John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me… We mark — I. HIS LAST AND DEEPEST DESIRE CONCERNING US. 1. There is something unspeakably affecting in the designation "those whom Thou hast given Me." Many titles He had already given His people — disciples, friends, brethren, &c.; names advancing in depth of tenderness as the end drew nigh; but here at the last He recalls one that He had used among the first. He does not point to the larger gift of the human race (Psalm 2.); nor does He indicate any fragment predestined to be His; the sentiment is that all whom the Father teaches He draws by His Spirit, that He may consign them to His Son for salvation. The fact that they are the Father's gift makes them unspeakably precious to Jesus, who therefore wishes the eternal society of His own. 2. But it is for our sake that He makes the request. His people are not with Him in the fall meaning of the word. When departing He said He would be with them, not that they should be with Him. Save in a few swift glimpses His Church has never seen Him since, save by the eye of faith. (1) The disembodied are with Him where He is; and that is all we know or need to know about Him. (2) When every one of the Father's gifts has been gathered to Him, the whole great gift shall be restored to perfection: His people in body and soul shall be with Him eternally. 3. Whilst we might be musing as to the glory of the place, our Lord attracts back our thoughts to Himself "that they may behold My glory." This is twofold — (1) The glory of His holiness, by beholding which "we are now changed into the same image."(2) It is however in the great hereafter that the Lord's glory will be seen — the glory which He had with the Father before the world was. "They shall see God" was His promise to the pure; and now He makes that the vision of Himself. For ever He will say, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." "We shall see Him as He is," and share and reflect the glory that we contemplate. II. THE STRENGTH OF THE PECULIAR EXPRESSION, "I WILL" 1. Whence has He that strong confidence on our account, sinners as we are? (1) From the eternal love that existed between the Father and the Son. (2) But the entire tenor of the prayer also implies that the Son makes His demands on the ground of a sealed and ratified covenant. The Son appeals to His righteous Father as Head of the redeeming scheme, speaks as having sanctified Himself, and demands all the blessings for which He shed His blood. Hence the intercession of the Son for His own is almighty. 2. What is the object of His intercession? (1) The prayer demands that the infinite attributes of the all-holy Name should be pledged for His disciples' defence. "Keep through Thine own name."(2) "Sanctify them through Thy truth" stipulates that all needful grace shall be imparted in order to the consecration of His saints for Himself. 3. The prayer is granted. Whatsoever is necessary for our perfect deliverance from sin is here pledged, and hereafter there will be a most glorious answer when the saints, body and soul, are presented faultless by the Son to the Father. III. THIS DEEP DESIRE AND STRONG INTERCESSION IS UTTERED IN OUR HEARING for our instruction and encouragement. 1. We are taught, by the connection of our text with the fact that Christ prays not for the world, how important it is to our peace that we should know that we are given of the Father to the Son. There is a terrible distinction. Our Lord says nothing further about those that are not His. They will not be with Him where He is. With whom then, and where? 2. With what transcendent honour are we here invested. To be the elect of God, the peculiar heritage of Christ — "Where I am there shall My servant be," &c. With what ardour should we be inflamed to make ourselves worthy of this honour. 3. The prayer is our strong assurance while we watch and labour and pray. 4. Oar Lord permitted us to hear this prayer for our strong consolation in surrendering our friends to Him in death. (W. B. Pope, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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