This
chapter is a prayer, it is the Lord's prayer, the Lord Christ's prayer.
There was one Lord's prayer which he taught us to pray, and did not pray
himself, for he needed not to pray for the forgiveness of sin; but this was
properly and peculiarly his, and suited him only as a Mediator, and is a
sample of his intercession, and yet is of use to us both for instruction and
encouragement in prayer. Observe, I. The circumstances of the prayer, ver.
1. II. The prayer itself. 1. He prays for himself, ver. 1-5. 2. He prays for
those that are his. And in this see, (1.) The general pleas with which he
introduces his petitions for them, ver. 6-10. (2.) The particular petitions
he puts up for them [1.] That they might be kept, ver. 11-16. [2.] That they
might be sanctified, ver. 17-19. [3.] That they might be united, ver. 11 and
20-23. [4.] That they might be glorified, ver. 24-26.
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Christ's Intercessory Prayer.
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1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his
eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that
thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4 I
have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest
me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own
self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Here we have, I. The circumstances of this prayer, v. 1. Many a
solemn prayer Christ made in the days of his flesh (sometimes he continued
all night in prayer), but none of his prayers are recorded so fully as this.
Observe,
1. The time when he prayed this prayer; when he had spoken these words,
had given the foregoing farewell to his disciples, he prayed this prayer in
their hearing; so that, (1.) It was a prayer after a sermon; when he had
spoken from God to them, he turned to speak to God for them. Note, Those we
preach to we must pray for. He that was to prophesy upon the dry bones was
also to pray, Come, O breath, and breathe upon them. And the word
preached should be prayed over, for God gives the increase. (2.) It
was a prayer after sacrament; after Christ and his disciples had eaten the
passover and the Lord's supper together, and he had given them a suitable
exhortation, he closed the solemnity with this prayer, that God would
preserve the good impressions of the ordinance upon them. (3.) It was a
family-prayer. Christ's disciples were his family, and, to set a good
example before the masters of families, he not only, as the son of Abraham,
taught his household (Gen. xviii. 19), but, as a son of David, blessed his
household (2 Sam. vi. 20), prayed for them and with them. (4.) It was a
parting prayer. When we and our friends are parting, it is good to part with
prayer, Acts xx. 36. Christ was parting by death, and that parting should be
sanctified and sweetened by prayer. Dying Jacob blessed the twelve
patriarchs, dying Moses the twelve tribes, and so, here, dying Jesus the
twelve apostles. (5.) It was a prayer that was a preface to his sacrifice,
which he was now about to offer on earth, specifying the favours and
blessings designed to be purchased by the merit of his death for those that
were his; like a deed leading the uses of a fine, and directing to
what intents and purposes it shall be levied. Christ prayed then as a priest
now offering sacrifice, in the virtue of which all prayers were to be made.
(6.) It was a prayer that was a specimen of his intercession, which he ever
lives to make for us within the veil. Not that in his exalted state he
addresses himself to his Father by way of humble petition, as when he was on
earth. No, his intercession in heaven is a presenting of his merit to his
Father, with a suing out of the benefit of it for all his chosen ones.
2. The outward expression of fervent desire which he used in this prayer: He
lifted up his eyes to heaven, as before (ch. xi. 41); not that
Christ needed thus to engage his own attention, but he was pleased thus to
sanctify this gesture to those that use it, and justify it against those
that ridicule it. It is significant of the lifting up of the soul to God in
prayer, Ps. xxv. 1. Sursum corda was anciently used as a call to
prayer, Up with your hearts, up to heaven; thither we must direct our
desires in prayer, and thence we must expect to receive the good things we
pray for.
II. The first part of the prayer itself, in which Christ prays for himself.
Observe here,
1. He prays to God as a Father: He lifted up his eyes, and said, Father.
Note, As prayer is to be made to God only, so it is our duty in prayer to
eye him as a Father, and to call him our Father. All that have the
Spirit of adoption are taught to cry Abba, Father, v. 25. For
it will be of great use to us in prayer, both for direction and for
encouragement, to call God as we hope to find him.
2. He prayed for himself first. Though Christ, as God, was prayed to,
Christ, as man, prayed; thus it became him to fulfill all righteousness.
It was said to him, as it is said to us, Ask, and I will give thee,
Ps. ii. 8. What he had purchased he must ask for; and shall we expect to
have what we never merited, but have a thousand times forfeited, unless we
pray for it? This puts an honour upon prayer, that it was the messenger
Christ sent on his errands, the way in which even he corresponded with
Heaven. It likewise gives great encouragement to praying people, and cause
to hope that even the prayer of the destitute shall not be despised;
time was when he that is advocate for us had a cause of his own to solicit,
a great cause, on the success of which depended all his honour as Mediator;
and this he was to solicit in the same method that is prescribed to us, by
prayers and supplications (Heb. v. 7), so that he knows the heart of a
petitioner (Exod. xxiii. 9), he knows the way. Now observe, Christ began
with prayer for himself, and afterwards prayed for his disciples; this
charity must begin at home, though it must not end there. We must love and
pray for our neighbour as ourselves, and therefore must in a right manner
love and pray for ourselves first. Christ was much shorter in his prayer for
himself than in his prayer for his disciples. Our prayers for the church
must not be crowded into a corner of our prayers; in making supplication
for all saints, we have room enough to enlarge, and should not straiten
ourselves. Now here are two petitions which Christ puts up for himself, and
these two are one--that he might be glorified. But this one petition, Glorify
thou me, is twice put up, because it has a double reference. To the
prosecution of his undertaking further: Glorify me, that I may glorify
thee, in doing what is agreed upon to be yet done, v. 1-3. And to
the performance of his undertaking hitherto: "Glorify me, for I have
glorified thee. I have done my part, and now, Lord, do thine," v.
4, 5.
(1.) Christ here prays to be glorified, in order to his glorifying
God (v. 1): Glorify thy Son according to thy promise, that
thy Son may glorify thee according to his understanding. Here observe,
[1.] What he prays for--that he might be glorified in this world: "The
hour is come when all the powers of darkness will combine to vilify thy
Son; now, Father, glorify him." The Father glorified the Son
upon earth, First, Even in his sufferings, by the signs and wonders
which attended them. When they that came to take him were thunder-struck
with a word,--when Judas confessed him innocent, and sealed that confession
with his own guilty blood,--when the judge's wife asleep, and the judge
himself awake, pronounced him righteous,--when the sun was darkened, and the
veil of the temple rent, then the Father not only justified, but glorified
the Son. Nay, Secondly, Even by his sufferings; when he was
crucified, he was magnified, he was glorified, ch. xiii. 31. It was
in his cross that he conquered Satan and death; his thorns were a crown, and
Pilate in the inscription over his head wrote more than he thought. But, Thirdly,
Much more after his sufferings. The Father glorified the Son when he raised
him from the dead, showed him openly to chosen witnesses, and poured out
the Spirit to support and plead his cause, and to set up his kingdom among
men, then he glorified him. This he here prays for, and insists upon.
[2.] What he pleads to enforce this request.
First, He pleads relation: Glorify thy Son; thy Son as God, as
Mediator. It is in consideration of this that the heathen are given him
for his inheritance; for thou art my Son, Ps. ii. 7, 8. The devil
had tempted him to renounce his sonship with an offer of the kingdoms of
this world; but he rejected the offer with disdain, and depended upon his
Father for his preferment, and here applies himself to him for it. Note,
Those that have received the adoption of sons may in faith pray for the
inheritance of sons; if sanctified, then glorified: Father, glorify thy
Son.
Secondly, He pleads the time: The hour is come; the season
prefixed to an hour. The hour of Christ's passion was determined in the
counsel of God. He had often said his hour was not yet come; but now it was
come, and he knew it. Man knows not his time (Eccl. ix. 12), but the
Son of man did. He calls it this hour (ch. xii. 27), and here,
the hour; compare Mark xiv. 35; ch. xvi. 21. For the hour of
the Redeemer's death, which was also the hour of the Redeemer's birth, was
the most signal and remarkable hour, and, without doubt, the most critical,
that ever was since the clock of time was first set a going. Never was there
such an hour as that, nor did ever any hour challenge such expectations of
it before, nor such reflections upon it after. 1. "The hour is come
in the midst of which I need to be owned." Now is the hour when this
grand affair is come to a crisis; after many a skirmish the decisive battle
between heaven and hell is now to be fought, and that great cause in which
God's honour and man's happiness are together embarked must now be either
won or lost for ever. The two champions David and Goliath, Michael and the
dragon, are now entering the lists; the trumpet sounds for an engagement
that will be irretrievably fatal either to the one or to the other: "Now
glorify thy Son, now give him victory over principalities and powers,
now let the bruising of his heel be the breaking of the serpent's
head, now let thy Son be so upheld as not to fail nor be
discouraged." When Joshua went forth conquering and to conquer,
it is said, The Lord magnified Joshua; so he glorified his Son
when he made the cross his triumphant chariot. 2. "The hour is come
in the close of which I expect to be crowned; the hour is come when I
am to be glorified, and, set at thy right hand." Betwixt
him and that glory there intervened a bloody scene of suffering; but, being
short, he speaks as if he made little of it: The hour is come that I must
be glorified; and he did not expect it till then. Good Christians in a
trying hour, particularly a dying hour, may thus plead: "Now the
hour is come, stand by me, appear for me, now or never: now the
earthly tabernacle is to be dissolved, the hour is come that I should be
glorified." 2 Cor. v. 1.
Thirdly, He pleads the Father's own interest and concern herein: That
thy Son may also glorify thee; for he had consecrated his whole
undertaking to his Father's honour. He desired to be carried triumphantly
through his sufferings to his glory, that he might glorify the Father two
ways:-- 1. By the death of the cross, which he was now to suffer. Father,
glorify thy name, expressed the great intention of his sufferings, which
was to retrieve his Father's injured honour among men, and, by his
satisfaction, to come up to the glory of God, which man, by his sin, came
short of: "Father, own me in my sufferings, that I may honour thee by
them." 2. By the doctrine of the cross, which was now shortly to be
published to the world, by which God's kingdom was to be re-established
among men. He prays that his Father would so grace his sufferings, and crown
them, as not only to take off the offence of the cross, but to make
it, to those that are saved, the wisdom of God and the power of God.
If God had not glorified Christ crucified, by raising him from the dead,
his whole undertaking had been crushed; therefore glorify me, that I may
glorify thee. Now thereby he hath taught us, (1.) What to eye and aim at
in our prayers, in all our designs and desires--and that is, the honour of
God. It being our chief end to glorify God, other things must be sought and
attended to in subordination and subserviency to the Lord. "Do this and
the other for thy servant, that thy servant may glorify thee. Give me
health, that I may glorify thee with my body; success, that I may glorify
thee with my estate," &c. Hallowed be thy name must be our
first petition, which must fix our end in all our other petitions, 1 Peter
iv. 11. (2.) He hath taught us what to expect and hope for. If we sincerely
set ourselves to glorify our Father, he will not be wanting to do that for
us which is requisite to put us into a capacity of glorifying him, to give
us the grace he knows sufficient, and the opportunity he sees convenient.
But, if we secretly honour ourselves more than him, it is just with him to
leave us in the hand of our own counsels, and then, instead of honouring
ourselves, we shall shame ourselves.
Fourthly, He pleads his commission (v. 2, 3); he desires to
glorify his Father, in conformity to, and in pursuance of, the commission
given him: "Glorify thy Son, as thou hast given him power, glorify
him in the execution of the powers thou hast given him," so it is
connected with the petition; or, that thy Son may glorify thee
according to the power given him, so it is connected with the plea.
Now see here the power of the Mediator.
a. The origin of his power: Thou hast given him power; he has
it from God, to whom all power belongs. Man, in his fallen state,
must, in order to his recovery, be taken under a new model of government,
which could not be erected but by a special commission under the broad seal
of heaven, directed to the undertaker of that glorious work, and
constituting him sole arbitrator of the grand difference that was, and sole
guarantee of the grand alliance that was to be, between God and man; so as
to this office, he received his power, which was to be executed in a way
distinct from his power and government as Creator. Note, The church's king
is no usurper, as the prince of this world is; Christ's right to rule is
incontestable.
b. The extent of his power: He has power over all flesh. (a.)
Over all mankind. He has power in and over the world of spirits, the powers
of the upper and unseen world are subject to him (1 Peter iii. 22); but,
being now mediating between God and man, he here pleads his power over
all flesh. They were men whom he was to subdue and save; out of that
race he had a remnant given him, and therefore all that rank of beings was put
under his feet. (b.) Over mankind considered as corrupt and
fallen, for so he is called flesh, Gen. vi. 3. If he had not in this
sense been flesh, he had not needed a Redeemer. Over this sinful race the
Lord Jesus has all power; and all judgment, concerning them, is
committed to him; power to bind or loose, acquit or condemn; power on
earth to forgive sins or not. Christ, as Mediator, has the government of
the whole world put into his hand; he is king of nations, has power even
over those that know him not, nor obey his gospel; whom he does not
rule, he over-rules, Ps. xxii. 28; lxxii. 8; Matt. xxviii. 18; ch.
iii. 35.
c. The grand intention and design of this power: That he should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Here is the mystery
of our salvation laid open.
(a.) Here is the Father making over the elect to the Redeemer, and
giving them to him as his charge and trust; as the crown and recompence of
his undertaking. He has a sovereign power over all the fallen race, but a
peculiar interest in the chosen remnant; all things were put under his
feet, but they were delivered into his hand.
(b.) Here is the Son undertaking to secure the happiness of those
that were given him, that he would give eternal life to them. See how
great the authority of the Redeemer is. He has lives and crowns to give,
eternal lives that never die, immortal crowns that never fade. Now consider
how great the Lord Jesus is, who has such preferments in his gift; and how
gracious he is in giving eternal life to those whom he undertakes to save. [a.]
He sanctifies them in this world, gives them the spiritual life which is
eternal life in the bud and embryo, ch. iv. 14. Grace in the soul is
heaven in that soul. [b.] He will glorify them in the other world;
their happiness shall be completed in the vision and fruition of God. This
only is mentioned, because it supposes all the other parts of his
undertaking, teaching them, satisfying for them, sanctifying them, and
preparing them for that eternal life; and indeed all the other were in order
to this; we are called to his kingdom and glory, and begotten to
the inheritance. What is last in execution was first in intention, and that
is eternal life.
(c.) Here is the subserviency of the Redeemer's universal dominion to
this: He has power over all flesh, on purpose that he might give
eternal life to the select number. Note, Christ's dominion over the children
of men is in order to the salvation of the children of God. All things
are for their sakes, 2 Cor. iv. 15. All Christ's laws, ordinances, and
promises, which are given to all, are designed effectually to convey
spiritual life, and secure eternal life, to all that were given to Christ;
he is head over all things to the church. The administration of the
kingdoms of providence and grace are put into the same hand, that all things
may be made to concur for good to the called.
d. Here is a further explication of this grand design (v. 3):
"This is life eternal, which I am empowered and have undertaken
to give, this is the nature of it, and this the way leading to it, to
know thee the only true God, and all the discoveries and principles of
natural religion, and Jesus Christ whom, thou has sent, as Mediator, and the
doctrines and laws of that holy religion which he instituted for the
recovery of man out of his lapsed state." Here is,
(a.) The great end which the Christian religion sets before us, and
that is, eternal life, the happiness of an immortal soul in the vision and
fruition of an eternal God. This he was to reveal to all, and secure to all
that were given him. By the gospel life and immortality are brought to
light, are brought to hand, a life which transcends this as much in
excellency as it does in duration.
(b.) The sure way of attaining this blessed end, which is, by the
right knowledge of God and Jesus Christ: "This is life eternal, to
know thee," which may be taken two ways-- [a.] Life
eternal lies in the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ; the present
principle of this life is the believing knowledge of God and Christ; the
future perfection of that life will be the intuitive knowledge of God and
Christ. Those that are brought into union with Christ, and live a life of
communion with God in Christ, know, in some measure, by experience, what
eternal life is, and will say, "If this be heaven, heaven is
sweet." See Ps. xvii. 15. [b.] The knowledge of God and Christ
leads to life eternal; this is the way in which Christ gives eternal life,
by the knowledge of him that has called us (2 Peter i. 3), and this is the
way in which we come to receive it. The Christian religion shows us the way
to heaven, First, By directing us to God, as the author and felicity
of our being; for Christ died to bring us to God. To know him as our
Creator, and to love him, obey him, submit to him, and trust in him, as our
owner ruler, and benefactor,--to devote ourselves to him as our sovereign
Lord, depend upon him as our chief good, and direct all to his praise as our
highest end,--this is life eternal. God is here called the only
true God, to distinguish him from the false gods of the heathen, which
were counterfeits and pretenders, not from the person of the Son, of whom it
is expressly said that he is the true God and eternal life (1 John v.
20), and who in this text is proposed as the object of the same religious
regard with the Father. It is certain there is but one only living and true
God and the God we adore is he. He is the true God, and not a mere name or
notion; the only true God, and all that ever set up as rivals with him are
vanity and a lie; the service of him is the only true religion. Secondly,
By directing us to Jesus Christ, as the Mediator between God and man: Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. If man had continued innocent, the
knowledge of the only true God would have been life eternal to him; but now
that he is fallen there must be something more; now that we are under guilt,
to know God is to know him as a righteous Judge, whose curse we are under;
and nothing is more killing than to know this. We are therefore concerned to
know Christ as our Redeemer, by whom alone we can now have access to God; it
is life eternal to believe in Christ; and this he has undertaken to give to
as many as were given him. See ch. vi. 39, 40. Those that are
acquainted with God and Christ are already in the suburbs of life eternal.
(2.) Christ here prays to be glorified in consideration of his having
glorified the Father hitherto, v. 4, 5. The meaning of the former
petition was, Glorify me in this world; the meaning of the latter is,
Glorify me in the other world. I have glorified thee on the earth, and
now glorify thou me. Observe here,
[1.] With what comfort Christ reflects on the life he had lived on earth: I
have glorified thee, and finished my work; it is as good as finished. He
does not complain of the poverty and disgrace he had lived in, what a weary
life he had upon earth, as ever any man of sorrows had. He overlooks this,
and pleases himself in reviewing the service he had done his Father, and the
progress he had made in his understanding. This is here recorded, First,
For the honour of Christ, that his life upon earth did in all respects fully
answer the end of his coming into the world. Note, 1. Our Lord Jesus had
work given him to do by him that sent him; he came not into the world to
live at ease, but to go about doing good, and to fulfill all
righteousness. His Father gave him his work, his work in the vineyard,
both appointed him to it and assisted him in it. 2. The work that was
given him to do he finished. Though he had not, as yet, gone through the
last part of his undertaking, yet he was so near being made perfect
through sufferings that he might say, I have finished it; it was as good
as done, he was giving it its finishing stroke eteleiwsa--I
have finished. The word signifies his performing every part of his
undertaking in the most complete and perfect manner. 3. Herein he glorified
his Father; he pleased him, he praised him. It is the glory of God that his
work is perfect, and the same is the glory of the Redeemer; what he is
the author of he will be the finisher of. It was a strange way for the Son
to glorify the Father by abasing himself (this looked more likely to
disparage him), yet it was contrived that so he should glorify him: "I
have glorified thee on the earth, in such a way as men on earth could
bear the manifestation of thy glory." Secondly, It is recorded
for example to all, that we may follow his example. 1. We must make
it our business to do the work God has appointed us to do, according to our
capacity and the sphere of our activity; we must each of us do all the good
we can in this world. 2. We must aim at the glory of God in all. We must
glorify him on the earth, which he has given unto the children of men,
demanding only this quit-rent; on the earth, where we are in a state of
probation and preparation for eternity. 3. We must persevere herein to the
end of our days; we must not sit down till we have finished our work, and accomplished
as a hireling our day. Thirdly, It is recorded for encouragement to all
those that rest upon him. If he has finished the work that was given him
to do, then he is a complete Saviour, and did not do his work by the
halves. And he that finished his work for us will finish it in us to the
day of Christ.
[2.] See with what confidence he expects the joy set before him (v.
5): Now, O Father, glorify thou me. It is what he depends upon, and
cannot be denied him.
First, See here what he prayed for: Glorify thou me, as
before, v. 1. All repetitions in prayer are not to be counted vain
repetitions; Christ prayed, saying the same words (Matt. xxvi.
44), and yet prayed more earnestly. What his Father had promised him,
and he was assured of, yet he must pray for; promises are not designed to
supersede prayers, but to be the guide of our desires and the ground of our
hopes. Christ's being glorified includes all the honours, powers, and joys,
of his exalted state. See how it is described. 1. It is a glory with God;
not only, Glorify my name on earth, but, Glorify me with thine own
self. It was paradise, it was heaven, to be with his Father, as Prov.
viii. 30; Dan. vii. 13; Heb. viii. 1. Note, The brightest glories of the
exalted Redeemer were to be displayed within the veil, where the Father
manifests his glory. The praises of the upper world are offered up to him
that sits upon the throne and to the lamb in conjunction (Rev. v. 13),
and the prayers of the lower world draw out grace and peace from God our
Father and our Lord Jesus Christ in conjunction; and thus the Father has
glorified him with himself. 2. It is the glory he had with God before the
world was. By this it appears, (1.) That Jesus Christ, as God, had a
being before the world was, co-eternal with the Father; our religion
acquaints us with one that was before all things, and by whom all things
consist. (2.) That his glory with the Father is from everlasting, as
well as his existence with the Father; for he was from eternity the
brightness of his Father's glory, Heb. i. 3. As God's making the world
only declared his glory, but made no real additions to it; so Christ
undertook the work of redemption, not because he needed glory, for he had a
glory with the Father before the world, but because we needed glory.
(3.) That Jesus Christ in his state of humiliation divested himself of this
glory, and drew a veil over it; though he was still God, yet he was God
manifested in the flesh, not in his glory. He laid down this glory for a
time, as a pledge that he would go through with his undertaking, according
to the appointment of his Father. (4.) That in his exalted state he resumed
this glory, and clad himself again with his former robes of light. Having
performed his undertaking, he did, as it were, reposcere pignus--take up
his pledge, by this demand, Glorify thou me. He prays that even
his human nature might be advanced to the highest honour it was capable of,
his body a glorious body; and that the glory of the Godhead might now be
manifested in the person of the Mediator, Emmanuel, God-man. He does not
pray to be glorified with the princes and great men of the earth: no; he
that knew both worlds, and might choose which he would have his preferment
in, chose it in the glory of the other world, as far exceeding all the glory
of this. He had despised the kingdoms of this world and the glory of
them, when Satan offered them to him, and therefore might the more
boldly claim the glories of the other world. Let the same mind be in us.
"Lord, give the glories of this world to whom thou wilt give them, but
let me have my portion of glory in the world to come. It is no matter,
though I be vilified with men; but, Father, glorify thou me with thine
own self."
Secondly, See here what he pleaded: I have glorified thee; and
now, in consideration thereof, glorify thou me. For, 1. There was an
equity in it, and an admirable becomingness, that if God was glorified in
him, he should glorify him in himself, as he had observed, ch.
xiii. 32. Such an infinite value there was in what Christ did to glorify his
Father that he properly merited all the glories of his exalted state. If the
Father was a gainer in his glory by the Son's humiliation, it was fit the
Son should be no loser by it at long run, in his glory. 2. It was according
to the covenant between them, that if the Son would make his soul an
offering for sin he should divide the spoil with the strong (Isa.
liii. 10, 12), and the kingdom should be his; and this he had an eye
to, and depended upon, in his sufferings; it was for the joy set before
him that he endured the cross: and now in his exalted state he
still expects the completing of his exaltation, because he perfected his
undertaking, Heb. x. 13. 3. It was the most proper evidence of his Father's
accepting and approving the work he had finished. By the glorifying of
Christ we are satisfied that God was satisfied, and therein a real
demonstration was given that the Father was well pleased in him as his
beloved Son. 4. Thus we must be taught that those, and only those, who
glorify God on earth, and persevere in the work God hath given them to do,
shall be glorified with the Father, when they must be no more in this world.
Not that we can merit the glory, as Christ did, but our glorifying God is
required as an evidence of our interest in Christ, through whom eternal life
is God's free gift.
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Christ's Intercessory Prayer.
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6 I have manifested thy name unto the men
which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them
me; and they have kept thy word. 7 Now they have known that all
things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 8 For I have
given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them,
and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that
thou didst send me. 9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world,
but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 10
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Christ, having prayed for himself, comes next to pray for those that are
his, and he knew them by name, though he did not here name them. Now observe
here,
I. Whom he did not pray for (v. 9): I pray not for the world.
Note, There is a world of people that Jesus Christ did not pray for. It is
not meant of the world of mankind general (he prays for that here, v.
21, That the world may believe that thou hast sent me); nor is it
meant of the Gentiles, in distinction from the Jews; but the world is here
opposed to the elect, who are given to Christ out of the world. Take the
world for a heap of unwinnowed corn in the floor, and God loves it, Christ
prays for it, and dies for it, for a blessing is in it; but, the
Lord perfectly knowing those that are his, he eyes particularly those that
were given him out of the world, extracts them; and then take the world
for the remaining heap of rejected, worthless chaff, and Christ neither
prays for it, nor dies for it, but abandons it, and the wind drives it
away. These are called the world, because they are governed by
the spirit of this world, and have their portion in it; for these Christ
does not pray; not but that there are some things which he intercedes with
God for on their behalf, as the dresser for the reprieve of the barren tree;
but he does not pray for them in this prayer, that have not part nor lot
in the blessings here prayed for. He does not say, I pray against the world,
as Elias made intercession against Israel; but, I pray not for them,
I pass them by, and leave them to themselves; they are not written in the
Lamb's book of life, and therefore not in the breast-plate of the great
high-priest. And miserable is the condition of such, as it was of those whom
the prophet was forbidden to pray for, and more so, Jer. vii. 16. We that
know not who are chosen, and who are passed by, must pray for all men,
1 Tim. ii. 1, 4. While there is life, there is hope, and room for prayer.
See 1 Sam. xii. 23.
II. Whom he did pray for; not for angels, but for the children of men. 1. He
prays for those that were given him, meaning primarily the disciples
that had attended him in this regeneration; but it is doubtless to be
extended further, to all who come under the same character, who receive and
believe the words of Christ, v. 6, 8. 2. He prays for all that
should believe on him (v. 20), and it is not only the petitions
that follow, but those also which went before, that must be construed to
extend to all believers, in every place and every age; for he has a concern
for them all, and calls things that are not as though they were.
III. What encouragement he had to pray for them, and what are the general
pleas with which he introduces his petitions for them, and recommends them
to his Father's favour; they are five:--
1. The charge he had received concerning them: Thine they were, and thou
gavest them me (v. 6), and again (v. 9), Thou whom thou
hast given me. "Father, those I am now praying for are such as thou
hast entrusted me with, and what I have to say for them is in pursuance of
the charge I have received concerning them." Now,
(1.) This is meant primarily of the disciples that then were, who were given
to Christ as his pupils to be educated by him while he was on earth, and his
agents to be employed for him when he went to heaven. They were given him to
be the learners of his doctrine, the witnesses of his life and miracles, and
the monuments of his grace and favour, in order to their being the
publishers of his gospel and the planters of his church. When they left all
to follow him, this was the secret spring of that strange resolution: they
were given to him, else they had not given themselves to him. Note, The
apostleship and ministry, which are Christ's gift to the church, were first
the Father's gift to Jesus Christ. As under the law the Levites were given
to Aaron (Num. iii. 9), to him (the great high priest of our profession)
the Father gave the apostles first, and ministers in every age, to keep
his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation, and to do the service
of the tabernacle. See Eph. iv. 8, 11; Ps. lxviii. 18. Christ received
this gift for men, that he might give it to men. As this puts a great honour
upon the ministry of the gospel, and magnifies that office, which is so much
vilified; so it lays a mighty obligation upon the ministers of the gospel to
devote themselves entirely to Christ's service, as being given to him,
(2.) But it is designed to extend to all the elect, for they are elsewhere
said to be given to Christ (ch. vi. 37, 39), and he often laid a
stress upon this, that those he was to save were given to him as his charge;
to his care they were committed, from his hand they were expected, and
concerning them he received commandments. He here shows,
[1.] That the Father had authority to give them: Thine they were. He
did not give that which was none of his own, but covenanted that he had a
good title. The elect, whom the Father gave to Christ, were his own in three
ways:--First, they were creatures, and their lives and beings were
derived from him. When they were given to Christ to be vessels of honour,
they were in his hand, as clay in the hand of the potter, to be
disposed of as God's wisdom saw most for God's glory. Secondly, They
were criminals, and their lives and beings were forfeited to him. It was a
remnant of fallen mankind that was given to Christ to be redeemed, that
might have been made sacrifices to justice when they were pitched upon to be
the monuments of mercy; might justly have been delivered to the
tormentors when they were delivered to the Saviour. Thirdly, They
were chosen, and their lives and beings were designed, for him; they were
set apart for God, and were consigned to Christ as his agent. This he
insists upon again (v. 7): All things whatsoever thou hast given
me are of thee, which, though it may take in all that appertained to his
office as Mediator, yet seems especially to be meant of those that were
given him. "They are of thee, their being is of thee as the God
of nature, their well-being is of thee as the God of grace; they are all
of thee, and therefore, Father, I bring them all to thee, that they may
be all for thee."
[2.] That he did accordingly give them to the Son. Thou gavest them to
me, as sheep to the shepherd, to be kept; as patients to the physician,
to be cured; children to a tutor, to be educated; thus he will deliver up
his charge (Heb. ii. 13), The children thou hast given me. They were
delivered to Christ, First, That the election of grace might not be
frustrated, that not one, no not of the little ones, might perish.
That great concern must be lodged in some one good hand, able to give
sufficient security, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand. Secondly, That the undertaking of Christ might not be fruitless;
they were given to him as his seed, in whom he should see of the
travail of his soul and be satisfied (Isa. liii. 10, 11), and might not spend
his strength, and shed his blood, for nought, and in vain, Isa.
xlix. 4. We may plead, as Christ does, "Lord, keep my graces, keep my
comforts, for thine they were, and thou gavest them to me."
2. The care he had taken of them to teach them (v. 6): I have
manifested thy name to them. I have given to them the words which thou
gavest to me, v. 8. Observe here,
(1.) The great design of Christ's doctrine, which was to manifest God's
name, to declare him (ch. i. 18), to instruct the ignorant, and
rectify the mistakes of a dark and foolish world concerning God, that he
might be better loved and worshipped.
(2.) His faithful discharge of this undertaking: I have done it. His
fidelity appears, [1.] In the truth of the doctrine. It agreed exactly with
the instructions he received from his Father. He gave not only the things,
but the very words, that were given him. Ministers, in wording their
message, must have an eye to the words which the Holy Ghost teaches.
[2.] In the tendency of his doctrine, which was to manifest God's name. He
did not seek himself, but, in all he did and said, aimed to magnify his
Father. Note, First, It is Christ's prerogative to manifest God's
name to the souls of the children of men. No man knows the Father, but he
to whom the Son will reveal him, Matt. xi. 27. He only has acquaintance
with the Father, and so is able to open the truth; and he only has access to
the spirits of men, and so is able to open the understanding. Ministers may publish
the name of the Lord (as Moses, Deut. xxxii. 3), but Christ only can
manifest that name. By the word of Christ God is revealed to us; by the
Spirit of Christ God is revealed in us. Ministers may speak the words of God
to us, but Christ can give us his words, can put them in us, as food, as
treasure. Secondly, Sooner or later, Christ will manifest God's name
to all that were given him, and will give them his word, to be the seed of
their new birth, the support of their spiritual life, and the earnest of
their everlasting bliss.
3. The good effect of the care he had taken of them, and the pains he had
taken with them, (v. 6): They have kept they word (v.
7), they have known that all things are of thee (v. 8); they
have received thy words, and embraced them, have given their assent and
consent to them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and
have believed that thou didst send me. Observe here,
(1.) What success the doctrine of Christ had among those that were given
to him, in several particulars:--
[1.] "They have received the words which I gave them, as the ground
receives the seed, and the earth drinks in the rain." They attended to
the words of Christ, apprehended in some measure the meaning of them, and
were affected with them: they received the impression of them. The word was
to them an ingrafted word.
[2.] "They have kept thy word, have continued in it; they have
conformed to it." Christ's commandment is then only kept when it is
obeyed. Those that have to teach others the commands of Christ ought to be
themselves observant of them. It was requisite that these should keep
what was committed to them, for it was to be transmitted by them to
every place for every age.
[3.] "They have understood the word, and have been sensible on what
ground they went in receiving and keeping it. They have been aware that thou
art the original author of that holy religion which I am come to institute, that
all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee." All Christ's
offices and powers, all the gifts of the Spirit, all his graces and
comforts, which God gave without measure to him, were all from God,
contrived by his wisdom, appointed by his will, and designed by his grace,
for his own glory in man's salvation. Note, It is a great satisfaction to
us, in our reliance upon Christ, that he, and all he is and has, all he said
and did, all he is doing and will do, are of God, 1 Cor. i. 30. We may
therefore venture our souls upon Christ's mediation, for it has a good
bottom. If the righteousness be of God's appointing, we shall be justified;
if the grace be of his dispensing, we shall be sanctified.
[4.] They have set their seal to it: They have known surely that I came
out from God, v. 8. See here, First, What it is to
believe; it is to know surely, to know that it is so of a truth.
The disciples were very weak and defective in knowledge; yet Christ, who
knew them better than they knew themselves, passes his word for them that
they did believe. Note, We may know surely that which we neither do nor can
know fully; may know the certainty of the things which are not seen,
though we cannot particularly describe the nature of them. We walk by
faith, which knows surely, not yet by sight, which knows clearly.
Secondly, What it is we are to believe: that Jesus Christ came out
from God, as he is the Son of God, in his person the image of the
invisible God, and that God did not send him; that in his undertaking he
is the ambassador of the eternal king: so that the Christian religion stands
upon the same footing, and is of equal authority, with natural religion; and
therefore all the doctrines of Christ are to be received as divine truths,
all his commands obeyed as divine laws, and all his promises depended upon
as divine securities.
(2.) How Jesus Christ here speaks of this: he enlarges upon it, [1.] As
pleased with it himself. Though the many instances of his disciples' dulness
and weakness had grieved him, yet their constant adherence to him, their
gradual improvements, and their great attainments at last, were his joy.
Christ is a Master that delights in the proficiency of his scholars. He
accepts the sincerity of their faith, and graciously passes by the infirmity
of it. See how willing he is to make the best of us, and to say the best of
us, thereby encouraging our faith in him, and teaching us charity to one
another, [2.] As pleading it with the Father. He is praying for those
that were given to him; and he pleads that they had given themselves to
him. Note, The due improvement of grace received is a good plea, according
to the tenour of the new covenant, for further grace; for so runs the
promise. To him that hath shall be given. Those that keep Christ's
word, and believe on him, let Christ alone to commend them, and, which is
more, to recommend them to his Father.
4. He pleads the Father's own interest in them (v. 9): I pray for
them, for they are thine; and this by virtue of a joint and mutual
interest, which he and the Father have in what pertained to each: All
mine are thine, and thine are mine. Between the Father and Son there can
be no dispute (as there is among the children of men) about meum and tuum--mine
and thine, for the matter was settled from eternity; all mine are
thine, and thine are mine. Here is,
(1.) The plea particularly urged for his disciples: They are thine.
The consigning of the elect to Christ was so far from making them less the
Father's that it was in order to making them the more so. Note, [1.] All
that receive Christ's word, and believe in him, are taken into
covenant-relation to the Father, and are looked upon as his; Christ presents
them to him, and they, through Christ, present themselves to him. Christ has
redeemed us, not to himself only, but to God, by his blood,
Rev. v. 9, 10. They are first-fruits unto God, Rev. xiv. 4. [2.] This
is a good plea in prayer, Christ here pleads it, They are thine; we
may plead it for ourselves, I am thine, save me; and for others (as
Moses, Exod. xxxii. 11), "They are thy people. They are thine;
wilt thou not provide for thine own? Wilt thou not secure them, that they
may not be run down by the devil and the world? Wilt thou not secure thy
interest in them, that they may not depart from thee? They are thine,
own them as thine."
(2.) The foundation on which this plea is grounded: All mine are thine,
and thine are mine. This bespeaks the Father and Son to be, [1.] One in
essence. Every creature must say to God, All mine are thine; but none
can say to him, All thine are mine, but he that is the same in
substance with him and equal in power and glory. [2.] One in interest; no
separate or divided interests between them. First, What the Father
has as Creator is delivered over to the Son, to be used and disposed of in
subserviency to his great undertaking. All things are delivered to him
(Matt. xi. 27); the grant is so general that nothing is excepted but he
that did put all things under him. Secondly, What the Son has as
Redeemer is designed for the Father, and his kingdom shall shortly be
delivered up to him. All the benefits of redemption, purchased by the Son,
are intended for the Father's praise, and in his glory all the lines of his
undertaking centre: All mine are thine. The Son owns none for his
that are not devoted to the service of the Father; nor will any thing be
accepted as a piece of service to the Christian religion which clashes with
the dictates and laws of natural religion. In a limited sense, every true
believer may say, All thine are mine; if God be ours in covenant, all
he is and has is so far ours that it shall be engaged for our good; and in
an unlimited sense every true believer does say, Lord, all mine are
thine; all laid at his feet, to be serviceable to him. And what we have
may be comfortably committed to God's care and blessing when it is
cheerfully submitted to his government and disposal: "Lord, take care
of what I have, for it is all thine."
5. He pleads his own concern in them: I am glorified in them--dedoxasmai.
(1.) I have been glorified in them. What little honour Christ had in
this world was among his disciples; he had been glorified by their
attendance on him and obedience to him, their preaching and working miracles
in his name; and therefore I pray for them. Note, Those shall have an
interest in Christ's intercession in and by whom he is glorified. (2.)
"I am to be glorified in them when I am gone to heaven; they are
to bear up my name." The apostles preached and wrought miracles in
Christ's name; the Spirit in them glorified Christ (ch. xvi. 14):
"I am glorified in them, and therefore," [1.] "I
concern myself for them." What little interest Christ has in this
degenerate world lies in his church; and therefore it and all its affairs
lie near his heart, within the veil. [2.] "Therefore I commit them to
the Father, who has engaged to glorify the Son, and, upon this account, will
have a gracious eye to those in whom he is glorified." That in which
God and Christ are glorified may, with humble confidence, be committed to
God's special care.
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Christ's
Intercessory Prayer.
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11 And now I am no more in the world, but
these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine
own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that
thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of
perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 And now
come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have
my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them thy word;
and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I
am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them
out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
After the general pleas with which Christ recommended his disciples to his
Father's care follow the particular petitions he puts up for them; and, 1.
They all relate to spiritual blessings in heavenly things. He does not pray
that they might be rich and great in the world, that they might raise
estates and get preferments, but that they might be kept from sin, and
furnished for their duty, and brought safely to heaven. Note, The prosperity
of the soul is the best prosperity; for what relates to this Christ came to
purchase and bestow, and so teaches us to seek, in the first place, both for
others and for ourselves. 2. They are such blessings as were suited to their
present state and case, and their various exigencies and occasions. Note,
Christ's intercession is always pertinent. Our advocate with the Father
is acquainted with all the particulars of our wants and burdens, our dangers
and difficulties, and knows how to accommodate his intercession to each, as
to Peter's peril, which he himself was not aware of (Luke xxii. 32), I
have prayed for thee. 3. He is large and full in the petitions, orders
them before his Father, and fills his mouth with arguments, to teach
us fervency and importunity in prayer, to be large in prayer, and dwell upon
our errands at the throne of grace, wrestling as Jacob, I will not let
thee go, except thou bless me.
Now the first thing Christ prays for, for his disciples, is their
preservation, in these verses, in order to which he commits them all to his
Father's custody. Keeping supposes danger, and their danger arose from
the world, the world wherein they were, the evil of this he begs
they might be kept from. Now observe,
I. The request itself: Keep them from the world. There were two ways
of their being delivered from the world:--
1. By taking them out of it; and he does not pray that they might be so
delivered: I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world;
that is,
(1.) "I pray not that they may be speedily removed by death." If
the world will be vexatious to them, the readiest way to secure them would
be to hasten them out of it to a better world, that will give them better
treatment. Send chariots and horses of fire for them, to fetch them to
heaven; Job, Elijah, Jonah, Moses, when that occurred which fretted them,
prayed that they might be taken out of the world; but Christ would
not pray so for his disciples, for two reasons:-- [1.] Because he came to
conquer, not to countenance, those intemperate heats and passions which make
men impatient of life, and importunate for death. It is his will that we
should take up our cross, and not outrun it. [2.] Because he had work for
them to do in the world; the world, though sick of them (Acts xxii. 22), and
therefore not worthy of them (Heb. xi. 38), yet could ill spare them. In
pity therefore to this dark world, Christ would not have these lights
removed out of it, but continued in it, especially for the sake of those in
the world that were to believe in him through their word. Let not
them be taken out of the world when their Master is; they must each in his
own order die a martyr, but not till they have finished their testimony.
Note, First, The taking of good people out of the world is a thing by
no means to be desired, but rather dreaded and laid to heart, Isa. lvii. 1. Secondly,
Though Christ loves his disciples, he does not presently send for them to
heaven, as soon as they are effectually called, but leaves them for some
time in this world, that they may do good and glorify God upon earth, and be
ripened for heaven. Many good people are spared to live, because they can
ill be spared to die.
(2.) "I pray not that they may be totally freed and exempted from the
troubles of this world, and taken out of the toil and terror of it into some
place of ease and safety, there to live undisturbed; this is not the
preservation I desire for them." Non ut omni molestia liberati otium
et delicias colant, sed ut inter media pericula salvi tamen maneant Dei
auxilio--Not that, being freed from all trouble, they may bask in luxurious
ease, but that by the help of God they may be preserved in a scene of
danger; so Calvin. Not that they may be kept from all conflict with the
world, but that they may not be overcome by it; not that, as Jeremiah
wished, they might leave their people, and go from them (Jer. ix. 2),
but that, like Ezekiel, their faces may be strong against the faces of
wicked men, Ezek. iii. 8. It is more the honour of a Christian soldier
by faith to overcome the world than by a monastical vow to retreat
from it; and more for the honour of Christ to serve him in a city than to
serve him in a cell.
2. Another way is by keeping them from the corruption that is in the world;
and he prays they may be thus kept, v. 11, 15. Here are three
branches of this petition:--
(1.) Holy Father, keep those whom thou hast given me.
[1.] Christ was now leaving them; but let them not think that their defence
was departed from them; no, he does here, in their hearing, commit them to
the custody of his Father and their Father. Note, It is the unspeakable
comfort of all believers that Christ himself has committed them to the care
of God. Those cannot but be safe whom the almighty God keeps, and he cannot
but keep those whom the Son of his love commits to him, in the virtue of
which we may by faith commit the keeping of our souls to God, 1 Pet.
iv. 19; 2 Tim. i. 12. First, He here puts them under the divine
protection, that they may not be run down by the malice of their enemies;
that they and all their concerns may be the particular care of the divine
Providence: "Keep their lives, till they have done their work;
keep their comforts, and let them not be broken in upon by the hardships
they meet with; keep up their interest in the world, and let it not
sink." To this prayer is owing the wonderful preservation of the gospel
ministry and gospel church in the world unto this day; if God had not
graciously kept both, and kept up both, they had been extinguished and lost
long ago. Secondly, He puts them under the divine tuition, that they
may not themselves run away from their duty, nor be led aside by the
treachery of their own hearts: "Keep them in their integrity,
keep them disciples, keep them close to their duty." We need God's
power not only to put us into a state of grace, but to keep us in it. See, ch.
x. 28, 29; 1 Pet. i. 5.
[2.] The titles he gives to him he prays to, and them he prays for, enforce
the petition. First, He speaks to God as a holy Father. In
committing ourselves and others to the divine care, we may take
encouragement, 1. From the attribute of his holiness, for this is engaged
for the preservation of his holy ones; he hath sworn by his holiness,
Ps. lxxxix. 35. If he be a holy God and hate sin, he will make those holy
that are his, and keep them from sin, which they also hate and dread as the
greatest evil. 2. From this relation of a Father, wherein he stands to us
through Christ. If he be a Father, he will take care of his own children,
will teach them and keep them; who else should? Secondly, He speaks
of them as those whom the Father had given him. What we receive as
our Father's gifts, we may comfortably remit to our Father's care.
"Father, keep the graces and comforts thou hast given me; the children
thou hast given me; the ministry I have received."
(2.) Keep them through thine own name. That is, [1.] Keep them
for thy name's sake; so some. "Thy name and honour are concerned in
their preservation as well as mine, for both will suffer by it if they
either revolt or sink." The Old Testament saints often pleaded, for thy
name's sake; and those may with comfort plead it that are indeed more
concerned for the honour of God's name than for any interest of their own.
[2.] Keep them in thy name; so others; the original is so, en
tw onomati. "Keep them in the knowledge and
fear of thy name; keep them in the profession and service of thy name,
whatever it cost them. Keep them in the interest of thy name, and let them
ever be faithful to this; keep them in thy truths, in thine ordinances, in
the way of thy commandments." [3.] Keep them by or through thy name; so
others. "Keep them by thine own power, in thine own hand; keep them
thyself, undertake for them, let them be thine own immediate care. Keep them
by those means of preservation which thou hast thyself appointed, and by
which thou hast made thyself known. Keep them by thy word and ordinances;
let thy name be their strong tower, thy tabernacle their pavilion."
(3.) Keep them from the evil, or out of the evil. He had taught them
to pray daily, Deliver us from evil, and this would encourage them to
pray. [1.] "Keep them from the evil one, the devil and all his
instruments; that wicked one and all his children. Keep them from Satan as a
tempter, that either he may not have leave to sift them, or that their faith
may not fail. Keep them from him as a destroyer, that he may not drive them
to despair." [2.] "Keep them from the evil thing, that is sin;
from every thing that looks like it, or leads to it. Keep them, that they do
no evil," 2 Cor. xiii. 7. Sin is that evil which, above any other, we
should dread and deprecate. [3.] "Keep them from the evil of the world,
and of their tribulation in it, so that it may have no sting in it, no
malignity;" not that they might be kept from affliction, but kept
through it, that the property of their afflictions might be so altered as
that there might be no evil in them, nothing to them any harm.
II. The reasons with which he enforces these requests for their
preservation, which are five:--
1. He pleads that hitherto he had kept them (v. 12): "While I
was with them in the world, I have kept them in thy name, in the true
faith of the gospel and the service of God; those that thou gavest me for my
constant attendants I have kept, they are all safe, and none of them
missing, none of them revolted nor ruined, but the son of perdition;
he is lost, that the scripture might be fulfilled." Observe,
(1.) Christ's faithful discharge of his undertaking concerning his
disciples: While he was with them, he kept them, and his care
concerning them was not in vain. He kept them in God's name, preserved them
from falling into any dangerous errors or sins, from striking in with the
Pharisees, who would have compassed sea and land to make proselytes
of them; he kept them from deserting him, and returning to the little all
they had left for him; he had them still under his eye and care when he sent
them to peach; went not his heart with them? Many that followed him
awhile took offence at something or other, and went off; but he kept the
twelve that they should not go away. He kept them from falling into the
hands of persecuting enemies that sought their lives; kept them when he
surrendered himself, ch. xviii. 9. While he was with them he
kept them in a visible manner by instructions till sounding in their ears,
miracles still done before their eyes; when he was gone from them, they must
be kept in a more spiritual manner. Sensible comforts and supports are
sometimes given and sometimes withheld; but, when they are withdrawn, yet
they are not left comfortless. What Christ here says of his immediate
followers is true of all the saints while they are here in this world;
Christ keeps them in God's name. It is implied, [1.] That they are
weak, and cannot keep themselves; their own hands are not sufficient for
them. [2.] That they are, in God's account, valuable and worth the keeping;
precious in his sight and honourable; his treasure, his jewels. [3.] That
their salvation is designed, for to this it is that they are kept, 1 Pet. i.
5. As the wicked are reserved for the day of evil, so the righteous are
preserved for the day of bliss. [4.] That they are the charge of the Lord
Jesus; for as his charge he keeps them, and exposed himself like the good
shepherd for the preservation of the sheep.
(2.) The comfortable account he gives of his undertaking: None of them is
lost. Note, Jesus Christ will certainly keep all that were given to him,
so that none of them shall be totally and finally lost; they may think
themselves lost, and may be nearly lost (in imminent peril); but it is the
Father's will that he should lose none, and none he will lose (ch.
vi. 39); so it will appear when they come all together, and none of them
shall be wanting.
(3.) A brand put upon Judas, as none of those whom he had undertaken to
keep. He was among those that were given to Christ, but not of them. He
speaks of Judas as already lost, for he had abandoned the society of his
Master and his fellow-disciples, and abandoned himself to the devil's
guidance, and in a little time would go to his own place; he is as
good as lost. But the apostasy and ruin of Judas were no reproach at all to
his Master, or his family; for, [1.] He was the son of perdition, and
therefore not one of those that were given to Christ to be kept. He deserved
perdition, and God left him to throw himself headlong into it. He was the son
of the destroyer, as Cain, who was of that wicked one. That great
enemy whom the Lord will consume is called a son of perdition,
because he is a man of sin, 2 Thess. ii. 3. It is an awful
consideration that one of the apostles proved a son of perdition. No man's
place or name in the church, no man's privileges or opportunities of getting
grace, no man's profession or external performances, will secure him from
ruin, if his heart be not right with God; nor are any more likely to prove
sons of perdition at last, after a plausible course of profession, than
those that like Judas love the bag; but Christ's distinguishing Judas from
those that were given him (for ei mh
is adversative, not exceptive) intimates that the truth and true religion
ought not to suffer for the treachery of those that are false to it, 1 John
ii. 19. [2.] The scripture was fulfilled; the sin of Judas was foreseen of
God's counsel and foretold in his word, and the event would certainly follow
after the prediction as a consequent, though it cannot be said necessarily
to follow from it as an effect. See Ps. xli. 9; lxix. 25; cix. 8. We should
be amazed at the treachery of apostates, were we not told of it before.
2. He pleads that he was now under a necessity of leaving them, and could no
longer watch over them in the way that he had hitherto done (v. 11):
"Keep them now, that I may not lose the labour I bestowed upon them
while I was with them. Keep them, that they may be one with us as
we are with each other." We shall have occasion to speak of this, v.
21. But see here,
(1.) With what pleasure he speaks of his own departure. He expresses himself
concerning it with an air of triumph and exultation, with reference both to
the world he left and the world he removed to. [1.] "Now I am no
more in the world. Now farewell to this provoking troublesome world. I
have had enough of it, and now the welcome hour is at hand when I shall be no
more in it. Now that I have finished the work I had to do in it, I have
done with it; nothing remains now but to hasten out of it as fast as I
can." Note, It should be a pleasure to those that have their home in
the other world to think of being no more in this world; for when we
have done what we have to do in this world, and are made meet for that, what
is there here that should court our stay? When we receive a sentence of
death within ourselves, with what a holy triumph should we say, "Now
I am no more in this world, this dark deceitful world, this poor empty
world, this tempting defiling world; no more vexed with its thorns and
briars, no more endangered by its nets and snares; now I shall wander no
more in this howling wilderness, be tossed no more on this stormy sea; now
I am no more in this world, but can cheerfully quit it, and give it a
final farewell." [2.] Now I come to thee. To get clear of the
world is but the one half of the comfort of a dying Christ, of a dying
Christian; the far better half is to think of going to the Father, to sit
down in the immediate, uninterrupted, and everlasting enjoyment of him.
Note, Those who love God cannot but be pleased to think of coming to him,
though it be through the valley of the shadow of death. When we go, to be absent
from the body, it is to be present with the Lord, like children
fetched home from school to their father's house. "Now come I to thee
whom I have chosen and served, and whom my soul thirsteth after; to thee the
fountain of light and life, the crown and centre of bliss and joy; now my
longings shall be satisfied, my hopes accomplished, my happiness completed,
for now come I to thee."
(2.) With what a tender concern he speaks of those whom he left behind:
"But these are in the world. I have found what an evil world it
is, what will become of these dear little ones that must stay in it? Holy
Father, keep them; they will want my presence, let them have thine. They
have now more need than ever to be kept, for I am sending them out further
into the world than they have yet ventured; they must launch forth into
the deep, and have business to do in these great waters, and will be
lost if thou do not keep them." Observe here, [1.] That, when our Lord
Jesus was going to the Father, he carried with him a tender concern for his
own that are in the world; and continued to compassionate them. He bears
their names upon his breast-plate, nay, upon his heart, and has graven
them with the nails of his cross upon the palms of his hands; and
when he is out of their sight they are not out of his, much less out of his
mind. We should have such a pity for those that are launching out into the
world when we are got almost through it, and for those that are left behind
in it when we are leaving it. [2.] That, when Christ would express the
utmost need his disciples had of divine preservation, he only says, They
are in the world; this bespeaks danger enough to those who are bound for
heaven, whom a flattering world would divert and seduce, and a malignant
world would hate and persecute.
3. He pleads what a satisfaction it would be to them to know themselves
safe, and what a satisfaction it would be to him to see them easy: I
speak this, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves, v.
13. Observe,
(1.) Christ earnestly desired the fulness of the joy of his disciples, for
it is his will that they should rejoice evermore. He was leaving them in
tears and troubles, and yet took effectual care to fulfil their joy.
When they thought their joy in him was brought to an end, then was it
advanced nearer to perfection than ever it had been, and they were fuller of
it. We are here taught, [1.] To found our joy in Christ: "It is my
joy, joy of my giving, or rather joy that I am the matter of."
Christ is a Christian's joy, his chief joy. Joy in the world is withering
with it; joy in Christ is everlasting, like him. [2.] To build up our joy
with diligence; for it is the duty as well as privilege of all true
believers; no part of the Christian life is pressed upon us more earnestly,
Phil. iii. 1; iv. 4. [3.] To aim at the perfection of this joy, that we may
have it fulfilled in us, for this Christ would have.
(2.) In order hereunto, he did thus solemnly commit them to his Father's
care and keeping and took them for witnesses that he did so: These things
I speak in the world, while I am yet with them in the world. His
intercession in heaven for their preservation would have been as effectual
in itself; but saying this in the world would be a greater satisfaction and
encouragement to them, and would enable them to rejoice in tribulation.
Note, [1.] Christ has not only treasured up comforts for his people, in
providing for their future welfare, but has given out comforts to them, and
said that which will be for their present satisfaction. He here condescended
in the presence of his disciples to publish his last will and testament, and
(which many a testator is shy of) lets them know what legacies he had left
them, and how well they were secured, that they might have strong
consolation. [2.] Christ's intercession for us is enough to fulfil or joy in
him; nothing more effectual to silence all our fears and mistrusts, and to
furnish us with strong consolation, than this, that he always appears in the
presence of God for us; therefore the apostle puts a yea rather upon
this, Rom. viii. 34. And see Heb. vii. 25.
4. He pleads the ill usage they were likely to meet with in the world, for
his sake (v. 14): "I have given them thy word to be
published to the world, and they have received it, have believed it
themselves, and accepted the trust of transmitting it to the world; and
therefore the world hath hated them, as also because they are not
of the world, any more than I." Here we have,
(1.) The world's enmity to Christ's followers. While Christ was with them,
though as yet they had given but little opposition to the world, yet it
hates them, much more would it do so when by their more extensive preaching
of the gospel they would turn the world upside down. "Father,
stand their friend," says Christ, "for they are likely to have
many enemies; let them have thy love, for the world's hatred is entailed
upon them. In the midst of those fiery darts, let them be compassed with
thy favour as with a shield." It is God's honour to take part with
the weaker side, and to help the helpless. Lord, be merciful to them, for
men would swallow them up.
(2.) The reasons of this enmity, which strengthen the plea. [1.] It is
implied that one reason is because they had received the word of God as it
was sent them by the hand of Christ, when the greatest part of the world
rejected it, and set themselves against those who were the preachers and
professors of it. Note, Those that receive Christ's good will and good word
must expect the world's ill will and ill word. Gospel ministers have been in
a particular manner hated by the world, because they call men out of the
world, and separate them from it, and teach them not to conform to it, and
so condemn the world. "Father, keep them for it is for thy sake
that they are exposed; they are sufferers for thee." Thus the psalmist
pleads, For thy sake I have borne reproach, Ps. lxix. 7. Note, Those
that keep the word of Christ's patience are entitled to special protection
in the hour of temptation, Rev. iii. 10. That cause which makes a martyr may
well make a joyful sufferer. [2.] Another reason is more express; the world
hates them, because they are not of the world. Those to whom the word
of Christ comes in power are not of the world, for it has this effect upon
all that receive it in the love of it that it weans them from the wealth of
the world, and turns them against the wickedness of the world, and therefore
the world bears them a grudge.
5. He pleads their conformity to himself in a holy non-conformity to the
world (v. 16): "Father, keep them, for they are of my spirit and
mind, they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."
Those may in faith commit themselves to God's custody, (1.) Who are as
Christ was in this world, and tread in his steps. God will love those
that are like Christ. (2.) Who do not engage themselves in the world's
interest, nor devote themselves to its service. Observe, [1.] That Jesus
Christ was not of this world; he never had been of it, and least of all now
that he was upon the point of leaving it. This intimates, First, His
state; he was none of the world's favourites nor darlings, none of its
princes nor grandees; worldly possessions he had none, not even where to
lay his head; nor worldly power, he was no judge nor divider. Secondly,
His Spirit; he was perfectly dead to the world, the prince of this world had
nothing in him, the things of this world were nothing to him; not honour,
for he made himself of no reputation; not riches, for for our
sakes he became poor; not pleasures, for he acquainted himself with
grief. See ch. viii. 23. [2.] That therefore true Christians are
not of this world. The Spirit of Christ in them is opposite to the spirit of
the world. First, It is their lot to be despised by the world; they
are not in favour with the world any more than their Master before them was.
Secondly, It is their privilege to be delivered from the world; as
Abraham out of the land of his nativity. Thirdly, It is their duty
and character to be dead to the world. Their most pleasing converse is, and
should be, with another world, and their prevailing concern about the
business of that world, not of this. Christ's disciples were weak, and had
many infirmities; yet this he could say for them, They were not of the
world, not of the earth, and therefore he recommends them to the care of
Heaven.
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Christ's
Intercessory Prayer.
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17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word
is truth. 18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I
also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify
myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
The next thing he prayed for for them was that they might be sanctified; not
only kept from evil, but made good.
I. Here is the petition (v. 17): Sanctify them through thy truth,
through thy word, for thy word is truth; it is true--it is truth
itself. He desires they may be sanctified,
1. As Christians. Father, make them holy, and this will be their
preservation, 1 Thess. v. 23. Observe here,
(1.) The grace desired--sanctification. The disciples were sanctified, for
they were not of the world; yet he prays, Father sanctify them, that
is, [1.] "Confirm the work of sanctification in them, strengthen their
faith, inflame their good affections, rivet their good resolutions."
[2.] "Carry on that good work in them, and continue it; let the light
shine more and more." [3.] "Complete it, crown it with the
perfection of holiness; sanctify them throughout and to the end." Note,
First, It is the prayer of Christ for all that are his that they may
be sanctified; because he cannot for shame own them as his, either here or
hereafter, either employ them in his work or present them to his Father, if
they be not sanctified. Secondly, Those that through grace are
sanctified have need to be sanctified more and more. Even disciples must
pray for sanctifying grace; for, if he that was the author of the good work
be not the finisher of it, we are undone. Not to go forward is to go
backward; he that is holy must be holy still, more holy still,
pressing forward, soaring upward, as those that have not attained. Thirdly,
It is God that sanctifies as well as God that justified, 2 Cor. v. 5. Fourthly,
It is an encouragement to us, in our prayers for sanctifying grace, that it
is what Christ intercedes for for us.
(2.) The means of conferring this grace--through thy truth, thy word is
truth. Not that the Holy One of Israel is hereby limited to means, but
in the counsel of peace among other things it was settled and agreed,
[1.] That all needful truth should be comprised and summed up in the word of
God. Divine revelation, as it now stands in the written word, is not only
pure truth without mixture, but entire truth without deficiency. [2.] That
this word of truth should be the outward and ordinary means of our
sanctification; not of itself, for then it would always sanctify, but as the
instrument which the Spirit commonly uses in beginning and carrying on that
good work; it is the seed of the new birth (1 Pet. i. 23), and the food of
the new life, 1 Pet. ii. 1-2.
2. As ministers. "Sanctify them, set them apart for thyself and
service; let their call to the apostleship be ratified in heaven."
Prophets were said to be sanctified, Jer. i. 5. Priests and Levites were so.
Sanctify them; that is, (1.) "Qualify them for the office, with
Christian graces and ministerial gifts, to make them able ministers of the
New Testament." (2.) "Separate them to the office, Rom. i. 1. I
have called them, they have consented; Father, say Amen to it."
(3.) "Own them in the office; let thy hand go along with them; sanctify
them by or in thy truth, as truth is opposed to figure and shadow; sanctify
them really, not ritually and ceremonially, as the Levitical priests were,
by anointing and sacrifice. Sanctify them to thy truth, the word of thy
truth, to be the preachers of thy truth to the world; as the priests were
sanctified to serve at the altar, so let them be to preach the gospel."
1 Cor. ix. 13, 14. Note, [1.] Jesus Christ intercedes for his ministers with
a particular concern, and recommends to his Father's grace those stars he
carries in his right hand. [2.] The great thing to be asked of God for
gospel ministers is that they may be sanctified, effectually separated from
the world, entirely devoted to God, and experimentally acquainted with the
influence of that word upon their own hearts which they preach to others.
Let them have the Urim and Thummim, light and integrity.
II. We have here two pleas or arguments to enforce the petition for the
disciples' sanctification:--
1. The mission they had from him (v. 18): "As thou hast sent
me into the world, to be thine ambassador to the children of men, so now
that I am recalled have I sent them into the world, as my
delegates." Now here,
(1.) Christ speaks with great assurance of his own mission: Thou hast
sent me into the world. The great author of the Christian religion had
his commission and instructions from him who is the origin and object of all
religion. He was sent of God to say what he said, and do what he did, and be
what he is to those that believe on him; which was his comfort in his
undertaking, and may be ours abundantly in our dependence upon him; his
record was on high, for thence his mission was.
(2.) He speaks with great satisfaction of the commission he had given his
disciples "So have I sent them on the same errand, and to carry
on the same design;" to preach the same doctrine that he preached, and
to confirm it with the same proofs, with a charge likewise to commit to
other faithful men that which was committed to them. He gave them their
commission (ch. xx. 21) with a reference to his own, and it magnifies
their office that it comes from Christ, and that there is some affinity
between the commission given to the ministers of reconciliation and that
given to the Mediator; he is called an apostle (Heb. iii. 1), a minister
(Rom. xv. 8), a messenger, Mal. iii. 1. Only they are sent as
servants, he as a Son. Now this comes in here as a reason, [1.] Why Christ
was concerned so much for them, and laid their case so near his heart;
because he had himself put them into a difficult office, which required
great abilities for the due discharge of it. Note, Whom Christ sends he will
stand by, and interest himself in those that are employed for him; what he
calls us out to he will fit us out for, and bear us up in. [2.] Why he
committed them to his Father; because he was concerned in their cause, their
mission being in prosecution of his, and as it were an assignment out of it.
Christ received gifts for men (Ps. lxviii. 18), and then gave them to
men (Eph. iv. 8), and therefore prays aid of his Father to warrant
and uphold those gifts, and confirm his grant of them. The Father sanctified
him when he sent him into the world, ch. x. 36. Now, they
being sent as he was, let them also be sanctified.
2. The merit he had for them is another thing here pleaded (v. 19): For
their sakes I sanctify myself. Here is, (1.) Christ's designation of
himself to the work and office of Mediator: I sanctified myself. He
entirely devoted himself to the undertaking, and all the parts of it,
especially that which he was now going about--the offering up of himself
without spot unto God, by the eternal Spirit. He, as the priest and
altar, sanctified himself as the sacrifice. When he said, Father, glorify
thy name--Father, thy will be done--Father, I commit my spirit
into thy hands, he paid down the satisfaction he had engaged to make,
and so sanctified himself. This he pleads with his Father, for his
intercession is made in the virtue of his satisfaction; by his own blood
he entered into the holy place (Heb. ix. 12), as the high priest, on the
day of atonement, sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice at the same time that
he burnt incense within the veil, Lev. xvi. 12, 14. (2.) Christ's design of
kindness to his disciples herein; it is for their sakes, that they
may be sanctified, that is, that they may be martyrs; so some. "I
sacrifice myself, that they may be sacrificed to the glory of God and the
church's good." Paul speaks of his being offered, Phil. ii. 17; 2 Tim.
iv. 6. Whatever there is in the death of the saints that is precious
in the sight of the Lord, it is owing to the death of the Lord Jesus.
But I rather take it more generally, that they may be saints and ministers,
duly qualified and accepted of God. [1.] The office of the ministry is the
purchase of Christ's blood, and one of the blessed fruits of his
satisfaction, and owes its virtue and value to Christ's merit. The priests
under the law were consecrated with the blood of bulls and goats, but gospel
ministers with the blood of Jesus. [2.] The real holiness of all good
Christians is the fruit of Christ's death, by which the gift of the Holy
Ghost was purchased; he gave himself for his church, to sanctify
it, Eph. v. 25, 26. And he that designed the end designed also the
means, that they might be sanctified by the truth, the truth which
Christ came into the world to bear witness to and died to confirm. The word
of truth receives its sanctifying virtue and power from the death of Christ.
Some read it, that they may be sanctified in truth, that is, truly;
for as God must be served, so, in order to this, we must be sanctified, in
the spirit, and in truth. And this Christ has prayed for, for all that
are his; for this is his will, even their sanctification, which
encourages them to pray for it,
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Christ's
Intercessory Prayer.
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20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for
them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That
they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent
me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them;
that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know
that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Next to their purity he prays for their unity; for the wisdom from above is first
pure, then peaceable; and amity is amiable indeed when it is like the
ointment on Aaron's holy head, and the dew on Zion's holy hill. Observe,
I. Who are included in this prayer (v. 20): "Not these only,
not these only that are now my disciples" (the eleven, the seventy,
with others, men and women that followed him when he was here on earth),
"but for those also who shall believe on me through their word,
either preached by them in their own day or written by them for the
generations to come; I pray for them all, that they all may be one in
their interest in this prayer, and may all receive benefit by it."
Note, here, 1. Those, and those only, are interested in the mediation of
Christ, that do, or shall, believe in him. This is that by which they are
described, and it comprehends all the character and duty of a Christian.
They that lived then, saw and believed, but they in after ages have
not seen, and yet have believed. 2. It is through the word
that souls are brought to believe on Christ, and it is for this end that
Christ appointed the scriptures to be written, and a standing ministry to
continue in the church, while the church stands, that is, while the world
stands, for the raising up of a seed. 3. It is certainly and infallibly
known to Christ who shall believe on him. He does not here pray at a
venture, upon a contingency depending on the treacherous will of man, which
pretends to be free, but by reason of sin is in bondage with its
children; no, Christ knew very well whom he prayed for, the matter was
reduced to a certainty by the divine prescience and purpose; he knew who
were given him, who being ordained to eternal life, were entered in the
Lamb's book, and should undoubtedly believe, Acts xiii. 48. 4. Jesus
Christ intercedes not only for great and eminent believers, but for the
meanest and weakest; not for those only that are to be employed in the
highest post of trust and honour in his kingdom, but for all, even those
that in the eye of the world are inconsiderable. As the divine providence
extends itself to the meanest creature, so does the divine grace to the
meanest Christian. The good Shepherd has an eye even to the poor of the
flock. 5. Jesus Christ in his mediation had an actual regard to those of
the chosen remnant that were yet unborn, the people that should be
created (Ps. xxii. 31), the other sheep which he must yet
bring. Before they are formed in the womb he knows them (Jer. i.
5), and prayers are filed in heaven for them beforehand, by him who declareth
the end from the beginning, and calleth things that are not as though they
were.
II. What is intended in this prayer (v. 21): That they all may be
one. The same was said before (v. 11), that they may be one as
we are, and again, v. 22. The heart of Christ was much upon this.
Some think that the oneness prayed for in v. 11 has special reference
to the disciples as ministers and apostles, that they might be one in their
testimony to Christ; and that the harmony of the evangelists, and
concurrence of the first preachers of the gospel, are owing to this prayer.
Let them be not only of one heart, but of one mouth, speaking
the same thing. The unity of the gospel ministers is both the beauty and
strength of the gospel interest. But it is certain that the oneness prayed
for in v. 21 respects all believers. It is the prayer of Christ for
all that are his, and we may be sure it is an answered prayer--that they
all may be one, one in us (v. 21), one as e are one (v.
22), made perfect in one, v. 23. It includes three things:--
1. That they might all be incorporated in one body. "Father,
look upon them all as one, and ratify that great charter by which they are
embodied as one church. Though they live in distant places, from one end of
heaven to the other, and in several ages, from the beginning to the close of
time, and so cannot have any personal acquaintance or correspondence with
each other, yet let them be united in me their common head." As Christ
died, so he prayed, to gather them all in one, ch. xi. 52;
Eph. i. 10.
2. That they might all be animated by one Spirit. This is plainly implied in
this--that they may be one in us. Union with the Father and Son is
obtained and kept up only by the Holy Ghost. He that is joined to the
Lord in one spirit, 1 Cor. vi. 17. Let them all be stamped with the same
image and superscription, and influenced by the same power.
3. That they might all be knit together in the bond of love and
charity, all of one heart. That they all may be one, (1.) In judgment
and sentiment; not in every little thing--this is neither possible nor
needful, but in the great things of God, and in them, by the virtue of this
prayer, they are all agreed--that God's favour is better than life--that sin
is the worst of evils, Christ the best of friends--that there is another
life after this, and the like. (2.) In disposition and inclination. All that
are sanctified have the same divine nature and image; they have all a new
heart, and it is one heart. (3.) They are all one in their designs
and aims. Every true Christian, as far as he is so, eyes the glory of
God as his highest end, and the glory of heaven as his chief good. (4.) They
are all one in their desires and prayers; though they differ in words and
the manner of expressions, yet, having received the same spirit of
adoption, and observing the same rule, they pray for the same things in
effect. (5.) All one in love and affection. Every true Christian has that in
him which inclines him to love all true Christians as such. That which
Christ here prays for is that communion of saints which we profess to
believe; the fellowship which all believers have with God, and their
intimate union with all the saints in heaven and earth, 1 John i. 3. But
this prayer of Christ will not have its complete answer till all the saints
come to heaven, for then, and not till then, they shall be perfect in
one, v. 23; Eph. iv. 13.
III. What is intimated by way of plea or argument to enforce this petition;
three things:--
1. The oneness that is between the Father and the Son, which is mentioned
again and again, v. 11, 21-23. (1.) It is taken for granted that the
Father and Son are one, one in nature and essence, equal in power and glory,
one in mutual endearments. The Father loveth the Son, and the Son
always pleased the Father. They are one in design, and one in operation. The
intimacy of this oneness is expressed in these words, thou in me, and I
in thee. This he often mentions for his support under his present
sufferings, when his enemies were ready to fall upon him, and his friends to
fall off from him; yet he was in the Father, and the Father in him. (2.)
This is insisted on in Christ's prayer for his disciples' oneness, [1.] As
the pattern of that oneness, showing how he desired they might be one.
Believers are one in some measure as God and Christ are one; for, First,
The union of believers is a strict and close union; they are united by a
divine nature, by the power of divine grace, in pursuance of the divine
counsels. Secondly, It is a holy union, in the Holy Spirit, for holy
ends; not a body politic for any secular purpose. Thirdly, It is, and
will be at last, a complete union. Father and Son have the same attributes,
properties, and perfections; so have believers now, as far as they are
sanctified, and when grace shall be perfected in glory they will be exactly
consonant to each other, all changed into the same image. [2.] As the centre
of that oneness; that they may be one in us, all meeting here. There
is one God and one Mediator; and herein believers are one,
that they all agree to depend upon the favour of this one God as their
felicity and the merit of this one Mediator as their righteousness. That is
a conspiracy, not a union, which doth not centre in God as the end, and
Christ as the way. All who are truly united to God and Christ, who are
one, will soon be united one to another. [3.] As a plea for that
oneness. The Creator and Redeemer are one in interest and design; but to
what purpose are they so, if all believers be not one body with Christ, and
do not jointly receive grace for grace from him, as he has received it for
them? Christ's design was to reduce revolted mankind to God:
"Father," says he, "let all that believe be one, that in
one body they may be reconciled" (Eph. ii. 15, 16), which speaks of
the uniting of Jews and Gentiles in the church; that great mystery, that the
Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body (Eph. iii. 6),
to which I think this prayer of Christ principally refers, it being one
great thing he aimed at in his dying; and I wonder none of the expositors I
have met with should so apply it. "Father, let the Gentiles that
believe be incorporated with the believing Jews, and make of twain one
new man." Those words, I in them, and thou in me, show what
that union is which is so necessary, not only to the beauty, but to the very
being, of his church. First, Union with Christ: I in them.
Christ dwelling in the hearts of believers is the life and soul of the new
man. Secondly, Union with God through him: Thou in me, so as
by me to be in them. Thirdly, Union with each other, resulting from
these: that they hereby may be made perfect in one. We are
complete in him.
2. The design of Christ in all his communications of light and grace to them
(v. 22): "The glory which thou gavest me, as the trustee
or channel of conveyance, I have accordingly given them, to
this intent, that they may be one, as we are one; so that those gifts
will be in vain, if they be not one." Now these gifts are either, (1.)
Those that were conferred upon the apostles, and first planters of the
church. The glory of being God's ambassadors to the world--the glory of
working miracles--the glory of gathering a church out of the world, and
erecting the throne of God's kingdom among men--this glory was given to
Christ, and some of the honour he put upon them when he sent them to disciple
all nations. Or, (2.) Those that are given in common to all believers.
The glory of being in covenant with the Father, and accepted of him, of
being laid in his bosom, and designed for a place at his right hand, was the
glory which the Father gave to the Redeemer, and he has confirmed it to the
redeemed. [1.] This honour he says he hath given them, because he
hath intended it for them, settled it upon them, and secured it to them upon
their believing Christ's promises to be real gifts. [2.] This was given to
him to give to them; it was conveyed to him in trust for them, and he was
faithful to him that appointed him. [3.] He gave it to them, that they might
be one. First, to entitle them to the privilege of unity, that by
virtue of their common relation to one God the Father, and one
Lord Jesus Christ, they might be truly denominated one. The gift of the
Spirit, that great glory which the Father gave to the Son, by him to be
given to all believers, makes them one, for he works all in all, 1
Cor. xii. 4, &c. Secondly, To engage them to the duty of unity.
That in consideration of their agreement and communion in one creed and one
covenant, one Spirit and one Bible--in consideration of what they have in
one God and one Christ, and of what they hope for in one heaven, they may be
of one mind and one mouth. Worldly glory sets men at variance; for if some
be advanced others are eclipsed, and therefore, while the disciples dreamed
of a temporal kingdom, they were ever and anon quarrelling; but spiritual
honours being conferred alike upon all Christ's subjects, they being all made
to our God kings and priests, there is no occasion for contest nor
emulation. The more Christians are taken up with the glory Christ has given
them, the less desirous they will be of vain-glory, and, consequently, the
less disposed to quarrel.
3. He pleads the happy influence their oneness would have upon others, and
the furtherance it would give to the public good. This is twice urged (v.
21): That the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And again (v.
23): That the world may know it, for without knowledge there can be
no true faith. Believers must know what they believe, and why and wherefore
they believe it. Those who believe at a venture, venture too far. Now
Christ here shows,
(1.) His good-will to the world of mankind in general. Herein he is of his
Father's mind, as we are sure he is in every thing, that he would have all
men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, 1 Tim.
ii. 4; 2 Pet. iii. 9. Therefore it is his will that all means possible
should be used, and no stone left unturned, for the conviction and
conversion of the world. We know not who are chosen, but we must in our
places do our utmost to further men's salvation, and take heed of doing any
thing to hinder it.
(2.) The good fruit of the church's oneness; it will be an evidence of the
truth of Christianity, and a means of bringing many to embrace it.
[1.] In general, it will recommend Christianity to the world, and to the
good opinion of those that are without. First, The embodying of
Christians in one society by the gospel charter will greatly promote
Christianity. When the world shall see so many of those that were its
children called out of its family, distinguished from others, and changed
from what they themselves sometimes were,--when they shall see this society
raised by the foolishness of preaching, and kept up by miracles of divine
providence and grace, and how admirably well it is modelled and constituted,
they will be ready to say, We will go with you, for we see that God is
with you. Secondly, The uniting of Christians in love and charity is the
beauty of their profession, and invites others to join with them, as the
love that was among those primo-primitive Christians, Acts ii. 42, 43; iv.
32, 33. When Christianity, instead of causing quarrels about itself, makes
all other strifes to cease,--when it cools the fiery, smooths the rugged,
and disposes men to be kind and loving, courteous and beneficent, to all
men, studious to preserve and promote peace in all relations and societies,
this will recommend it to all that have any thing either of natural religion
or natural affection in them.
[2.] In particular, it will beget in men good thoughts, First, Of
Christ: They will know and believe that thou hast sent me, By this it
will appear that Christ was sent of God, and that his doctrine was divine,
in that his religion prevails to join so many of different capacities,
tempers, and interests in other things, in one body by faith, with one heart
by love. Certainly he was sent by the God of power, who fashions men's
hearts alike, and the God of love and peace; when the worshippers of God are
one, he is one, and his name one. Secondly, Of Christians: They will know
that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Here is, 1. The
privilege of believers: the Father himself loveth them with a love
resembling his love to his Son, for they are loved in him with an
everlasting love. 2. The evidence of their interest in this privilege, and
that is their being one. By this it will appear that God loves us, if we love
one another with a pure heart; for wherever the love of God is shed
abroad in the heart it will change it into the same image. See how much
good it would do to the world to know better how dear to God all good
Christians are. The Jews had a saying, If the world did but know the
worth of good men, they would hedge them about with pearls. Those that
have so much of God's love should have more of ours.
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Christ's
Intercessory Prayer.
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24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou
hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which
thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the
world. 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but
I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that
the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Here is, I. A petition for the glorifying of all those that were given to
Christ (v. 24), not only these apostles, but all believers: Father,
I will that they may be with me. Observe,
1. The connection of this request with those foregoing. He had prayed that
God would preserve, sanctify, and unite them; and now he prays that he would
crown all his gifts with their glorification. In this method we must pray,
first for grace, and then for glory (Ps. lxxxiv. 11); for in this method God
gives. Far be it from the only wise God to come under the imputation either
of that foolish builder who without a foundation built upon the sand,
as he would if he should glorify any whom he has not first sanctified; or of
that foolish builder who began to build and was not able to finish,
as he would if he should sanctify any, and not glorify them.
2. The manner of the request: Father, I will. Here, as before, he
addresses himself to God as a Father, and therein we must do likewise; but
when he says, qelw--I
will, he speaks a language peculiar to himself, and such as does not
become ordinary petitioners, but very well became him who paid for what he
prayed for. (1.) This intimates the authority of his intercession in
general; his word was with power in heaven, as well as on earth. He entering
with his own blood into the holy place, his intercession there has an
uncontrollable efficacy. He intercedes as a king, for he is a priest upon
his throne (like Melchizedek), a king-priest. (2.) It intimates his
particular authority in this matter; he had a power to give eternal life
(v. 2), and, pursuant to that power, he says, Father, I will.
Though now he took upon him the form of a servant, yet that power
being to be most illustriously exerted when he shall come the second time in
the glory of a judge, to say, Come ye blessed, having that in his
eye, he might well say, Father, I will.
3. The request itself--that all the elect might come to be with him in
heaven at last, to see his glory, and to share in it. Now observe here,
(1.) Under what notion we are to hope for heaven? wherein does that
happiness consist? three things make heaven:-- [1.] It is to be where Christ
is: Where I am; in the paradise whither Christ's soul went at death;
in the third heavens whither his soul and body went at his ascension:--Where
I am, am to be shortly, am to be eternally. In this world we are but in
transitu--on our passage; there we truly are where we are to be for
ever; so Christ reckoned, and so must we. [2.] It is to be with him where he
is; this is not tautology, but intimates that we shall not only be in the
same happy place where Christ is, but that the happiness of the place will
consist in his presence; this is the fulness of its joy. The very
heaven of heaven is to be with Christ, there in company with him, and
communion with him, Phil. i. 23. [3.] It is to behold his glory, which
the Father has given him. Observe, First, The glory of the
Redeemer is the brightness of heaven. That glory before which angels cover
their faces was his glory, ch. xii. 41. The Lamb is the light of the
new Jerusalem, Rev. xxi. 23. Christ will come in the glory of his Father,
for he is the brightness of his glory. God shows his glory there, as
he does his grace here, through Christ. "The Father has given me
this glory," though he was as yet in his low estate; but it was
very true, and very near. Secondly, The felicity of the redeemed
consists very much in the beholding of this glory; they will have the
immediate view of his glorious person. I shall see God in my flesh,
Job xix. 26, 27. They will have a clear insight into his glorious
undertaking, as it will be then accomplished; they will see into those
springs of love from which flow all the streams of grace; they shall have an
appropriating sight of Christ's glory (Uxor fulget radiis mariti--The
wife shines with the radiance of her husband), and an assimilating
sight: they shall be changed into the same image, from glory to glory.
(2.) Upon what ground we are to hope for heaven; no other than purely the
mediation and intercession of Christ, because he hath said, Father, I
will. Our sanctification is our evidence, for he that has this hope
in him purifies himself; but it is the will of Christ that is our title,
by which will we are sanctified, Heb. x. 10. Christ speaks here as if
he did not count his own happiness complete unless he had his elect to share
with him in it, for it is the bringing of many sons to glory that makes
the captain of our salvation perfect, Heb. ii. 10.
4. The argument to back this request: for thou lovedst me before the
foundation of the world. This is a reason, (1.) Why he expected this
glory himself. Thou wilt give it to me, for thou lovedst me. The
honour and power given to the Son as Mediator were founded in the Father's
love to him (ch. v. 20): the Father loves the Son, is
infinitely well pleased in his undertaking, and therefore has given all
things into his hands; and, the matter being concerted in the divine
counsels from eternity, he is said to love him as Mediator before the
foundation of the world. Or, (2.) Why he expected that those who were
given to him should be with him to share in his glory: "Thou
lovedst me, and them in me, and canst deny me nothing I ask for
them."
II. The conclusion of the prayer, which is designed to enforce all the
petitions for the disciples, especially the last, that they may be
glorified. Two things he insists upon, and pleads:--
1. The respect he had to his Father, v. 25. Observe,
(1.) The title he gives to God: O righteous Father. When he prayed
that they might be sanctified, he called him holy Father; when he
prays that they may be glorified, he calls him righteous Father; for
it is a crown of righteousness which the righteous Judge shall give.
God's righteousness was engaged for the giving out of all that good which
the Father had promised and the Son had purchased.
(2.) The character he gives of the world that lay in wickedness: The
world has not known thee. Note, Ignorance of God overspreads the world
of mankind; this is the darkness they sit in. Now this is urged here, [1.]
To show that these disciples need the aids of special grace, both because of
the necessity of their work--they were to bring a world that knew not God to
the knowledge of him; and also, because of the difficulty of their
work--they must bring light to those that rebelled against the light;
therefore keep them. [2.] To show that they were qualified for further
peculiar favours, for they had that knowledge of God which the world had
not.
(3.) The plea he insists upon for himself: But I have known thee.
Christ knew the Father as no one else ever did; knew upon what grounds he
went in his undertaking, knew his Father's mind in every thing, and
therefore, in this prayer, came to him with confidence, as we do to one we
know. Christ is here suing out blessings for those that were his; pursuing
this petition, when he had said, The world has not known thee, one
would expect it should follow, but they have known thee; no, their
knowledge was not to be boasted of, but I have known thee, which
intimates that there is nothing in us to recommend us to God's favour, but
all our interest in him, and intercourse with him, result from, and depend
upon, Christ's interest and intercourse. We are unworthy, but he is worthy.
(4.) The plea he insists upon for his disciples: And they have known that
thou hast sent me; and, [1.] Hereby they are distinguished from the
unbelieving world. When multitudes to whom Christ was sent, and his grace
offered, would not believe that God had sent him, these knew it, and
believed it, and were not ashamed to own it. Note, To know and believe in
Jesus Christ, in the midst of a world that persists in ignorance and
infidelity, is highly pleasing to God, and shall certainly be crowned with
distinguishing glory. Singular faith qualifies for singular favours. [2.]
Hereby they are interested in the mediation of Christ, and partake of the
benefit of his acquaintance with the Father: "I have known thee,
immediately and perfectly; and these, though they have not so known thee,
nor were capable of knowing thee so, yet have known that thou hast sent
me, have known that which was required of them to know, have known the
Creator in the Redeemer." Knowing Christ as sent of God, they have, in
him, known the Father, and are introduced to an acquaintance with him;
therefore, "Father, look after them for my sake."
2. The respect he had to his disciples (v. 26): "I have led them
into the knowledge of thee, and will do it yet more and more; with this
great and kind intention, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may
be in them, and I in them." Observe here,
(1.) What Christ had done for them: I have declared unto them thy name.
[1.] This he had done for those that were his immediate followers. All
the time that he went in and out among them, he made it his business to
declare his Father's name to them, and to beget in them a veneration for it.
The tendency of all his sermons and miracles was to advance his Father's
honours, and to spread the knowledge of him, ch. i. 18. [2.] This he
had done for all that believe on him; for they had not been brought to
believe if Christ had not made known to them his Father's name. Note, First,
We are indebted to Christ for all the knowledge we have of the Father's
name; he declares it, and he opens the understanding to receive that
revelation. Secondly, Those whom Christ recommends to the favour of
God he first leads into an acquaintance with God.
(2.) What he intended to do yet further for them: I will declare it.
To the disciples he designed to give further instructions after his
resurrection (Acts i. 3), and to bring them into a much more intimate
acquaintance with divine things by the pouring out of the Spirit after his
ascension; and to all believers, into whose hearts he hath shined, he shines
more and more. Where Christ has declared his Father's name, he will
declare it; for to him that hath shall be given; and those that
know God both need and desire to know more of him. This is fitly pleaded for
them: "Father, own and favour them, for they will own and honour
thee."
(3.) What he aimed at in all this; not to fill their heads with curious
speculations, and furnish them with something to talk of among the learned,
but to secure and advance their real happiness in two things:--
[1.] Communion with God: "Therefore I have given them the knowledge of
thy name, of all that whereby thou hast made thyself known, that thy
love, even that wherewith thou hast loved me, may be, not only
towards them, but in them;" that is, First, "Let
them have the fruits of that love for their sanctification; let the
Spirit of love, with which thou hast filled me, be in them."
Christ declares his Father's name to believers, that with that divine light
darted into their minds a divine love may be shed abroad in their hearts, to
be in them a commanding constraining principle of holiness, that they may
partake of a divine nature. When God's love to us comes to be in us, it is
like the virtue which the loadstone gives the needle, inclining it to move
towards the pole; it draws out the soul towards God in pious and devout
affections, which are as the spirits of the divine life in the soul. Secondly,
"Let them have the taste and relish of that love for their consolation;
let them not only be interested in the love of God, by having God's name
declared to them, but, by a further declaration of it, let them have the
comfort of that interest; that they may not only know God, but know that
they know him," 1 John ii. 3. It is the love of God thus shed
abroad in the heart that fills it with joy, Rom. v. 3, 5. This God has
provided for, that we may not only be satisfied with his loving kindness,
but be satisfied of it; and so may live a life of complacency in God and
communion with him; this we must pray for, this we must press after; if we
have it, we must thank Christ for it; if we want it, we may thank ourselves.
[2.] Union with Christ in order hereunto: And I in them. There is no
getting into the love of God but through Christ, nor can we keep ourselves
in that love but by abiding in Christ, that is, having him to abide in us;
nor can we have the sense and apprehension of that love but by our
experience of the indwelling of Christ, that is, the Spirit of Christ in our
hearts. It is Christ in us that is the only hope of glory
that will not make us ashamed, Col. i. 27. All our communion with
God, the reception of his love to us with our return of love to him again,
passes through the hands of the Lord Jesus, and the comfort of it is owing
purely to him. Christ had said but a little before, I in them (v.
23), and here it is repeated (though the sense was complete without it), and
the prayer closed with it, to show how much the heart of Christ was sent
upon it; all his petitions centre in this, and with this the prayers of
Jesus, the Son of David, are ended: "I in them; let me have this,
and I desire no more." It is the glory of the Redeemer to dwell in the
redeemed: it is his rest for ever, and he has desired it. Let us
therefore make sure our union with Christ, and then take the comfort of his
intercession. This prayer had an end, but that he ever lives
to make.
