John 17:24

Here is, I. A petition for the glorifying of all those that were given to Christ (Joh 17:24), not only these apostles, but all believers: Father, I will that they may be with me. Observe,

1. The connection of this request with those foregoing. He had prayed that God would preserve, sanctify, and unite them; and now he prays that he would crown all his gifts with their glorification. In this method we must pray, first for grace, and then for glory (Psa 84:11); for in this method God gives. Far be it from the only wise God to come under the imputation either of that foolish builder who without a foundation built upon the sand, as he would if he should glorify any whom he has not first sanctified; or of that foolish builder who began to build and was not able to finish, as he would if he should sanctify any, and not glorify them.

2. The manner of the request: Father, I will. Here, as before, he addresses himself to God as a Father, and therein we must do likewise; but when he says, thelō - I will, he speaks a language peculiar to himself, and such as does not become ordinary petitioners, but very well became him who paid for what he prayed for. (1.) This intimates the authority of his intercession in general; his word was with power in heaven, as well as on earth. He entering with his own blood into the holy place, his intercession there has an uncontrollable efficacy. He intercedes as a king, for he is a priest upon his throne (like Melchizedek), a king-priest. (2.) It intimates his particular authority in this matter; he had a power to give eternal life (Joh 17:2), and, pursuant to that power, he says, Father, I will. Though now he took upon him the form of a servant, yet that power being to be most illustriously exerted when he shall come the second time in the glory of a judge, to say, Come ye blessed, having that in his eye, he might well say, Father, I will.

3. The request itself - that all the elect might come to be with him in heaven at last, to see his glory, and to share in it. Now observe here,

(1.) Under what notion we are to hope for heaven? wherein does that happiness consist? three things make heaven: - [1.] It is to be where Christ is: Where I am; in the paradise whither Christ's soul went at death; in the third heavens whither his soul and body went at his ascension: - Where I am, am to be shortly, am to be eternally. In this world we are but in transitu - on our passage; there we truly are where we are to be for ever; so Christ reckoned, and so must we. [2.] It is to be with him where he is; this is not tautology, but intimates that we shall not only be in the same happy place where Christ is, but that the happiness of the place will consist in his presence; this is the fulness of its joy. The very heaven of heaven is to be with Christ, there in company with him, and communion with him, Phi 1:23. [3.] It is to behold his glory, which the Father has given him. Observe, First, The glory of the Redeemer is the brightness of heaven. That glory before which angels cover their faces was his glory, Joh 12:41. The Lamb is the light of the new Jerusalem, Rev 21:23. Christ will come in the glory of his Father, for he is the brightness of his glory. God shows his glory there, as he does his grace here, through Christ. "The Father has given me this glory," though he was as yet in his low estate; but it was very true, and very near. Secondly, The felicity of the redeemed consists very much in the beholding of this glory; they will have the immediate view of his glorious person. I shall see God in my flesh, Job 19:26, Job 19:27. They will have a clear insight into his glorious undertaking, as it will be then accomplished; they will see into those springs of love from which flow all the streams of grace; they shall have an appropriating sight of Christ's glory (Uxor fulget radiis mariti - The wife shines with the radiance of her husband), and an assimilating sight: they shall be changed into the same image, from glory to glory.

(2.) Upon what ground we are to hope for heaven; no other than purely the mediation and intercession of Christ, because he hath said, Father, I will. Our sanctification is our evidence, for he that has this hope in him purifies himself; but it is the will of Christ that is our title, by which will we are sanctified, Heb 10:10. Christ speaks here as if he did not count his own happiness complete unless he had his elect to share with him in it, for it is the bringing of many sons to glory that makes the captain of our salvation perfect, Heb 2:10.

4. The argument to back this request: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. This is a reason, (1.) Why he expected this glory himself. Thou wilt give it to me, for thou lovedst me. The honour and power given to the Son as Mediator were founded in the Father's love to him (Joh 5:20): the Father loves the Son, is infinitely well pleased in his undertaking, and therefore has given all things into his hands; and, the matter being concerted in the divine counsels from eternity, he is said to love him as Mediator before the foundation of the world. Or, (2.) Why he expected that those who were given to him should be with him to share in his glory: "Thou lovedst me, and them in me, and canst deny me nothing I ask for them."

II. The conclusion of the prayer, which is designed to enforce all the petitions for the disciples, especially the last, that they may be glorified. Two things he insists upon, and pleads: -

1. The respect he had to his Father, Joh 17:25. Observe,

(1.) The title he gives to God: O righteous Father. When he prayed that they might be sanctified, he called him holy Father; when he prays that they may be glorified, he calls him righteous Father; for it is a crown of righteousness which the righteous Judge shall give. God's righteousness was engaged for the giving out of all that good which the Father had promised and the Son had purchased.

(2.) The character he gives of the world that lay in wickedness: The world has not known thee. Note, Ignorance of God overspreads the world of mankind; this is the darkness they sit in. Now this is urged here, [1.] To show that these disciples need the aids of special grace, both because of the necessity of their work - they were to bring a world that knew not God to the knowledge of him; and also, because of the difficulty of their work - they must bring light to those that rebelled against the light; therefore keep them. [2.] To show that they were qualified for further peculiar favours, for they had that knowledge of God which the world had not.

(3.) The plea he insists upon for himself: But I have known thee. Christ knew the Father as no one else ever did; knew upon what grounds he went in his undertaking, knew his Father's mind in every thing, and therefore, in this prayer, came to him with confidence, as we do to one we know. Christ is here suing out blessings for those that were his; pursuing this petition, when he had said, The world has not known thee, one would expect it should follow, but they have known thee; no, their knowledge was not to be boasted of, but I have known thee, which intimates that there is nothing in us to recommend us to God's favour, but all our interest in him, and intercourse with him, result fRom. and depend upon, Christ's interest and intercourse. We are unworthy, but he is worthy.

(4.) The plea he insists upon for his disciples: And they have known that thou hast sent me; and, [1.] Hereby they are distinguished from the unbelieving world. When multitudes to whom Christ was sent, and his grace offered, would not believe that God had sent him, these knew it, and believed it, and were not ashamed to own it. Note, To know and believe in Jesus Christ, in the midst of a world that persists in ignorance and infidelity, is highly pleasing to God, and shall certainly be crowned with distinguishing glory. Singular faith qualifies for singular favours. [2.] Hereby they are interested in the mediation of Christ, and partake of the benefit of his acquaintance with the Father: "I have known thee, immediately and perfectly; and these, though they have not so known thee, nor were capable of knowing thee so, yet have known that thou hast sent me, have known that which was required of them to know, have known the Creator in the Redeemer." Knowing Christ as sent of God, they have, in him, known the Father, and are introduced to an acquaintance with him; therefore, "Father, look after them for my sake."

2. The respect he had to his disciples (Joh 17:26): "I have led them into the knowledge of thee, and will do it yet more and more; with this great and kind intention, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." Observe here,

(1.) What Christ had done for them: I have declared unto them thy name. [1.] This he had done for those that were his immediate followers. All the time that he went in and out among them, he made it his business to declare his Father's name to them, and to beget in them a veneration for it. The tendency of all his sermons and miracles was to advance his Father's honours, and to spread the knowledge of him, Joh 1:18. [2.] This he had done for all that believe on him; for they had not been brought to believe if Christ had not made known to them his Father's name. Note, First, We are indebted to Christ for all the knowledge we have of the Father's name; he declares it, and he opens the understanding to receive that revelation. Secondly, Those whom Christ recommends to the favour of God he first leads into an acquaintance with God.

(2.) What he intended to do yet further for them: I will declare it. To the disciples he designed to give further instructions after his resurrection (Act 1:3), and to bring them into a much more intimate acquaintance with divine things by the pouring out of the Spirit after his ascension; and to all believers, into whose hearts he hath shined, he shines more and more. Where Christ has declared his Father's name, he will declare it; for to him that hath shall be given; and those that know God both need and desire to know more of him. This is fitly pleaded for them: "Father, own and favour them, for they will own and honour thee."

(3.) What he aimed at in all this; not to fill their heads with curious speculations, and furnish them with something to talk of among the learned, but to secure and advance their real happiness in two things: -

[1.] Communion with God: "Therefore I have given them the knowledge of thy name, of all that whereby thou hast made thyself known, that thy love, even that wherewith thou hast loved me, may be, not only towards them, but in them;" that is, First, "Let them have the fruits of that love for their sanctification; let the Spirit of love, with which thou hast filled me, be in them." Christ declares his Father's name to believers, that with that divine light darted into their minds a divine love may be shed abroad in their hearts, to be in them a commanding constraining principle of holiness, that they may partake of a divine nature. When God's love to us comes to be in us, it is like the virtue which the loadstone gives the needle, inclining it to move towards the pole; it draws out the soul towards God in pious and devout affections, which are as the spirits of the divine life in the soul. Secondly, "Let them have the taste and relish of that love for their consolation; let them not only be interested in the love of God, by having God's name declared to them, but, by a further declaration of it, let them have the comfort of that interest; that they may not only know God, but know that they know him," Jo1 2:3. It is the love of God thus shed abroad in the heart that fills it with joy, Rom 5:3, Rom 5:5. This God has provided for, that we may not only be satisfied with his loving kindness, but be satisfied of it; and so may live a life of complacency in God and communion with him; this we must pray for, this we must press after; if we have it, we must thank Christ for it; if we want it, we may thank ourselves.

[2.] Union with Christ in order hereunto: And I in them. There is no getting into the love of God but through Christ, nor can we keep ourselves in that love but by abiding in Christ, that is, having him to abide in us; nor can we have the sense and apprehension of that love but by our experience of the indwelling of Christ, that is, the Spirit of Christ in our hearts. It is Christ in us that is the only hope of glory that will not make us ashamed, Col 1:27. All our communion with God, the reception of his love to us with our return of love to him again, passes through the hands of the Lord Jesus, and the comfort of it is owing purely to him. Christ had said but a little before, I in them (Joh 17:23), and here it is repeated (though the sense was complete without it), and the prayer closed with it, to show how much the heart of Christ was sent upon it; all his petitions centre in this, and with this the prayers of Jesus, the Son of David, are ended: "I in them; let me have this, and I desire no more." It is the glory of the Redeemer to dwell in the redeemed: it is his rest for ever, and he has desired it. Let us therefore make sure our union with Christ, and then take the comfort of his intercession. This prayer had an end, but that he ever lives to make.

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

Joh_17:24

Father I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me.

Christs last will

Jesus no longer says, I pray but I will. This expression, found nowhere else, in the mouth of Jesus, is generally explained by saying that the Son thus expressed Himself, because He felt Himself on this point so fully in accordance with the Father. But this He felt in every prayer, and this unique expression must be taken in its relation to the unique character of the situation. It is the saying of a dying man: Father, My last will is … It is truly His testament which Christ thus deposits in His Fathers hands. (F. Godet, D. D.)

Christs wish for man

The truth that men are judged by their desires finds its highest illustration in Jesus. The perfection of His nature is shown in the perfectness of His wishes. When His desires shall be all fulfilled, then there will be nothing more in the universe to be desired. The wish of the text is a prayer; but a prayer is merely a wish turned Godward. It was the instinct of Christs nature that He looked for the fulfilment of His wishes, not to Himself, and not to the things about Him, but to His Father. He was desiring in His heart

I. THAT HIS PEOPLE SHOULD BE WITH HIM.

1. The obvious meaning of this is the Saviours affection for His disciples. When friend is going away from friend, how naturally the wish springs up into words: Oh, if I could only take you with me! Now, the sublimity and the charm of the earthly life of Jesus consist in large part in the broad and healthy action of the simplest human powers which it exhibits. The simplest natures are the grandest natures always. And so it is a part of the greatness of Jesus that He so simply feels and utters this cordial human affection, and says, I shall miss you. I wish you could go with Me. We want not merely to admire this in Jesus; not merely to feel its charm. We want to catch it from Him. Elaborate civilization is always making elaborate, artificial standards.

2. But these primary emotions are deeper and richer in Him than in ordinary men, in proportion to the depth and richness of His nature.

(1) The same emotion exists in different men, but it becomes more full and perfect as the man becomes greater. Nowhere is all this more true than about companionship. For two beings to be with one another always means the same simple thing, and yet its meaning runs up through all the ascending scale of human character. A herd of brutes are satisfied if they can feed in the same field; and there is an animal companionship even amongst men, which makes them like to be with one another, to sit in the same room, to walk in crowded streets. Next higher than that, companionship means identity of work and occupation. This is the companionship of business men. Next higher still is the companionship of opinion. Beyond all these lies the highest companionship of character. We have a fine illustration of the desire for this last and highest sort of companionship in the famous words which St. Paul said to Agrippa, I would, that thou and all who hear me, &c. Those words seem to be the echo of his Masters. Paul wanted Agrippa. From the dignity of his prisoners stand, he yearned over that poor dissolute who was seated upon the throne. And this must always be the first joy of any really good life--the desire that others should enter into it. Indeed, here is the test of a mans life. Can you say, I wish you were like me? If you are trying to serve Christ, however imperfect be your service, still you can say this to your child, your friend. But I am afraid that there are people whose lives could not begin to stand that test. With awkward hands you bring out virtues which you will not practice yourself, and put them before your children and say, These are good. I advise you to practice these. What a condemnation of a mans life is that! It is not good for a man to be living any life which he would not desire to see made perfect and universal through the world. The dying Christian tells those beside him of the blessedness of serving Christ. The dying murderer with his last breath warns men from the scaffold not to be what he has been. Test your lives thus!

(2) Thus, then, we understand Christs longing for the companionship of His disciples. He wanted them to be with Him. I do not think that we can tell how much it signifies, this wish of Jesus, in its lower meaning of physical companionship. I am sure it does mean something. The seeing His face, the walking with Him in white, in heaven, are not wholly figures. But yet Gods guidance has drawn the minds of Christians to think of heaven less as a place than as a character. Never, never are we with

Christ till we are like Him. Not till He is formed in us do we enter truly into Him.

II. THAT THEY MIGHT BEHOLD HIS GLORY. Perhaps this sounds to us a little strange at first. The schoolboy wants his schoolfellow to come home with him that he may see the state in which his father lives. The American says to the foreigner, Come, see our land, its vastness, its resources, its progress. The Christian says, Come to my church. You shall hear our music, &c. Before the words can be cut entirely free from low associations, we must remember what Christs glory is. The heart and soul of it must be His goodness. What outward splendour may clothe Christ eternally we cannot know, but this we are sure of, that in at its very centre the glory of God must issue from and consist in the goodness of God, not in His power. Think for a moment of what prospects that wish of our Lord opens. Nowadays men are telling one another how tired they are of seeing sin on every side. We cheat ourselves if we think that it is peculiar to our times, for it has always been so. We cheat ourselves if we think that it is universal, for there is bright and glorious goodness around us, mixed with the sin on every side. But how imperfectly we see it! How much goodness there must be in Him which we do not see! For here this truth comes in, that only the like can see its like; only the good can really discern, appreciate, and understand goodness. Men live alongside of the best saints, and never know that they are good. The higher we climb, the more the peaks open around us. Now apply all this to the Saviours prayer. Only by growth in goodness can His goodness open itself to us. What is He praying for, then? Is it not that which we traced before, that we might be like Him? So only can we see Him. It is His glory that He wants us to see, but, back of that, He wants us to be such men and women that we can see His glory. I think of Jesus as He walked through Jerusalem. Men passed Him by; others just looked at Him, and sneered, and went their way. Do you think that did not give Him pain? Surely it did. They could not see His glory. But was not His pain that He saw them incapable of apprehending Him? Was not this what He was really mourning for when He sat on the Mount of Olives? Not, Woe is me! but O Jerusalem? Sometimes, in very far-off way, it is given to a man to echo this experience of Jesus. Sometimes a man is living for the good of other people, and other people will not see it, and he is left to sit upon the mountain and look down in sorrow upon the city which he longs to save. At such a time a man wants, and often enough he fails to get, the spirit of Christs prayer. He wants men to see His glory, and they will not. Is it for himself or for them that he is disappointed? The man whom you helped yesterday and who ungratefully slanders you to-day, are you indignant about yourself or pitiful over him? It is hard to keep out pride and jealousy, but let us remember how He wanted men to see Him because it was so wretched for them, not for Him, that they should be blind to Him. I think, then, that we have reached the meaning of this prayer of Jesus; and we are struck immediately by seeing how it really is identical with all His prayers for men. It is always that men might be saved from sin, that His goodness might come to us and we might be good. (Phillips Brooks, D. D.)

Christs prayer for His people

I. THE TONE OF THE PRAYER.

1. Wonderful majesty. Father, I will! How awful this sounds! Such a petition was never heard before. Compare it with the prayers of the most eminent of Gods people--Abraham, David, and Solomon.

2. Authority as well. Here is no condition, qualification, or contingency expressed or implied. It is the language of Him whose will is absolute law through all the universe. And this is the foundation on which the ultimate salvation of the redeemed is made to rest.

II. THE SCOPE OF THE PRAYER

1. The persons prayed for are--those whom Thou hast given Me--believers of every age. It takes in all the redeemed.

2. What is asked is that they be with Me where I am. This is a comprehensive petition. It embraces all that Christ could ask for His people, all that they can desire, or that God can give. There has been much curious discussion of the question whether heaven is a state or a place. It is clear from the teachings of the chapter, that heaven is a stale (Joh_17:21; Joh_17:23). The unity prayed for in the former and the perfection in the latter of these verses prove this conclusively. No locality can be heaven to us, unless we attain unto the state there described. At the same time this verse proves that heaven is a distinct locality (Joh_14:2). If He were speaking here as the Creator alone, the language used would not necessarily imply locality. But He is speaking as the Man Christ Jesus. True, where I am is a wide, wide phrase. Where He is, heaven is; where He is not, there is hell. A throne without Him is but the devils dungeon of darkness, wherever it be placed; a dungeon with Christ in it, a fiery furnace with Christ in the midst, is a palace of glory. If we be where He is, what is there that can be worth seeing, or knowing, or having besides? Whom have I in heaven but Thee?

III. THE DESIGN OF THE PRAYER. That they may behold My glory, &c. This refers to the glory which pertains to Him by virtue of His mediatorial office. It is the glory of revealing Gods will; of bringing to an end the great rebellion which sin had introduced into Gods dominions; of lifting off the curse from this groaning creation; of making all things new; of gathering His elect out of all nations, of raising them from the dead, and carrying them with approval through the solemn scenes of the last judgment, and assigning them the place of dignity they will occupy in His everlasting kingdom; and of conducting the affairs of that kingdom through all eternity.

IV. THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH THE PRAYER RESTS. For Thou lovedst Me, &c. There is something very striking and sublime in this argument. It is not our love for one another or of God, nor Christs or the Fathers love for us, but Gods love of His own blessed Son. In conclusion, this subject suggests

1. How unspeakable is the glory on which the redeemed will gaze!

2. The true philosophy of salvation, or the secret of the Christians security. (R. Newton, D. D.)

The Lords last prayer for His people

We mark

I. HIS LAST AND DEEPEST DESIRE CONCERNING US.

1. There is something unspeakably affecting in the designation those whom Thou hast given Me. Many titles He had already given His people--disciples, friends, brethren, &c.; names advancing in depth of tendernessas the end drew nigh; but here at the last He recalls one that He had used among the first. He does not point to the larger gift of the human race (Psa_2:1-12.); nor does He indicate any fragment predestined to be His; the sentiment is that all whom the Father teaches He draws by His Spirit, that He may consign them to His Son for salvation. The fact that they are the Fathers gift makes them unspeakably precious to Jesus, who therefore wishes the eternal society of His own.

2. But it is for our sake that He makes the request. His people are not with Him in the fall meaning of the word. When departing He said He would be with them, not that they should be with Him. Save in a few swift glimpses His Church has never seen Him since, save by the eye of faith.

(1) The disembodied are with Him where He is; and that is all we know or need to know about Him.

(2) When every one of the Fathers gifts has been gathered to Him, the whole great gift shall be restored to perfection: His people in body and soul shall be with Him eternally.

3. Whilst we might be musing as to the glory of the place, our Lord attracts back our thoughts to Himself that they may behold My glory. This is twofold

(1) The glory of His holiness, by beholding which we are now changed into the same image.

(2) It is however in the great hereafter that the Lords glory will be seen--the glory which He had with the Father before the world was. They shall see God was His promise to the pure; and now He makes that the vision of Himself. For ever He will say, He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. We shall see Him as He is, and share and reflect the glory that we contemplate.

II. THE STRENGTH OF THE PECULIAR EXPRESSION, I WILL

1. Whence has He that strong confidence on our account, sinners as we are?

(1) From the eternal love that existed between the Father and the Son.

(2) But the entire tenor of the prayer also implies that the Son makes His demands on the ground of a sealed and ratified covenant. The Son appeals to His righteous Father as Head of the redeeming scheme, speaks as having sanctified Himself, and demands all the blessings for which He shed His blood. Hence the intercession of the Son for His own is almighty.

2. What is the object of His intercession?

(1) The prayer demands that the infinite attributes of the all-holy Name should be pledged for His disciples defence. Keep through Thine own name.

(2) Sanctify them through Thy truth stipulates that all needful grace shall be imparted in order to the consecration of His saints for Himself.

3. The prayer is granted. Whatsoever is necessary for our perfect deliverance from sin is here pledged, and hereafter there will be a most glorious answer when the saints, body and soul, are presented faultless by the Son to the Father.

III. THIS DEEP DESIRE AND STRONG INTERCESSION IS UTTERED IN OUR HEARING for our instruction and encouragement.

1. We are taught, by the connection of our text with the fact that Christ prays not for the world, how important it is to our peace that we should know that we are given of the Father to the Son. There is a terrible distinction. Our Lord says nothing further about those that are not His. They will not be with Him where He is. With whom then, and where?

2. With what transcendent honour are we here invested. To be the elect of God, the peculiar heritage of Christ--Where I am there shall My servant be, &c. With what ardour should we be inflamed to make ourselves worthy of this honour.

3. The prayer is our strong assurance while we watch and labour and pray.

4. Oar Lord permitted us to hear this prayer for our strong consolation in surrendering our friends to Him in death. (W. B. Pope, D. D.)

Christs unveiled glory

I. OF WHAT STATE OF MIND THIS IS THE EXPRESSION ON THE PART OF CHRIST.

1. It expresses the depth and intensity of His love to the Church He has redeemed. Montaigne says, We hate those we injure--certainly we love those whom we have blessed. Christ having redeemed us in this life is intent on blessing us in the next.

2. It turns on the principle that sympathy is most precious to the noblest natures. Christ could not think of the splendours of His throne without connecting them with His people.

3. It contains the idea of personal interest in them as precious property by special donation from the Father. What more valued than a fathers gift, especially when given as an expression of love and for a sublime purpose.

II. WHAT VIEWS IT FURNISHES OF THE FUTURE LIFE.

1. The happiness of heaven will be realized in the immediate presence and unveiled glory of Christ. The king makes the court, not the court the king.

2. Whatever displays are made in that life of the majesty of the Godhead, will be made in the Person of Christ. To all eternity He will be Emanuel--God with us. How transporting itwill be to find His glory that of the Lamb that was slain!

III. WHAT REFLECTIONS THE SUBJECT SHOULD AWAKEN.

1. Earnest desire to be one with Christ.

2. Adoring gratitude that He has invested us with this hope which cannot die.

3. A deep concern for the religious welfare of others. (S. T. Day.)

The glorification of the Church

I. ITS SIGNIFICANCE EXPLAINED.

1. Co-existence with Christ. Now He co-exists with the Church Mat_18:20; Mat_28:20); then the Church will co-exist with Him Mat_12:26; 1Th_4:17). Now He comes down, then He will take us up. Now the place where they are together is the scene of the Churchs trials, conflicts, labours, discipline: then the place will be the house of many mansions, the scene of Christs exaltation and glory.

2. Communion with Christ. Christ and His Church have that here (1Jn_1:3). Here we see Him, but not with open vision (1Co_13:12). There the vision will be unveiled and full (1Co_13:12; 1Jn_3:2; Rev_22:4). They shall behold His glory, not only its outward symbol--the throne, sceptre, angels, trumpets, &c.

but the eternal, perfect love of the Father to Him, and the glory which, moved by that love, the Father put upon Him when He constituted Him the Crown of redeemed humanity (Eph_1:22; Php_2:9-10; 1Pe_3:22).

3. Conformity to Christ. This is realized here in part (2Co_4:18), there it will be complete (Rom_8:29; 1Jn_3:2).

4. Co-partnership with Christ. Christ is here co-partner of the Church s sufferings (Heb_4:15); by and by we shall participate in His glory (verse 22; Rev_3:21; 2Ti_2:12).

II. ITS CERTAINTY GUARANTEED.

1. By the I will of the Divine Servant. Having accomplished the work (verse 4) Christ was entitled to claim the stipulated reward--not merely to ask or wish, though that would have been enough. And as failure is impossible with reference either to Gods promise (Heb_5:13), or Christs reward (Isa_53:2), so certainly Christs believing people will eventually be glorified with Him in heaven.

2. By the I will of the Divine Son. As such Christ had power to bestow eternal life (verse 2), and so the ultimate glorification of the Church is seen.

III. ITS JUSTICE VINDICATED (verse 25, 26).

1. If the world is not glorified it is because it cannot be. Eternal righteousness forbids the glorification of such as know not the Father.

2. If the Church is glorified, it is because glory is the necessary outcome of grace. Lessons:

1. The blessedness of heaven.

2. The certainty of salvation.

3. The necessity of growing in knowledge.

4. The righteousness of the unbelieving worlds doom.

5. Grace the song of the glorified. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)

Why they leave us

1. The prayer of the Saviour rises as it proceeds. He asked for His people that they might be preserved from the world, then that they might be sanctified, and then that they might be made manifestly one; and now He reaches His crowning point--that they may be with Him where He is, and behold His glory. That prayer is most after the Divine pattern which, like a ladder, rises round by round, until it loses itself in heaven.

2. This last step of our Lords prayer is not only above all the rest, but it is a longer step than any of the others. He here ascends, not from one blessing which may be enjoyed on earth, to higher, but mounts right away from all that is to that which is reserved for the eternal future.

3. Not only does it rise as to its subject, but it even ascends as to the place which the Intercessor appears to occupy. Has it not been so with yourselves in prayer, that you might have cried with Paul, Whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell.

4. Still the prayer rises, not only as to its matter and place, but in a higher style. Before, our Lord had asked and pleaded; but now He says, Father, I will. It is well not only to groan out of the dust as suppliant sinners, but to seek unto our Father in the spirit of adoption with the confidence of children, and then, with the promise of God in our hand, lay hold upon the covenant angel, and cry, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Importunity is a humble approach to this Divine I will.

I. Let us begin as our text begins with THE HOME-WORD--Father. Is it not the centre of living unity? If there is to be a family gathering and reunion, where should it be but in the fathers house?

1. What can be more right than that children should go home to their Father? From Him they came, to Him they owe their life, and should not this be the goal of their being, that they should at last dwell in His presence?

2. Father! why, it is a bell that rings us home. He who hath the Spirit of adoption feels that the Father draws him home, and he would fain run after Him. How intensely did Jesus turn to the Father!

3. This is the consummation which the First-born looks for, and to which all of us who are like Him are aspiring also, namely, that God may be all in all. Our Brother is gone; but we ask, Where is He gone? and when the answer comes, He is gone to the Father, all notion of complaint is over. To whom else should He go? A child may be happy at school, but he longs for the holidays. Is it merely to escape his lessons? Ask him, and he will tell you, I want to go home to see my father.

II. THE HOME IMPETUS. How shall the chosen get home to the Father. I will, said Jesus, that they be with Me; and with Him they must be. Examine the energy of this I will, and you will see that it hath the force of

1. An intercessory prayer. I cannot imagine our Lords interceding in vain. If He asks that we may be with Him where He is, He must assuredly have His request. You cannot hold your dying babe, &c.; for Jesus asks for it to be with Him. Will you come into competition with your Lord?

2. A testamentary bequest and appointment. No man who makes his will likes to have it frustrated. Our Saviours testament will assuredly be carried out in every jot and tittle.

3. Desire, resolve, and purpose. If Jesus saith, I will, then it is yours to say, Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.

III. THE HOME CHARACTER. They also, whom Thou hast given Me. The Greek is somewhat difficult to translate. There is here a something in the singular as well as persons in the plural. Father, I will concerning that which thou hast given Me, that they may be with Me where I am.

1. Our Lord looked upon those whom the Father gave Him as one--one body, one Church, one bride: He willed that as a whole the Church should be with Him where He is.

2. Then He looked again and saw each of the many individuals of whom the one Church is composed, and He prayed that each, that all of these, might be with Him and behold His glory. Jesus never so prays for the whole Church as to forget a single member; neither does He so pray for the members individually as to overlook the corporate capacity of the whole.

3. I feel glad that there is no sort of personal character mentioned here, but only--Those whom Thou hast given Me. It seems as if the Lord in His last moments was not so much looking at the fruit of grace as at grace itself; He did not so much note either the perfections or the imperfections of His people, but only the fact that they were His by the eternal gift of the Father. The Father gave them as a love-token and a means of His Sons glorification. If I possess a love-token that some dear one has given me I may rightly desire to have it with me. Nobody can have such a right to your wedding-ring, good sister, as you have yourself, and are not Christs saints, as it were, a signet upon His finger, a token which His Father gave Him of His good pleasure in Him? Should they not be with Jesus where He is, since they are His crown jewels and His glory?

IV. THE HOME COMPANIONSHIP.

1. The nearness of the saints to Christ in glory--that they may be with Me. In heaven the saints will be nearer to Christ than the apostles were when they sat at the table with Him, or heard Him pray. For ever with the Lord--this is heaven.

2. They must occupy a place: that place will be where Jesus is. We are to be, not metaphorically and fancifully, but really, truly, literally with Jesus.

3. Notice the occupation of those who are with Jesus: That they may behold My glory. Love always pines for a partner in its joys. When I have been specially charmed with glorious scenery, I have felt myself saying, How I wish that my dear wife could be here! How unselfish it is on our Lords part to think Himself not fully glorified till we behold His glory! How unselfish He will make us also, since it will be our glory to see His glory! Who would keep a brother out of it an hour?

4. Observe the fellowship which exists in the glory land. That they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me. So when the Lord brings His people home, we shall be one with Him, and He one with the Father, and we also in Him one with the Father, so that we shall then find boundless glory in beholding the glory of our Lord and God.

V. THE HOME ATMOSPHERE. Love: Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. Can you follow me in a great flight? There was a day before all days, when there was no day but the Ancient of Days. Oh the intensity of the Divine love of the Father to the Son! There was no universe, but God alone; and the whole of Gods omnipotence flowed forth in a stream of love to the Son, while the Sons whole being remained eternally one with the Father by a mysterious essential union. Love is both the source and the channel, and the end of the Divine acting. Because the Father loved the Son He gave us to Him, and ordained that we should be with Him. Let our saintly ones go home if that is the design of their going. Since all comes of Divine love, and all sets forth Divine love, let them go to Him who loves them. Hold your friends lovingly, but be ready to yield them to Jesus. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Eternal glory

I. THE OBJECTS OF THIS PRAYED. That which Thou hast given to Me and they also. But in what respects were this people given by the Father to the Son?

1. In the first instance, He gave them to Him in the everlasting covenant.

2. But, in the second instance, the Father gives them to His Son in the day of their espousals--in the day of their effectual calling. All that the Father giveth Me, saith Jesus, shall come to Me (Joh_6:37),--not all that the Father gave Me,--as if He were speaking merely of some transaction in the past,--but all that the Father giveth Me--referring to the day of their espousals to Christ. Wherefore, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure (2Pe_1:10). It is for souls, that are effectually called and justified, that Jesus prays that they may be with Him in glory.

II. THE MANNER AND SPIRIT OF THIS PRAYER. Jesus no longer says, I pray (Joh_17:9; Joh_17:15; Joh_17:20), but I will. Oh, what a wonderful prayer is this! We never read of any prayer like this, offered up by any saint on earth. Some of them, indeed, attained to great nearness to the Lord--such as Abraham, and Jacob, and Moses and David--and yet they never did, or ought to, use such language to God. And what shall we make of this prayer?

1. I think we may say, in the first instance, there is in it a beaming forth of His Divine glory, as the Eternal Son of God.

2. And surely this expression sets forth the reality and intensity of the Saviours love. It was in the exercise of infinite love that He laid down His life for them.

3. Further, we may well believe, that this is an expression of will, founded on acknowledged right. Jesus had the price of our redemption now in His hand, ready to lay it down.

4. And, as has often been remarked, this I will on the part of Christ is in perfect accord with the known will of His Father. Father, I will, says Christ; and I will too, re-echoes the voice of the Father. Oh, blessed harmony this between the will of Christ and the will of His Father!

5. But I apprehend, that this unique expression is to be explained by the unique character of the situation. Jesus is just about to lay down His life for them, and He now expresses His last will and testimony: Father, My last will is. It is truly His testimony which Jesus deposits in His Fathers hands.

III. WHAT THE BLESSINGS REALLY ARE, which Jesus thus asks for those that the Father gave Him: That where I am, there they also may be with Me, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me, &c.

1. He asks that where He is, there they also may be with Him. Ah! yes, such is His love to them, that as He came from heaven to earth to save them, so He will never be at rest until He has them with Him where He is. And is not this heaven--its chiefest, choicest ingredient--to be where Christ is? (Php_1:23).

2. But why does He pray that they may be with Him where He is? How are they to be employed? That they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me.

3. Notice here the object to be beheld--My glory which Thou hast given to Me--My glory peculiarly and emphatically,--and yet My glory which Thou hast given to Me,--not His essential glory as the Son of God viewed abstractly, and by itself; but the glory given to Him as Immanuel, God-man, Mediator. Oh, who can tell what glory now encircles Him, as the Son of Man exalted to the right hand of God? But did they not behold this glory already? Assuredly they did by faith. And it is indeed a solemn truth, that none shall behold His glory by sight in heaven that do not first behold it by faith on earth. Some beheld this glory before He came in the flesh (Joh_8:56; Joh_12:40). Some beheld it by faith while He tabernacled upon earth (Joh_1:14). And some behold it now, though He is in heaven, and they upon the earth (2Co_3:18). But the beholding mentioned in the text is something higher, nearer than all this. This is the beatific vision, to which they shall attain when He has gathered them home to be for ever with Himself. It is impossible to behold this glory and to remain a mere spectator of it. To behold it is to partake of it--to become a sharer with Him in His glory. Then shall be fulfilled the words: And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them. This is the height to which Jesus elevates His Church.

4. And one of the most interesting and delightful things connected with this glory, which they are to behold, will be to trace the source of it in the Fathers everlasting love: The glory which Thou hast given Me, in that Thou lovedst Me. The Father loved the Son with an everlasting love as His Son--His Only-Begotten Son. But He also loved Him with an everlasting love as Mediator. Then I was by Him as one brought up with Him, and I was daily His delight (Pro_8:30). Oh, surely it will be an eternal feast to the hearts of the redeemed in heaven to see the glorious unfoldings of the Fathers love towards their Covenant Head. Such, then, the two great blessings which Jesus here asks for the collective body of believers, viz., spiritual unity and eternal glory. (C. Ross, M. A.)

Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world.--The Unitarian conception of the Divine Unity being arithmetical, not dynamical, its advocates deny plurality of persons or hypostases in the Godhead. And yet they loudly proclaim the truth that God is love, a truth which most strongly urges on our acceptance the doctrine of plurality. Love always demands two at least--a subject and an object, one to love and another to be loved. If God is love, as we most emphatically believe, then He must have had some one from eternity to love. Who then is that one Himself? But self-love is no love, it is the denial of love. Who then? The Church answers--His Son, the brightness of His glory, and the express image of HisPerson. Plurality of persons must not, however, be confounded with plurality of Gods. When men are invited to Christ they are not enticed away from God, for Christ is with God; when they are called to worship Christ, they are not bidden to serve an idol, for Christ is God. (J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.)

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

Joh 17:24. Father, I will — He asks as one having a right to be heard; and prays, not as a servant, but as a Son; that they also whom thou hast given me — Not only my apostles and first disciples, but all my believing, loving, and obedient people; may be with me where I am — Namely, in that heavenly world to which I am now removing. As if he had said, Since no improvements, either in holiness or comfort, can completely answer the purposes of my love and the promises of my grace to them; therefore I request felicity for them in another and more perfect state of things; that they may behold — May contemplate with everlasting and delightful admiration; my glory, which thou hast — By thy sure appointment; given me — And art just ready to bestow upon me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world — And didst then decree for me that mediatorial kingdom with which thou art now about to invest me. Observe, reader, the happiness of heaven chiefly consists in beholding the glory of the Father and of the Son, Mat 5:8; 1Jn 3:2.

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

John

THE HIGH PRIEST’S PRAYER

THE FOLDED FLOCK

Joh 17:24.

This wonderful prayer is {a} for Jesus Himself, {b} for the Apostles, {c} for the whole Church on earth and in heaven.

I. The prayer.

‘I will’ has a strange ring of authority. It is the expression of His love to men, and of His longing for their presence with Him in His glory. Not till they are with Him there, shall He ‘see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.’

We have here a glimpse of the blessed state of the dead in Christ.

{a} Local presence with Christ. His glorified body is somewhere. The value of this thought is that it gives solidity to our ideas of a future life. There they are. We need not dwell on the metaphysical difficulties about locality for disembodied spirits.

If a spirit can be localised in a body, I suppose it can be localised without a body; but passing by all that, we have the hope held out here of a real local presence with the glorified humanity of our Lord. We speak of the dead as gone from us, and we have that idea far more vividly in our minds than that of their having gone to Him. We speak of the ‘departed,’ but we do not think of them as ‘arrived.’ We look down to the narrow grave, but we forget ‘He is not here, He is risen. Why seek ye the living among the dead?’ Ah! if we could only bring home to our hearts the solid prose of the conviction that where Christ is there His servants are, and that not in the diffused ubiquity of His Divine Omnipresence, it would go far to remove the darkness and vague mist which wrap the future, and to set it as it really is before us, as a solid definite reality. We see the sails glide away out into the west as the sun goes down, and we think of them as tossing on a midnight sea, an unfathomable waste. Try to think of them more truly. As in that old miracle, He comes to them walking on the water in the night watch, and if at first they are terrified, His voice brings back hope to the heart that is beginning to stand still, and immediately they are at the land whither they go. Now, as they sink from our sight, they are in port, sails furled and anchor dropped, and green fields round them, even while we watch the sinking masts, and cannot yet rightly tell whether the fading sail has faded wholly.

{b} Communion with Christ.

Our Lord says not only ‘that where I am, they also may be,’ but adds ‘with Me.’ That is not a superfluous addition, but emphasises the thought of a communion which is more intimate and blessed than local presence alone would be.

The communion here is real but imperfect. It is perfected there on our part by the dropping away of flesh and sin, by change of circumstances, by emancipation from cares and toils necessary here, by the development of new powers and surroundings, and on His side by new manifestations.

{c} Vision of His glory.

The crown of this utterance of Christ’s will is ‘that they may behold My glory.’ In an earlier part of this prayer our Lord had spoken of the ‘glory which I had with Thee before the world was.’ But probably the glory ‘given’ is not that of essential Divinity, but that of His mediatorial work. To His people ‘with Him where He is,’ are imparted fuller views of Christ as Saviour, deeper notions of His work, clearer perception of His rule in providence and nature. This is the loftiest employment of the spirits who are perfected and lapped in ‘pleasures for evermore’ by their union with the glorified Jesus.

Surely this is grander than all metaphorical pictures of heaven.

II. The incipient fulfilment now going on.

The prayer has been in process of fulfilment ever since. The dead in Christ have entered on its answer now.

We need not discuss difficulties about the ‘intermediate state,’ for this at all events is true, that to be ‘absent from the body’ is to be ‘present with the Lord.’

A Christian death is an answer to this prayer. True, for Christians as for all, the physical necessity is an imperative law. True, the punitive aspect of death is retained for them. But yet the law is wielded by Christ, and while death remains, its whole aspect is changed. So we may think of those who have departed in His faith and fear as gone in answer to this prayer.

How beautiful that is! Slowly, one by one, they are gathered in, as the stars one by one light up. Place after place is filled.

Thus through the ages the prayer works on, and our dear ones have gone from us, but they have gone to Him. We weep, but they rejoice. To us their departure is the result of an iron law, of a penal necessity, of some secondary cause; but to them it is seen to be the answer to His mighty prayer. They hear His voice and follow Him when He says, ‘Come up hither.’

III. The final fulfilment still future.

The prayer looks forward to a perfect fulfilment. His prayer cannot be vain.

{a} Perfect in degree.

{b} Perfect in extent, when all shall be gathered together and the ‘whole family’ shall be ‘in heaven,’ and Christ’s own word receives its crowning realisation, that ‘of all whom the Father hath given Him He has lost nothing.’

And these are not some handful picked out by a decree which we can neither fathom nor alter, but Christ is given to us all, and if we choose to take Him, then for us He has ascended; and as we watch Him going up the voice comes to us: ‘I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.’

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

17:24 I want these . . . to be with me: Someday, Jesus’ followers will see Jesus’ true glory, the true love that has existed in heaven since the beginning of time (17:5). Jesus was returning to heaven, and he yearned to see his disciples there so that they might glimpse what no words on earth can describe.

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

Joh 17:24. Οὓς, whom) He returns to the apostles: in Joh 17:25, these.—θέλω, I will) He had said in Joh 17:9; Joh 17:15; Joh 17:20, ἐρωτῶ, I ask; now His language assumes an increase in force. It is to be interpreted, I will; for, I would desire, is too weak a rendering. Jesus asks with the right of a claim, and demands with confidence, as the Son, not a servant. Comp. Psa 2:8, “Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee,” etc.; Mar 10:35, James and John say, “Master, we would (θέλομεν) that Thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire;” Joh 6:25, the daughter of Herodias to Herod, “I will (θέλω) that thou give me forthwith.” [In a different tone from what He used in behalf of Himself at the Mount of Olives, Mat 26:39, “Let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”]—θεωρῶσι) that they may behold, viz. in enjoying it.—πρὸ, before) Construe with, Thou lovedst Me. The economy of salvation flows from eternity to eternity. Between eternity and the foundation of the world no intervening period is admissible (is given). For in the beginning God created, etc. [Joh 17:5].

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

Joh_17:24. What He has already bestowed on them, but as yet as a possession of hope (Joh_17:22), He wills (θέλω) that they may also partake of in reality. He does not merely wish it (against Beza, Calvin, B. Crusius, Tholuck, Ewald), but the Son prays in the consciousness of the ἐξουσία bestowed on Him by the Father according to Joh_17:2, for the communication of eternal life to His own. This consciousness is that of the most intimate confidence and clearest accord with the Father. Previously He had said ἐρωτῶ; nunc incrementum sumit oratio, Bengel. The idea of the last will, however (Godet), is not to be imported here.

The relative definition is placed first emphatically, because justifying the θέλω according to its contents. This is neutral (ὅ, see the critical notes), whereby the persons (ἐκεῖνοι, i.e. the disciples and all believers, Joh_17:20) are designated in abstracto, according to their category (comp. Joh_17:2; Joh_6:37), and the moment of δέδωκάς μοι, which is a motive cause to the granting of the prayer, becomes more prominent in and of itself.

ἵνα] Purpose of θέλω (they should, etc.), and therewith its contents; see on Luk_6:31.

ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ, κἀκεῖνοι, κ.τ.λ.] shall be realized at the Parousia.[200] See on Joh_14:3, also on ἀναστήσω αὐτὸ, κ.τ.λ., Joh_6:39.

θεωρῶσι] behold, experimentally, and with personal participation, as συνδοξασθέντες, Rom_8:17; Rom_8:29, and συμβασιλεύοντες, 2Ti_2:12. The opposite: behold death, Joh_8:51.[201] Against the interpretation that the beholding of the ΔΌΞΑ of Christ in itself (its reflection, as it were) constitutes blessedness (Olshausen, comp. Chrysostom and Euth. Zigabenus), Joh_17:22 testifies, although it is also essentially included in it, 1Jn_3:2; Heb_12:14.

ἣν ἔδωκάς μοι, ὅτι, κ.τ.λ.] Further added in childlike feeling of gratitude to ΤῊΝ ἘΜΉΝ, and that proleptically (comp. εἰμί), because the Lord is on the point of entering into this ΔΌΞΑ (Joh_17:1), as if He had already received it (comp. Joh_17:22): whom Thou gavest me, because (motive of the ἐδωκ.) Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world (πρὸ κατ. κ. not belonging to ἜΔΩΚ. Μ., as Paulus and B. Crusius think). The ΔΌΞΑ of Christ, as the ΛΌΓΟς ἌΣΑΡΚΟς (Joh_17:5), was, according to the mode of view and expression of the N. T., not one imparted to Him from love, but in virtue of the ontologically Trinitarian relation to the Father,[202] that which pertained with metaphysical necessity to the Son in the unity of the divine nature, the μορφὴ ΘΕΟῦ, which He as ΘΕῸς ΛΌΓΟς, Joh_1:1, had, being from eternity eternally with the Father (Joh_17:5); whereas the δόξα here intended is in His exaltation after the completion of His work, since it concerned His entire person, including its human side, that given to Him by the Father from love (Php_2:9), from that love, however, which did not first originate in time, but was already cherished by the Father toward the Son before the foundation of the world. That δόξα possessed by Jesus before His incarnation, to which for the most part (as still Luthardt, Ebrard, Hengstehberg) reference is wrongly made, whereby, according to Joh_17:5, ἜΔΩΚΑς would have to be conceived of as brought about through the generation of the ΜΟΝΟΓΕΝΉς, was the purely divine; that given to Him through His exaltation is indeed the same, into which He now again has entered, but because it is the glory of the λόγος ἔνσαρκος, divine-human in eternal consummation (Php_2:9). Comp. on Joh_17:5; Joh_1:14. Nowhere in the N. T. is the premundane δόξα of the Son designated as given to Him (Php_2:6; Col_1:15; 2Co_8:9), although this would be imaginable in and of itself as an eternal self-communication of Fatherly love (comp. Brückner and Ebrard).[203] Further, it is strangely incorrect that the ΔΌΞΑ, which the Father has given to the Son, has been explained here differently from that in Joh_17:22.

The love of the Father to the Son before the foundation of the world implies the personal pre-existence of the latter with God, but is not reconcilable with the idea of the pre-temporal ideal existence which He has had in God, as the archetype of humanity. This in answer to Beyschlag, p. 87, who considers the relation as analogous to the eternal election of grace, Eph_1:4, Rom_8:29; which is not appropriate, since the election of grace concerns those as yet not in existence, namely, future believers, whom God προέγνω as future. The Son, however, whom He loved, must personally exist with the Father, since it was in Christ that the motive already lay for the election of grace (see on Eph_1:4). Comp. also on Joh_17:5. To suppose that God, according to the present passage, had loved His own ideal of humanity before the foundation of the world, the idea consequently of His own thought, is an idea without any analogy in the N. T., and we thereby arrive at an anthropopathic self-love, as men form to themselves an ideal, and are glad to attain it.

[200] The intermediate state denoted in Php_1:23 (see in loc.) is not meant (Hengstenberg), nor a part of the meaning (Godet), but as what follows shows, the completed fellowship of glory. Comp. 1Jn_3:2.

[201] Baur thus explains away the historical sense: They behold this glory, see it in reality before them, if in them, through the communication of the true God consciousness, and of the eternal life thereby conditioned, through which they have become one with Jesus and the Father, just as He is one with the Father, the divine principle (to this, according to Baur, δέδωκα, ver. 22, refers) has realized itself as that which it is in itself.

[202] Comp. J. Müller, Von der Sünde, II. p. 183 f.

[203] Euth. Zigabenus: τὴν δόξαν τῆς θεότητος, ἣν δέδωκάς μοι, οὐχ ὡς ἐλάττονι ἢ ὑστερογενεῖ, ἀλλʼ ὡς αἴτιος, εἴτουν ὡς γεννήσας με. But in the N. T. this mode of presentation is unsupported; in ver. 26, to which Johansson appeals, ἔδωκεν in truth refers first to the time of the sending into the world.

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 17:24 . Πάτερ , ὅ δέδωκάς μοι , “that which Thou hast given me,” i.e. , the community of believers; θέλω , “I will,” no longer, ἐρωτῶ , “that where I am, there they may be also”; ὅ resolved into individuals. To share in the destiny of Christ has already been promised to His followers, Joh 10:26 ; cf. Joh 14:3 . This is the consummation of Christian blessedness. They are not only in the same condition as their Lord, but enjoy it in fellowship with Him, μετʼ ἐμοῦ . ἵνα θεωρῶσι τὴν δόξαν τὴν ἐμήν . To see Christ honoured and supreme must ever be the Christian’s joy. But this glory of Christ resulting from the eternal love of the Father is not only seen but shared in by the disciples in the measure of their capacity, Joh 5:22 , 2Ti 2:12 , Rev 3:21 .

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

Ver. 24. “Father, my will is that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”

Perfect unity is the last step before the goal of perfect glory. The repetition of the invocation Father, Joh 17:24-25, indicates the increasing urgency with which Jesus prays, as He draws nearer the end. The reading ὃ δέδωκας, “that which thou hast given me,” is probably the true one; it brings out the unity of the believers, that perfect ἕν which the body of the elect will form (Joh 17:23).— Θέλω : Jesus no longer says, I pray, but I will! This expression is found nowhere else on His lips; it is ordinarily explained by saying that the Son expresses Himself thus, because He feels Himself fully in accord on this point with the Father. But was not this the case in general in all His prayers! This unique expression must be in harmony with the unique character of the situation. And the unique point in this latter is that it is a question of Jesus as dying. It is His testament which Jesus here places in the hands of His Father, and, as the expression is, His last will.

All that which Jesus has just asked for them had for its aim to render them fit for the immediate beholding of His glory, from the very moment of their death (Joh 14:3). There is no question here of the Parousia, as Weiss thinks. The sphere of this divine manifestation is at once inward and heavenly.— Meyer thinks that the glory, of which Jesus says that the Father has given it to Him, cannot be His divine glory before the incarnation, and must designate His glory after His exaltation, and He sees in the following words: for thou lovedst me before,...the ground on which God thus glorifies Jesus. But the ground of the exaltation of Jesus is quite differently described, not only by Paul (Php 2:9-11), but also by John himself, Joh 10:17, Joh 13:32, Joh 15:10 : it is His perfect obedience even to death and even to the death of the cross.

The ὅτι therefore means: in that, and serves to explain wherein this glory of the Son consists: it is in having been the eternal object of the Father’s love. Is there any glory to be compared with this? The word given may be incompatible with a certain conception of the divine Trinity; it is not so with that of John, which includes as a necessary element the relation of subordination between the Son and the Father; comp. Joh 1:1 (with God); Joh 1:18 (in the bosom of the Father);Joh 5:26 (“it has been givenhim to have life in himself”), etc. The words: before the foundation of the world, imply eternity, for the world includes all that which has come into existence. This saying of Jesus is that which leads us farthest into the divine depths. It shows Christian speculation on what path it must seek the solution of the relations of the Trinity; love is the key of this mystery. And as this love is eternal, and consequently has no more an end than it has had a beginning, it may one day become for believers the permanent object of an immediate contemplation, through which they will find themselves initiated into the mystery of the essence of the Son and of His eternal generation. Far more; as, by the complete community which the Son has succeeded in establishing between them and Him, they are the objects of a similar love to that of which the Son is the object, they will find themselves thus introduced into the eternal movement of the divine life itself. This appears from the word behold. One does not behold a fact of this order without being in some manner associated with it. Here is the height to which Jesus elevates the Church. After having drawn His spouse from the midst of a world sunk in evil, He introduces her into the sphere of the divine life.

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.

Father, I will--The majesty of this style of speaking is quite transparent. No petty criticism will be allowed to fritter it away in any but superficial or perverted readers.

be with me where I am--(See on Joh 14:3).

that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me--(See on Joh 17:5). Christ regards it as glory enough for us to be admitted to see and gaze for ever upon His glory! This is "the beatific vision"; but it shall be no mere vision, for "we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is" (Jo1 3:2).

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 24. That they may behold my glory] That they may enjoy eternal felicity with me in thy kingdom. So the word is used, Joh 3:3; Mt 5:8. The design of Christ is, that all who believe should love and obey, persevere unto the end, and be eternally united to himself, and the ever blessed God, in the kingdom of glory.

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

24. Father, I will. To will is put for to desire; for it expresses not a command but a prayer. But it may be understood in two ways; either that he wills that the disciples may enjoy his eternal presence, or, that God may, at length, receive them into the heavenly kingdom, to which he goes before them.

That they may behold my glory. Some explain beholding his glory to mean, partaking of the glory which Christ has. Others explain it to be, to know by the experience of faith what Christ is, and how great is his majesty. For my own part, after carefully weighing the whole matter, I think that Christ speaks of the perfect happiness of believers, as if he had said, that his desire will not be satisfied till they have been received into heaven. In the same manner I explain the Beholding of the glory. At that time they saw the glory of Christ, just as a man shut up in the dark obtains, through small chinks, a feeble and glimmering light. Christ now wishes that they shall make such progress as to enjoy the full brightness of heaven. In short, he asks that the Father will conduct them, by uninterrupted progress, to the full vision of his glory.

For thou lovedst me. This also agrees better with the person of the Mediator than with Christ’s Divinity alone. It would be harsh to say that the Father loved his Wisdom; and though we were to admit it, the connection of the passage leads us to a different view. Christ, unquestionably, spoke as the Head of the Church, when he formerly prayed that the apostles might be united with him, and might behold the glory of his reign. He now says that the love of the Father is the cause of it; and, therefore, it follows that he was beloved, in so far as he was appointed to be the Redeemer of the world. With such a love did the Father love him before the creation of the world, that he might be the person in whom the Father would love his elect.

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.

(24) Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.—Better, Father, I will that that which Thou hast given Me, even they may be with Me where I am. The thought of the unity of the Church is still prominent. It is conceived as one collective whole, “that which Thou hast given Me” (comp. Joh_6:39), and the members of it are thought of as individuals composing the whole, “even they may be.”

The “I will” expresses the consciousness that His will was that of the Father, and is the prayer of Him who is one with the Father. He had before said, “I pray” (Joh_17:9, and Note on Joh_17:20), but the thought of the union with the Father, expressed in Joh_17:23, leads to the fuller expression of His confidence that the prayer will be answered.

For the words, “with Me where I am,” comp. Note on Joh_14:3.

That they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.—Comp. Note on Joh_17:22. That we are to think of the future glory of the divine-human nature of Christ, is shown by the addition of the words, “which Thou hast given Me.” The pre-incarnate glory of the Son was of His divine nature only, and is not, therefore, spoken of as given to Him, nor could it be given to those who believe in Him (Joh_17:22). That with which the Father has glorified the Son, is “the glory which He had with the Father before the world was” (Joh_17:5), but it is the Son of man who is glorified with it, and therefore it is that human nature is made capable of receiving it.

For thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.—Comp. Note on Joh_17:5.

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

24. Father] Comp. Joh_17:1; Joh_17:5; Joh_17:11, Joh_11:41, Joh_12:27. The relationship is the ground of the appeal; He knows that His ‘will’ is one with His Father’s.

I will] Comp. Joh_21:22; Mat_8:3; Mat_23:37; Mat_26:39; Luk_12:49. He has already granted this by anticipation (Joh_17:22); He wills that this anticipation may be realised.

they whom] Literally, that which; the faithful as a body. See on Joh_17:2.

where I am] Comp. Joh_14:3.

behold] In the sense of sharing and enjoying it; for the faithful ‘shall also reign with Him.’ 2. Tim. Joh_2:12. This glory they behold with unveiled face, on which it is reflected as on the face of Moses. See on 2Co_3:18 and comp. 1Jn_3:2.

my glory] Literally, the glory which is Mine, a stronger expression than that in Joh_17:22 : see on Joh_14:27.

which thou hast given me] Not the glory of the Word, the Eternal Son, which was His in His equality with the Father, but the glory of Christ, the Incarnate Son, with which the risen and ascended Jesus was endowed. In sure confidence Christ speaks of this as already given, and wills that all believers may behold and share it. Thus two gifts of the Father to the Son meet and complete one another: those whom He has given behold the glory that He has given.

for] Better, because.

the foundation of the world] Our Lord thrice uses this expression, here, Luk_11:50, and Mat_25:34. Two of those who heard it reproduce it (1Pe_1:20; Rev_13:8; Rev_17:8): comp. Eph_1:4; Heb_4:3; Heb_9:26; Heb_11:11.

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.

O righteous Father,.... God is righteous in all the divine persons: the Father is righteous, the Son is righteous, and the Holy Spirit is righteous: he is so in his nature; righteousness is a perfection of it; he is so in all his purposes and promises; in all his ways and works of providence and grace; in predestination, redemption, justification, pardon of sin, and eternal glory. Christ makes use of this epithet, as containing a reason why he might justly expect that all his petitions and claims, on behalf of himself and people, would be regarded:

the world hath not known thee; the unbelieving Jews, and idolatrous Gentiles, wicked men, one or another, know not God: as not the Father, so neither the Son, nor Spirit; though deity may be known by them, or that there is a God, yet they know not God in Christ, nor as the Father of Christ, or as their Father in him, nor what it is to have communion with him; nor do they know any of the things of God in a spiritual way; which shows the darkness and blindness of men by nature, the necessity of a divine illumination, and the miserable state of men without one:

but I have known thee; his nature, perfections and glory, his secret thoughts, purposes and designs, his covenant, promises and blessings, his love, grace and good will to his people, his whole mind and will; as he needs must, since he was one with him, and lay in his bosom;

and these have known that thou hast sent me; meaning his disciples and apostles, whom he distinguishes from the world; these knew the Father that sent him, and that he was sent by the Father; they knew the love of the Father in sending of him, the manner in which he was sent, and the end, man's redemption, for which he was sent; and acknowledged all this, and which laid them under an obligation to trust in him, love him, and magnify his grace; and is used by Christ as an argument with the Father to be concerned for them.

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

24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Ver. 24. Father, I will, &c.] Every word is full of life and joy. I would not (saith Mr Baxter) for all the world that one verse had been left out of the Bible. And again the same author elsewhere saith, there is more worth in those four chapters, Joh 14:1-31; Joh 15:1-27; Joh 16:1-33; Joh 17:1-26, than in all the books in the world besides. (Saint’s Everlasting Rest.)

Be with me, where I am] It is part of Christ’s joy that we shall be in the place where he is. He will not therefore be long without us. David is sent by God to Hebron to be crowned: he will not go up alone, but takes with him all his men, with all their households. They shall take such part as himself, notwithstanding their recent rebellion at Ziklag. So dealeth the Lord Christ with all his, and this should digest all their sorrows. Christ will not be happy alone; as a tender father, he can enjoy nothing if his children may not have part with him.

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.

I will - This expression, though it commonly denotes command, is here only expressive of desire. It is used in prayer, and it was not the custom of the Saviour to use language of command when addressing God. It is often used to express strong and earnest desire, or a pressing and importunate wish, such as we are exceedingly anxious should not be denied, Mar 6:25; Mar 10:35; Mat 12:38; Mat 15:28.

Where I am - In heaven. The Son of God was still in the bosom of the Father, Joh 1:18. See the notes at Joh 7:34. Probably the expression here means where I shall be.

My glory - My honor and dignity when exalted to the right hand of God. The word “behold” implies more than simply seeing; it means also to participate, to enjoy. See the Joh 3:3 note; Mat 5:8 note.

Thou lovedst me ... - This is another of the numerous passages which prove that the Lord Jesus existed before the creation of the world. It is not possible to explain it on any other supposition.

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

Here our Saviour wills his disciples eternal life; or rather prays to his Father, that he would preserve his disciples unto, and at last bestow upon them, eternal life and salvation; so as the phrase,

whom thou hast given me, is not to be restrained to the apostles, but to be extended to all those who, belonging to the election of grace, shall hereafter be made heirs of glory, and have everlasting life and happiness. This he expresses under the notion of being with him where he is, as Joh 14:3; which is called a being ever with the Lord, 1Th 4:17; and certainly this is the highest happiness, to be where the Son of God is.

That they may behold my glory, is the same thing with, that they may be made partakers of my glory: as to see death, is, in Scripture phrase, to die; and to see life, is to live; so, to behold the glory of God, is to be glorified.

For, saith our Saviour, thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world, both as thy only begotten Son, and as the person in whom thou hast chosen all them, and whom thou hast set apart to be the Mediator between God and man; and therefore I know that thou wilt glorify me, and that thou wilt in this thing hear my prayers, and glorify them also, whom thou hast given to me to be redeemed by my blood.

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

24. I will—Not I pray, nor I ask; but this is my will. He speaks as a Son returned to his Father’s house, who tells, in loving confidence, how he will have things. He will bring his beloved comrades with him, that they may see what a glorious Prince he is, and in what a glorious palace

That they may behold my glory—And themselves participate and possess it, just as seeing the kingdom of God is sharing it. (Joh_3:3.) So, beholding his glory, we are all changed into the same image from glory to glory. (2Co_3:18.)

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

Now passing from this glorification of his people in the convictions and knowledge of the world, our Lord offers "as a Son to a Father," and therefore with profound naturalness, the prayer of the incarnate Loges to the eternal Father, and therefore an address indubitably supernatural and lifted above all human consciousness. It is a prayer, too, which rises from the high and unique term erwtw (one which he never puts into the lips of his disciples) to a yet higher one, yelw , as one who speaks with exousia which God had given him over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to those whom God had given him. Yelw means less than "I will," and more than "I desire," and is destitute of that element of "counsel" or deliberation that is involved in boulomai . Very soon after this, when the full force of his human consciousness pressed upon him, he, (Mar_14:36) "Not what ( egw yelw) I will, but what thou wiliest." But here he is so conscious of the Father"s will concerning others that he cries, Father, as for them whom or, as some ancient codices read, that whichthou hast given me, regarded as a mystic unity, as the Bride which he has redeemed, I will that they also be with me where I am. Kakeinoi resolves the on into the elements of which it is composed. This is the first part of the final petition, and it embraces everything. With Christ;" "Forever with the Lord;" in his glory and part of it, in the place which he is going to localize and prepare for them, is heaven. The glory which he had already given to his disciples (Ver. 22) falls far short of this fellowship with him where his undimmed radiance shines, is only a preparation for sharing with him in his ultimate triumph over the world and death, and also for sitting down with him on his throne. (Rev_3:21) In this world fellowship with him in his suffering humanity did not finally reveal the transcendent glory (though in Joh_1:14 the apostle says, "We beheld his glory," etc.) of his Person. To realize this he prays,

And that they may also behold the glory which is mine, which thou hast given me. The glory given cannot be the glory of the logov asarkov , according to Meyer, for that is not given, but belongs to him by eternal right; yet Meyer admits that the Father gave the Son to have life in himself; and that even the eternal Sonship itself may be regarded as the eternal bestowment of an infinite love. Seeing that the Lord goes on to give a reason of his yelhma founded on an eternal or at least pre-mundane manifestation of a conscious love, surely he is thinking of the exaltation of humanity into the eternal glory, which he distinctly relinquished and veiled in the days of his flesh. That which they had hitherto seen they only partially apprehended, though he had even given it to them (ver. 22), and though they had been drawn out of the world to high places of transfiguration, that they might behold it and learn how it coexisted with and was compatible with a perfect resignation to the will of God in human redemption. Our Lord prays, nay, wills, that they should hereafter see it in its fullness of grace and beauty, see it when relieved from obstructive hindrances due to the flesh and to the world, see it on the grandest scale, see it as it really is, see the full capacity and infinite momentum of the glory which he had already bestowed upon them. For thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. This, say Meyer and Luthardt, is given as a reason of the prayer for his disciples, not as an explanation of the glory which he had with the Father before the world was. It is often said that the exaltation of the Son of man is a reward for his self-humiliation, and the crown of his sacrificial death, (Php_2:9 Rev_3:21 Heb_1:1, Heb_1:2) but these very passages couple that exaltation with the premundane glory of him who was, to begin with, and before his work of redemption, the "Effulgence of the Father"s glory," who was "in the form of God," and regarded the being equal with God as no arpagmov not as a thing to be seized, prized, and held in its integrity. And in Heb_2:9, He was by reason of his intended passion crowned with glory and honor, in order that he might taste death for every man." So that the glory which he had with the Father before the world was, and therefore before his incarnation, was that very glory of self-devoting and unutterable love into which he would come again with all the trophies of his redemptive work. The new and higher embodiment of his humanity would prove of such a kind that his essential glory would shine through it in undimmed luster. If this be the meaning, we cannot dilute this pregnant saying, one of the most mysterious of all his words, one which leads us up to the highest possible conception of the relations between the Father and the Son. The eternal love of which the Godhead itself is the SOURCE and the OBJECT is that to which we shall be introduced, and which our Lord would have us see and share. (cf. 1Jn_3:1-3)

Blessed with Christ.

The future has for man a mysterious interest, and it exercises over him a mysterious power. Religion appeals to this, as to all natural tendencies and susceptibilities of man"s being. The revelations and the promises of Christianity have regard to the vast hereafter. When our Lord prayed for his disciples, it could not be that he should omit from his prayer their future their condition and associations in the immortal state. Without such reference the high-priestly prayer would have been incomplete; for it was the prayer of him who brought life and immortality to light.

I THE HOME OF THE BLESSED. Little as we know of that eternal home, that which we do know is of intense interest. What the Lord Jesus here tells us of heaven is welcome and precious revelation. His desire and purpose concerning his people is that they may be:

1. With him. He could no longer be with them on earth; but, as a compensation, they were to look forward to being with him in heaven. These cherished friends had been with him long enough to know and to prize such association. To them it was sufficient to know that they should be reunited to their Friend and Master.

2. Where he is. The locality of heaven is unknown, and all speculation upon such a matter is idle. How all Christ"s innumerable friends and followers can all be where he is, we cannot understand. But it rejoices the heart of the disciple to know that he shall be where his Lord is. A bold mariner does not care to what sea his ship is bound, if he is only serving under the captain or admiral whom he trusts, and who has before shown him the way to discovery or to victory.

II THE VISION OF THE BLESSED. The people of Christ shall, in accordance with his prayer, behold the glory of the Redeemer. The promise sank into the heart of John who recorded it; for he indulged the anticipation, "We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Sight is here, as elsewhere, put for knowledge. The disciples bad seen the humiliation of their Lord; they were to see his glory. In what this consists it is for us only to conjecture, with such help as Christ"s words afford. There is the closest connection between the glory of Christ and the Father"s eternal love. Our Lord himself has so taught us that we cannot place glory chiefly in what is visible and material. We think chiefly of that moral glory which is connected with Divine favor and with spiritual empire"Glory shines about his head, And a bright crown without a thorn.

Such a vision as that which our Lord here implores for his own must enlarge the perceptions which the blessed in heaven form of their great Redeemer, must excite their wonder and adoration, and must even fan the flame of their holy and grateful love. It should be observed that, although the aspect of the heavenly life here presented is contemplative, this is by no means to the exclusion of quite another aspect. The servants, who shall see the face of their Lord, shall serve him day and night. What they behold shall be the inspiration of their immortal songs of praise, and of their ceaseless acts of obedience and devotion. T.

Heaven.

Notice

I HEAVEN AS A PLACE.

1. It is a place.

(1) This is suggested by our fundamental notions of things. We must look at our future existence to some extent in the light or" the present. There is a real analogy between all the stages of existence of the same being. We find ourselves here inseparably connected with a place. We make mental and spiritual excursions even to the infinite and illimitable, but still we find our consciousness connected with a place. Locality enters into all our notions of all finite existences. They are, and they are somewhere.

(2) This is suggested by the facts of many being now in heaven in their bodies, and of the general resurrection of the body at the last day. Enoch, Elias, our blessed Lord, and doubtless many more, are now there in their bodies. And we are taught that there will be a general resurrection of the body at the last day. It may be said that the resurrection-body will be spiritual. Yes, but spiritual not as distinguished from material, but from carnal and corrupt. In the light of the great facts of existence with which we are familiar, there is nothing unreasonable nor impossible in the doctrine of the resurrection. But, on the supposition that the body is to lose entirely its materialness, it seems indeed unreasonable and altogether unnecessary, and we ask what is the use of it at all? And we cannot see how a being who has lived, thought, felt, and acted in a material organization, could keep his identity in any state of existence entirely apart from such an organization. And if the resurrection-body will be in any way material, then it must have a material locality, and heaven must be a place.

(3) This is plainly taught in the Word of God. It is taught in these words. And heaven is generally spoken of in Scripture as a special place. As a city, the new and heavenly Jerusalem. Christ speaks of it as his Father"s house, where there are many mansions. "I go and prepare a place for you." So that the conclusions of reason and the teachings of revelation point to the same fact.

2. It is a place where Jesus is and the redeemed will be. "Where I am," etc. If so, we conclude:

(1) That it is a most glorious place. It is the habitation of the only begotten Son of God, the express Image of his Person, whose glory on the mount transfigured his human nature, and transformed the mount into a scene of Divine majesty. The place where he dwells must be unspeakably grand. The house must be worthy of the tenant, and the palace of the great King.

(2) That it must be a very extensive place. To contain the hosts of angels which ever attend upon his Person, and the innumerable multitude of the redeemed those given him by the Father, who shall be with him such a vast throng requires a vast place. Although spiritual bodies doubtless will not require as much room as when in their crude and gross form, yet the place must be vast.

(3) That it is a place where the Redeemer and the redeemed enjoy the closest fellowship. "That where I am," etc. With regard to believers on earth, the Savior is physically invisible and absent; this is a hindrance to complete fellowship. But in heaven the Savior and the saved will be locally and physically together, occupying the same abode, which will make the fellowship between them perfect.

3. It is a place the chief glory of which is Jesus. In itself, its occupations and surroundings, it must be specially glorious; but its chief glory is Christ. As the place where he is, it is most attractive even to those who know most about it. Few, if any, knew as much of its local glories as Paul; but he had a desire to depart, not to be in heaven as such, but to be with Christ. The chief inhabitants of a place form its chief attractions. Wicked people would soon turn heaven into hell, whilst good people would soon turn hell into heaven. People make a place, and not a place the people. The characters of heaven are all attractive, but Jesus is the chief one.

4. It is a place where Christs glory will be fully Seen.

(1) His mediatorial glory. "The glory which thou hast given me." The glory of his Divine-human Person; the glory of his surroundings; the homage paid him at home; the glory of his complete victories and self-sacrifice; his glory in the redeemed, in their individual perfection, and in their perfect unity.

(2) This glory can alone be fully seen in heaven. The glory of his Divinity, separately considered, can be seen everywhere in the works of his power; but Iris mediatorial glory can alone be fully seen where he is, and not where he is not. To see this he must be personally seen and be locally near.

(3) This glory will be fully seen in heaven by the redeemed. "That they may see my glory." This is the purpose of his present will, that they may be in a position to see it fully, see it directly. The vision will be perfect, although gradual. Eternity will be fully occupied in its manifestation, and will not be a moment too long. It will be the reward of their service and the perfection of their knowledge and felicity.

II THE WILL OF JESUS WITH REGARD TO BELIEVERS IN RELATION TO HEAVEN.

1. In its expression. "Father, I will," etc. He no longer prays, but wills. He had prayed, and his prayers were really answered. He now expresses his will as one of the Divine counsels.

2. In its contents. "That they also whom," etc. This implies:

(1) That Jesus would not be happy without them.

(2) That they would not be happy without him.

(3) That together they would attain the consummation of happiness and glory.

3. In its reasons.

(1) The fact that believers are the Fathers gifts. "Those whom," etc. Such tenants are more costly gifts than the place of their habitation. A suitable place for them naturally follows.

(2) The manifestation of his glory. "That they may see," etc. What would be the Divine glory without appreciative eyes to see it, and what would be these appreciative eyes without the Divine glory in Christ? But both together are suitable.

(3) The Father"s love to the Son. "For thou lovedst me," etc.

(a) This love is very old. The eternal Son could not remember its beginning. He knew that it was before the foundation of the world, and that it was the chief stone in that foundation; but it was much older in its origin. It was eternal; but the foundation of the world was a special era in its history.

(b) This love is unchangeable. Jesus was fully conscious that he had done nothing to decrease, but rather to increase, it.

(c) This love is very effective. There is no place in the universe too good for the Father to give to the friends of his Son for the sake of this love not even the most glorious place of his own presence.

LESSONS.

1. The first thing in human happiness is a suitable character faith in and union with Christ.

2. The next thing is a suitable place. That place is where Jesus is, wherever that may be. It is enough with regard to the locality of heaven.

3. A suitable character and place will be perfection of bliss.

4. Let the character be prepared heaven is certain. Christ prays for the former; he wills the latter, and respectfully demands it.

5. The present is a scene of struggle and preparation; the future will be a scene of enjoyment. The enjoyment of Christ"s presence and service, and the visions of his transcendent glory. What visions await the believer in heaven! All our pro-roundest aspirations will be more than realized. B.T.

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

Here he returns to the apostles. I will - He asks, as having a right to be heard, and prays, not as a servant, but a Son: that they may behold my glory - Herein Is the happiness of heaven, 1 John iii, 2.

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

Our Saviour had prayed for his disciples’ sanctification before, here he prays for their glorification:

1. That they may be where he is; now Christ is with them in his ordinances, in his word, and at his table; ere long they shall be with him as his friends, as his spouse, as his companions, in his kingdom.

2. That they may be with him where he is; that is more than the former; a blind man may be where the sun is, but not with the sun, because he doth not enjoy the light and benefit of it. To be with Christ where he is, imports union and communion with him.

3. That being with him where he is, they may behold his glory; that is, to see it, and everlastingly to possess and enjoy it.

Learn, 1. That all those that are given to Christ as his charge, and as his reward, shall certainly come to heaven to him; Father, I will that they be with me; because I have merited that they should be with me; I will that they behold my glory, because I have purchased it at so dear a rate.

Learn, 2. That the work and employment of the saints in heaven chiefly consist in seeing and enjoying Christ’s glory; for it will be a possessive sight; the language of every look will be, "This happiness is mine, this glory is mine."

3. That the top and height of the saints’ happiness in heaven consists in this, that they shall be with Christ; Father, I will that they may be with me, to behold my glory.

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

Father

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

where I am

Here "where I am" refers to heaven. AT: "with me in heaven" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

to see my glory

"to see my greatness"

before the creation of the world

Here Jesus refers to the time before creation. AT: "before we created the world" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

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

24. Πατήρ, ὅ for Πάτερ, οὕς (an obvious correction).

THE PRAYER OF THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST

The prayer which follows the last discourse is unique in the Gospels. The other Evangelists, especially S. Luke, mention the fact of Christ praying (Mat 14:23; Mar 1:35; Luk 3:21; Luk 5:16; Luk 6:12; Luk 9:18, &c.), and give some words of His prayer at Gethsemane; but here the substance of a long act of devotion is preserved. S. John never mentions the fact of Christ praying, but in Joh 12:27 he perhaps gives us a few words of prayer, and in Joh 11:41 a thanksgiving which implies previous prayer. There is an approach to the first portion of this prayer in the thanksgiving in Mat 11:25-26.

This ORATIO SUMMI SACERDOTIS falls naturally into three portions; 1. for Himself (1–5); 2. for the disciples (6–19); 3. for the whole Church (20–26), the last two verses forming a summary, in which the relations of Christ to the Father and to His own, and of His own to both Father and Son are gathered up. The leading thought throughout is the glory of God in the work of Christ and in those who continue it.

The prayer was spoken aloud (Joh 17:1), and thus was not only a prayer, but a source of comfort to those who heard it (Joh 17:13), and by its preservation a means of faith and life to all (Joh 20:31). He had taught by action (13) and by discourse (14–16); now He teaches by prayer. No doubt it was spoken in Aramaic, and we have here also, as in the discourses, no means of determining how far the Greek version preserves the very words, how far only the substance, of what was spoken. We must take it reverently as it has been given to us, and we shall find abundant reason for believing that on the one hand it quite transcends even the beloved disciple’s powers of invention; on the other that there is nothing in it to make us doubt that this report of it is from his pen. “It is urged that the triumphant elevation of this prayer is inconsistent with the Synoptic account of the Agony. But the liability to fluctuations of feeling and emotion is inherent in humanity, and was assumed with His manhood by Him Who was perfect man” (Sanday). “All human experience bears witness in common life to the naturalness of abrupt transitions from joy to sadness in the contemplation of a supreme trial. The absolute insight and foresight of Christ makes such an alteration even more intelligible. He could see, as man cannot do, both the completeness of His triumph and the suffering through which it was to be gained” (Westcott). The three characteristics of the Gospel, simplicity, subtlety, and sublimity, reach a climax here. Bengel calls this chapter the simplest in language, the profoundest in meaning, in the whole Bible. All is natural, for it is a son speaking to a father; all is supernatural, for the Son is the Lord from heaven.

The place where these words were spoken is not stated. If the view taken above (Joh 14:31) is correct, they were spoken in the upper room, after the company had risen from supper, in the pause before starting for the Mount of Olives (Joh 18:1). Westcott thinks that “the upper chamber was certainly left after Joh 14:31,” and that as “it is inconceivable that chap. 17 should have been spoken anywhere except under circumstances suited to its unapproachable solemnity,” these would best be found in the Temple Courts. Here was the great Golden Vine, to suggest the allegory of the Vine (Joh 16:1-11), and “nowhere could the outlines of the future spiritual Church be more fitly drawn than in the sanctuary of the old Church.” It is perhaps slightly against this attractive suggestion, that surroundings so rich in meaning would probably have been pointed out by a writer so full of feeling for dramatic contrasts and harmonies as the writer of this Divine Epic (comp. Joh 3:2, Joh 4:6, Joh 20:22, Joh 13:30, Joh 18:1; Joh 18:3; Joh 18:5; Joh 18:28; Joh 18:40, Joh 19:23-27; Joh 19:31-42).

24. πατήρ. Comp. Joh 17:1; Joh 17:5; Joh 17:11; Joh 17:25, Joh 11:41, Joh 12:27. The relationship is the ground of appeal; He knows that His ‘will’ is one with His Father’s. The position of ὅ δέδωκάς μοι (see on Joh 17:2) is remarkable: the fact of the gift is another ground of appeal.

θέλω. The expression, as used here by Christ, is unique: but comp. Joh 21:22; Mat 8:3; Mat 23:37; Mat 26:39; Luk 12:49. It is His last will and testament, which the Christ on the eve of His death here deposits in the Father’s hands. For τ. δόξαν τ. ἐμήν see on Joh 8:31: it is not the glory of the Word, the Eternal Son, which was His in His equality with the Father, but the glory of Christ, the Incarnate Son, with which the risen and ascended Jesus was endowed. In sure confidence Christ speaks of this as already given, and wills that all believers may behold and share it. Thus two gifts of the Father to the Son meet and complete one another: those whom He has given behold the glory that He has given. See on Joh 12:24.

καταβολῆς κόσμου. Christ thrice uses this expression; here, Luk 11:50; Mat 25:34. Two of those who heard it reproduce it (1Pe 1:20; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8). Comp. Eph 1:4; Heb 4:3; Heb 9:26; Heb 11:11.

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.

24. ὅ δέδωκάς μοι] The neuter has a peculiar solemnity, uniting the whole Church together as one gift of the Father to the Son: see ch. 6:39, note. Then the κἀκεῖνοι resolves it into the great multitude whom no man can number, and comes home to the heart of every individual believer with inexpressibly sweet assurance of an eternity with Christ.

θέλω is not the θέλω of ch. 12:21: 1Co 7:7, but more like that of Mar 6:25,—an expression of will founded on acknowledged right: compare διατίθεμαι, Luk 22:29.

Compare also the θέλω and ὃ δέδωκ. μοι, with ch. 5:21; 6:44.

ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγώ] i.e. in the glorified state: see ch. 12:26 and note: also ch. 14:3.

ἵνα θεωρ.] This is the completion of ver. 22,—the open beholding of His glory, spoken of 1Jn 3:2, which shall be coincident with our being changed into His perfect image.

θεωρ. is to behold and partake—the very case supposes it. No mere spectator could behold this glory. See Rom 8:17 end, and 2Co 3:18.

ὅτι ἠγ. με.…] The most glorious part of this sight of glory will be to behold the whole mystery of redemption unfolded in the glory of Christ’s Person,—and to see how, before the being of the creature, that eternal Love was, which gave the glory to Christ of which all creation is but the exponent.

On κατ. κόσ. see reff.

25,

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

24. There follows the thought of those who have been “perfected into one” on earth, sharing the fellowship of their common Lord in heaven, as they behold His eternal glory.

πάτερ. See on v. 11.

ὃ δέδωκάς μοι. ὅ is for οὕς (cf. v. 12), the neuter singular suggesting their unity, as at 6:37, 39, where see note.

θέλω. He does not now say ἐρωτῶ (v. 20 and see on 11:22), but θέλω, “I wish.” He has said repeatedly that He did not come to do His own will (θέλημα), but the will of the Father (4:34, 5:30, 6:38-40); and in the Agony at Gethsemane He distinguishes His human will from the Father’s (οὐ τί ἐγὼ θέλω, ἀλλὰ τί σύ, Mar 14:36). But at this moment of spiritual exaltation, the climax of His consecration of Himself to death, He realises the perfect coincidence of His will with the Father’s, and so can say θέλω (cf. ὁ υἱὸς οὓς θέλει ζωοποιεῖ, 5:21). The use of θέλω at 21:22 is different, for there it is the θέλω of authority which the master may address to a disciple.

ἵνα ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ κἀκεῖνοι ὦσιν μετʼ ἐμοῦ, sc. hereafter in glory. See 12:26, 13:36, 14:3 for the thought of the spiritual fellowship of His disciples with Christ continuing after death. Cf. 2Ti 2:11, 2Ti 2:12, Rom 8:17.

ἵνα θεωρῶσιν τὴν δόξαν τὴν ἐμήν. This is not the glory of the Incarnate Christ. That they had been permitted to see with the eyes of the body, ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ (see on 1:14). θεωρεῖν is used here of spiritual perception (cf. 12:45, and see on 2:23). The δόξα, of which the vision is to be the portion of the saints, is the glory of the Eternal Logos, which He had with the Father “before the world was” (v. 5). They are to see Him “as He is” (1Jn 3:2).

ἣν δέδωκάς μοι. The rec. has ἔδωκας with BNΓΔΘ, but אACDLW have δέδωκας (see on v. 4), which is accepted by Westcott-Hort against the testimony of B.

Against the interpretation of δόξα here as referring to the glory of the Eternal Word, several exegetes have urged that a “giving” of glory by the Father to the Son before the Incarnation is not explicitly mentioned elsewhere in the N.T. But there is no other passage which refers to the eternal relationships inherent in Deity with the same boldness and confidence of vision that appear in this Last Prayer of Christ. These are unique utterances (cf. also v. 5); and a clear distinction seems to be indicated between the δόξα of v. 22 which had been given to the disciples, and the δόξα of v. 24 which they might hope to contemplate hereafter, but which was given only to Christ.

ὅτι ἠγάπησάς με πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. This, in fact, is the δόξα of the Eternal Word. Eternal Love is Eternal Glory; even as Eternal Love and Eternal Glory may be regarded as respectively the subjective and objective aspects of Eternal Life.

πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. καταβολή occurs only once in the LXX (2 Macc. 2:29, of the foundation of a house), and eleven times in the N.T., in nine of which it is followed by κόσμου (ἀπὸ κατ. κόσμ., Mat 25:34, Luk 11:50, Heb 4:3, Heb 9:26, Rev 13:8, Rev 17:8). We find πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, as here, at Eph 1:4, 1Pe 1:20. The phrase also occurs in the Assumption of Moses, a first-century work, in a passage of which the Greek has been preserved (i. 13, 14, ed. Charles). The sentence “in that Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world,” suggests the idea of predestination, so frequently appearing in Jn. (see on 2:4).

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

They - whom [ους] . The best texts read o, that which. The construction is similar to that in ver. 2, "that He should give eternal life," etc. Like pan, all, in that passage, that which here refers to the body of believers taken collectively.

I will [θελω] . See on Mt 1:19. 51 My glory. The glory which is mine. ===Joh18

CHAPTER XVIII

Compare Mt 26:30; 36 - 46; Mr 14:26; 32 42; Luk 22:39 - 46.

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