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I. THE GIFT WHICH CHRIST BESTOWS ON HIS disciples.

1. What was the glory which Christ received? A glory belonged to the Son of God in His own Divine right (ver. 5). But the glory GIVEN to Him must refer to His mission in becoming incarnate. It was the glory of being —

(1) The Divine Messenger. He was a Teacher sent from God to unfold all the truth which we required to know for our spiritual renewal' and everlasting welfare, so that He proclaimed Himself as the "Light of the World."(2) The Divine Agent. He came to act for God, as well as to declare His truth. How much of true glory was there in such godlike action and enterprise as this!

(3) The Divine Representative. He came to show us the Father, to manifest the Divine name and character (Hebrews 1:3).

2. The glory communicated by Christ. Clearly it has no reference to any perishable wealth or worldly honour; for "the Son of man had not where to lay His head." It is the glory of being —

(1) The messengers of God (John 20:21). Christ came as the Light of the world, so in and through Him they are the light of the world.

(2) The agents of God. As the glory of Christ consisted in doing the Father's will, and in being about His business, so in the same should the glory of all Christians be found.

(3) The representatives of God. In Jesus there shone forth the glory of the only begotten of the Father, and His true disciples receive of His glory, even grace for grace. Men seek glory for themselves in the material resources, social attractions, and artistic splendours of the world. But all such glory can be no lasting portion for the soul. The glory which Christ bestows will be remembered, and made to shine forth at the manifestation of the sons of God at the end of all things.

II. THE DESIGN OF THIS GIFT. "That they may be one," &c. Wherever the glory makes itself appear, you see the truest evidence of Christian discipleship, and the highest proof of Christian unity. This unity is —

1. Glorious in its source: "I in them, and Thou in Me." In this way only are Christians truly and vitally one. In the absence of the living Saviour from individual souls, no forced process of uniformity, no subscription merely of the same creed, can effect their union in one body. Christ is in all His true disciples; in their understandings, as the object of the highest knowledge; in their hearts, as the King of Love; in their consciences, as the Prince of Peace; in their whole inner being, as the Lord of Life, the Captain of Salvation, and the Hope of Glory. Thus He becomes the true principle and bond of all unity.

2. Gradual in its realization: "That they may be perfected into one." Many things hinder the complete enthronement of Christ in the soul, and so many hindrances prevent the perfecting of the Church's oneness. Christians, instead of showing their essential unity, have appeared to be the fiercest and most uncompromising foes. But all hindrances will yet be overcome.

3. This triumph of unity is the very highest design which can be realised in relation to the Church. Sin is the element of discord, and the principle of dissocialism and separation in the world; and God's great purpose for the destruction of this discord, and the restoration of true harmony, is the establishment of a holy brotherhood in Christ, the living Centre and personal Head of men. By Him God is to reconcile all things unto Himself.

III. THE GLORIOUS END TO BE ACCOMPLISHED. "That the world may know that Thou hast sent Me," &c.

1. In ver. 21, Jesus said, "that the world may believe;" here He says that the world may know. Knowledge is belief, or faith in its highest attainment. The growing oneness of the disciples would be to the world an evidence of Christian truth, and the triumph of Christian love, mighty and irresistible. But Christ gives an additional thought — "that Thou hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me." Through-this conviction alone, of God's infinite love, do the children of the world become the children of God. What an exhibition of the exceeding riches of Divine grace in the gift of God's only begotten Son would this oneness supply!

2. This oneness, moreover, would show the exceeding blessedness of consecration to God.

(J. Spence, D. D.)

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KJV: And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

WEB: The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one;