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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
J O H N.
CHAP. XVII.
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,
II. The prayer itself.
1. He prays for himself,
2. He prays for those that are his. And in this see,
(1.) The general pleas with which he introduces his petitions for them,
(2.) The particular petitions he puts up for them
[1.] That they might be kept,
[2.] That they might be sanctified,
[3.] That they might be united,
[4.] That they might be glorified,
| 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
but, as a son of David, blessed his household
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,
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,
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
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
neighbor 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,
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,”
(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,
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
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.”
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,
(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
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,
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,
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
[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
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,
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 eteleiosa—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
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
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,
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
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,
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.
| Christ’s Intercessory Prayer. |
|
|
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,
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,
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
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,
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
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
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,
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,
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,
“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.
| Christ’s Intercessory Prayer. |
|
|
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
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
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
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,
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,
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,
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 to
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,”
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,
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,
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 me 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,
[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
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,
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,
[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,
And see
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,
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
[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.
| Christ’s Intercessory Prayer. |
|
|
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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.”
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
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
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,
(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,
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,
| Christ’s Intercessory Prayer. |
|
|
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,
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,
The heart of Christ was much upon this. Some think that the oneness
prayed for in
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
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,
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,
(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”
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,
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.
| 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
for in this method God gives. Far be it from the only wise God to come
under the imputation either of that foolish builder who without a
foundation built upon the sand, as he would if he should glorify
any whom he has not first sanctified; or of that foolish builder who
began to build and was not able to finish, as he would if he should
sanctify any, and not glorify them.
2. The manner of the request: Father, I will. Here, as before,
he addresses himself to God as a Father, and therein we must do
likewise; but when he says, thelo—I will, he
speaks a language peculiar to himself, and such as does not become
ordinary petitioners, but very well became him who paid for what he
prayed for.
(1.) This intimates the authority of his intercession in general; his
word was with power in heaven, as well as on earth. He entering with
his own blood into the holy place, his intercession there has an
uncontrollable efficacy. He intercedes as a king, for he is a priest
upon his throne (like Melchizedek), a king-priest.
(2.) It intimates his particular authority in this matter; he had a
power to give eternal life
(v. 2),
and, pursuant to that power, he says, Father, I will. Though now
he took upon him the form of a servant, yet that power being to
be most illustriously exerted when he shall come the second time in the
glory of a judge, to say, Come ye blessed, having that in his
eye, he might well say, Father, I will.
3. The request itself–that all the elect might come to be with him in
heaven at last, to see his glory, and to share in it. Now observe
here,
(1.) Under what notion we are to hope for heaven? wherein does that
happiness consist? three things make heaven:–
[1.] It is to be where Christ is: Where I am; in the paradise
whither Christ’s soul went at death; in the third heavens whither his
soul and body went at his ascension:–Where I am, am to be
shortly, am to be eternally. In this world we are but in
transitu–on our passage; there we truly are where we are to be for
ever; so Christ reckoned, and so must we.
[2.] It is to be with him where he is; this is not tautology, but
intimates that we shall not only be in the same happy place where
Christ is, but that the happiness of the place will consist in his
presence; this is the fulness of its joy. The very heaven of
heaven is to be with Christ, there in company with him, and communion
with him,
[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,
The Lamb is the light of the new Jerusalem,
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,
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,
[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,”
It is the love of God thus shed abroad in the heart that
fills it with joy,
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.
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