John 17:23

Joh_17:23

I in them and Thou in Me

The three unions

There are three most admirable unions proposed to our faith in the Christian religion.

The Unity of Essence, in the Trinity; the Unity of Person, in Jesus Christ; and the union between Christ and His Church. The first of these is an ensample and prefiguration, as it were to the second; and the second to the third. For we cannot better represent the union with His Church, than by the hypostatic Union, or by the union of the Word with human nature (1Jn_4:8). (W. Norris.)

Unity in nature and grace

There is one remarkable difference between nature and grace; for nature of one makes many; for we are all but one in Adam, but grace of many makes one; for the Holy Ghost, who as a fire melts all the faithful into one mass, and makes of many one body, in the unity of God. (W. Dell.)

The union of believers with Christ

The Scriptures have borrowed from nature four metaphors, to describe this mystical union; but neither of these singly, or all of them jointly, can give us a full account of this mystery.

1. Not that of two pieces united by glue (1Co_6:17), for though this union be intimate, yet it is not vital.

2. Nor that of the graft and stock (Rom_6:5), for though this union be vital, yet the graft is of a more excellent kind and nature than the stock, and the tree receives its denomination from it; but Christ, into whom believers are ingrafted, is infinitely more excellent than they, and they are denominated from Him.

3. Nor conjugal union, for though this be exceeding dear and intimate, and they two become one flesh; yet it is not indissolvable, but must be broken by death; but this betwixt Christ and the soul abides to eternity.

4. Nor that of the Head and members united by one spirit, and so making one physical body (Eph_4:15-16), for though one soul actuates every member, yet it doth not knit every member alike near to the head, but here every member is alike nearly united with Christ the Head, the weak are as near to Him as the strong. Note

I. THE REALITY OF THIS UNION, which appears

1. From the communion which is betwixt Christ and believers (1Jn_1:3). It signifies such fellowship or co-partnership, as persons have by a joint interest in one and the same enjoyment (Heb_3:14; Psa_45:7). Now this communion is entirely dependent upon Union (1Co_3:22-23).

2. From the imputation of Christs righteousness for justification Rom_3:24; Rom_4:23-24; 1Co_1:30).

3. From the sympathy that is betwixt Christ and believers; Christ and the saints smile and sigh together (Col_1:24; Act_9:5).

4. From the way in which the saints shall be raised at the last day Rom_8:11).

II. THE QUALITY AND NATURE OF THIS UNION. More generally, it is an intimate conjunction of believers to Christ, by the imparting of His Spirit to them, whereby they are enabled to believe and live in Him. All Divine spiritual life is originally in the Father, and cometh not to us, but by and through the Son (Joh_5:26; Rom_8:2). The Spirit must therefore first take hold of us, before we can live in Christ, and when He doth so, then we are enabled to exert that vital act of faith whereby we receive Christ (Joh_6:57). So that the Spirits work in uniting a soul into Christ is like the cutting off the graft from its native stock (which He doth by His illuminations and convictions) and closing it with the Living Vine, and so enabling it (by the infusion of faith) to draw the vital sap, and thus it becomes one with Him. Or as the many members in the natural body, being all quickened and animated by the same vital spirit, become one body with the Head (Eph_4:4).

1. Negatively it is

(1) Not a mere mental union (Joh_14:20). This doctrine is notfantastical, but scientifical.

(2) Not a physical union, such as is betwixt the members of a natural body and the head; this is only mystical.

(3) Not an essential union, or union with the Divine nature, so as our beings are thereby swallowed up and lost in the divine Being.

(4) Not a federal union, or an union by covenant only; such an union indeed, there is betwixt Christ and believers, but that is consequential to, and wholly dependent upon this.

(5) Not a mere moral union by love and affection; thus we say, one soul is in two bodies, a friend is another self; the lover is in the person beloved; such an union there is also betwixt Christ and the saints, but this is of another nature; that only knits our affections, but this our persons to Christ.

2. Positively.

(1) Though this union neither makes us one person or essence with Christ, yet it knits our parsons most intimately and nearly to the person of Christ Col_1:24).

(2) It is wholly supernatural, wrought by the alone power of God (1Co_1:30). We can no more unite ourselves to Christ than a branch can incorporate itself into another stock (Eph_1:19-20).

(3) It is an immediate union; not as excluding instruments, but as excluding degrees of nearness (1Co_1:2).

(4) It is a fundamental union.

(a) By way of sustentation: all our fruits of obedience depend upon Joh_15:4).

(b) To all our privileges and comfortable claims (1Co_3:1-23. ult.).

(c) To all our hopes and expectations of glory (Col_1:27). So then destroy this union, and with it you destroy all our fruits, privileges, and eternal hopes, at one stroke.

(5) It is a most efficacious union, for through this union the Divine power flows into our souls, both to quicken us with the life of Christ, and to conserve and secure that life in us, after it is so infused (Eph Joh_14:19).

(6) It is an indissoluble union; there is an everlasting tie betwixt Christ and the believer (Rom_8:35; Rom_8:38-39).

(7) It is an honourable union. The greatest honour that was ever done to our common nature was by its assumption into union with the Second Person hypostatically, and the highest honour that was ever done to our single persons was their union with Christ mystically. To be a servant of Christ is a dignity transcendent to the highest advancement among men; but to be a member of Christ, how matchless is the glory thereof 1

(8) It is a most comfortable union (Eph_1:22-23).

(9) It is a fruitful union (Rom_7:4; Joh_15:8).

(10) It is an enriching union (1Co_1:30; 1Co_3:22). All that Christ hath becomes ours: His Father (Joh_20:17); His promises (2Co_1:20); His providences (Rom_8:28); His glory (Joh_17:24).

III. INFERENCES. If there be such an union betwixt Christ

1. Then what transcendent dignity hath God put on believers! Well might Constantine prefer the honour of being a member of the Church before that of being a head of the empire. Some imperious grandees would frown should some of these persons but presume to approach their presence; but God sets them before His face with delight, and angels delight to serve them.

2. Then the graces of believers can never totally fail (Col_3:3).

3. How great and powerful a motive then is this, to make us liberal in relieving the necessities and wants of every gracious person! For in relieving them we relieve Christ Himself (Mat_25:35; Mat_25:40).

4. How unnatural then are all those acts of unkindness whereby believers wound and grieve Jesus Christi This is as if the hand should wound his own head, from which it receives life, sense, motion, and strength.

5. Then surely they can never want what is good for their souls or bodies. Every one naturally cares and provides for his own, especially for his own body. (J. Flavel.)

Christ in man

You may sometimes have seen a wife, wedded in true love and heart, surrender to a man who is good and strong. At first his goodness and strength are merely the object of her reverence, but gradually they seem to pass into her. New elements of character are developed in her, a firmness, a decisiveness, a breadth of view, a depth of sympathy which were wanting before. You would not say that her individuality had been lost; on the contrary, it seems informed, inspired, filled out and completed. You would not say that she was a reflection of him; no, you would rather say that she lives in him, or from another point of view, that he lives in her. Her relation to him is not imitative but receptive. He passes into her. If he is removed by death, it is observed not so much that she has lost something, as that part of her, the best and greater part, has gone; she is no longer what she was; she reminds you of a home that once had a tenant, but now though furniture and decorations remain the same, the tenant is there no more. In such an illustration we may get some idea of this august doctrine. It is something more than that hopeless task of copying the human life of Jesus, it is the actual communication of His Divine life, as the Lord Himself puts it I in them. He--shall we say? the beautiful and perfect spouse enters the soul, not ideally, but really; and entering in He moulds the ugly and repulsive outlines of our being into conformity with His own. (R. F. Horton, M. A.)

The indwelling of Christ

On a bright but chilly day in early spring you see your friend walking on the shady side of the street, as some foolish people will do. You call over to him: Come and walk in the sun with me. The sun is many millions of miles away, yet you speak of being in it, and walking in it, when you are bathed in the light and warmth continually proceeding from it. In the same way are we in Christ when we are surrounded by the gracious loving presence of His Holy Spirit. So, Ye in Me. But not only must the light be around us, but in us, before we can be said to live in it and walk in it. A blind man is surrounded by the sunlight as any one else is, but he does not live in it; he does not walk in it; he cannot enjoy it. Why not? Simply because it is not in him. We must have eyes; and these eyes must be opened to receive the light into the body, so that we may live in it, and walk in it, and enjoy it. And in the same way must the eye of faith be opened to receive the heavenly light into the soul before we can even be aware of its presence; and it must be kept open in order that we may walk in the light as He is in the light. Christ must be in us by His Holy Spirit in order that we may live in Him. (J. L. Nye.)

Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved Me

The Fathers love to the believer

I. THE GROUNDS ON WHICH WE MAY UNDERSTAND THIS TO BE POSSIBLE.

1. God cannot love but with all the love He has. He can never be less than God--that is, perfect. He can do nothing which even He could improve upon. Then, when He loves, it is in the fullest measure in which even God can love. Now Jesus loved Martha, &c., that sounds as if He loved them more than others, so does the disciple whom Jesus loved, but not necessarily so, because they were more responsive to that love. The difference is not in God, but in us--in our reception of His love.

2. Those who believe in Christ, are loved in Him. In connection with the rest of the prayer it is not so hard to believe the text. If there be this oneness between Him and them, how can it be otherwise.

3. The sacrifice of Christ manifests such a love. For how must the Father feel to those for whom He gave His Son?

II. THE CHARACTER OF THE DIVINE LOVE WHICH THIS IMPLIES.

1. It is love checked by no barrier. Once it was checked, it could not utter itself because of sin. You have seen a swollen stream heave, impatient of restraint, against the flood-gates which keep it back. It was so once with Gods love to men. But the barrier is removed, Christ hath put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and now that love leaps forth free to all. But it finds another check, hearts are closed to its reception, it surges round them seeking to enter, but for the most part in vain; it cannot have its way with men because they will not let it. But not so all. Some have known and believed the love that God has to them, they have opened their hearts to it and it can do for them what it would; these are they who believe on Christ, see their sin put away in Him, and in Him their acceptance by the Father; to them that love goes forth as to Him.

2. It is a love of closest intimacy. There is a love which is little more than kindly feeling, there is that which is mainly a delight in what perhaps we cannot approach, there is the love of friendship with its exchange of confidence and mutual happiness, but there is also the love of some one who comes so near to us that he is our second self. That most nearly represents the Fathers love to the Son, the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father. We are apt to be content with much less, cherishing but a reverence to God which keeps us at a distance, and not blending with it a confidence as great which compels us to draw near. God forbid that we lose the reverence, but that we lose the confidence God forbid too! Yet that is our portion, since Christ says the Father has loved us as He loved Him.

3. It is an everlasting love. For the Fathers love to the Son will never cease, and through earths sins and sorrows and conflicts, through all the changes we dread, through the mystery of death, in the glory of heaven and throughout its endless future, unweariedly the Father will love us still.

III. THE EFFECT OF THIS LOVE OF GOD ON HIS PEOPLE, or rather, the effect of knowing it.

1. It satisfies when every other love fails. And that is always.

2. It is the quickening power of holiness. For the way into holiness is to be loved into it by God. (C. New.)

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

17:23 that the world will know: If the church lives in the Spirit, reflects God’s glory and love, and shows unity sustained by a shared knowledge of God, then its testimony will astonish the world.

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

Joh 17:23. Ἐγὼ, I) viz. am.—τετελειωμένοι εἰς ἕν, consummated [“made perfect”] in one) being brought on to perfect unity.

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

Joh 17:23 . ἵνα ὦσιν ἕν of Joh 17:22 becomes in Joh 17:23 ἵνα ὦσι τετελειωμένοι εἰς ἕν , “that they may be perfected into one”. They are perfected by being wrought to a Divine unity. The work of Christ is accomplished when men are one by Christ dwelling in them. God is in Him, He is in each believer, and thus a true and final unity is formed. One result is the conviction wrought in the world, ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας … ἠγάπησας . The mission of Christ and its results prove not only the Father’s love of the Son but His love for men.

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

I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one--(See on Joh 17:21).

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

Verse 23. That the world may know] That the Jewish people first, and secondly the Gentiles, may acknowledge me as the true Messiah, and be saved unto life eternal.

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

23. I in them, and thou in me; for he intends to teach that in him dwells all fullness of blessings, and that what was concealed in God is now manifested in him, that he may impart it to his people, as the water, flowing from the fountain by various channels, waters the fields on all sides.

And hast loved them, He means that it is a very striking exhibition, and a very excellent pledge, of the love of God towards believers, which the world is compelled to feel, whether it will or not, when the Holy Spirit dwelling in them sends forth the rays of righteousness and holiness. There are innumerable other ways, indeed, in which God daily testifies his fatherly love towards us, but the mark of adoption is justly preferred to them all. He likewise adds, and hast loved them, As Thou Hast Loved Me. By these words he intended to point out the cause and origin of the love; for the particle as, means because, and the words, AS thou hast loved me, mean, Because thou hast loved me; for to Christ alone belongs the title of Well-beloved, (Matthew 3:17; 17:5.) Besides, that love which the heavenly Father bears towards the Head is extended to all the members, so that he loves none but in Christ.

Yet this gives rise to some appearance of contradiction; for Christ, as we have seen elsewhere declares that the unspeakable love of God towards the world was the reason why he gave his only-begotten Son, (John 3:16.) If the cause must go before the effect, we infer that God the Father loved men apart from Christ; that is, before he was appointed to be the Redeemer. I reply, in that, and similar passages, love denotes the mercy with which God was moved towards unworthy persons, and even towards his enemies, before he reconciled them to himselfi It is, indeed, a wonderful goodness of God, and inconceivable by the human mind, that, exercising benevolence towards men whom he could not but hate, he removed the cause of the hatred, that there might be no obstruction to his love. And, indeed, Paul informs us that there are two ways in which we are loved in Christ; first, because the Father

chose us in him before the creation of the world, (Ephesians 1:4;)

and, secondly, because in Christ God hath reconciled us to himself, and hath showed that he is gracious to us, (Romans 5:10.) Thus we are at the same time the enemies and the friends of God, until, atonement having been made for our sins, we are restored to favor with God. But when we are justified by faith, it is then, properly, that we begin to be loved by God, as children by a father. That love by which Christ was appointed to be the person, in whom we should be fiercly chosen before we were born, and while we were still ruined in Adam, is hidden in the breast of God, and far exceeds the capacity of the human mind. True, no man will ever feel that God is gracious to him, unless he perceives that God is pacified in Christ. But as all relish for the love of God vanishes when Christ is taken away, so we may safely conclude that, since by faith we are ingrafted into his body, there is no danger of our falling from the love of God; for this foundation cannot be overturned, that we are loved, because the Father hath loved his Son.

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.

(23) I in them, and thou in me.—These words are best regarded as a parenthesis more explicitly setting forth the thought of the union of the Father, the Son, and the believer. The thought is continued from the last verse, “That they may be one even as we are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one.” It is the thought which the words of Christ have uttered again and again, and which we yet feel that no words can utter. The disciples heard the words immediately after they had heard the allegory of the true vine (John 15); and the fullest meaning of separate words and phrases in these chapters is best arrived at by remembering that they were not uttered as separate words and phrases, but that they were spoken as a whole, and should be read as a whole; and that the most unfathomable of them were spoken in prayer from the Son to the Father.

That they may be made perfect in one.—Better, . . . unto one. The unity is the result of their being made perfect. (Comp. Notes on Heb_10:14 and 1Jn_2:5; 1Jn_4:12; 1Jn_4:17-18.)

And that the world may know that thou hast sent me.—Better, . . . didst send Me. Comp. Joh_17:21. “That the world may know” (recognise) here is parallel to “that the world may believe,” in the earlier verse. We are to regard it, therefore, as another instance of the repeated expression of the fulness of thought; and this is borne out by the parallel in Joh_13:35; Joh_14:31. The thought which has been introduced here of the conviction of the unbelieving world, seems to be opposed to the context. The prayer is that the world, seeing in its midst the power which binds men together in unity, may believe and know that this is of God, who sent Christ into the world, and may accept for themselves the message of love which the “Sent of God” has brought unto them. (Comp. Note on Joh_3:16.)

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

23. I in them, and thou in me] And therefore, ‘Thou in them and they in Thee.’

made perfect in one] Literally, perfected into one; i.e. completed and made one. In the unity the completeness consists. The expression ‘into one’ occurs elsewhere only Joh_11:52 (comp. 1Jn_5:8). For ‘perfected’ comp. 1Jn_2:5; 1Jn_4:12; 1Jn_4:17-18.

may know] Or, come to know, recognise (Joh_17:3) gradually and in time. This is the second effect of the unity of Christians, more perfect than the first. The first (Joh_17:21) was that the world is induced to believe that God sent Christ; the second is that the world comes to know that God sent Christ, and moreover that He loved the world even as He loved Christ. ‘Hast sent’ and ‘hast loved’ in both places are literally didst send and didst love; but in the case of the second of the two verbs the English perfect is perhaps the best representative of the Greek aorist. The second ‘Thou’ in the verse and the last ‘Me’ are emphatic.

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.

Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me,.... Not all the world, but a select number; not apostles only, nor as such; nor believers, or as such, for as such they were not given to Christ; nor as considered in the effectual calling; but as the elect of God, and by that eternal act of his grace; when they were given to Christ as his children, as his spouse, as his church, as the sheep of his hand, as his portion, and to be preserved by him; which is known by their calling and conversion: the form in which these words are delivered, is not so much by way of entreaty, as demand; they are a declaration of Christ's will, in which he insists on it as his right, upon the foot of his purchase, and those covenant transactions which passed between him and his Father, on the behalf of those that were given to him: that they

be with me where I am; not where he was then, unless it may be meant of him as the omnipresent God, and as such then in heaven; though he rather designs where he should be as man, after his resurrection, and where the souls of saints are after death; and where they will be, soul and body, when raised again; and which is desirable both to Christ, and to his people; this was the joy that was set before him, and what they comfort one another with, that they shall be for ever with him:

that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me; not the simple abstract glory of his deity; which, as it was not given to him, is not to be seen by them; but his glory as Mediator: this was seen, though imperfectly by some, in the days of his flesh; and in the glass of the Gospel, a believer now has some views of it, and by faith sees, knows, and is assured that Christ is glorified in heaven; but hereafter the saints in their own persons, and with their own eyes, shall see him as he is, and appear in glory with him; which sight of his glory will be near, and not at a distance, appropriating and assimilating, rejoicing, satisfying, and for ever:

for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world; this is mentioned both as a reason why such a glory was given him, because of his Father's early love to him as Mediator; and as an argument why he might expect to be heard and answered, because of the interest he had in his affections, which had been strongly towards him, even from everlasting; and because the persons he asks, or rather demands these things for, shared in the same ancient love.

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

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.

Ver. 23. I in them, and thou in me] Christ was the only fit mediator; as being God for the business with God; and man for the business with man. He is the bridge that joineth heaven and earth together, saith Gregory. He is that ladder of ascension to God; faith first lays hold upon Christ as man, and by it, as by a mean, makes way to God; and in it embraceth the Godhead, which is of itself fire consuming. We may safely sail through Christ’s blood into the bosom of the Father.

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.

May be made perfect in one - That their union may be complete. That there may be no jars, discords, or contentions. A machine is perfect or complete when it has all its parts and is in good order when there is no portion of it wanting. So the union of Christians, for which the Saviour prayed, would be complete or perfect if there were no controversies, no envyings, no contentions, and no heart-burnings and jealousies. It is worthy of remark here how entirely the union of his people occupied the mind of Jesus as he drew near to death. He saw the danger of strifes and contentions in the church. He knew the imperfections of even the best of men. He saw how prone they would be to passion and ambition; how ready to mistake love of sect or party for zeal for pure religion; how selfish and worldly men in the church might divide his followers, and produce unholy feeling and contention; and he saw, also, how much this would do to dishonor religion.

Hence, he took occasion, when he was about to die, to impress the importance of union on his disciples. By solemn admonition, and by most tender and affecting appeals to God in supplication, he showed his sense of the value of this union. He used the most sublime and impressive illustration; he adverted to the eternal union between the Father and himself; he reminded them of his love, and of the effect that their union would have on the world, to fix it more deeply in their hearts. The effect has shown the infinite wisdom of the Saviour. The contentions and strifes of Christians have shown his knowledge in foreseeing it. The effect of all this on religion has shown that he understood the value of union. Christians have contended long enough. It is time that they should hear the parting admonitions of their Redeemer, and go unitedly against their common foe. The world still lies in wickedness; and the friends of Jesus, bound by the cords of eternal love, should advance together against the common enemy, and spread the triumphs of the gospel around the globe. All that is needful now, under the blessing of God, to convince the world” that God sent the Lord Jesus, is that very union among all Christians for which he prayed;” and when that union of feeling, and purpose, and action shall take place, the task of sending the gospel to all nations will be soon accomplished, and the morning of the millennial glory will dawn upon the world.

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

I in them; not only as my Divine nature is united to their flesh, but as I have made them partakers of my Spirit, and of the Divine nature; as I have loved them with a special and peculiar love, and am the head, they the members; I the vine, they the branches.

And thou in me, the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in me bodily; I being the brightness of thy glory, the express image of thy person; thou also doing whatsoever I do, and accepting and approving of it, as Joh 14:10.

That they may be made perfect in one; the Greek is, εις εν, into one; in one body, whereof Christ is the Head; which body is the church, keeping a unity of faith; all believing the same things in matter of faith, and those things no other than what thou hast revealed, and I have revealed as from thee. This, O Father, will be a great evidence, both that thou hast sent me, when the world shall see thee bowing men’s hearts to the obedience of the truth of thy gospel; and that thou hast loved them with a tender and everlasting love, as thou hast loved me.

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

23. Thou in me—So that the very centre and nucleus of this unity is God himself.

The unity of the Church consists in doctrine and in spirit. The historian of evangelical doctrine finds that the system, in its great outlines, forms a grand architectural structure, extending through ages, identical in its general outlines, and excluding all mere half-faiths, heresies, novelties, and infidelities. As such a system it does, by its self-consistency, strength, and permanence, form a powerful proof of the reality of the Christian faith, calculated to make the world believe.

Yet deeper and more absolute is the unity of the spirit. Doctrinal differences are many; Christian experience is vitally one. Says Dr. Shedd: “Tried by the test of exact dogmatic statement, there is a plain difference between the creed of the Arminian and the Calvinist; but tried by the test of practical piety and devout feeling, there is little difference between the character of John Wesley and John Calvin.” For this he assigns as a reason, that “the practical religions life is much more a product of the Holy Spirit than is the speculative construction of Scripture truth. Piety is certainly the product of divine grace; but the creed is not certainly formed under divine illumination.”

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

I in them, and thou in me. He does not say, "Thou in them, as thou in me," nor "They in thee, and I in thee;" but he includes in the hmeiv of the previous verse, Egw kai Su , and distinctly regards himself as the mediating link of relation between the Father and the disciples. The Egw is that of the Son of God, manifested in Christ"s consciousness of the God-man-hood; the Su is the eternal and non-incarnate God. God is in him, as he is in them. They are in him, as he is in the Father. That they may be perfected, completely realizing the end of their being and the meaning of the gift of eternal life, fully ripened in their graces until they reach up into one, into the fullness of the stature of the perfect Man, until they become the one new and immortal body of the living Christ, (eiv en indicates the sublime result so far as they are concerned). Each individual believer reaching the highest perfection of his being, as according to his own capacity and function he fills his place in the one living body of the Lord The end is not here, however, so far as others are concerned; for this unity, when consummated, is to bring about a yet further result on this earth, and in order that the world may come to know (ginwskh) that thou didst send me, and lovedst them as thou lovedst me. Our Lord has advanced upon the assertion of Ver. 21,

(1) by discriminating between "believing" and "coming to know" by personal experiences, overwhelming conviction, and processes which lead to invincible assent. Faith in its highest form melts into knowledge, full assurance, complete certitude.

(2) There is superadded to the conviction concerning the Divine mission of the Christ yet another, viz. a conviction of the wonderful love which thou hast shown to them in thus lifting them out of the world into the unity of the spiritual life, into the fellowship of the Son of God. This has twofold bearing. So far as the world is concerned they will see that the love shown to the believers in Christ will be compatible with the same kind of treatment as Christ himself received, and so far as the Divine reality is concerned, it will be seen that they are so closely identified with Christ that the infinite love of God to Christ flows over in its Divine superabundance upon those who are gathered together into him. It is impossible to exclude from these verses the idea of the visibility of the union and life of the Church, and of the Divine love to it. Nothing is said or hinted, however, about the nature of that visibility. Christians are not, by reason of their differences, to exclude from this passage the promise that the whole assembly of the Firstborn would make this gracious and convincing impression on the world. They are far enough, in days of mutual recrimination, from realizing the Divine ideal, and should set themselves to remedy the crying evil; but they have no right to import into the words, by reason of their predilection for particular forms of Church organization, an identification of the body of Christ with any specific form. The spiritual union of Christendom in its one faith, hope, and character, is, notwithstanding the divergence of some of its forms of expression, the most stupendous fact in the history of the world. The elite of all Churches are drawing more and more into a visible unity.

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

perfect (See Scofield "Mat 5:48").

world kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield "Mat 4:8").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. That as the Father is in Christ, so is Christ, in believers, and they in him: the Father is in Christ in respect of his divine nature, essence, and attributes; and Christ is in believers, by the inhabitation of his Holy Spirit.

Observe, 2. That the believers’ happiness consisteth in their oneness, in being one with God through Christ, and one amongst themselves: That they may be made perfect in one.

Observe, 3. That God the Father loveth Christ his Son: Thou lovest them, as thou hast loved me.

God loveth Christ, first, as God; so he is Primum Amabile, the first object of his love, as representing his attributes exactly.

Secondly, as Mediator, Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life for my sheep. Joh 10:17.

Observe, 4. That God the Father loves believers, even as he loved Christ himself; that is, he loves them upon the same grounds that he loved him; namely, for their nearness, and for their likeness to him.

1. For their nearness and relation to him; he loveth Christ as his Son, believers as his children, Behold what manner of love the Father bestoweth upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! 1Jn 3:1.

2. The properties of the Father’s love towards Christ and believers are the same: doth he love Christ with a tender love, with an unchangeable love, with an everlasting love? so doth he love believers also.

Observe, 5. That Christ would have the world know, that God the Father loveth the children of men, as well as himself; Christ is not ambitious to engross all our love unto himself, but would have the world take notice of the good-will of his Father, as well as of himself, to lost mankind; of the Father’s loving himself, as well as of his own love in coming: That the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

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

23. The basis of the unity of believers is their union with Christ and through Him with the Father: in this way they are perfected into one, completed and made one. It is in the unity that the completeness consists. For τελειοῦσθαι comp. 1Jn 2:5; 1Jn 4:12; 1Jn 4:17-18; for εἰς ἕν comp. Joh 11:52 (1Jn 5:8).

γινώσκῃ. Come to know, recognise (Joh 17:3) gradually and in time. This is the second effect of the unity of Christians, more perfect than the first. The first (Joh 17:21) was that the world is induced to believe that God sent Christ; the second is that the world comes to know that God sent Christ, and moreover that He loved the world even as He loved Christ. The σύ and ἐμέ in what follows are emphatic.

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.

23.] Grotius and others interpret this δόξα, “potestas faciendi miracula,” and refer to ch. 2:11 and ch. 11:40; but wrongly:—for if so, the αὐτοῖς must mean the Apostles only, whereas it is distinctly referred to the believers of all time. The δόξα is (Lücke, De Wette, Stier:—Meyer understands it of the heavenly glory, Rom 8:17) the glory of Christ as the only-begotten Son (ch. 1:14), full of grace and truth (see ver. 5 and note), which by virtue of His exaltation and the unity of all believers in Him through the Spirit, has become (not, shall be) theirs, Eph 1:18; Eph 2:6: Rom 8:30: not yet fully, nor as it is His, but as each can receive and shew it forth. The perfection of it is spoken of, ver. 24.

We have the same recurrences of ἵνα as in ver. 21, and the same dependence (see var. readd.). The second of them here expresses not merely the similarity of their unity to that of the Son and Father,—but the actuality of its subsistence, in Christ abiding in them and the Father in Christ.

On τετελ. εἰς ἕν, see reff.

γινώσκῃ here, parallel as it is to πιστεύσῃ above, cannot be interpreted of a bare recognition, or of a recognition at the final judgment,—but must be taken to mean that salutary knowledge by which from time to time the children of the world are by God called to become the children of light. See the same words, and note, ch. 14:31, also ch. 13:35, and observe that in all three places the recognition is that of love;—in ch. 13:35, of the disciples one to another; in ch. 14:31, of Jesus to the Father; here, of the Father to believers, as perfected into unity in the Son of His love.

“Observe,” says Meyer, “how the glance of the Intercessor reaches in these verses even to the highest aim of His work on earth, when the world shall be believing, and Christ Himself actually the Saviour of the world, ch. 4:42, cf. ch. 10:16.”

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

23. ἐγὼ ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ σὺ ἐν ἐμοί, the nature of the unity of believers being once again illustrated by that highest pattern of Unity, the Unity of the Godhead. “I in them”; so He had spoken before (14:20), and the idea of Christ being “in” the believer is as familiar a thought to Paul as it is to Jn.; cf. Rom 8:10, 2Co 13:5, Gal 2:20, Gal 4:19.

ἵνα ὦσιν τετελειωμένοι εἰς ἕν. The imparting of His δόξα to the disciples of Jesus would not only tend to unite them, but it would at last completely unite them, “that they may be perfected (cf. for τελειοῦσθαι used thus, 1Jn 2:5, 1Jn 2:4:12, 1Jn 2:17, 1Jn 2:18; cf. Php 3:12) into one.” With τετ. εἰς ἕν, cf. συναγάγῃ εἰς ἕν (11:52).

ἵνα γινώσκῃ ὁ κόσμος ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας. Here is the final consequence of the impartation of the “glory” of Jesus to His disciples, viz. that the world might come to be assured of His Divine mission; the phrase being repeated from v. 21, γινώσκῃ being substituted for πιστεύῃ. Cf. the concluding words of the Farewell Discourse, ἵνα γνῷ ὁ κόσμος … (14:31). This is Jesus’ ideal of the world’s future.

καὶ ἠγάπησας αὐτοὺς καθώς κτλ. For thus will the world be led to the knowledge that God loved it (αὐτούς) with the same kind of love as that with which He loved His Son (5:20); and that therefore He had sent His Son. These are the thoughts of the “comfortable word” of 3:16, which are here expressed as a prayer.

For ἠγάπησας there is a Western reading, ἠγάπησα (D a b, etc.), which is a mistaken correction (introduced from 15:9), the connexion of the passage with 3:16 having been missed.

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