and die. Nor can this be without grievous injury to all the body; for if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; so that a time of much disunion cannot be a healthful and flourishing time of the Church any more than in a tree loaded with dead boughs there can be a healthful, vigorous vegetation.

II. THE PRACTICAL DUTIES WHICH THIS GREAT TRUTH ENFORCES UPON US.

1. We must strive really to believe it.

(1) Because it is of such importance; for without a real faith in this

(a) We strip the Church of Christ of all its glory. It is in this mystery of the hidden life that the very blessedness of our redeemed state consists. It is this which binds in one the broken links of humanity. In refusing to believe it, we rob of all its lustre the marvellous dispensation in which Gods mercy has placed us. We bring it down again to a mere Jewish level.

(b) And the evil follows us into the furthest details of our own spiritual life. There are blessed secrets of strength which come out daily for Him who, with a purged eye, sees ever round Him this communion of the saints, which must be lost by him who lowers it into an empty form of speech.

(2) Because it is one which we do not readily receive or keep. It is a great mystery; it needs a strong faith to hold it firmly.

(a) To hold that the declaration of the oneness of Christians with each other is but a strong way of saying that we ought to be kind to each other when we can, is far easier than to believe that, from Christ our Head, there has gone forth a true life, holding in its wonderful unity all of His together, which we are to cherish and guard in ten thousand secret instances of self-denial, and faith, and purity, and hard service, borne for each other cheerfully, because we are in very deed members one of another.

(b) Nor is this all. It is difficult to read this mysterious unity under the coarse features of common life; to believe in it, in spite of the worlds mockery, and the unfaithfulness of the better sort, and the multitude of divisions, and the weakness of our own hearts.

(c) But it is not impossible; and therefore we must strive after its attainment. And God does graciously give many aids to those who do so strive. Is it not, for instance, an assistance to us, if we will use it, whenever God withdraws behind the veil those whom in the Lord we have fondly loved here, do we not then feel that there is an inner life binding us to them, which common death cannot part?

2. But specially may our faith in this mystery be increased by diligence in performing the second duty, i.e., beginning to act upon it. God has gifted action with a wonderful power over us; and if we will begin to act sincerely in little things, as if this were true, He will work in us a power of trusting to its truth. And here is, indeed, a wide field before us. We may begin by striving with our own selfish and indolent tempers in our intercourse with those around us. (Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

The unity of the Church

I. FOR WHOM IT IS DESIRED. 1, Not for men as men, citizens, subjects, persons allied in trade, politics, &c.

2. But for men as believers (Joh_17:20). Christ takes in the grand total, a temple in which each of these shall find a place and bear a part. Cf. Pauls vision of a unified Church (Eph_1:10; Eph_2:21), and Peters picture of a spiritual house (1Pe_2:4-5).

II. IN WHAT IT CONSISTS. Generally in a oneness resembling that between the Father and the Son (Joh_17:21-22), and particularly in a oneness

1. Of life or community of nature (Joh_5:26; Joh_10:30; cf. 1 Corinthians Eph_4:4-6).

2. Of love, or community of affection (Joh_3:35; Joh_5:20; Joh_14:31; cf. Joh_13:34; Joh_15:12; Joh_15:17).

3. Of faith or community of sentiment. As the words of the Son were the Fathers, so the union of the saints should reveal itself in steadfast adherence to the Fathers word given by Christ.

4. Of action or community of labour. As the Son can do nothing but what He seeth the Father do (Joh_5:19), and the Father in Him doeth the Joh_14:10), so should Christians harmoniously co-operate Php_1:27; 2Co_1:24; 3Jn_1:8; Heb_10:24).

III. BY WHAT MEANS IT MAY BE REALIZED? By believers doing three things.

1. Remaining in union with the Father and the Son (verse 21).

2. Participating in the glory Christ has received from the Father (verse 22).

3. Pressing forward towards moral perfection (verse 23).

IV. TO WHAT RESULT IT SHOULD LEAD. It should awaken in the world

1. Faith in the Divine mission of Jesus (verse 21),

2. Knowledge that the Divine mission of Jesus was a fact (verse 23). Lessons:

(1) The mission assigned to the Church--that of gathering a people out of the world and unto Christ by the preaching of the Word.

(2) The aim Christ has in thus collecting a people from the world, that they all may be perfected in one body in Him.

(3) The certainty that this aim will be realized, since Christ has both empowered His Church to do the work, and prayed for its successful execution.

(4) The obstruction offered to the realization of this aim by the disunited condition and imperfect character of the Church.

(5) The means of hastening the worlds conversion to Christ, the Church striving to attain the complete sanctification and unity.

(6) The destiny awaiting the world when the Church shall have reached its proper manhood, that of being brought to a saving knowledge of the truth. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)

The unity of the Church

The Church is one, not in the monarchial sense, as Romanists believe; not in the sense of historical descent of an external organization as Prelatists teach, but in the sense of a mystical body united to Christ, their common head. The consequences of the union with Christ are

I. OUR JUSTIFICATION. We become partakers of Christs righteousness, because it was wrought out in the name and on the behalf of His people.

II. OUR SANCTIFICATION. We become partakers of the Divine life, and this life is sustained and developed.

1. By the nourishment derived from the Word and ordinances.

2. By fellowship with Christ.

3. By the inter-communion of the saints. As one member of the body is sustained and grows in virtue of the ministration of all the other members, so it is with the mystical body of Christ.

4. This supposes organic unity and diversity of gifts; some apostles, some teachers; some have one gift, some another. With regard to these Paul teaches

(1) That unity is essential.

(2) That the position of each member is assigned by God, and not by himself or by the body. Hence we infer

(a) That each should be content.

(b) That all should sympathize, the one with the others.

(c) That all should cordially co-operate.

It is thus that the work of sanctification is carried on, not in the isolated individual, but in the soul as partaker of a common life and a member of an organic whole. So in regard to the State: What would individual gifts and attainment be to a man isolated in an uninhabited land.

III. OUR SECURITY. No man can pluck them out of the hand of Christ. The gates of hell shall not prevail.

IV. OUR GLORIFICATION. Conclusion: Duties flowing from this union--love, assistance, joy in success, abstaining from envy. (C. Hodge, D. D.)

The unity of the Church

I. WHAT IT IS NOT. Our Lord did not mean

1. A system of perfect equality with no official distinctions--anything like universal identity of endowment and function. This cannot be drawn from As Thou, Father, &c., inasmuch as God the Father and God the Son in the economy of redemption sustain distinct offices. Absolute equality is absurd and impossible and inconsistent with Rom_12:1-21.; 1Co_12:1-31., and Eph_4:1-32., which show that the unity of the Church may consist with the greatest diversity of gifts and offices.

2. The opposite of this--a vast and visible society, its base diffused throughout all nations, its officers innumerable, distinguished by all gradations of authority, and terminating in an infallible head. That our Lord did not mean a unity like this we gather from the fact that His apostles never attempted to realize it. Wherever they went they formed separate churches, not parts of one connected community. They did not join the Church of one country with that of another; they did not make their churches churches of nations and provinces, but of villages and towns. There might be more than one in each place. Each Church--however in faith and feeling connected with others--was a distinct society.

3. Uniformity in constitution and ceremonies. This is obvious from the facts

(1) That so little is enjoined on these subjects. Here is the distinction between Moses and Christ. With the first, everything is minutely particularized and strictly commanded; with the second, everything is general, and to be learned from facts rather than precepts: for the one dispensation was intended to separate a nation from the rest of the world; the other was meant to unite all nations in a common faith and family, and therefore avoided multiplied ordinances.

(2) That although in every apostolic Church there was a recognition of great common principles, yet there were local peculiarities. There were diffused the two great bodies of the circumcision and the uncircumcision, and a Church consisting exclusively of converted Jews and another of Gentiles would be sure to differ in particulars. St. James advised Paul in Jerusalem to condescend to the ceremonial predilections of the brethren there; but he advised very differently in the case of the Gentile Church at Antioch.

4. Perfect coincidence of opinion. This is evident from what has been said, as a Church may differ from others without forfeiting its character, so a Christian. To aver the reverse would contradict the constitution of nature and the arrangements of providence. In Rom_14:1-23. Paul distinctly refers to two classes there who held opposite opinions, but instead of interposing his own opinion, he approves the conscientiousness with which the two parties were actuated, and only denounces their want of charity. Php_3:1-21., too, is demonstrative of the prevalence of diversity of sentiment.

II. WHAT IT IS.

1. Its foundation must be laid in an agreement in fundamental truth. We cannot do better than take our stand where Paul stood. For the sake of usefulness and peace he could become all things unto all men. He could shave his head, circumcise Timothy, &c., and yet write against beggarly elements. Paul, who in fellowship and affection was the yielding universalist when prejudice was in question, was firm as a rock when principle was assailed. If ever he referred to what was fundamental he did Gal_1:9. Whatever that gospel was, it is obvious that no man or Church that rejects it can properly be a Christian; and the whole tenor of the Epistle shows it to be the doctrine of justification on the exclusive ground of faith in the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God. If a society denies this doctrine, whatever it may have or have not, it has abandoned the faith for another gospel. This grand fundamental involves Christs Divinity, and the necessity of renewal and sanctification by the Spirit; but it does not involve either Calvinism or Arminianism, or Church polity, and may be held in connection with great variety of opinion on subordinate points.

2. It ought to be manifested by the recognition of each other, by Christians and Churches thus harmonizing. Every individual who holds the Head ought to be cheerfully recognized as a Christian by every other who does the same, and ought to share in that family affection which is peculiar to the spirit of the gospel. This feeling will produce a readiness to co-operate in all benevolent confederacies. But the text is to be realized not merely by the recognition of Christian by Christian, but of Church by Church. Every Church ought to possess the power of accepting the services of the ministers of every other. Differences of disciples ought not to be a barrier. All who expect to unite in the services of heaven, ought to endeavour to unite in the services of earth. Nothing should be a term of union but a term of salvation.

3. If this union were practised little would be wanting to the fulfilment of the prayer or the accomplishment of the result connected. Separate denominations would soon lose their hold of whatever partakes of the nature of sectarian attachments, would imbibe an enlarged and accommodating, spirit; would mutually cease to contend for trifles, and would come perhaps in the end, fused and melted by the fire of love, to take some new form, as one great consolidated community. In relation to the world, the annihilation of party distinctions, the drying up of the wells of jealousy, &c., and the taking into the garden of the Lord of every enclosure would be such a palpable demonstration of the presence and power of truth and love that the world would gaze, admire, and believe.

III. CONCLUSION.

1. This prayer is fulfilled to a greater extent than would at first sight be supposed. The existence of separate churches, and the want of uniformity between them, do not militate against actual agreement in fundamentals, or fraternal feeling. The great saving truths are urged with equal zeal by ministers of various denominations, and members of different churches work side by side in philanthropic enterprises.

2. The prayer will never be fully accomplished but by the removal of all that interferes with the communion of churches. If Christians wait until every Church is modelled according to any supposed apostolic pattern, till some community has drawn and absorbed all others into itself, they will have to wait far longer than any of them calculate. This consummation is much more likely to follow the practice of universal communion than to precede it; but whether it ever come or not, the obligation remains the some. The one is an unquestionable duty, the other a dream.

3. We learn how to possess our souls in peace amid the alarm and agitation of the present times, It becomes us to keep our eye and heart steadily on the prayer of Christ; to engage in every religious movement which the present position of the Church may demand to promote its accomplishment. This will at once sanctify uncongenial duties, and sustain under the injustice of calumny and insult. (T. Binney.)

Church unity

I. THE LORD IS TO BE RECOGNIZED AS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH. His name is the only true bond of union.

II. THE COMMON FELLOWSHIP OF ALL BELIEVERS IN CHRIST.

III. THE HONEST RECOGNITION OF ONE ANOTHER AS BRETHREN IN CHRIST, whether within or without the various churches.

IV. THE DETERMINATION TO BE FORBEARING one toward another, and to maintain the body of Christ, provided the faith be maintained by the members in heart and life. (H. Varley.)

The fact and the means of Church unity

According to the present scientific theory, all of the planets came out of the sun. That central orb sent off ring after ring, and these consolidated into planets, and then, moving within the influence of their common origin, they swing without collision round the grand common centre of the sun itself. So should not the denominational planets also swing without collision around their common origin and centre, Jesus Christ? Plutarch tells us of a golden tripod that was fished from the bottom of the sea. There was a great contention about the possession of it; and, when the conflict waxed quite ferocious, it was settled that neither of the contending parties should have it, but that it should be given to the wisest man. They sent it first of all to Thales. He said, I am not the wisest man; take it to Bias. Bias, on being approached, said, Dont bring it here. I am not the wisest man in Greece. I wont have it. And so they sent it from one to another through a circle of the seven wisest men, with a like reception, until at last it was settled that the fair tripod should be given to Apollo. Now, they all had the modesty of true wisdom; and if all the denominations had only that modesty or real wisdom displayed by these sages never to make any claim of exclusiveness or superiority, there would be unbroken peace among them all. (H. M.Scudder.)

The essential unity of the Church

During a visit of the King of Italy to Naples, the nine Protestant ministers of that city begged the favour of an interview. The young monarch granted their request, and received them with marked courtesy. He was surprised, however, when one was presented to him as a Methodist, and another as a Baptist, the third as a Presbyterian, the fourth as a Waldensian, &c. I do not understand, said the king, how you can all be ministers of the same gospel, and yet have so many distinctions. Perhaps one of you will be good enough to explain this to me. The Waldensian minister promptly replied, In your majestys army there are many regiments wearing different uniforms and called by different names; nevertheless they are under one commanderin-chief, and follow one flag. In like manner we Protestants are divided into various denominations, but we know only one Chief--Jesus Christ; and we follow but one banner, viz., that of the gospel of our crucified and risen Lord. The king listened attentively, and then said, I thank you for this clear explanation. You wish me to understand that while there are differences among you on minor matters, there is unity in essentials. (W. Baxendale.)

Christian unity

I was walking, some weeks since, in a beautiful grove. The trees were some distance apart, and the trunks were straight and rugged. But as they ascended higher the branches came closer together, and still higher the twigs and branches interlaced and formed a beautiful canopy. I said to myself, our Churches resemble these trees. The trunks near the earth stand stiffly and widely apart. The more nearly towards heaven they ascend, the closer and closer they come together, until they form one beautiful canopy, under which the sons of men enjoy both shelter and happiness. Then I thought of that beautiful prayer of the Saviour, That they all may be one, &c. (Bp. M. Simpson.)

Christian unity

I was once permitted to unite in celebrating the Lords Supper in an upper room in Jerusalem. There were fourteen present, the most of whom, I had good reason to believe, knew and loved the Lord Jesus Christ. Several were godly Episcopalians; two were converted Jews--one a Christian from Nazareth, converted under American missionaries. The bread and wine were dispensed in the Episcopal manner, and most were kneeling as they received them. We felt it to be sweet fellowship with Christ, and with the brethren; and, as we left the upper room and looked out upon the Mount of Olives, we remembered with calm joy the prayer from our Lord that ascended from one of the shady ravines after the first Lords Supper--That they all may be one. (R. M. MCheyne.)

Friends mistaken for foes

I recollect, on one occasion, conversing with a marine, who gave me a good deal of his history. He told me that the most terrible engagement he had ever been in was one between the ship to which he belonged and another English vessel, when, on meeting in the night they mistook each other for enemies. Several persons were wounded, and both vessels were much damaged by the firing. When the day broke, great and painful was the surprise to find the English flag hoisted from both ships. They saluted each other, and wept bitterly together over their mistake. Christians, sometimes, commit the same error. One denomination mistakes another for an enemy; it is night, and they do not recognize one another. What will be their surprise when they see each other in heavens light I How will they salute each other when better known and understood! (W. Williams.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 17:20-23. Neither pray I for these alone — I do not make my apostles the only subjects of this my last prayer; I pray likewise for all such as shall by their word, whether preached or written, be brought to believe on me, in whatever age or nation; that they also, being influenced by the same Spirit, and possessed of the same love; may be one — Truly and intimately; (see on Joh 17:11;) as thou, Father, art in me — Dwelling in me by thy Spirit; and I in thee — By a constant, indissoluble union; that they also may be one in us — Closely and vitally united to us, and deriving from us the richest supplies of divine wisdom and grace, power, purity, and consolation. This also is to be understood in a way of similitude, and not of sameness or equality. That the world may believe — That, seeing their benevolence, charity, and holy joy, the people of the world, the carnal part of mankind, may believe that a religion productive of such amiable fruits is indeed of divine original. It is plainly intimated here by our Lord, that “dissensions among Christians would not only be uncomfortable to themselves, but would be a means of bringing the truth and excellence of Christianity into question: and he must be a stranger to what hath passed, and is daily passing, in the world, who does not see what fatal advantage these divisions have given to infidels, to misrepresent it as a calamity, rather than to regard it as a blessing to mankind.” — Doddridge. Here we see Christ prays for the world, and may observe that the sum of his whole prayer Isaiah , 1 st, Receive me into thy own and my glory; 2d, Let my apostles share therein; 3d, And all other believers; 4th, And let all the world believe. And the glory which thou gavest me — With respect to my human nature, namely, to be a habitation of thyself by the Spirit; I have given them — Have bestowed on them the honour and happiness of having a measure of the same Spirit dwelling in them, enriching them with various gifts and graces, stamping them with thine image, and communicating unto them thy divine nature, 2Pe 1:4. That they may be one, even as we are one — May possess the closest union, and enjoy a most holy and happy fellowship with us and with each other here, and in consequence thereof may dwell together with us in eternal felicity hereafter. I in them — Dwelling in their hearts by faith; (Eph 3:17;) and thou in me — By thine indwelling presence; that they may be made perfect in one — May possess the most perfect and uninterrupted union of love and purity, without any jarring affection or disposition, and through that union may grow up into me their living head in all things, till they arrive at the measure of the stature of my fulness, and are perfected in that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. That the world may know that thou hast sent me — That the clearest demonstration may thus be given of the efficacy of thy grace in creating men anew, and constituting them saints indeed, visibly and justly the favourites of Heaven; and that it may be manifest to all that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me — And hast conferred this grace upon them for my sake.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Christ’s representation of future believers and the world, Joh_17:20-26.

Our Intercessor now broadens his scope so widely that every man may enrol himself in the limits of the prayer. Directly, he prays for the perfecting of all believers and their reception into glory. Indirectly, he prays that all may become believers.

Christ cannot, of course, pray that the world, as the world, should be taken to heaven. He cannot pray that the sinner should be glorified in his sins; any more than he can pray that the unchanged Satan should be reinstalled in the highest heaven. He can only pray that the world may, through appointed agencies, be so won as to come into the range of his prayers for his Church. None are excluded from his churchly prayer who do not exclude themselves.

20. For these alone—Most merciful as is the interior of the Saviour’s intercession, there is a stern exclusiveness, a terrible outside to it, expressed not so much in words as in silence. Cold and dreary is the condition of those who stand without the boundary of the Christly supplication.

Shall believe—Foreknown future voluntary receivers of the apostolic Gospel. The shall here is a mere future, equivalent to will. Faith is either a power or an act; as a power it is a gift of God, and may be prayed for; as an act it must be from ourselves, and cannot be a gift from any other.

Their word—No traditions of an interior Christian doctrine are to be received by us which are uncorroborated in the written word. This, the written testament alone, can assure us that the tradition is apostolic and binding; for unwritten traditions are unstable, easily forged, and unreliable. But as it appears from Joh_17:18 that the apostles were commissioned by Christ, as Christ by God, so the true written tradition of the apostles, whether it be John, or Paul, or Peter, are the authorized word both of Christ and God. Those, therefore, who endeavor to separate the apostles’ doctrine as contrary to Christ’s, are enemies of the truth, sacrilegiously endeavouring to cut the Gospel in two, that they may murder both parts.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John

THE HIGH PRIEST’S PRAYER

Joh 17:20 - Joh 17:26.

The remainder of this prayer reaches out to all generations of believers to the end. We may incidentally note that it shows that Jesus did not anticipate a speedy end of the history of the world or the Church; and also that it breathes but one desire, that for the Church’s unity, as though He saw what would be its greatest peril. Characteristic, too, of the idealism of this Gospel is it that there is no name for that future community. It is not called ‘church,’ or ‘congregation,’ or the like-it is ‘them also that believe on Me through their word,’ a great spiritual community, held together by common faith in Him whom the Apostles preached. Is not that still the best definition of Christians, and does not such a conception of it correspond better to its true nature than the formal abstraction, ‘the Church’?

We can but touch in the most inadequate fashion the profound words of this section of the prayer which would take volumes to expound fitly. We note that it contains four periods, in each of which something is asked or stated, and then a purpose to be attained by the petition or statement is set forth.

First comes the prayer for unity and what the answer to it will effect {Joh 17:21}. Now in this verse the unity of believers is principally regarded as resulting from the inclusion, if we may so say, of them all in the ineffable union of the Father and the Son. Jesus prays that ‘they may all be one,’ and also ‘that they also may be in us’ {Rev. Ver.}. And their unity is no mere matter of formal external organisation nor of unanimity of creed, or the like, but it is a deep, vital unity. The pattern of it is the unity of the Father and the Son, and the power that brings it about is the abiding of all believers ‘in us.’ The result of such a manifestation in the world of a multitude of men, in all of whom one life evidently moves, fusing their individualities while retaining their personalities, will be the world’s conviction of the divine mission of Jesus. The world was beginning to feel its convictions moving slowly in that direction, when it exclaimed: ‘Behold how these Christians love one another!’ The alienation of Christians has given barbs and feathers to its arrows of scorn. But it is ‘the unity of the Spirit,’ not that of a, great corporation, that Christ’s prayer desires.

The petitions for what would be given to believers passes for a moment into a statement of what Jesus had already given to them. He had begun the unifying gift, and that made a plea for its perfecting. The ‘glory’ which He had given to these poor bewildered Galilaeans was but in a rudimentary stage; but still, wherever there is faith in Him, there is some communication of His life and Spirit, and some of that veiled and yet radiant glory, ‘full of grace and truth,’ which shone through the covering when the Incarnate Word ‘became flesh.’ It is the Christ-given Christ-likeness in each which knits believers into one. It is Christ in us and we in Christ that fuses us into one, and thereby makes each perfect. And such flashing back of the light of Jesus from a million separate crystals, all glowing with one light and made one in the light, would flash on darkest eyes the lustre of the conviction that God sent Christ, and that God’s love enfolded those Christlike souls even as it enfolded Him.

Again {Joh 17:24} comes a petition with its result. And here there is no mention of the effect of the answer on the world. For the moment the thoughts of isolation in, and a message to, the world fade away. The partially-possessed ‘glory’ seems to have led on Christ’s thoughts to the calm home of perfection waiting for Him who was ‘not of the world’ and was sent into it, and for the humble ones who had taken Him for Lord. ‘I will that’-that is a strange tone for a prayer. What consciousness on Christ’s part does it involve? The disciples are not now called ‘them that should believe on Me,’ but ‘that which Thou hast given Me,’ the individuals melt into the great whole. They are Christ’s, not merely by their faith or man’s preaching, but by the Father’s gift. And the fact of that gift is used as a plea with Him, to ‘perfect that which concerneth’ them, and to complete the unity of believers with Jesus by bringing them to be ‘with Him’ in His triumphant session at the right hand. To ‘behold’ will be the same as to share His glory, not only that which we beheld when He tabernacled among us, but that which He had in the pouring out on Him of God’s love ‘before the foundation of the world.’ Our dim eyes cannot follow the happy souls as they are lost in the blaze, but we know that they walk in light and are like Him, for they ‘see Him as He is.’

The last statement {Joh 17:25 - Joh 17:26} is not petition but vow, and, to our ears, promise. The contrast of the world and believers appears for the last time. What made the world a ‘world’ was its not knowing God; what made believers isolated in, and having an errand to, the world, was that they ‘knew’ {not merely ‘believed,’ but knew by experience} that Jesus had been sent from God to make known His name. All our knowledge of God comes through Him; it is for us to recognise His divine mission, and then He will unveil, more and more, with blessed continuity of increasing knowledge, the Name, and with growing knowledge of it growing measures of God’s love will be in us, and Jesus Himself will ‘dwell in our hearts by faith’ more completely and more blessedly through an eternity of wider knowledge and more fervent love.

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17:20 Jesus was praying for other sheep who were not yet in his flock (10:16). These are the believers through the centuries who have come to faith through the witness of Jesus’ disciples.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 17:20. Ἀλλὰ καὶ, but also) Christ, the Wisdom, is קהלת, the Preacher in the congregations (Ecclesiastes; Psa 40:9; Psa 22:25).—[περὶ τῶν πιστευσόντων, for them who shall believe) Those about to believe, in this passage, come under the name of believers. In a similar manner, it is said in Joh 17:22, I have given them glory; with which comp. ch. Joh 11:52, “Not for that nation only, but that He should gather in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.”—V. g.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_17:20-21. In His prayer for the disciples for their preservation and sanctification (Joh_17:11-19), Jesus now also includes all who (comp. Rom_10:14) shall believe on Him (πιστευόντων, regarding the future as present) through the apostles word (διὰ τοῦ κηρύγματος αὐτῶν, Euth. Zigabenus). The purpose for which He also includes these: that all (all my believing ones, the apostles and the others) may be one (ethically, in likeness of disposition, of endeavour, of love, etc., on the ground of faith, comp. Eph_4:3 ff.; Rom_15:5-6; Act_4:32).

This ethical unity of all believers, to be specifically Christian,[198] must correspond as to its original type (καθώς) to the reciprocal fellowship between the Father and the Son (according to which the Father lives and moves in the Son, and the Son in the Father, comp. Joh_10:38, Joh_14:10-11, Joh_15:5), the object of which, in reference to believers collectively, is, that in them also the Father and the, Son may be the element in which they (in virtue of the unio mystica brought about through the Spirit, 1Jn_1:3; 1Jn_4:13; 1Pe_1:4) live and move (ἵνα κ. αὐτοὶ ἐν ἡμῖν ὦσιν).

This ethical unity of all believers in the fellowship with the Father and the Son, however (comp. Joh_13:35), shall serve to the unbelieving world as an actual proof and ground of conviction that Christ, the grand central point and support of this unity, is none other than the sent of God. That is the fruit which must follow through and from such unity, namely, that Christs word shall further break forth and be received in the world as Gods word, wherein stands an almighty, divine, unconquerable power and eternal treasure of all grace and blessedness, Luther, in opposition to which, Calvin gets into confusion by introducing the doctrine of predestination, making of πιστεύειν a reluctant agnoscere; so also Scholten. Thus the third ἵνα is subordinated to the first, as introducing its further aim; the second, however, because containing the definition of the aim of καθὼς, κ.τ.λ., is related to the first explicatively.

[198] Non vult concordiam coetus humani, ut est concors civitas Spartana contra Athenienses, Melanchthon.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 17:20-26 . Prayer for future believers .

Joh 17:20 . Οὐ περὶ τούτων δὲ ἐρωτῶ μόνον … The consecration of the disciples and His sending them forth naturally suggests the enlargement of the Church and of His care.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vv. 20-26. Jesus prays for the union of believers with Himself and among themselves.

ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

Vv. 20-26.

1. Joh 17:20-24. The prayer now turns to the great company of believers in all coming time. These will become believers through the word, spoken or written, of the apostles. The prayer for them is, that they may be one. This was presented in Joh 17:11 with reference to the apostles themselves, as the end for which Jesus asked that the Father would keep them. The unity here referred to is set forth more fully in the following words and verses. It is evidently such a unity as would, by its natural influence, lead the world to believe in the divine mission of Christ (Joh 17:21); it was one which was in correspondence, in some sense, with that which exists between the Father and the Son (Joh 17:20 b, 22); it was one which was founded upon an indwelling of Christ in them, answering, in some sense, to the indwelling of the Father in Christ (Joh 17:23 a); it was a perfected unity, which should, by its very existence, prove that the Father loved them after a similar manner to that in which He loved Christ (Joh 17:23 b). These points, taken together, show that the unity is something more than the unity of love mentioned in Joh 13:34-35. In addition to the principle of love to one another which makes the company of believers one, there is here a common life-principle which they gain from the revelation and teaching, and also from the spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christ dwells in them and makes their spirits life (Rom 8:10). As Christ lives on account of and in the Father, so they live on account of and in Christ.

2. In Joh 17:24 there is a further request for these believers, which reaches out into their future life in heaven. There is no determination in this verse as to the time when this future union will begin, but, if Joh 14:3 can be interpreted as in Note 35.3, above, it will begin immediately after the death of each believer; and, whether this interpretation be given to that particular verse or not, a union with Christ from that time onward is indicated in other passages in the New Testament. The full blessedness of the believer, however, and the most perfect beholding of the glory of Christ, may perhaps not be enjoyed until after the Parousia. The perfection of unity in and among themselves on earth, and the union with Himself in a dwelling together in heaven, are the two gifts which Jesus asks for all His followers in all ages.

3. The glory spoken of in Joh 17:24 is apparently that which is referred to in Joh 17:1; Joh 17:5—the glory which is bestowed upon Christ as the reward of His earthly work, and which involves a restoration to that glory which He had with the Father even before the creation of the world. It is spoken of as given to Him, because it is viewed as the reward of His work. As it is, however, the glory mentioned in Joh 17:5, there can be no reason for doubting that the words thou didst love me before the foundation of the world involve the idea of Christ’s pre-existence, which is clearly set forth in Joh 17:5.

4. Joh 17:25-26. These verses form a kind of conclusion of the whole prayer, and the thought seems to turn back to Himself and the apostles, with a declaration that they stand apart from the world, and an appeal to the righteousness of God to grant the requests because of this fact. There is evidently a contrast in these verses, not merely between the world and the apostles, but between the world, on the one side, and Himself and the apostles on the other. Jesus, however, places Himself here, as elsewhere in the chapter, not in precisely the same position in which He places them. He has the knowledge of the Father in and of Himself; they reach the possession of it through Him. The καί following δικαιε is quite difficult of explanation. It seems to the writer of this note that Meyer’s view is probably correct—the words being uttered with a pause after δίκαιε, and the suggested thought being: Yes, Thou art righteous; (the καί thus meaning and yet;) and yet the world has not known Thee, but I have known thee, and these who are here with me on this last evening of my life have known Thee. Decide between the two parties according to Thy righteousness, and grant the petitions which I have offered. The objection which Meyer and Weiss make to the view of those who, with Bengel and Ebrard, regard the two καί as equivalent to the Latin et...et, seems decisive—namely, that it is inconsistent with “the antithetic character of the conceptions and with the manifest reference of the second καί to ἐγὼ δέ .”

Vv. 20, 21. “And it is not for these only that I pray, but for all those who believe on me through their word, 21, that they all may be one; that, as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, they also may be in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”

Jesus has commended to God the author and the instruments of the work of salvation; He now prays on behalf of the object of this work, the body of believers. The Church appears here elevated by faith into unity with God, and rendered capable thereby of beholding and sharing the glory of the Son. It is the realization of the supreme destiny of humanity which He contemplates and asks for, the contents of that “hidden wisdom which God had foreordained before the ages for our glory” (1Co 2:7).

The question therefore is not only, as is often supposed, of the union of Christians among themselves, but above all of the union which is the basis of this, that of the body of believers with Christ and, through Him, with God Himself. This sublime unity it is which Jesus, in what follows, contrasts with that of the world. The true reading is certainly the present participleπιστευόντων, the believers, and not, as the T. R. reads, almost without any authorities, the future πιστευσόντων, those who shall believe. These believers are undoubtedly not the believers at the moment when Jesus is praying, since they had believed through His word and not through that of the apostles. But He pictures to Himself all believers, speaking absolutely. He sees them in spirit, these believers of all times and places, and by His prayer He unites them in one body and transports them, in some sense, to glory. This present cannot be rendered, in French, in an altogether exact way. In Reuss’s view, this present participle proves that it is the evangelist and not Jesus who is speaking. This is to ascribe great unskilfulness to so able a composer.

The last words assign to the apostolic teaching a capital part in the life of the Church. Jesus recognizes, in the future, no faith capable of uniting man to God and preparing him for glory except that which is produced and nourished by the word of the Eleven. The termword (λόγος) does not, as the term testimony (μαρτυρία) might do, designate merely the narration of the evangelical facts; it contains also the revelation of the religious and moral meaning of the facts. It is the contents of the Epistles, as well as that of the Gospels. Men cannot really come to faith in Christ (εἰς ἐμέ, on me), at any time, except through this intermediate agency. How can Reuss infer from this passage that the apostles have no other privilege relatively to other believers but that of priority? This saying assigns to them a unique place in the life of the Church. No teaching capable of producing faith can be other than a reproduction of theirs.

The following verses present the object of the petition under the form of an end to be attained by this very prayer (ἵνα, in order that); Joh 17:21 designates this end in itself; Joh 17:22 states what Jesus has done already to the end of the possibility of its realization; Joh 17:23 shows it perfectly attained.

It seems to me that the first clause of Joh 17:21 is formed only of the words: that all may be one, which indicate the general idea; then, that the clause: as thou, Father,...depends on the following that, by an inversion similar to that of Joh 13:34. There is, therefore, here an explanatory resumption: “That they may be one; that, I say, as thou, Father,...they also may be in us.” This construction does not have the dragging character of that which makes the as depend on the first that. After having asked for the general unity of believers (all), Jesus describes it as a unity of the most elevated order; it partakes of the nature (καθώς) of that of the Father and the Son. As the Father lives in the Son and the Son in the Father, so the Son lives in the believers and, by living in them, He unites them closely one with another. Instead of: “that they may be one in us,” some Mjj. read: “that they may be in us.” It may be said that the context requires the idea of the unity of believers, and that the small word ἕν was easily lost in the ἐν ἡμῖν which precedes. The idea, however, does not imperatively require this word. It is by being in Christ and through Him in God (in us), that believers find themselves living in each other. That which separates them is what they have of self in their views and will; that which unites them is what they have of Christ, and thereby of the divine, in them. It is clear that this dwelling of Christ and consequently of God in them is the work of the Spirit, who alone has the power to cast down the barrier between personalities, without confounding them.

Such an organism, exercising its functions on the earth, is a manifestation so new that the sight of it must be a powerful means of bringing the world to faith in Him from whom it proceeds. Here is the content of the third that, which is subordinate to the two preceding ones, and indicates the final purpose of them. The word believe is never taken in the New Testament otherwise than in a favorable sense (except in Jas 2:19, which relates to an altogether peculiar case). It cannot therefore designate a forced conviction, such as that which may be found in Php 2:10 f. No doubt, Jesus does not mean to say that the whole world will believe; this would be contradictory to what He said of the world in Joh 15:20; Joh 15:22; Joh 15:24. We must recall to mind the fact that the question is of an end which cannot be accomplished for all. In any case, Jesus declares that in the world estranged from God there are yet elements capable of being gained for faith.

And what the sight of a local and passing phenomenon, like that of the primitive Church in Jerusalem, produced among the Jewish people (Act 2:44-47),—will not the same spectacle, when magnified, produce this also on a grander scale, one day, throughout the entire world? Perhaps even Jesus is thinking more especially of the conversion of the Jews at the end of time, when they shall see the Church realized in all its beauty among the Gentiles. In Joh 15:18; Joh 15:20, the word world designates, above all, the Jewish people. This supposition is confirmed by the words: that it is thou who hast sent me, that is to say: “that I, this Jesus of Nazareth, whom they have rejected, am really the promised Sent one whom they were expecting.” Rom 11:25; Rom 11:31. Comp. 1Jn 1:3; Eph 4:13.

After having presented to God this end worthy of His love, Jesus recalls in Joh 17:22, as in Joh 17:4; Joh 17:6; Joh 17:14; Joh 17:18, how He has Himself prepared the work of which He asks the completion, and in Joh 17:23 He describes its glorious consummation.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Secondarily he offereth to God the Father, all his, that is, how many soever shall believe in him by the doctrine of the Apostles: that as he cleaveth unto the Father receiving from him all fullness, so they being joined with him, may receive life from him, and at length being together beloved in him, may also with him enjoy everlasting glory.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Neither pray I for these alone--This very important explanation, uttered in condescension to the hearers and readers of this prayer in all time, is meant not merely of what follows, but of the whole prayer.

them also which shall believe--The majority of the best manuscripts read "which believe," all future time being viewed as present, while the present is viewed as past and gone.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

20. And I ask not for these only. He now gives a wider range to his prayer, which hitherto had included the apostles alone; for he extends it to all the disciples of the Gospel, so long as there shall be any of them to the end of the world. This is assuredly a remarkable ground of confidence; for if we believe in Christ through the doctrine of the Gospel, we ought to entertain no doubt that we are already gathered with the apostles into his faithful protection, so that not one of us shall perish. This prayer of Christ is a safe harbour, and whoever retreats into it is safe from all danger of shipwreck; for it is as if Christ had solemnly sworn that he will devote his care and diligence to our salvation.

He began with his apostles, that their salvation, which we know to be certain, might make us more certain of our own salvation; and, therefore, whenever Satan attacks us, let us learn to meet him with this shield, that it is not to no purpose that the Son of God united us with the apostles, so that the salvation of all was bound up, as it were, in the same bundle. There is nothing, therefore that ought more powerfully to excite us to embrace the Gospel; for as it is an inestimable blessing that we are presented to God by the hand of Christ to be preserved from destruction, so we ought justly to love it, and to care for it above all things else. In this respect the madness of the world is monstrous. All desire salvation; Christ instructs us in a way of obtaining it, from which if any one turn aside, there remains for him no good hope; and yet scarcely one person in a hundred deigns to receive what was so graciously offered.

For those who shall believe on me, We must attend to this form of expression. Christ prays for all who shall believe in him. By these words he reminds us of what we have sometimes said already, that our faith ought to be directed to him. The clause which immediately follows, through their word, expresses admirably the power and nature of faith, and at the same time is a familiar confirmation to us who know that our faith is founded on the Gospel taught by the apostles. Let the world then condemn us a thousand times, this alone ought to satisfy us, that Christ acknowledges us to be his heritage and pleads with the Father for us.

But woe to the Papists, whose faith is so far removed from this rule, that they are not ashamed to vomit out this horrid blasphemy, that there is nothing in Scripture but what is ambiguous, and may be turned in a variety of ways. The tradition of the Church is therefore their only authoritative guide to what they shall believe. But let us remember that the Son of God, who alone is competent to judge, does not approve of any other faith than that which is drawn from the doctrine of the apostles, and sure information of that doctrine will be found no where else than in their writings.

We must also observe that form of expression, to believe through the word, which means that faith springs from hearing, because the outward preaching of men is the instrument by which God draws us to faith. It follows, that God is, strictly speaking, the Author of faith, and men are the ministers by whom we believe, as Paul teaches (1 Corinthians 3:5.)

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(20) Neither pray I for these alone.—Comp. Note on Joh_17:9. The thought of the work to which the Apostles are to be consecrated and sent leads on to the wider thought of the Church which shall believe through their word, and the prayer is enlarged to include them.

But for them also which shall believe on me through their word.—All the best MSS. read, “but for them also which believe;” but the sense is not affected by the change. As we have again and again found in these chapters, the future of the Church is so immediately in our Lord’s thoughts that it is spoken of as actually present. “Their word” is their witness concerning Him through which men should believe (Joh_15:27). He had manifested the nature of God to them; and they who had received His word and witnessed His work would become, by the indwelling of the Spirit in them, the means of extending this revelation of God to others. They would do this by means of the word which, in His name, they would preach. (Comp. Rom_10:14 et seq.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20–26. The Prayer for the whole Church

20. Neither pray I for these alone] More accurately, But not concerning these only do I pray (see on Joh_14:16). The limitation stated in Joh_17:9 is at an end: through the Church He prays for the world (Joh_17:21).

which shall believe] The true reading gives, who believe. The future body of believers is regarded by anticipation as already in existence: the Apostles are a guarantee and earnest of the Church that is to be.

on me through their word] Perhaps through their word on Me would be better. The order of the Greek insists on the fact that those who believe believe through the Apostles’ word.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That they all may be one,.... Among themselves. This may regard their unity in faith, and in the knowledge of Christ; for there is but one faith which all truly experienced souls agree in: they are converted by the same Spirit, and have the same work of grace wrought in them; and though they have not the same degree of light, and measure of spiritual knowledge, yet they agree in the main point of the Gospel, salvation alone by the Lord Jesus Christ; and such an agreement in the doctrine of faith, and the grand articles of it, respecting the person and offices of Christ, is absolutely necessary to their comfortably walking together in church fellowship, and the more honourable carrying on the worship of God together; and which will be more manifest in the latter day, when saints shall see eye to eye: likewise an unity in affection may be here designed, a being knit together in love to each other; which is the bond of perfectness, the evidence of regeneration, the badge of the Christian profession, the beauty of church communion, and the barrier and security from the common enemy; and without which, social worship and mutual service will be either neglected or coldly performed. Moreover, this petition may have respect to the gathering together all the saints at the last day, as one body united together in faith and love; as one general assembly and church of the firstborn; as one fold of which Christ is the head, Saviour, and shepherd:

as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee. There is a mutual in being of the Father and the Son, who are one in nature and essence, in power and will, and in understanding and affection; which union, though it infinitely transcends any kind of union among men, or that can be conceived of by men, yet is the exemplar of the saints' union one with another, and to the divine persons; and which must be understood not of an equality, but a likeness:

that they also may be one in us: there is an union of all the elect to God and Christ, which is already complete, and not to be prayed for; they are all loved by God with an everlasting love, by which they are inseparably one with him; they are all chosen in Christ, as members in their head, and are federally united to him, as their Mediator, surety, and representative; in consequence of which he has assumed their nature, stood in their place and stead, and brought them nigh to God. There is a manifestation of union in conversion, when persons openly appear to be in Christ; and as a fruit and effect of everlasting love, are with loving kindness drawn unto him; and which will be more gloriously seen, when all the elect shall be brought in, and God shall be all in all, and is what Christ here prays for:

that the world may believe that thou hast sent me; either the rest of God's chosen people in the world, not yet called; or rather the wicked and reprobate part of the world, particularly Jews and Deists: they shall see the concord and agreement of the saints in doctrine, worship, and affection in the latter day; and when all the elect shall be gathered together, and not only their union to each other, but to the divine persons, shall clearly appear; they will then believe, ant be obliged to own, that Jesus is the true Messiah, was sent of God, and is no imposter.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

Ver. 20. Neither pray I for these alone] Lo here a sure and sweet haven for all believers to have recourse to, where they may sit and sing away care of miscarrying; for here Christ doth as much as if he should solemnly swear to secure and set them safe from danger, since the Father denies him nothing, Joh 11:42.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neither pray I for these alone ... - Not for the apostles only, but for all who shall be converted under the preaching of the gospel. They will all need similar grace and be exposed to similar trials. It is a matter of unspeakable joy that each Christian, however humble or unknown to men however poor, unlearned, or despised, can reflect that he was remembered in prayer by “him whom God heareth always.” We value the prayers of pious friends. How much more should we value this petition of the Son of God! To that single prayer we who are Christians owe infinitely more real benefits than the world can ever bestow; and in the midst of any trials we may remember that the Son of God prayed for us, and that the prayer was assuredly heard, and will be answered in reference to all who truly believe.

All may be one - May be united as brethren. Christians are all redeemed by the same blood, and are going to the same heaven. They have the same wants, the same enemies, the same joys. Though they are divided into different denominations, yet they will meet at last in the same homes of glory. Hence they should feel that they belong to the same family, and are children of the same God and Father. There are no ties so tender as those which bind us in the gospel. There is no friendship so pure and enduring as that which results from having the same attachment to the Lord Jesus. Hence, Christians, in the New Testament, are represented as being indissolubly united - parts of the same body, and members of the same family, Act 4:32-35; 1Co. 12:4-31; Eph 2:20-22; Rom 12:5. On the ground of this union they are exhorted to love one another, to bear one another’s burdens, and to study the things that make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another, Eph 4:3; Rom 12:5-16.

As thou, Father, art in me - See Joh 14:10. This does not affirm that the union between Christians should be in all respects like that between the Father and the Son, but only in the points in which they are capable of being compared. It is not the union of nature which is referred to, but the union of plan, of counsel, of purpose seeking the same objects, and manifesting attachment to the same things, and a desire to promote the same ends.

That they also may be one in us - To be in God and in Christ is to be united to God and Christ. The expression is common in the New Testament. The phrase used here denotes a union among all Christians founded on and resulting from a union to the same God and Saviour.

That the world may believe ... - That the world, so full of animosities and fightings, may see the power of Christian principle in overcoming the sources of contention and producing love, and may thus see that a religion that could produce this must be from heaven. See the notes at Joh 13:34. This was done. Such was the attachment of the early Christians to each other, that a pagan was constrained to say, “See how these Christians love one another!”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

After having prayed for his apostles in particular, he now begins to pray for all that would afterwards, by their preaching, believe in his name; (St. Augustine, tract. 109. in Joan.) and by this he likewise comforts his disciples, shewing them, that they would prove the instruments of the salvation of others. (St. John Chrysostom, hom. 80. in Joan.) --- This divine prayer of Jesus Christ is a great comfort to all Christians; it is introduced in the holy Canon of the Mass, before the consecration, as here it was made just before his visible sacrifice on the cross. (Bristow)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Three things are evident from this verse.

1. That Christ did not pray for any reprobates, not for any that were and should die unbelievers: he prayed before for those who actually did believe; he prays here for them that should believe; but we never read that he prayed for any others. Now whether he laid down his life for those for whom he would not pray, lies upon them to consider, who are so confident that he died for all and every man.

2. That by persons given to Christ, cannot be understood believers as such; for Christ here prays for those that were not actual believers, but should believe.

3. That faith cometh by hearing; Christ here prays for those that should believe

through their word, that is, the apostles preaching the gospel.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 20-26. (3) Prayer for the Church Catholic in all time.

Neither do I pray (erwtw) for concerning these alone, but also for those who believeon me through their word. The Lord summons the future into the present. He speaks of having once for all sent them, and he sees rising before his eye the multitudes in all ages who would believe their testimony as if already doing so. The universal Church rejoices in the fullness of his love and the greatness of his wish concerning the individuals who believe. The prayer is an eternal intercession.

Vers. 20, 21. Christ"s prayer for all believers.

Our Lord, having prayed for himself and for his apostles, now prays for the whole body of believers.

I HE PRAYS FOR THE BELIEVERS OF ALL GENERATIONS TILL THE END OF TIME. "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe on me through their word.

1. All believers have, therefore, an interest in Christ"s prayer.

2. The word of the apostles that is, not merely their narrative of gospel facts, but their revelation off gospel principles is the instrumental means of faith. (Rom_10:17) A capital place is thus assigned to the Word in the conversion of the world.

a. Consider the sad condition of those who have not the Word.

b. The sin of those who reject it.

c. The dishonor done to the Lord by those who deceitfully handle it.

II THE GREAT END OF THIS PREACHING OF THE WORD. "That they all may be one; that as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

1. The oneness prayed for is not that of believers with one another, but that oneness which is the foundation of visible unity the union of believers with Christ, and through him with God.

2. It cannot refer to a visible unity, because it is a unity of successive generations of believers, who cannot be in the world at one and the same time.

3. It is a unity resembling the union of the Father and the Son, and is therefore more than a mere moral unity of purpose, or opinion, or cooperation. It is an essentially vital unity. (Rom_12:5 Eph_4:4) God is its essential Center.

4. The ultimate design and result of this oneness is its effect upon the world. Where disciples are seen to be

a. of one faith,

b. of one spirit,

c. and one love, the world will have better thoughts of God and his gospel.

Vers. 20, 21. Comprehensive intercession.

Human selfishness, narrowness, and hopelessness may well be rebuked by the breadth and brightness of this prayer. The High Priest pleads for his people, and in so doing sweeps the horizon of time, sounds the depths of human need, and grasps the invisible aim of the universe, the yet unrealized purpose of God himself.

I THE EXTENSIVE RANGE OF CHRIST"S INTERCESSION. At the very time when those nearest to him were about to be exposed to great danger, the Lord Jesus, without forgetting these, directed the gaze of his mind over a wide field of vision, and included in his comprehensive intercession all who in coming ages should believe on him through his apostles" witness. This marvelous sweep of high-priestly regard and interest is testimony to:

1. Christ"s Divine foresight. He beheld in prophetic vision the martyrs and confessors, the missionaries and bishops, the scholars and preachers, the pure and lowly in private life, who should attach themselves to his doctrine and to his Church. As in an instant and at a glance, Christ summoned before his eyes and his heart the vast multitude who should constitute the Church militant through long millenniums to come; and he prayed for all.

2. Christ"s Divine claim. In realizing the objects of his intercession, the High Priest regarded all as personally related to himself. Those for whom he pleaded were those who should believe on him. This fact is implicit witness to his high claims. Who but he could so rank mankind?

3. Christ"s wide sympathy and benevolence. That such a Leader and Master should plead for his adherents, his friends, and the promulgators of his faith seems natural; common affection seems to account for this. But how vast was the love apparent in this prayer, which included within its scope the myriads who were yet to come into existence! But his whole Church was dear to his Divine and tender heart.

II THE CONCENTRATED PURPORT OF CHRIST"S INTERCESSION. Doubtless the same prayer which was offered for the twelve was offered for all subsequent disciples, that all might be kept in the Name of the Father, and that all might be sanctified by the truth. But the expressed request here presented on their behalf should receive attention. It was for their unity. Not for their uniformity, in outward organization, in rite and ceremony, in uttered creed and liturgy; but for their spiritual unity, as is apparent from the petition that it might resemble that of the Father and the Son. A unity of life is here intended, like that of the branches in a vine rather than that of a bundle of staves. The Master desired for his disciples that they might have the same faith in himself, the same brotherly love one towards another, the same benevolent disposition towards the world. The value which Christ thus set upon true unity is a standard to which we are called to conform. That which Jesus made the object of his desire and prayer must be beautiful in God"s view, and is worthy of our appreciation, our best endeavors for its promotion.

III THE GLORIOUS AND ULTIMATE AIM OF CHRIST"S INTERCESSION. HOW magnificent the end which our Lord sought, not only by his prayer, but also by his toils, his sacrifice, his death! Nothing short of the world"s belief in his mission, and adhesion to himself! We cannot understand by our Lord"s words merely that he looked forward to the world"s assent to a great fact, or to the world"s forced acknowledgment upon the judgment-day. He desired that the world should come to believe both in the sending and in the sent One. However appearances may be against such an expectation being realized, faith apprehends the prevalence of the Redeemer"s kingdom in the world. The influence and ministry of the Church, under the guidance of the Divine Spirit, is intended to promote the world"s salvation. When it appears to us difficult to cherish hopes such as those which are justified by the declarations of Scripture, it will be well for us to check our despondency by remembering the prayer of the High Priest. That for which the beloved Son of God has pleaded, and ever pleads, will surely come to pass. And thus faith shall be rewarded, and Divine love shall have full and eternal gratification. T.

Vers. 20-23. Christian unity.

Notice it

I IN ITS IMPORT AND SCOPE.

1. Believers are to be in unity. Many and yet one, one and yet many. Many members, but one body; many bodies, but one Spirit; many believers, but one spiritual community. They are to be one with each other, with Christ, and with the Father.

2. Their union is to be universal. "Tidal they all may be one." There is to be no exception. It is not optional, but the universal rule of the society and law of its great Head. They are to be one:

(1) In spite of time. Believers are separated by time. Some are of the present, some are of the past, and some of the future; but all are included in this great union. "Those who believe opt me through," etc. Not merely the fathers of the faith are to be in it, but their children to the last generation, and to the last one of that generation.

(2) In spite of space. Believers are separated by place and distance. They inhabit different countries and climes. There are large multitudes on earth, larger multitudes still in heaven, but they are all in this union; its laws are binding and operative in spite of space and distance.

(3) In spite of differences. Believers are separated by physical, mental, social, spiritual, and circumstantial differences; but these are not to prevent their union, but they are to be one in spite of them.

3. The union is to be perfect. They are to be perfected into one. It is not a sham union, but a real one; and perfection is its goal, although gradually attained. Something like this is the import, scope, and ideal of this grand union, of which Christ is the Author, President, and Inspiration.

II IN ITS HIGH MODEL AND BASIS.

1. Its model is Divine. "As thou, Father, art," etc. Its model is the union of the Father and the Son. What union was this?

(1) Union of nature, essence, and life. Believers are partakers of the Divine nature, and the new nature and life are the same in all.

(2) Unity of mind. Believers are to strive for unity of faith, and to mind the same things.

(3) Unity of heart. Believers are to be one in heart, sympathies, and love the bond of perfectness.

(4) Unity of will and purpose.

(5) Unity of character. The Divine union is the model of the Christian, and it is high and perfect. And is not the past history of the Church a record of a great intellectual and spiritual struggle for this, and is she not pressing on still towards it?

2. Its basis is Divine. "That they may be in us, and one in us.

(1) Christian unity is based upon the Divine. The idea is Divine. It would be impossible for an inharmonious being, however powerful, to conceive the idea of a harmonious society, much less to produce it. The Divine unity is the foundation and origin of the human.

(2) Christian unity is the creation of the Divine, and is supported by it. In connection with the Divine it is alone possible, and in this connection it is a glorious fact. "One in us." Apart from this there would be no unity at all no unity of atoms, of worlds, of systems, in the material universe; and no unity of mind, spirit, and heart among intelligent beings. In the Divine unity all the material worlds are united, and all the moral world is being and to be united. It is not only the model, but the basis and support of Christian union. Christian union is the outgrowth of the Divine. "One in us.

(3) Christian unity is the expression of the Divine. Christ is the Expression of the Father, and believers are the expression of Christ, hence in a degree the expression and incarnation of the Divine unity.

III IN ITS PRACTICAL AND EFFICIENT MEANS. How does the Divine go forth and effect the unity of the human? What are the means used?

1. The union of believers with Christ by faith, and his union with them. Faith brings Christ to the soul, and Christ brings that soul to the Father and to all in him. "I in them, and thou in me, that they may," etc. These are the efficient means used and the order of their operation. Thus faith unites believers to him, to the Father, and to each other. As the sun is the center of union in the solar system, so Christ is in the Christian system.

2. The endowment of the Divine glory. "The glory which," etc. What glory was given to Christ which he also gave to his disciples?

(1) The glory of the Divine unity. This he gave in word and deed.

(2) The glory of the Divine recognition. He knew the Father, and introduced him to them.

(3) The glory of the Divine character. It was reflected on him even in human nature, and he reflected it upon them.

(4) The glory of self-sacrificing love. This he gave them, not merely in its vicarious and Divine results, but as an example, inspiration, and the master principle of the new life.

(5) This glory is one. The glory of the Son is that of the Father, and the glory of believers is that of the Son. He imparted to his disciples the same glory, and, as far as he was concerned, in equal degree; and the participation of believers of the same Divine glory through Christ unites them with one another and with the Divine nature, the ultimate result of which must be perfect oneness.

3. The prayer of Jesus on their behalf.

(1) The prayer of Jesus is effective and successful. It contained all he did. His life was a prayer, and his death was a prayer, and his life in heaven is a continuous and all-effective prayer.

(2) The burden of his prayer was the perfect and universal union of believer s. And his prayers are all ultimately answered.

IV IN ITS SPECIAL AND ULTIMATE PURPOSES.

1. The perfection of each individual believer. Perfect unity of all can only effect the perfection of each one. Not one believer can be perfected till all believers are. No member of the body can be absolutely free from rain until every member is. Believers must be perfected into one ere one can be absolutely perfect.

2. The conversion of the world.

(1) Its realization of Christ"s Divine mission. "That the world may believe and know," etc.

(2) Its realization of the Divine love to believers as well as to Christ. "And lovedst them, as thou," etc.

(3) The world"s realization of Divine love is most effective in the production of saving faith and knowledge. The world must be convinced of Divine love through love. It must be convinced of the intensity of the Father"s love; and its impartiality to all, on the same and the fairest conditions to each individual believer in Christ whom he sent, as well as to Christ himself. Let the world realize this, then it will believe and know.

(4) The perfect unity of believers will produce this realization. A large degree of it will produce faith. Perfection will produce knowledge. Union is strength, disunion is weakness. The first disciples, whatever may be their failings, were strong in loving unity, reflected the glory of their Christianity and of the Divine nature, and, few as they were, effected almost unparalleled success in the conversion of the world, and eliciting the admiration of infidels: "See how they love one another!" And let the Church become proportionately united, and it will bring such evidence of Divine love and truth to bear upon the world as will be simply irresistible, like the rays of the sun or the united drops of the ocean.

LESSONS.

1. Christian union is of supreme importance. It is the goal of Christian life and the perfection of Christian character, and essential to individual and social sanctification. It is the central idea of Jesus and the burden of his prayer, and with regard to Christian character. With this his great prayer ends.

2. The Christian Church lacks in nothing so much as in this. It is essentially imperfect in the present state, especially taken as a whole; but no virtue today is so absent from it as real spiritual union.

3. This should be diligently and prayerfully cultivated. All hindrances to it should be excluded which, in a few words, are selfishness, self-seeking, and pride, with their injurious progeny. Let these be driven out, and let the Church make the same efforts for inward and spiritual union as it makes for outward reforms; then it will shine with the true glory of the Lord, with the true light of its mission, and with convincing effects upon the world.

4. To attain this let Christ occupy his proper position in each believer, and in the Church as a whole. Let him be the sole Prophet, Priest, and King. Let his self-sacrificing life and love be the center, example, and inspiration of every believing heart; then we shall soon have a true Church of Christ on earth. B.T.

Prayer for persuaders and persuaded.

I PRAYER FOR THE PERSUADERS Jesus says, "Neither pray I for these alone;" that means by implication his prayer for these. Jesus prays for those who will believe on him through the word of his servants; that means his prayer for those who will speak the word which produces the faith. Jesus had spoken to his servants in language of tenderness, energy, and strength, altogether unequalled. They had to go out on a great errand; they had a glorious message to take; they were being made ready to taste the sweetness of a great privilege.; and nothing was left undone that would stamp on their minds an indelible impression of all this. And in this verse the prayer of Jesus for these special servants of his comes to a transition stage. The service they had to render is indicated. They had to go out to speak to men in such a way as that listeners would be won to give themselves up entirely to the disposition of Jesus. Their word, coming from the depths of believing hearts, filled with spiritual energy, would produce like precious faith in others. They believed, therefore they spoke. They believed, therefore they could not help speaking. They believed, because they had found out their own need as sinning, sorrowing human beings; and therefore they felt sure that other sinning, sorrowing human beings would also believe when saving and comforting truth was placed in its beautiful fullness before their eyes. Jesus is quite sure about what will happen. All through the prayer one unbroken spirit of confidence prevails. Jesus prays for those whom he is quite sure will persuade men to believe on him.

II PRAYER FOR THE PERSUADED. Jesus sends his desires into the future that he knows is coming. The beginning of that future was close at hand. Believers came by thousands. No doubt there was a something that made them so ready to hear. He who sent down the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, knew well that it would not be a barren day so far as the eliciting of human faith was concerned. The glory of Pentecost was not in the mighty rushing wind or the tongues of fire; it was rather in the multitude who believed, accepting the testimony of the apostles as to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. And the apostles would then have to expound things more fully to these believers, attentive in the freshness of their new faith, and grateful for such a wondrous outlook into eternity. Then would they tell them how Jesus had already prayed for them, being sure of what would happen. He knew the believers were coming, and saw their coming from afar. Thus the prayer for Jesus needed its answer soon; and it has always needed an answer. There have always been believers to pray for, and always believers needing to be prayed for, and brought into all the giving and receiving that belongs to true unity. True unity is the mark of a loving, growing, joy-bringing Christianity. The discordant elements of the world make the curse of worldliness. Rivalries and antipathies fill the world. Over against this Jesus wants to see true unity that which comes through the free play of the individual conscience and affections. The more we live as we ought to live, the more we stretch out, as it were, hooks and eyes by which we get connected with the world at large. The individual Christian feels the sufferings and losses of others as if they were his own. The whole world of men and women is a corporate unity. As long as there is suffering anywhere, there must be suffering everywhere. Y.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For them who will believe - In all ages.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Christ prays for the future believers:

v. 20. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word,

v. 21. that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.

v. 22. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them, that they may be one, even as We are one:

v. 23. I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.

v. 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.

Jesus Himself had gained believers, disciples, through the preaching of the Word. In their interest He had addressed a large section of His prayer to His heavenly Father. But before His mind’s eye there arose the picture of the future, when the purpose of His work in the world would be fully realized, when the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, would be gathered from all nations. Through the testimony of the disciples, whom He is commissioning as His messengers to the world, there will be others, many others, that would believe on Him through the Word as proclaimed by the servants of the Lord. And all these believing Christians of all times shall be one. All those that have faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and actually put all their trust in Him alone, are thereby united most closely and inseparably. Even though they know nothing of each other, even though they belong to various Christian denominations: if they but have faith in the Word and in the Savior in their hearts, they are all truly, internally one (communion or saints. This unity of the Church of all places and of all times is in God, in the Father and Son. It is as real and intimate as the union obtaining between these two persons of the Godhead. And the influence of this great united body, though invisible in itself, will be such as to compel the acknowledgment of the world as to Christ’s having been sent into the world by the Father to work salvation for all men. There are so many manifestations of the power of God in the work of the Church that at all times some, at least, in the world are convinced and gained for Christ. The Christian Church does a great deal of missionary work by its very existence. Add to that the confession and the testimony of the believers, and much may be accomplished for the Savior and His glory. To this end the Lord has given to His disciples the glory which He has received from the Father. The Christians, by the call of Christ, have a certain amount of divine nature, of divine power, by virtue of their regeneration and sanctification. They exhibit this divine life in their whole being and manner. Their every word and act serves to impress men with the power of the Word of God in them. But it serves especially to make that communion of their hearts and minds before the Lord perfect, since it places them in contrast to the world. And thus again the unbelieving world gets some idea of the truth of the Christian religion and of its superhuman power. Some of them will always, by the grace of God, form the right conclusions as to the mission of Christ and as to the certainty of God’s love toward them, equal in sincerity and power to that wherewith He loves the Son. Jesus, therefore, in His omniscience beholding the assembly of the Church as it will be gathered until the end of time, makes a bold request: Father, those that Thou hast given Me, I will that where I am, they also be with Me. Here is the confidence of the Redeemer, whose vicarious work is sufficient for all men. The elect of God are Christ’s own, and He holds them safe against all enemies, to be with Him in all eternity. And all the greater is His boldness for this request, since they were given to Him, because the Father loved His Son from eternity, before the foundation of the world was laid. And the consummation of Christian blessedness will be the share of the believers, according to this prayer of the Lord, since they will see the glory of their Redeemer; they will behold the head which was once crowned with thorns adorned with everlasting honor as the eternal Son of God with power. That is the final goal of. faith, the final purpose of the election of grace-eternal life, eternal glory in and with Christ.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hitherto our Saviour had been praying for himself and his apostles; now he prays for all persons, both Jews and Gentiles, that should believe on him, throughout the world, by the preaching of the gospel.

Hence learn, 1. That all believers have a special interest in Christ’s prayer.

2. That in the sense of the gospel they are believers who are wrought upon to believe in Christ through the word.

3. That such is Christ’s care of, and love to his own, that they were remembered by him in his prayer, even before they had a being: I pray not for these alone, but for all that shall believe in me.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. Neither pray I for these alone. We enter upon the third section of the prayer, that for all disciples in every age.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

those who will believe in me through their word

"those who will believe in me because they teach about me"

they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you. May they also be in us

Those who trust in Jesus become united with the Father and the Son when they believe.

Father

This is an important title for God. (See: Translating Son and Father)

the world

Here the "the world" is a metonym that refers to the people who do not yet know God. AT: "the people who do not know God" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

believe

God the Father

world

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

20–26. THE PRAYER FOR THE WHOLE CHURCH

Christ having prayed first for the Author of salvation, and then for the instruments of the work, now prays for the objects of it. The limitation stated in Joh 17:9 is at an end: through the Church He prays for the whole race of mankind (Joh 17:21).

20. πιστευόντων (אABCD1) for πιστευσόντων (alteration to what seemed more in harmony with facts).

20. πιστευόντων. Present: the future body of believers is regarded by anticipation as already in existence: the Apostles are an earnest of the Church that is to be. The order emphasizes the fact that those who believe on Christ believe through the Apostles’ word.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20.] The connexion is the ἀπέστειλα αὐτοὺς εἰς τ. κόσμον, ver. 18. The present part. expresses the state of faith in which all believers are found: the future (of the .) would refer more to the act of belief by which that state is begun. But perhaps it is best to take the pres. as proleptic.

It is strikingly set forth here that all subsequent belief on Christ would take place through the apostolic word: see Rom 10:16, Rom 10:17.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. We now reach the third division of the Prayer of Jesus, which passes from the thought of the apostles to the thought of all those who should reach discipleship through their ministry.

ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν πιστευόντων κτλ. πιστευόντων is a proleptic or anticipatory present participle, with the force of a future, qui credituri sunt (Vulg.). Some minuscules, which the rec. text follows, through misunderstanding, have adopted πιστευσόντων.

διὰ τοῦ λόγου αὐτῶν. The “word” of the evangelical preachers was the message of God in Christ which they brought, such preaching being an essential preliminary to faith. Cf. Rom 10:14.

εἰς ἐμέ. For πιστεύειν εἰς …, see on 1:12.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Shall believe [πιστευσοντων] . The best texts read pisteuontwn, the present participle, that believe. The future body of believers is conceived as actually existing.

On me through their word. The Greek order is, believe through their word on me. "Believe through their word" forms a compound idea.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.