Jesus was wanting believers to see his glory

JESUS WAS WANTING BELIEVERS TO SEE HIS GLORY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 17:24 24
"Father, I want thoseyou have given me
to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the
glory you have given me because you loved me before
the creationof the world.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
BlessedWith Christ
John 17:24
J.R. ThomsonThe future has for man a mysterious interest, and it exercises
over him a mysterious power. Religionappeals to this, as to all natural
tendencies and susceptibilities of man's being. The revelations and the
promises of Christianity have regardto the vast hereafter. When our Lord
prayed for his disciples, it could not be that he should omit from his prayer
their future - their condition and associations in the immortal state. Without
such reference the high-priestly prayer would have been incomplete; for it
was the prayer of him who brought life and immortality to light.
I. THE HOME OF THE BLESSED. Little as we know of that eternal home,
that which we do know is of intense interest. What the Lord Jesus here tells us
of heaven is welcome and precious revelation. His desire and purpose
concerning his people is that they may be:
1. With him. He could no longer be with them on earth; but, as a
compensation, they were to look forward to being with him in heaven. These
cherishedfriends had been with him long enoughto know and to prize such
association. To them it was sufficient to know that they should be reunited to
their Friend and Master.
2. Where he is. The locality of heaven is unknown, and all speculationupon
such a matter is idle. How all Christ's innumerable friends and followers can

all be where he is, we cannotunderstand. But it rejoices the heart of the
disciple to know that he shall be where his Lord is. A bold mariner does not
care to what sea his ship is bound, if he is only serving under the captain or
admiral whom he trusts, and who has before shownhim the way to discovery
or to victory.
II. THE VISION OF THE BLESSED. The people of Christ shall, in
accordancewith his prayer, behold the glory of the Redeemer. The promise
sank into the heart of John who recordedit; for he indulged the anticipation,
"We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Sight is here, as
elsewhere,put for knowledge. The disciples bad seenthe humiliation of their
Lord; they were to see his glory. In what this consists itis for us only to
conjecture, with such help as Christ's words afford. There is the closest
connectionbetweenthe glory of Christ and the Father's eternallove. Our
Lord himself has so taught us that we cannot place glory chiefly in what is
visible and material. We think chiefly of that moral glory which is connected
with Divine favor and with spiritual empire -
"Glory shines about his head,
And a bright crown without a thorn." Such a vision as that which our Lord
here implores for his own must enlarge the perceptions which the blessedin
heaven form of their greatRedeemer, must excite their wonder and adoration,
and must even fan the flame of their holy and grateful love. It should be
observedthat, although the aspectofthe heavenly life here presentedis
contemplative, this is by no means to the exclusion of quite another aspect.
The servants, who shall see the face of their Lord, shall serve him day and
night. What they behold shall be the inspiration of their immortal songs of
praise, and of their ceaseless actsofobedience and devotion. - T.
Biblical Illustrator
Father I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me.
John 17:24

Christ's last will
F. Godet, D. D.Jesusno longer says, "I pray" but "I will." This expression,
found nowhere else, in the mouth of Jesus, is generally explained by saying
that the Son thus expressedHimself, because He felt Himself on this point so
fully in accordancewith the Father. But this He felt in every prayer, and this
unique expressionmust be takenin its relation to the unique characterof the
situation. It is the saying of a dying man: "Father, My last will is..." It is truly
His testamentwhich Christ thus deposits in His Father's hands.
(F. Godet, D. D.)
Christ's wish for man
Phillips Brooks, D. D.The truth that men are judged by their desires finds its
highest illustration in Jesus. The perfectionof His nature is shownin the
perfectness ofHis wishes. WhenHis desires shall be all fulfilled, then there
will be nothing more in the universe to be desired. The wish of the text is a
prayer; but a prayer is merely a wish turned Godward. It was the instinct of
Christ's nature that He lookedfor the fulfilment of His wishes, not to Himself,
and not to the things about Him, but to His Father. He was desiring in His
heart —
I. THAT HIS PEOPLE SHOULD BE WITH HIM.
1. The obvious meaning of this is the Saviour's affectionfor His disciples.
When friend is going awayfrom friend, how naturally the wish springs up
into words:"Oh, if I could only take you with me!" Now, the sublimity and
the charm of the earthly life of Jesus consistin large part in the broad and
healthy actionof the simplest human powers which it exhibits. The simplest
natures are the grandestnatures always. And so it is a part of the greatness of
Jesus that He so simply feels and utters this cordial human affection, and says,
"I shall miss you. I wish you could go with Me." We want not merely to
admire this in Jesus;not merely to feelits charm. We want to catchit from
Him. Elaborate civilization is always making elaborate, artificialstandards.
2. But these primary emotions are deeper and richer in Him than in ordinary
men, in proportion to the depth and richness of His nature.(1) The same
emotion exists in different men, but it becomes more full and perfectas the
man becomes greater. Nowhere is all this more true than about
companionship. Fortwo beings to be with one another always means the same
simple thing, and yet its meaning runs up through all the ascending scale of
human character. A herd of brutes are satisfiedif they can feed in the same
field; and there is an animal companionship even amongstmen, which makes
them like to be with one another, to sit in the same room, to walk in crowded

streets. Nexthigher than that, companionship means identity of work and
occupation. This is the companionship of business men. Next higher still is the
companionship of opinion. Beyond all these lies the highest companionship of
character. We have a fine illustration of the desire for this lastand highest
sort of companionship in the famous words which St. Paul said to Agrippa, "I
would, that thou and all who hear me," &c. Those words seemto be the echo
of his Master's. PaulwantedAgrippa. From the dignity of his prisoner's
stand, he yearned over that poor dissolute who was seatedupon the throne.
And this must always be the first joy of any really goodlife — the desire that
others should enter into it. Indeed, here is the testof a man's life. Can you say,
"I wish you were like me? "If you are trying to serve Christ, however
imperfect be your service, still you cansay this to your child, your friend. But
I am afraid that there are people whose lives could not begin to stand that test.
With awkwardhands you bring out virtues which you will not practice
yourself, and put them before your children and say, "These are good. I
advise you to practice these." What a condemnation of a man's life is that! It
is not goodfor a man to be living any life which he would not desire to see
made perfect and universal through the world. The dying Christian tells those
beside him of the blessednessofserving Christ. The dying murderer with his
last breath warns men from the scaffoldnot to be what he has been. Testyour
lives thus!(2) Thus, then, we understand Christ's longing for the
companionship of His disciples. He wanted them to be with Him. I do not
think that we cantell how much it signifies, this wish of Jesus, in its lower
meaning of physical companionship. I am sure it does mean something. The
"seeing His face," the "walking with Him in white," in heaven, are not wholly
figures. But yet God's guidance has drawn the minds of Christians to think of
heaven less as a place than as a character. Never, neverare we with Christ till
we are like Him. Not till He is formed in us do we enter truly into Him.
II. THAT THEY MIGHT BEHOLD HIS GLORY. Perhaps this sounds to us
a little strange at first. The schoolboywants his schoolfellowto come home
with him that he may see the state in which his father lives. The American
says to the foreigner, "Come, see ourland, its vastness, its resources, its
progress." The Christiansays, "Come to my church. You shall hear our
music," &c. Before the words can be cut entirely free from low associations,
we must remember what Christ's glory is. The heart and soul of it must be His
goodness.Whatoutward splendour may clothe Christ eternally we cannot
know, but this we are sure of, that in at its very centre the glory of God must
issue from and consistin the goodness ofGod, not in His power. Think for a
moment of what prospects that wish of our Lord opens. Nowadays menare

telling one another how tired they are of seeing sin on every side. We cheat
our. selves if we think that it is peculiar to our times, for it has always beenso.
We cheatourselves if we think that it is universal, for there is bright and
glorious goodness aroundus, mixed with the sin on every side. But how
imperfectly we see it! How much goodness there must be in Him which we do
not see!For here this truth comes in, that only the like can see its like; only
the goodcanreally discern, appreciate, and understand goodness.Menlive
alongside of the best saints, and never know that they are good. The higher we
climb, the more the peaks open around us. Now apply all this to the Saviour's
prayer. Only by growthin goodnesscan His goodness openitself to us. What
is He praying for, then? Is it not that which we tracedbefore, that we might
be like Him? So only canwe see Him. It is His glory that He wants us to see,
but, back of that, He wants us to be such men and womenthat we cansee His
glory. I think of Jesus as He walkedthrough Jerusalem. MenpassedHim by;
others just lookedat Him, and sneered, and went their way. Do you think that
did not give Him pain? Surely it did. They could not see His glory. But was
not His pain that He saw them in. capable of apprehending Him? Was not this
what He was really mourning for when He sat on the Mount of Olives? Not,
"Woe is me!" but "O Jerusalem?"Sometimes, in very far-off way, it is given
to a man to echo this experience of Jesus. Sometimes a man is living for the
goodof other people, and other people will not see it, and he is left to sit upon
the mountain and look down in sorrow upon the city which he longs to save.
At such a time a man wants, and often enough he fails to get, the spirit of
Christ's prayer. He wants men to "see His glory," and they will not. Is it for
himself or for them that he is disappointed? The man whom you helped
yesterdayand who ungratefully slanders you to-day, are you indignant about
yourself or pitiful over him? It is hard to keepout pride and jealousy, but let
us remember how He wanted men to see Him because it was so wretchedfor
them, not for Him, that they should be blind to Him. I think, then, that we
have reachedthe meaning of this prayer of Jesus;and we are struck
immediately by seeing how it really is identical with all His prayers for men. It
is always that men might be savedfrom sin, that His goodness might come to
us and we might be good.
(Phillips Brooks, D. D.)
Christ's prayer for His people
R. Newton, D. D.I. THE TONE OF THE PRAYER.
1. Wonderful majesty. "Father, I will!" How awful this sounds! Such a
petition was never heard before. Compare it with the prayers of the most
eminent of God's people — Abraham, David, and Solomon.

2. Authority as well. Here is no condition, qualification, or contingency
expressedor implied. It is the language of Him whose will is absolute law
through all the universe. And this is the foundation on which the ultimate
salvationof the redeemed is made to rest.
II. THE SCOPE OF THE PRAYER
1. The persons prayed for are — "those whomThou hast given Me" —
believers of every age. It takes in all the redeemed.
2. What is askedis "that they be with Me where I am." This is a
comprehensive petition. It embraces allthat Christ could ask for His people,
all that they can desire, or that God can give. There has been much curious
discussionof the question whether heavenis a state or a place. It is clearfrom
the teachings ofthe chapter, that heaven is a stale (vers. 21, 23). The unity
prayed for in the former and the perfection in the latter of these verses prove
this conclusively. No locality canbe heaven to us, unless we attain unto the
state there described. At the same time this verse proves that heavenis a
distinct locality (John 14:2). If He were speaking here as the Creatoralone,
the language usedwould not necessarilyimply locality. But He is speaking as
"the Man Christ Jesus." "True, 'where I am' is a wide, wide phrase. Where
He is, heaven is; where He is not, there is hell. A throne without Him is but the
devil's dungeon of darkness, whereverit be placed;a dungeon with Christ in
it, a fiery furnace with Christ in the midst, is a palace of glory. If we be where
He is, what is there that can be worth seeing, orknowing, or having besides?
'Whom have I in heaven but Thee?'"
III. THE DESIGN OF THE PRAYER. "That they may behold My glory,"
&c. This refers to the glory which pertains to Him by virtue of His mediatorial
office. It is the glory of revealing God's will; of bringing to an end the great
rebellion which sin had introduced into God's dominions; of lifting off the
curse from this groaning creation;of making all things new; of gathering His
electout of all nations, of raising them from the dead, and carrying them with
approval through the solemn scenesofthe lastjudgment, and assigning them
the place of dignity they will occupy in His everlasting kingdom; and of
conducting the affairs of that kingdom through all eternity.
IV. THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH THE PRAYER RESTS. "ForThou
lovedst Me," &c. There is something very striking and sublime in this
argument. It is not our love for one another or of God, nor Christ's or the
Father's love for us, but God's love of His own blessedSon. In conclusion, this
subject suggests —
1. How unspeakable is the glory on which the redeemed will gaze!

2. The true philosophy of salvation, or the secretof the Christian's security.
(R. Newton, D. D.)
The Lord's last prayer for His people
W. B. Pope, D. D.We mark —
I. HIS LAST AND DEEPESTDESIRECONCERNING US.
1. There is something unspeakablyaffecting in the designation"those whom
Thou hast given Me." Many titles He had alreadygiven 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 (Psalm2.); 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 consignthem
to His Son for salvation. The fact that they are the Father's gift makes them
unspeakablyprecious to Jesus, who therefore wishes the eternal societyofHis
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 saidHe would be
with them, not that they should be with Him. Save in a few swift glimpses His
Church has never seenHim 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 gatheredto Him, the
whole great gift shall be restoredto 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
changedinto the same image."(2)It is howeverin the greathereafterthat the
Lord's glory will be seen— the glory which He had with the Father before the
world was. "Theyshall 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 seenMe
hath seenthe Father." "We shall see Him as He is," and share and reflect the
glory that we contemplate.
II. THE STRENGTHOF THE PECULIAR EXPRESSION,"IWILL"
1. Whence has He that strong confidence on our account, sinners as we are?(1)
From the eternallove that existed betweenthe 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 sealedand ratified covenant. The Son appeals to His righteous

Father as Head of the redeeming scheme, speaksas having sanctified Himself,
and demands all the blessings for which He shed His blood. Hence the
intercessionofthe Son for His own is almighty.
2. What is the objectof His intercession?(1)The prayer demands that the
infinite attributes of the all-holy Name should be pledged for His disciples'
defence. "Keepthrough Thine own name."(2)"Sanctify them through Thy
truth" stipulates that all needful grace shallbe imparted in order to the
consecrationof His saints for Himself.
3. The prayer is granted. Whatsoeveris necessaryfor our perfectdeliverance
from sin is here pledged, and hereafterthere will be a most glorious answer
when the saints, body and soul, are presentedfaultless 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 connectionof 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 transcendenthonour are we here invested. To be the electof
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 watchand labour and pray.
4. OarLord permitted us to hear this prayer for our strong consolationin
surrendering our friends to Him in death.
(W. B. Pope, D. D.)
Christ's unveiled glory
S. T. Day.I. OF WHAT STATE OF MIND THIS IS THE EXPRESSION ON
THE PART OF CHRIST.
1. It expresses the depth and intensity of His love to the Church He has
redeemed. Montaigne says, "We hate those we injure" — certainly we love
those whom we have blessed. Christ having redeemedus in this life is intent
on blessing us in the next.

2. It turns on the principle that sympathy is most precious to the noblest
natures. Christ could not think of the splendours of His throne without
connecting them with His people.
3. It contains the idea of personalinterest in them as precious property by
specialdonation from the Father. What more valued than a father's gift,
especiallywhen given as an expressionoflove and for a sublime purpose.
II. WHAT VIEWS IT FURNISHES OF THE FUTURE LIFE.
1. The happiness of heaven will be realized in the immediate presence and
unveiled glory of Christ. The king makes the court, not the court the king.
2. Whateverdisplays are made in that life of the majesty of the Godhead, will
be made in the Personof Christ. To all eternity He will be "Emanuel — God
with us." How transporting it will be to find His glory that of "the Lamb that
was slain!"
III. WHAT REFLECTIONS THE SUBJECT SHOULD AWAKEN.
1. Earnestdesire to be one with Christ.
2. Adoring gratitude that He has invested us with this hope which cannotdie.
3. A deep concernfor the religious welfare of others.
(S. T. Day.)
The glorificationof the Church
T. Whitelaw, D. D.I. ITS SIGNIFICANCE EXPLAINED.
1. Co-existencewith Christ. Now He co-exists with the Church (Matthew
18:20;Matthew 28:20);then the Church will co-existwith Him (Matthew
12:26;1 Thessalonians 4:17). Now He comes down, then He will take us up.
Now the place where they are togetheris the scene of the Church's trials,
conflicts, labours, discipline: then the place will be the house of many
mansions, the scene ofChrist's exaltation and glory.
2. Communion with Christ. Christ and His Church have that here (1 John
1:3). Here we see Him, but not with open vision (1 Corinthians 13:12). There
the vision will be unveiled and full (1 Corinthians 13:12;1 John 3:2;
Revelation22:4). They shall behold His glory, not only its outward symbol —
the throne, sceptre, angels, trumpets, &c. — but the eternal, perfect love of
the Fatherto Him, and the glory which, moved by that love, the Father put
upon Him when He constituted Him the Crown of redeemed humanity
(Ephesians 1:22; Philippians 2:9, 10; 1 Peter3:22).

3. Conformity to Christ. This is realized here in part (2 Corinthians 4:18),
there it will be complete (Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:2).
4. Co-partnership with Christ. Christ is here co-partner of the Church s
sufferings (Hebrews 4:15); by and by we shall participate in His glory (ver.
22; Revelation3:21;2 Timothy 2:12).
II. ITS CERTAINTYGUARANTEED.
1. By the "I will" of the Divine Servant. Having accomplishedthe work (ver.
4) Christ was entitled to claim the stipulated reward — not merely to "ask" or
"wish," though that would have been enough. And as failure is impossible
with reference either to God's promise (Hebrews 5:18), or Christ's reward
(Isaiah 53:2), so certainly Christ's believing people will eventually be glorified
with Him in heaven.
2. By the "I will" of the Divine Son. As such Christ had powerto bestow
eternal life (ver. 2), and so the ultimate glorificationof the Church is seen.
III. ITS JUSTICE VINDICATED (ver. 25, 26).
1. If the world is not glorified it is because it cannotbe. Eternal righteousness
forbids the glorificationof such as know not the Father.
2. If the Church is glorified, it is because gloryis the necessaryoutcome of
grace. Lessons:
1. The blessedness ofheaven.
2. The certainty of salvation.
3. The necessityof growing in knowledge.
4. The righteousness ofthe unbelieving world's doom.
5. Grace the song of the glorified.
(T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
Why they leave us
C. H. Spurgeon.1. The prayer of the Saviour rises as it proceeds. He askedfor
His people that they might be preservedfrom the world, then that they might
be sanctified, and then that they might be made manifestly one;and now He
reaches His crowning point — that they may be with Him where He is, and
behold His glory. That prayer is most after the Divine pattern which, like a
ladder, rises round by round, until it loses itselfin heaven.
2. This laststep of our Lord's prayer is not only above all the rest, but it is a
longerstep than any of the others. He here ascends, not from one blessing

which may be enjoyed on earth, to higher, but mounts right awayfrom all
that is to that which is reservedfor the eternalfuture.
3. Notonly does it rise as to its subject, but it even ascends as to the place
which the Intercessorappears to occupy. Has it not been so with yourselves in
prayer, that you might have cried with Paul, "Whether in the body or out of
the body, I cannot tell."
4. Still the prayer rises, not only as to its matter and place, but in a higher
style. Before, our Lord had askedand pleaded; but now He says, "Father, I
will." It is well not only to groanout of the dust as suppliant sinners, but to
seek unto our Fatherin the spirit of adoption with the confidence of children,
and then, with the promise of God in our hand, lay hold upon the covenant
angel, and cry, "I will not let thee go, exceptthou bless me." Importunity is a
humble approachto this Divine "I will."
I. Let us begin as our text begins with THE HOME-WORD — "Father." Is it
not the centre of living unity? If there is to be a family gathering and reunion,
where should it be but in the father's house?
1. What can be more right than that children should go home to their Father?
From Him they came, to Him they owe their life, and should not this be the
goalof their being, that they should at lastdwell in His presence?
2. "Father!" why, it is a bell that rings us home. He who hath the Spirit of
adoption feels that the Fatherdraws him home, and he would fain run after
Him. How intensely did Jesus turn to the Father!
3. This is the consummation which the First-born looks for, and to which all of
us who are like Him are aspiring also, namely, that God may be all in all. Our
Brother is gone;but we ask, "Where is He gone?" and when the answer
comes, "He is gone to the Father," all notion of complaint is over. To whom
else should He go? A child may be happy at school, but he longs for the
holidays. Is it merely to escape his lessons?Ask him, and he will tell you, "I
want to go home to see my father."
II. THE HOME IMPETUS. How shall the chosengethome to the Father. "I
will," said Jesus, "thatthey be with Me";and with Him they must be.
Examine the energyof this "I will," and you will see that it hath the force of
—
1. An intercessoryprayer. I cannotimagine our Lord's interceding in vain. If
He asks that we may be with Him where He is, He must assuredly have His
request. You cannot hold your dying babe, &c.;for Jesus asksfor it to be with
Him. Will you come into competition with your Lord?

2. A testamentarybequest and appointment. No man who makes his will likes
to have it frustrated. Our Saviour's testamentwill assuredlybe carried out in
every jot and tittle.
3. Desire, resolve,and purpose. If Jesus saith, "I will," then it is yours to say,
"Notas I will, but as Thou wilt."
III. THE HOME CHARACTER. "Theyalso, whom Thou hast given Me."
The Greek is somewhatdifficult to translate. There is here a something in the
singular as well as persons in the plural. "Father, I will concerning that which
thou hast given Me, that they may be with Me where I am."
1. Our Lord lookedupon those whom the Fathergave Him as one — one
body, one Church, one bride: He willed that as a whole the Church should be
with Him where He is.
2. Then He lookedagainand saw eachof the many individuals of whom the
one Church is composed, and He prayed that each, that all of these, might be
with Him and behold His glory. Jesus neverso prays for the whole Church as
to forget a single member; neither does He so pray for the members
individually as to overlook the corporate capacityof the whole.
3. I feelglad that there is no sortof personalcharactermentioned here, but
only — "Those whomThou hast given Me." It seems as if the Lord in His last
moments was not so much looking at the fruit of grace as at grace itself;He
did not so much note either the perfections or the imperfections of His people,
but only the fact that they were His by the eternal gift of the Father. The
Father gave them as a love-tokenand a means of His Son's glorification. If I
possessa love-tokenthat some dear one has given me I may rightly desire to
have it with me. Nobody can have such a right to your wedding-ring, good
sister, as you have yourself, and are not Christ's saints, as it were, a signet
upon His finger, a tokenwhich His Father gave Him of His goodpleasure in
Him? Should they not be with Jesus where He is, since they are His crown
jewels and His glory?
IV. THE HOME COMPANIONSHIP.
1. The nearness of the saints to Christ in glory — "that they may be with Me."
In heaven the saints will be nearer to Christ than the apostles were whenthey
satat the table with Him, or heard Him pray. "Forever with the Lord" —
this is heaven.
2. They must occupy a place:that place will be where Jesus is. We are to be,
not metaphorically and fancifully, but really, truly, literally with Jesus.

3. Notice the occupationof those who are with Jesus:"Thatthey may behold
My glory." Love always pines for a partner in its joys. When I have been
speciallycharmed with glorious scenery, I have felt myself saying, "How I
wish that my dear wife could be here!" How unselfish it is on our Lord's part
to think Himself not fully glorified till we behold His glory! How unselfish He
will make us also, since it will be our glory to see His glory! Who would keepa
brother out of it an hour?
4. Observe the fellowship which exists in the glory land. "That they may
behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me." So when the Lord brings His
people home, we shall be one with Him, and He one with the Father, and we
also in Him one with the Father, so that we shall then find boundless glory in
beholding the glory of our Lord and God.
V. THE HOME ATMOSPHERE.Love:"Thou lovedst Me before the
foundation of the world." Can you follow me in a greatflight? There was a
day before all days, when there was no day but the Ancient of Days. Oh the
intensity of the Divine love of the Father to the Son! There was no universe,
but God alone;and the whole of God's omnipotence flowedforth in a stream
of love to the Son, while the Son's whole being remained eternally one with the
Father by a mysterious essentialunion. Love is both the source and the
channel, and the end of the Divine acting. Becausethe Fatherloved the Son
He gave us to Him, and ordained that we should be with Him. Let our saintly
ones go home if that is the design of their going. Since all comes of Divine love,
and all sets forth Divine love, let them go to Him who loves them. Hold your
friends lovingly, but be ready to yield them to Jesus.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Eternal glory
C. Ross, M. A., J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.I. THE OBJECTSOF THIS
PRAYED. "That which Thou hast given to Me" and "they also." Butin what
respects were this people given by the Father to the Son?
1. In the first instance, He gave them to Him in the everlasting covenant.
2. But, in the secondinstance, the Fathergives them to His Son in the day of
their espousals — in the day of their effectualcalling. "All that the Father
giveth Me," saith Jesus, "shallcome to Me" (John 6:37), — not all that the
Father gave Me, — as if He were speaking merely of some transactionin the
past, — but all that the Father giveth Me — referring to the day of their
espousals to Christ. "Wherefore, brethren, give diligence to make your calling
and electionsure" (2 Peter1:10). It is for souls, that are effectually calledand
justified, that Jesus prays that they may be with Him in glory.

II. THE MANNER AND SPIRIT OF THIS PRAYER. Jesus no longer says, "I
pray" (vers. 9, 15, 20), but "I will." Oh, what a wonderful prayer is this! We
never read of any prayer like this, offered up by any saint on earth. Some of
them, indeed, attained to greatnearness to the Lord — such as Abraham, and
Jacob, and Moses andDavid — and yet they never did, or ought to, use such
language to God. And what shall we make of this prayer?
1. I think we may say, in the first instance, there is in it a beaming forth of His
Divine glory, as the Eternal Son of God.
2. And surely this expressionsets forth the reality and intensity of the
Saviour's love. It was in the exercise ofinfinite love that He laid down His life
for them.
3. Further, we may wellbelieve, that this is an expressionof will, founded on
acknowledgedright. Jesus had the price of our redemption now in His hand,
ready to lay it down.
4. And, as has often been remarked, this I will on the part of Christ is in
perfect accordwith the knownwill of His Father. "Father, I will," says
Christ; "and I will too," re-echoesthe voice of the Father. Oh, blessed
harmony this betweenthe will of Christ and the will of His Father!
5. But I apprehend, that this unique expressionis to be explained by the
unique characterofthe situation. Jesus is just about to lay down His life for
them, and He now expresses His last will and testimony: "Father, My last will
is." It is truly His testimony which Jesus deposits in His Father's hands.
III. WHAT THE BLESSINGS REALLY ARE, which Jesus thus asks for
those that the Fathergave Him: "That where I am, there they also may be
with Me, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me," &c.
1. He asks that where He is, there they also may be with Him. Ah! yes, such is
His love to them, that as He came from heaven to earth to save them, so He
will never be at restuntil He has them with Him where He is. And is not this
heaven — its chiefest, choicestingredient— to be where Christ is?
(Philippians 1:23).
2. But why does He pray that they may be with Him where He is? How are
they to be employed? "That they may behold My glory which Thou hastgiven
Me."
3. Notice here the objectto be beheld — "My glory which Thou hast given to
Me" — "My glory peculiarly and emphatically, — and yet My glory which
Thou hast given to Me," — not His essentialgloryas the Son of God viewed
abstractly, and by itself; but the glory given to Him as Immanuel, God-man,

Mediator. Oh, who can tell what glory now encircles Him, as the Son of Man
exalted to the right hand of God? But did they not behold this glory already?
Assuredly they did by faith. And it is indeed a solemn truth, that none shall
behold His glory by sight in heaven that do not first behold it by faith on
earth. Some beheld this glory before He came in the flesh (John 8:56; John
12:40). Some beheld it by faith while He tabernacledupon earth (John 1:14).
And some behold it now, though He is in heaven, and they upon the earth (2
Corinthians 3:18). But the beholding mentioned in the text is something
higher, nearer than all this. This is the beatific vision, to which they shall
attain when He has gatheredthem home to be for ever with Himself. It is
impossible to behold this glory and to remain a mere spectatorof it. To behold
it is to partake of it — to become a sharer with Him in His glory. Then shall
be fulfilled the words:"And the glory which Thou gavestMe I have given
them." This is the height to which Jesus elevatesHis Church.
4. And one of the most interesting and delightful things connectedwith this
glory, which they are to behold, will be to trace the source of it in the Father's
everlasting love: "The glory which Thou hast given Me, in that Thou lovedst
Me." The Father loved the Son with an everlasting love as His Son — His
Only-BegottenSon. But He also loved Him with an everlasting love as
Mediator. "Then I was by Him as one brought up with Him, and I was daily
His delight" (Proverbs 8:30). Oh, surely it will be an eternal feastto the hearts
of the redeemedin heaven to see the glorious unfoldings of the Father's love
towards their CovenantHead. Such, then, the two greatblessings which Jesus
here asks forthe collective body of believers, viz., spiritual unity and eternal
glory.
(C. Ross, M. A.)
Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. — The Unitarian
conceptionof the Divine Unity being arithmetical, not dynamical, its
advocates deny plurality of persons or hypostases in the Godhead. And yet
they loudly proclaim the truth that God is love, a truth which most strongly
urges on our acceptancethe doctrine of plurality. Love always demands two
at least— a subjectand an object, one to love and another to be loved. If God
is love, as we most emphatically believe, then He must have had some one
from eternity to love. Who then is that one Himself? But self-love is no love, it
is the denial of love. Who then? The Church answers — His Son, the
brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person. Plurality of
persons must not, however, be confounded with plurality of Gods. When men
are invited to Christ they are not enticed awayfrom God, for Christ is with

God; when they are calledto worship Christ, they are not bidden to serve an
idol, for Christ is God.
(J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(24)Father, I will that they also,
whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.—Better, Father, I will that
that which Thou hast given Me, even they may be with Me where I am. The
thought of the unity of the Church is still prominent. It is conceivedas one
collective whole, “thatwhich Thou hast given Me” (comp. John 6:39), and the
members of it are thought of as individuals composing the whole, “eventhey
may be.”
The “I will” expresses the consciousnessthat His will was that of the Father,
and is the prayer of Him who is one with the Father. He had before said, “I
pray” (John 17:9, and Note on John 17:20), but the thought of the union with
the Father, expressedin John 17:23, leads to the fuller expressionof His
confidence that the prayer will be answered.
For the words, “with Me where I am,” comp. Note on John 14:3.
That they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.—Comp. Note on
John 17:22. That we are to think of the future glory of the divine-human
nature of Christ, is shown by the addition of the words, “whichThou hast
given Me.” The pre-incarnate glory of the Son was of His divine nature only,
and is not, therefore, spokenof as given to Him, nor could it be given to those
who believe in Him (John 17:22). That with which the Father has glorified the
Son, is “the glory which He had with the Fatherbefore the world was” (John
17:5), but it is the Son of man who is glorified with it, and therefore it is that
human nature is made capable of receiving it.
For thou lovedstme before the foundation of the world.—Comp. Note on
John 17:5.
MacLaren's ExpositionsJohn
THE HIGH PRIEST’S PRAYER
THE FOLDED FLOCK

John 17:24.
This wonderful prayer is {a} for Jesus Himself, {b} for the Apostles, {c} for the
whole Church on earth and in heaven.
I. The prayer.
‘I will’ has a strange ring of authority. It is the expressionofHis love to men,
and of His longing for their presence with Him in His glory. Not till they are
with Him there, shall He ‘see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.’
We have here a glimpse of the blessedstate of the dead in Christ.
{a} Localpresence with Christ. His glorified body is somewhere. The value of
this thought is that it gives solidity to our ideas of a future life. There they are.
We need not dwell on the metaphysical difficulties about locality for
disembodied spirits.
If a spirit can be localisedin a body, I suppose it canbe localised without a
body; but passing by all that, we have the hope held out here of a real local
presence with the glorified humanity of our Lord. We speak ofthe dead as
gone from us, and we have that idea far more vividly in our minds than that of
their having gone to Him. We speak of the ‘departed,’ but we do not think of
them as ‘arrived.’ We look down to the narrow grave, but we forget‘He is not
here, He is risen. Why seek ye the living among the dead?’ Ah! if we could
only bring home to our hearts the solid prose of the conviction that where
Christ is there His servants are, and that not in the diffused ubiquity of His
Divine Omnipresence, it would go far to remove the darkness and vague mist
which wrap the future, and to set it as it really is before us, as a solid definite
reality. We see the sails glide awayout into the westas the sun goes down, and
we think of them as tossing on a midnight sea, anunfathomable waste. Try to
think of them more truly. As in that old miracle, He comes to them walking on
the waterin the night watch, and if at first they are terrified, His voice brings
back hope to the heart that is beginning to stand still, and immediately they
are at the land whither they go. Now, as they sink from our sight, they are in
port, sails furled and anchordropped, and greenfields round them, even
while we watchthe sinking masts, and cannot yet rightly tell whether the
fading sailhas faded wholly.

{b} Communion with Christ.
Our Lord says not only ‘that where I am, they also may be,’ but adds ‘with
Me.’That is not a superfluous addition, but emphasises the thought of a
communion which is more intimate and blessedthan localpresence alone
would be.
The communion here is real but imperfect. It is perfectedthere on our part by
the dropping awayof flesh and sin, by change of circumstances,by
emancipation from cares and toils necessaryhere, by the development of new
powers and surroundings, and on His side by new manifestations.
{c} Vision of His glory.
The crownof this utterance of Christ’s will is ‘that they may behold My
glory.’ In an earlierpart of this prayer our Lord had spokenof the ‘glory
which I had with Thee before the world was.’But probably the glory ‘given’ is
not that of essentialDivinity, but that of His mediatorial work. To His people
‘with Him where He is,’ are imparted fuller views of Christ as Saviour, deeper
notions of His work, clearerperceptionof His rule in providence and nature.
This is the loftiestemployment of the spirits who are perfected and lapped in
‘pleasures for evermore’ by their union with the glorified Jesus.
Surely this is grander than all metaphoricalpictures of heaven.
II. The incipient fulfilment now going on.
The prayer has been in process offulfilment ever since. The dead in Christ
have entered on its answernow.
We need not discuss difficulties about the ‘intermediate state,’for this at all
events is true, that to be ‘absentfrom the body’ is to be ‘present with the
Lord.’
A Christian death is an answerto this prayer. True, for Christians as for all,
the physical necessityis an imperative law. True, the punitive aspectof death
is retained for them. But yet the law is wielded by Christ, and while death
remains, its whole aspectis changed. So we may think of those who have
departed in His faith and fear as gone in answerto this prayer.

How beautiful that is! Slowly, one by one, they are gatheredin, as the stars
one by one light up. Place afterplace is filled.
Thus through the ages the prayer works on, and our dear ones have gone
from us, but they have gone to Him. We weep, but they rejoice. To us their
departure is the result of an iron law, of a penal necessity, ofsome secondary
cause;but to them it is seento be the answerto His mighty prayer. They hear
His voice and follow Him when He says, ‘Come up hither.’
III. The final fulfilment still future.
The prayer looks forward to a perfectfulfilment. His prayer cannot be vain.
{a} Perfectin degree.
{b} Perfectin extent, when all shall be gatheredtogetherand the ‘whole
family’ shall be ‘in heaven,’and Christ’s own word receives its crowning
realisation, that ‘of all whom the Father hath given Him He has lost nothing.’
And these are not some handful picked out by a decree which we can neither
fathom nor alter, but Christ is given to us all, and if we choose to take Him,
then for us He has ascended;and as we watchHim going up the voice comes
to us: ‘I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you unto
Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.’
BensonCommentaryHYPERLINK "/john/17-24.htm"John17:24. Father, I
will — He asks as one having a right to be heard; and prays, not as a servant,
but as a Son; that they also whom thou hast given me — Not only my apostles
and first disciples, but all my believing, loving, and obedient people; may be
with me where I am — Namely, in that heavenly world to which I am now
removing. As if he had said, Since no improvements, either in holiness or
comfort, cancompletely answerthe purposes of my love and the promises of
my grace to them; therefore I requestfelicity for them in another and more
perfect state of things; that they may behold — May contemplate with
everlasting and delightful admiration; my glory, which thou hast — By thy
sure appointment; given me — And art just ready to bestow upon me; for
thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world — And didst then decree
for me that mediatorial kingdom with which thou art now about to invest me.
Observe, reader, the happiness of heaven chiefly consists in beholding the
glory of the Father and of the Son, Matthew 5:8; 1 John 3:2.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary17:24-26Christ, as one with the
Father, claimed on behalf of all that had been given to him, and should in due
time believe on him, that they should be brought to heaven; and that there the
whole company of the redeemed might behold his glory as their beloved
Friend and Brother, and therein find happiness. He had declaredand would
further declare the name or characterofGod, by his doctrine and his Spirit,
that, being one with him, the love of the Father to him might abide with them
also. Thus, being joined to Him by one Spirit, they might be filled with all the
fulness of God, and enjoy a blessednessofwhich we canform no right idea in
our presentstate.
Barnes'Notes on the BibleI will - This expression, though it commonly
denotes command, is here only expressive of desire. It is used in prayer, and it
was not the custom of the Saviour to use language of command when
addressing God. It is often used to express strong and earnestdesire, or a
pressing and importunate wish, such as we are exceedinglyanxious should not
be denied, Mark 6:25; Mark 10:35; Matthew 12:38; Matthew 15:28.
Where I am - In heaven. The Son of God was still in the bosomof the Father,
John 1:18. See the notes at John 7:34. Probably the expressionhere means
where I shall be.
My glory - My honor and dignity when exalted to the right hand of God. The
word "behold" implies more than simply seeing;it means also to participate,
to enjoy. See the John 3:3 note; Matthew 5:8 note.
Thou lovedst me ... - This is another of the numerous passageswhichprove
that the Lord Jesus existedbefore the creationof the world. It is not possible
to explain it on any other supposition.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary24-26. Father, I will—The
majesty of this style of speaking is quite transparent. No petty criticism will be
allowedto fritter it awayin any but superficial or perverted readers.
be with me where I am—(See on [1885]Joh14:3).
that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me—(See on[1886]Joh
17:5). Christ regards it as glory enoughfor us to be admitted to see and gaze
for everupon His glory! This is "the beatific vision"; but it shall be no mere
vision, for "we shallbe like Him, because we shallsee Him as He is" (1Jo 3:2).
Matthew Poole's Commentary Here our Saviour wills his disciples eternallife;
or rather prays to his Father, that he would preserve his disciples unto, and at
last bestow upon them, eternal life and salvation; so as the phrase,

whom thou hast given me, is not to be restrained to the apostles, but to be
extended to all those who, belonging to the electionof grace, shallhereafterbe
made heirs of glory, and have everlasting life and happiness. This he expresses
under the notion of being with him where he is, as John 14:3; which is called a
being ever with the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 4:17;and certainly this is the
highest happiness, to be where the Sonof Godis.
That they may behold my glory, is the same thing with, that they may be made
partakers of my glory: as to see death, is, in Scripture phrase, to die; and to
see life, is to live; so, to behold the glory of God, is to be glorified.
For, saith our Saviour, thou lovedstme before the foundation of the world,
both as thy only begottenSon, and as the person in whom thou hast chosenall
them, and whom thou hast setapart to be the MediatorbetweenGod and
man; and therefore I know that thou wilt glorify me, and that thou wilt in this
thing hear my prayers, and glorify them also, whom thou hast given to me to
be redeemed by my blood.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleFather, I will that they also whom thou
hast given me,.... Not all the world, but a selectnumber; not apostles only, nor
as such; nor believers, or as such, for as such they were not given to Christ;
nor as consideredin the effectualcalling;but as the electof God, and by that
eternal actof his grace;when they were given to Christ as his children, as his
spouse, as his church, as the sheep of his hand, as his portion, and to be
preservedby him; which is known by their calling and conversion:the form in
which these words are delivered, is not so much by way of entreaty, as
demand; they are a declarationof Christ's will, in which he insists on it as his
right, upon the foot of his purchase, and those covenanttransactions which
passedbetweenhim and his Father, on the behalf of those that were given to
him: that they
be with me where I am; not where he was then, unless it may be meant of him
as the omnipresent God, and as such then in heaven; though he rather designs
where he should be as man, after his resurrection, and where the souls of
saints are after death; and where they will be, soul and body, when raised
again;and which is desirable both to Christ, and to his people; this was the
joy that was set before him, and what they comfort one another with, that
they shall be for ever with him:
that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me; not the simple
abstractglory of his deity; which, as it was not given to him, is not to be seen
by them; but his glory as Mediator: this was seen, though imperfectly by

some, in the days of his flesh; and in the glass ofthe Gospel, a believer now
has some views of it, and by faith sees, knows,and is assuredthat Christ is
glorified in heaven; but hereafterthe saints in their own persons, and with
their own eyes, shallsee him as he is, and appear in glory with him; which
sight of his glory will be near, and not at a distance, appropriating and
assimilating, rejoicing, satisfying, and for ever:
for thou lovedstme before the foundation of the world; this is mentioned both
as a reasonwhy such a glory was given him, because ofhis Father's early love
to him as Mediator; and as an argument why he might expect to be heard and
answered, becauseofthe interest he had in his affections, which had been
strongly towards him, even from everlasting;and because the persons he asks,
or rather demands these things for, sharedin the same ancient love.
Geneva Study BibleFather, 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.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/john/17-24.htm"John17:24. What
He has already bestowedon them, but as yet as a possessionofhope (John
17:22), He wills (θέλω) that they may also partake of in reality. He does not
merely wish it (againstBeza, Calvin, B. Crusius, Tholuck, Ewald), but the Son
prays in the consciousnessofthe ἐξουσία bestowedon Him by the Father
according to John 17:2, for the communication of eternal life to His own. This
consciousnessis that
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BARCLAY
THE GIFT AND THE PROMISE OF GLORY(John 17:22-26)
17:22-26"And Ihave given them the glory whichyou gaveme, that they maybe
one as weare one. I am in them, and you are in me, so that their unitywithus
and witheach other maystand consummated andcomplete. I pray for this that
the world mayrealizethat you sent me, and that you loved them as you loved me.
Father, it is my willthatthose whom you have given meshould be withmewhere
I am going, thatthey maysee my glory whichyou gaveme, because you loved

mebefore the foundation of the world. RighteousFather, the world did not know
you, but I knew you, and these realized that you sent me. I have told them what
you are like, and I willgoon tellingthem, that the love withwhichyou loved me
maybe in them, and that I maybe in them."
Bengel, an old commentator, exclaimed as he beganto comment on this
passage:"O how greatis the Christians' glory!" And indeed it is.
First, Jesus saidthat he had given his disciples the glory which his Father had
given him. We must fully understand what that means. What was the glory of
Jesus? There were three ways in which he talked of it.
(a) The Cross was his glory. Jesus did not speak of being crucified; he spoke of
being glorified. Therefore, first and foremost, a Christian's glory is the cross
that he must bear. It is an honour to suffer for Jesus Christ. We must never
think of our cross as our penalty; we must think of it as our glory. The harder
the task a knight was given, the greaterhe consideredits glory. The harder
the task we give a student, or a craftsman, or a surgeon, the more we honour
him. In effect, we say that we believe that nobody but he could attempt that
task at all. So when it is hard to be a Christian, we must regard it as our glory
given to us by God.
(b) Jesus'perfect obedience to the will of God was his glory. We find our
glory, not in doing as we like, but in doing as God wills. When we try to do as
we like--as many of us have done--we find nothing but sorrow and disaster
both for ourselves and for others. We find the real glory of life in doing Gods
will; the greaterthe obedience, the greaterthe glory.
(c) Jesus'glory lay in the fact that, from his life, men recognizedhis special
relationship with God. They saw that no one could live as he did unless he was
uniquely near to God. As with Christ, it is our glory when men see in us the
reflectionof God.
Second, Jesus saidthat it was his will that his disciples should see his glory in
the heavenly places. It is the Christian's convictionthat he will share all the
experiences ofChrist. If he has to share Christ's Cross, he will also share his
glory. "The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we shall also live with
him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:11-12). Here in
this world at best we see dimly in a mirror, but then we shall see face to face (1
Corinthians 13:12). The joy we have now is only a faint foretaste ofthe joy
which is to come. It is Christ's promise that if we share his glory and his
sufferings on earth, we shall share his glory and his triumph when life on this
earth is ended. What greaterpromise could there be than that?

From this prayer Jesus was to go straight out to the betrayal, the trial and the
Cross. He was not to speak to his disciples again. It is a wonderful and a
precious thing to remember that before these terrible hours his last words
were not of despair but of glory.
-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)
CALVIN
Verse 24
24.Father, I will.Towill is put for to desire; (129)for it expressesnot a
command but a prayer. But it may be understoodin two ways; either that he
willsthat the disciples may enjoy his eternal presence, or, that God may, at
length, receive them into the heavenly kingdom, to which he goes before them.
That they maybehold my glory. Some explain beholding hisglory to mean,
partaking of the glory which Christ has. Others explain it to be, to know by
the experience offaith what Christ is, and how greatis his majesty. For my
own part, after carefully weighing the whole matter, I think that Christ
speaks ofthe perfect happiness of believers, as if he had said, that his desire
will not be satisfiedtill they have been receivedinto heaven. In the same
manner I explain the Beholding of the glory. At that time they saw the glory of
Christ, just as a man shut up in the dark obtains, through small chinks, a
feeble and glimmering light. Christ now wishes that they shall make such
progress as to enjoy the full brightness of heaven. In short, he asks that the
Father will conduct them, by uninterrupted progress, to the full vision of his
glory.
For thou lovedstme. This also agrees betterwith the personof the Mediator
than with Christ’s Divinity alone. It would be harsh to say that the Father
loved his Wisdom; and though we were to admit it, the connectionof the
passageleads us to a different view. Christ, unquestionably, spoke as the Head
of the Church, when he formerly prayed that the apostles might be united
with him, and might behold the glory of his reign. He now says that the love of
the Fatheris the cause ofit; and, therefore, it follows that he was beloved, in so
far as he was appointed to be the Redeemerofthe world. With such a love did
the Fatherlove himbefore the creation of the world, that he might be the
person in whom the Fatherwould love his elect.

STEVEN COLE
Verse 24
24.Father, I will.Towill is put for to desire; (129)for it expressesnot a
command but a prayer. But it may be understoodin two ways; either that he
willsthat the disciples may enjoy his eternal presence, or, that God may, at
length, receive them into the heavenly kingdom, to which he goes before them.
That they maybehold my glory. Some explain beholding hisglory to mean,
partaking of the glory which Christ has. Others explain it to be, to know by
the experience offaith what Christ is, and how greatis his majesty. For my
own part, after carefully weighing the whole matter, I think that Christ
speaks ofthe perfect happiness of believers, as if he had said, that his desire
will not be satisfiedtill they have been receivedinto heaven. In the same
manner I explain the Beholding of the glory. At that time they saw the glory of
Christ, just as a man shut up in the dark obtains, through small chinks, a
feeble and glimmering light. Christ now wishes that they shall make such
progress as to enjoy the full brightness of heaven. In short, he asks that the
Father will conduct them, by uninterrupted progress, to the full vision of his
glory.
For thou lovedstme. This also agrees betterwith the personof the Mediator
than with Christ’s Divinity alone. It would be harsh to say that the Father
loved his Wisdom; and though we were to admit it, the connectionof the
passageleads us to a different view. Christ, unquestionably, spoke as the Head
of the Church, when he formerly prayed that the apostles might be united
with him, and might behold the glory of his reign. He now says that the love of
the Fatheris the cause ofit; and, therefore, it follows that he was beloved, in so
far as he was appointed to be the Redeemerofthe world. With such a love did
the Fatherlove himbefore the creation of the world, that he might be the
person in whom the Fatherwould love his elect.
JOHN MACARTHUR
The Lord’s GreatestPrayer, Part 8
• Sermons
• John 17:24–26

We come this morning to our final look at this marvelous seventeenthchapter
of John. You can open your Bible to that chapter right now. We have covered
the first twenty-three verses, whichleaves the three at the very end. But I
want to read, starting in verse 20, just so that you have the setting for that
final portion.
John 17:20, “I do not ask on behalf of these alone,” - that is the disciples, the
apostles - “but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they
may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also
may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory
which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as
We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfectedin unity, so
that the world may know that You sentMe, and loved them, evenas You have
loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with
Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for
You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father,
although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have
known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and
will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them,
and I in them.”
The final request of our Lord, in the last sectionof this chapter, or the last
portion of this prayer, is given in verse 24:“Father, I desire that they also,
whom You have given Me, be with Me” – “be with Me.” Thatis the promise
to everyone who is redeemed, everyone who is justified, everyone who is
Christ’s, that we will one day be in heavenwith Him. On paper, on biblical
paper to be sure, that is the greatend, the glorious end, the incomparable end,
the indescribable end to which all of us look and for which we long. But in
reality, we live our lives so earthbound, that it’s very difficult for us to
experience realanticipation for heaven.
How often do you actually think about heaven? How often do you think about
being free from sin? How often do you think about being perfectly holy?
Beyond that, how often do you actually think about being in the presence of
the Lord Jesus Christ?
Do you understand the anticipation of David in Psalm16:11 when he says, “In
Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures
forever”? Do you really understand what Paul meant when he wrote that “My
desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is much better”? Do you
understand the longing of his heart to be absentfrom the body and to be at
home with the Lord?

All of us as believers in Colossians 3:1 have been told to keeppursuing, “keep
seeking the things above, where Christ is, seatedatthe right hand of God.” All
of us as believers are headedto heaven. I fear that we really don’t grasp the
reality of what heaven is. Yes, it is a real place, but it is not so much defined as
a place as it is as a person. David said, “In Your presence, in Your right hand,
that’s where joy lies, that’s where pleasures are kept.” Paul said, “My desire,
to depart and be with Christ,” he said, “to be at home with the Lord.” He told
us to “seekthe things that are above where Christ is.”
We all know something about heaven. We all know what the Bible says about
heaven to one degree oranother, but it’s easyfor us to get caughtup in
descriptions of a place and not understand that the heart of heavenis the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will never see Godbecause Godis
invisible. We will never see the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is invisible. We
will see Christ. We as believers are headed to heaven. We will see Him
glorified there. We will share His glory. We will enter into love and joy and
satisfactionand fulfillment that is beyond comprehension.
We actually should be living all the time in a full anticipation of heaven. Our
Father is there, that’s how we pray: “Our Fatherwho art in heaven.” Our
fellow believers who have died are there, the generationof those who are
enrolled in heaven, “the spirits of just men made perfect.” Our names are
there, which means there’s a place that belongs to us; we have an entitlement.
In Luke 10:20 Jesus said, “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subjectto
you, but rejoice that your names are recordedin heaven.” Our citizenship is
there. Our inheritance is there - an inheritance which is “imperishable,
undefiled, will not fade away, reservedin heaven for us.” Our holiness is
there. Our perfectionis there. Our sinlessnessis there. Our eternalreward is
there.
Our Lord said in Matthew, chapter 5, “Rejoiceandbe glad, for your reward
in heaven is great.” But most important, our Savioris there, standing at the
right hand of God, according to Acts 7 at the end of the chapter. When
Stephen lookedup, he saw the Savior standing at the right hand of God. He
has gone there to prepare a place for us in the Father’s house. Heaven is all
about being with Him; our Savior is there.
God’s purpose in salvationwas to bring us to heaven. God had an ultimate
purpose from the very beginning. From eternity past - when He chose who
would be in heaven - to eternity future - when all whom He chose will be in
heaven - God is fulfilling His plan. God’s purpose is simply stated in Hebrews
2:10, “Forit was fitting for Him” - that is God– “for whom are all things, and

through whom are all things” - which is to sayHe’s in charge of everything –
“it was fitting for Him, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfectthe author of
their salvationthrough suffering.” The purpose of God is to bring many sons
to glory.
For those of you who haven’t been with us, just a quick reminder. We have
been talking about God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - the triune
God. God is a trinity - one being and yet three persons. God is love. Love can
only exist where you have more than one person. God is a trinity and Godis
love, because Godloves – Father loves the Son, and so forth.
The Fatheris love and He loves the Son. He loves the Son, as we’ve seen, with
an infinite, eternal, intimate love - incomprehensible to us. God is satisfiedin
loving; God is fulfilled in loving; Godis glorified in loving. God wanted many
more sons to love, and He wanted to love them as He loved His eternalSon. So
the Fatherdecided to create a universe. If you wonder why we exist, it isn’t an
accident. It is because the eternal God is a God of love and setout to create
sons that He could eternally love. He chose and prepared the creation. He
allowedfor sin and the Fall to put His mercy, grace, andsalvation on display.
He sent His own Son to die in the place of the sons of His love, to redeemthem
from judgment, in order that He might have His justice satisfiedand forgive
their sin and bring them to glory. The Lord Jesus was the sacrifice for our
sins; He purchased our salvation.
He also is the GreatHigh Priest who prays us into glory – and that’s what’s
going on in John 17. He not only lived for us a perfect life that could be
imputed to our account;He not only died for us to provide the sacrifice for
our sin; He not only rose for us to grant us life; but He ever-lives, making
intercessionfor us, praying us into glory againstall attacks, allassaults, all
failures, all sin. He stands at the right hand of God the Fatheron our behalf,
the attorney for our defense, praying us into glory. That is what Paul calls in
Romans 5 his “much more” work.
As I’ve been saying, His death is a matter of hours on the cross, His
resurrectionafter a matter of days. His intercessiongoes onas long as time
goes on. He is both the sacrifice and the GreatHigh Priestof our confession.
In John 17, we have the only biblical example of His intercessoryprayer, and
the point of it all is to bring sons to glory, all His sons. In order to accomplish
this, He brings requests before the Father.
Now as we come down to the text that I read you at the end of the chapter, you
will remember from last week that I told you there are two final requests. Our
Lord has two final requests of the Father. The first is a prayer for the

regenerationof believers. The first is a prayer for the regenerationof
believers, that we would be one in the world – and that’s verses 21-23;and we
talkedabout that in detail last time. It is a prayer that they may be one, not in
some kind of practical outworking of visible unity, but “that they may be one,
even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You,” which means that they are one
in the sense that they possesseternallife, that they may be one in the sense of
regenerationin life shared by the Fatherand the Son. This is a prayer for
internal life.
To simplify it, it’s a prayer for them to be given eternallife, salvation, the
eternal life that He spoke ofback in verse 3. This is a prayer that God would
grant salvation and eternal life, the very life of God to all who believe, to all
who believe. And by the way, He is asking for God to do what God already
planned to do and promised to do for all who put their trust in His Son. The
petition then is not that we would get along with eachother. The petition is the
dead, blind, deaf, alienatedsinners who do not know God, who belong to
Satan, who operate within the kingdom of darkness, and who are given the
ability to believe by the Holy Spirit. Upon that believing will be granted life,
forgiveness, andbecome literally one with God and Christ and the Spirit. He
is not praying for some kind of progressive, externalunity of behavior, He is
praying for a perfected, instantaneous unity of being.
Just to remind you that that is what is on His mind. In verse 23 He said again,
along those same lines, He’s talking about making them one, in the sense that
We are one: “I in them, You in Me, that they may be perfectedin unity” –
“that they may be perfected in unity.” The original text here is what we call a
perfect passive participle – “having been perfected,” an alreadyaccomplished
act. “I am praying that they will already have been perfected while they are in
the world.”
So He’s not talking about glorification. He’s talking about regeneration. In
other words, He’s talking about us being redeemed; being given new life,
regeneration;conversion, the unity of common, eternallife. He wants that, of
course, to take place in the world “so that the world may believe,” the end of
verse 21, “so that the world may know that You sent Me,” verse 23.
So His first prayer is for the regenerationofbelievers in the world so that the
world can see what transformation takes place by the powerof God through
the gospel. We then, as we already know from this chapter, are sent into the
world to put that on display while we proclaim the gospel. He is praying for
the salvationof those who believe, and that they would be granted the full
eternal life that belongs to the triune God, that we would be in every sense

joined to God and joined to one another. Like 1 Corinthians 6:17, “He that is
joined to the Lord is one spirit.”
Such transformation will be manifest. It can’t help but be manifest. It’ll show
up in goodworks to which we have been foreordained (Ephesians 2:10). It’ll
show up in the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, gentleness,goodness,faith,
meekness,self-control” – all evidences oftransformation and the indwelling of
God. So His first prayer is that God will bring eternal life to all who believe in
the world so that the world may see the powerof God in salvationand be
drawn to it.
Now there’s one final request. The first request was a prayer for regeneration
and unity in the world. The secondand last is, and fittingly, a prayer for
glorificationand one in heaven - that we might be one in heaven. He wants us
one on the earth, manifestly possessing that eternallife which puts the gospel
on display. But His final prayer is that we would all be one in heaven.
Here is the ultimate; here is the ultimate: the Son prays for the Fatherto
bring all His chosensons to glory. Again, Jesus is praying us into heaven.
We’re going to heaven; that’s a promise. The reasonthat promise is fulfilled,
the means for that to be fulfilled, is the intercessoryprayer of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Listen to the words of Paul to the Colossians in chapter 1: “We give thanks to
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we
heard of your faith in Jesus Christ and the love which you have for all the
saints; because ofthe hope laid up for you in heaven.” Paul says, “I’m like
Christ; I’m following His lead. I have heard about your faith. I’ve heard that
you believe the gospel, and now I’m praying on the basis of your hope that is
waiting in heaven. I’m praying for you; I’m praying for you to getto heaven.”
Our Lord is the one who prays us into heaven; He wants us there. Now go
down to verse 24. Here’s His desire, the ultimate desire of Christ: “Father, I
desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am.” We
can stop there for a moment. What a statement. He does not say, “I am willing
to acceptthem into heavenbecause You cleanedthem up.” He says, “I desire
that they also, whom You’ve given Me, be with Me where I am.”
It is not difficult to understand that we would desire to be with Him. It is
staggering to think that He desires to be with us. He wants us to be with Him.
He doesn’t want everybody; He just wants “those whom,” He says to the
Father, “You have given Me.” How many times have we seenthat statement
in this chapter? Verse 2: “All whom You have given Me.” Verse 6: “The men
You gave Me.” Verse 9: “Those whomYou have given Me.” Verse 12: “Which

You have given Me.” He said the same thing, chapter6: “All that the Father
gives to Me will come to Me.”
What gives us value is not intrinsic to us. It is because we are the Father’s
chosenlove gifts to the Son. I mean, you understand that in a simple way. You
go to a store and see something nice, and you buy it and bring it home, and it
sits around and collects dust, or it does whateverit does and serves a certain
aesthetic orfunctional value for you. But if that same objecthad come into
your home as a gift of love from the personwho loves you most, it takes on
completely different significance. It’s treated very differently, because
somehow it personifies all that is bound up in that love; and that is where we
find our value. It is not that the value that I have to Christ that makes Him
desire to have me in heaven with Him is intrinsic to me. It is because ofthe
Father choosing me as a gift of the Father’s love. It is the Father loving the
Son and the Son loving the Father, and I getcaught in the middle, thankfully.
In Ephesians, chapter1, and verse 3, we know those familiar words:“Blessed
be the God and Fatherof our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessedus with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in
Him before the foundation of the world.” What gives me value to Christ is
that I have been chosenby His Father, and I am a love gift from the Father to
the Son. So are you if you’re a believer.
So our Lord has a desire, in verse 24, and the desire is: “I desire that they
also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am.” And by the way,
He’s certainly not talking about Jerusalemwhere He is when He prayed that.
He’s not talking about Gethsemane where He’s about to be in a few moments
after the prayer. He’s talking about heaven. He’s already anticipating heaven.
It’s on His mind, back in verse 11: “I am no longerin the world; yet they
themselves are in the world, and I come to You.” Verse 13: “Now I come to
You.” He’s already anticipating heaven, and His desire is for eternal
fellowship with us, the chosensons of God.
As I said at the beginning, God has more love to give than what He gave His
Son. So in infinite love, He wants many sons. That’s why Ephesians 1 also
says, “Godchose us to adopt us as sons.” We are sons of God, given as a
collective bride to Christ. We are headed for heaven - and please notice - “to
be with Me,” He said, “where I am.” Fellowship. Psalm23: “We will dwell in
the house of the Lord forever.” He strongly desires to be with us, because we
are the Father’s love gifts to Him.
In 1 John, chapter 3, verse 1 we read, “See how greata love the Father has
bestowedon us, that we should be calledchildren of God; and such we are.”

Who can measure this love? All John can say is, “See how greata love.” He
doesn’t even use a lot of adjectives.
We have been so loved by the Father. We haven’t deservedit, we haven’t
earned it. Purely on the basis of God’s uninfluenced choice and sovereignty,
we have been given to Christ, we have become children of God - more sons.
The world doesn’t know this. Why? John says, “Becausewe are now the
children of God, but it doesn’tyet appear what we will be. But we know that
when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is.”
That’s heaven, seeing Christ just as He is. Heaven is seeing Christ, being with
Him.
And, again, as I said lastweek, if you love anything in this world more than
Christ, then heaven is loss. If your affections are more attachedto any other
relation or any other possessiononthis earth than Christ, then heaven will be
loss. Now, obviously, if you’re a believer, you don’t totally love the world. “If
you love the world,” 1 John 2 says, “the love of the Fatheris not in you.” But
it’s amazing how entangledwe become in the world. One of the reasons thatin
a lifetime of ministry my desire has been to cultivate in you Christ, constantly
bringing Christ before you, is to fill your life with the realities of Christ, so
that He draws out all your affections. And if you love Christ most, then
heaven will be fulfillment.
Now, why does He want us there, to be with Him for what reason? Two
reasons. Reasonnumber one, verse 24:“So that” - that’s a purpose clause -
“so that.” “I desire that they be with Me where I am, so that they may see My
glory which You have given Me” – “My glory which You have given Me” –
“for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” He wants us there to
see His glory. He wants us there to see His glory.
When He came down to earth, His glory was veiled, right? John 1:14 says,
“We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begottenof the Father, full of
grace and truth.” What does John mean, “We beheld His glory”? What do
you mean you saw His glory? He just lookedlike a man. He lookedlike any
other man. What do you mean you saw His glory? “We saw His glory revealed
in grace and truth. We knew that when we were seeing grace and truth, we
were seeing the glory of God. We saw it manifest in those attributes.” His true
glory was veiled, but His attributes shone through. There was only a moment
when they glimpsed His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, Matthew 17,
and they all literally fell overin just a glimpse of His unveiled glory.

The apostle Paulsays in 2 Corinthians 4 that the Lord Jesus Christ is, is God,
the glory of God shining. Christis the glory of God shining. In fact, it even
says, “The glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ.”
But now we only know that by faith, don’t we? We only know that by faith.
The disciples only knew that by faith. Paul had some visions, but they were
blinding on the Damascus Road. He went blind. He had some other visions,
but they were very indistinct; and he even says when he went to heaven that
he was not even permitted to speak of it, and couldn’t even understand
whether he was in the body or out of the body. It was just too supernatural for
him to define. But, when we get to heaven, I just read you 1 John 3:2, “We will
see Him just as He is.”
What do you think you’re going to see? Whenyou think about heaven and
you think about Jesus. Forgetthe nonsense in all the books written by people
who didn’t go to heaven but said they did. When you think about heaven,
what do you think about? You think about Jesus. Whatdo you think about?
Kind of an olive-complexionedman with long hair and a nice robe with a rope
around His waist maybe. Or maybe, you come out of a Catholic background,
when you think in your mind about Christ, you see Him on a cross, because
you saw that so long in your life. You can’t sort of get rid of it. Or maybe
there are a few of you who even when you were kids saw Christ coming out of
a tomb in a picture or something, and maybe He had a glowing light around
His head or halo, and that’s the Jesus you think of. Or maybe some of you had
a picture in your house of Jesus hanging somewhere – supposedto be Jesus –
and you grew up with that, and that’s your view of Him.
You can forgetall of that. That isn’t even close;that is not even close. When
you see Him as He is, you will see Him the way He is describedin Revelation
21. So let’s look at Revelation21.
Now we can just kind of pick part of the description of heaven. The material is
jasper. The city is pure gold like pure clear glass, a transparentgold. And
then there are precious stones adorning the foundation stones, allbeautifully
coloredstones, mentioned in verses 19-20.And then there are shining,
brilliant pearls that you know reflect the colors of the rainbow. And the street
is pure, transparent glass.
Okay, now you’re looking into the New Jerusalem, the capital city of the
infinite heaven, infinite heaven. It has no boundary, it has no end, the infinite
heaven. “And there’s no temple,” verse 22, “for the Lord God and the
Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or
the moon to shine on it.” You are now in eternal heaven and there is no, no

light. You don’t need any light, “for the glory of God has illumined it, and its
lamp is the Lamb.”
There’s one light in infinite heaven - it’s Christ. That’s beyond
comprehension. “All the peoples will walk by its light. Kings of the earth will
bring their glory into it. In the daytime, there will be no night.”
Downin chapter22, verse 3, “There’ll no longer be any curse;the throne of
God and the Lamb will be in it...His bond-servants will serve Him; they will
see His face.” Oh, here we are:the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus.
“And His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longerbe any
night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp or the light of a sun,
because the Lord God will illumine them.”
There’s one light. God lights up infinite heavenwith one lamp, and that lamp
is Christ - full display, full display. The glory of the eternal Son,
incomprehensible to us. We will see Christ in all His glory - limitless. Unlike
Moses,who saw a little bit of glory when God tuckedHim into a rock, we will
see the full, blazing glory. And we will not be consumed, because we will be
holy.
Why does He want us to see this glory? So that we “will see,”back to verse 24,
“see Myglory” - Why? - “because Iwant them to see that You loved Me
before the foundation of the world.” How does that connect? Again, all the
glory, all the glory, all the glory of God is shining in the face of Christ
limitlessly. It lights up infinite heaven, and our Lord is saying, “All that glory
given to Me to become the Lamp of an infinite heaven is an expressionof the
Father’s love to Me.” When you enter heaven and you see the glory of Christ,
you will know how much the Father loved the Son to give Him that much
glory.
When we read, “My beloved Son, in whom I’m well-pleased,” we have such a
small, infinitesimal, puny conceptof what that means. Some day when you
walk into heaven, whether you go by rapture or by death – we’re all going to
go there – you’re going to see suchglory radiating from Christ that He’s the
only lamp in the infinite, eternal heaven forever. And that glory coming
through Jesus Christ, which you will see face-to-face, thatglory coming
through Christ will demonstrate to you how much the Father has eternally
loved the Son to give Him such infinite glory.
The Fatherloves the Son, and all of redemption is to get us to heaven so that
we can see how much the Father loves the Son. We are loved as well. We are
loved into heaven, so that we can see how much the Fatherloves the Son. We
will see His staggering, incomprehensible glory;and we will know the fullness

of the Father’s love for Him. We will spend foreverpraising and honoring our
Savior and redeemer as we behold His glory.
So, first of all, the Lord wants us into heaven to see His glory; and, secondly,
to know His love, to know His love – not just to see that He is love, but to
experience it. Look at verses 25 and 26: “O righteous Father” - calledHim
“holy Father” earlier in verse 11 - “O righteous Father, although the world
has not known You” - we’ve seenthat – “yet I have know You; these have
know that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them” - His
disciples, apostles, those who believe – “and will make it known.” That’s right.
Christ says, “I’m going to continue to make Your name known, and I’m going
to fill out the whole history of redemption by gathering in all your beloved
sons. I will continue to make it known.” And He does that through His Spirit,
through His Word. Why? Here’s the second“so that,” the secondpurpose
clause. First, “So that they may see My glory” - here – “so that the love with
which You loved Me may be” - Where? – “in them, and I in them. I want them
with Me, to see My glory. I want them with Me to know My love, the love with
which You love Me.” It is just stunning.
That’s what was saidat the end of verse 23, right? “You loved them, even as
You loved Me.” That’s why I try to help you to imagine how much the Father
loves the Son. If there is no light in heaven but Him, He’s the only lamp in the
infinite glory of heaven; and that He, being given all glory, becomes the sole
source of glory in all of heavenis therefore on display as the One whom the
Father loves - loves so greatly that all glory is in Him displayed. And now, He
says, “I want them here, not only to see My glory, but I want them here to
experience My love, the love with which the Father loves Me, so that the love
with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” And, of course, that
incorporates that we would love Him back.
So if you want to define heaven, you just gotthe definition. It’s all glory and
all love, all glory and all love. God is love and eternally loved His Son -
infinitely loved His Son, intimately loved His Son; and eternally, infinitely,
and intimately loves all of His sons, all of us. And His eternal Son wants to
bring us all to glory so that we can see the manifestationof how much the
Father loves Him, and so that we canalso experience it ourselves. Godcannot
love His Son any more than He does;He cannot love us any more than He
does. His mediatorial work, to bring us to glory, is to bring us into that
incomprehensible love; and He will getus there.
Hebrews 7 says, “The former priests existed in greaternumbers because they
were prevented by death from continuing.” They all died. “But Jesus” - on the

other hand – “because He continues forever, holds His priesthood
permanently; therefore, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God
through Him, since He alwayslivesto make intercessionfor us.” He’s able to
get us to glory.
Patricia and I were in Scotlandsome months ago, and we were traveling
around the borderlands in the south of Scotlandwith Iain and JeanMurray.
And we were on a bit of a trip to discover some of the locations of the great
ministry of Samuel Rutherford - obviously Iain Murray’s theologianand
historian without equal, and had a speciallove for Rutherford. So we were
chasing around the borderlands of Scotlandand eventually ended up in
Anwoth, a tiny, tiny village where Samuel Rutherford, probably the second
greatestfigure in the ScottishReformationnext to John Knox, had ministered
so effectively for years. Very, very small, small little church; the walls were
still there. We spent some time getting to know SamuelRutherford.
In preparation for that trip, I read a biography of Rutherford, and he died in
1661. In that time of history, there was a very, very looming reality in
everybody’s life, and that was death. People didn’t live very long, and there
were all kinds of diseases, allkinds of plagues, all kinds of things that could
take lives. They lived without a lot of earthly treasure, and they lived with a
very stark reality that death was looming over everyone’s life. So they talked
about that; they preached about that.
Samuel Rutherford said a lot about death and heaven. He talked about
heaven; and when talkedabout heaven, he talked about Christ. He talked
about what theologians calledthe “beatific vision,” the ultimate beatitude.
The ultimate blessing is the vision of Christ in glory. That was Rutherford.
Two hundred years later, after Rutherford, there was a pastorin a free
church, a Presbyterian church in Scotland, whose wife Anne – Anne Cousin
was her name – was a Scottishpoet. And Anne loved Samuel Rutherford’s
writings two hundred years later, and she was writing hymns. She would
write hymns for her husband’s church. And in 1854 she wrote a hymn, a
poem, and the title of it was “The Last Words of Samuel Rutherford.”
That’s an odd title for a hymn. It was basedon his deathbed saying as he
anticipated seeing the Lord. That hymn had nineteen verses. Six of them are
in our new hymnal under the title “The Sands of Time are Sinking,” which
was the first line of the original nineteen verses. The hymn is a reflectionon
seeing Christ. The hymn ends with this line: “The Lamb is all the glory of
Immanuel’s land.” That’s how it ends. That’s the vision you have to have.

John Owen, powerful English Puritan, was a contemporaryof Samuel
Rutherford, and he, like Rutherford and like many others, thought a lot about
seeing Christ in heaven. John Owenwrote, “Godin His immense essenceis
invisible to our corporealeyes, and it will be so for eternity; we will never see
Him. As also He is incomprehensible to our minds, for nothing canperfectly
comprehend that which is infinite, but what is itself infinite. The blessedand
blessing sight which we shall see of God will always be the face of Christ,” so
says John Owen, “the face of Christ.”
We will see the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ in lighting the
eternal heaven. We will see that glory and know that glory as a manifestation
of divine love. We will be sweptup in that glory. We will become reflectors of
that glory. That glory will shine on us and off of us. We will radiate that glory
through all of heaven, and we will also swim in that same love. We will be
loved by the Father the same way He loves His eternalSon.
Father, we thank You for a wonderful morning and wonderful weekslooking
in this chapter, and feel like we’ve been inadequate in grasping its immense
realities. Lord, just the smallestgraspof Your garment is more than we could
ever have hoped for. Thank You for the grace that redeems us, the grace that
promises us this glorious heaven. We pray for those who have not confessed
Christ, who resist, who hold out. Lord, may they see whatawaits those who
believe, and may You fill their hearts with dread for what awaits those who
reject. Send us on our way, rejoicing for what is prepared for them that love
Him. We ask and thank You for all these things in the name of Christ. Amen.
John 17:22-26
Sunday Morning Bible Study
February 2, 1997
Introduction
Jesus is on His last night with His beloved disciples.
He's given them plenty of instruction and warning about the times ahead
as He leaves them.
He ends by praying for them.

reread John 17:20-21
Jesus is praying not just for His eleven disciples, but He's praying for us as
well.
Quote:
RobertMurray McCheyne -
"If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not
fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is
praying for me."
:22-26 Glory
:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them
There is a flow of ideas in verses 22-23 (which go together)
The key to seeing this flow of ideas is to track the use of the word "that".
(It might be useful to circle your "that"s)
The word "that" shows the purposethat something is done for. ("I
have come that they may have life" is the idea "I have come for the
purposethat they may have life")
Jesus gives us glory ...
1) That we would have unity, just like the unity of the Father and Jesus,
and the unity of Jesus being in us and the Father in Him.
2) That we would be made perfect in unity.
3) And that the world may know that the Father has sent Jesus, and that
the Father has loved us just as much as He loved Jesus.
What is this glory?
It's important, since the other three things stem from it.
This isn't an easy question.
Keep in mind the verb tense Jesus is using, it's something that Jesus
has already been given, and it's something that Jesus has already given
to His disciples.
So it can't refer to something like the shining brightness that Jesus
displayed on the Mount of Transfiguration (that's still future for the
disciples).
It can't refer to the glory of a resurrected body(that too is future).

It's His Power
When Jesus displayed His power through miracles, He displayed His
glory.
Joh 2:11 Thisbeginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee,
and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
Have the disciples already been given the power and authority to do
miracles?
Yes.
(Mat 10:1 KJV) And when he had called unto him his twelve
disciples, he gave them power againstunclean spirits, to cast them
out, and to heal all mannerof sickness and all mannerof disease.
John wrote:
(John 1:12 KJV) But as manyas received him, to them gave he
power (authority) to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name:
That includes us.
Lesson:
Do you realize what you have there?
Illustration:
Some people like to look for treasures at yard sales.
I've known people who have found expensive instruments or
rare books, and bought them for pennies, becausethe people
who were selling them didn't know their value.
Do we really understand the glory, the power, the authority, that God
has given to us as Christians?
I often think that we don'tappreciate it because we don't
understand it.
Illustration:
I have to laugh when people buy things they don'tever take the
time to learn to use.
It's kind of like an accountant who has a computer sitting on his
desk, but because he's afraid to take the time to figure it out, he
still continues to use an adding machine and ledger paper.

Maybe we don'treally understand the authority and power God has
given to us.
But that shouldn't keep us back from learning about it, and putting
it to good use.
:22 that they may be one, even as we are one:
Here's the first thing that is to result from the glory He's given to us.
Lesson:
Jesus wants us united.
He hasn't given us His authority, His glory, so that we can try to outdo
each other.
Illustration:
If you hitch six Clydesdale horses to a wagon, all pulling in
different directions, the wagon isn't going to go anywhere.
But if you get them all pulling in the same direction, they can pull
a lot of weight.
We don'thave to be a bunch of identical Christians.
We don'tall have to sing in unison, we can harmonize.
It's about working together.
:23 I in them, and thou in me
If we're not careful, this can all sound like a bunch of gibberish, kind of like
something some eastern guru might tell us ... something about being "one
with the universe ..."
All Jesus is saying is that the unity we are to have is like the unity that the
Son and the Father have.
He's simply restating what He's just said in verse 22:
"that they may be one, even as we are one:"
:23 that they may be made perfect in one
be made perfect - teleioo - to make perfect or complete.
The idea is that there is a sense of "completeness" when there's unity.
Here's the second thing to result from the glory He's given us.
The glory is to bring unity.

The unity is to bring maturity.
Lesson:
Maturity comes through working with others.
It's not uncommon for people to have a hard time getting along with
other people.
"After all, the world is full of jerks, except of coursefor me."
Some of us get to thinking that we're better off without all those
jerks.
But the truth is, we'll never grow to maturity without each other.
Paul describes the church as a living organism, as a "body".
(1 Cor 12:20-22KJV) Butnow are they manymembers, yet but
one body. {21} And the eye cannot say unto the hand, Ihave no
need of thee: nor again thehead to the feet, I have no need of you.
{22} Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be
more feeble, are necessary:
If one of the parts of your bodydecides it doesn'tneed the other
parts, the whole bodyis affected, the whole bodyis sick.
Illustration:
From Aesop: One day it occurred to the members of the body
that they were doing all the work and that the belly was having
all the food. So they held a meeting and after a long discussion
decided to strike work until the belly consented to take its
propershare of the work. So for a day or two the hands refused
to take the food, the mouth refused to receive it and the teeth
had no work to do. But after a day or two members began to
find that they themselves were not in very active condition. The
hands could hardly move, the mouth was all parched and dry,
while the legs were unable to supportthe rest. Thus they found
that even the belly in its dull quiet way was doing necessary
work for the bodyand that all must work together or the body
would go to pieces.
Sometimes when you're struggling, you need someone to reach out
and help you.
And sometimes you can be the one to reach out and help someone
who is struggling.

Eccl 4:9-10 Twoare better than one; becausethey have a good
reward for their labour. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his
fellow: butwoe to him thatis alone when he falleth; for he hath not
another to help him up.
Sometimes we need each other to help us stay sharp.
(Prov 27:17 NASB) Iron sharpensiron, So one man sharpens
another.
But for iron to sharpen iron, it has to be close enough to rub, and
that can hurt.
You may not like that personthat seems to rub you wrong, but
perhaps God is sharpening you.
There is no such thing as a "Lone Ranger Christian", at least not a healthy
one.
:23 that the world may know that thou hast sent me
Here's the third thing that comes from the glory.
Last week we saw that the world would believe that the Father sent Jesus
through our unity, our "being one".
Here He's really saying that the world would know that the Father sent Jesus
through the glory that Jesus gives to us.
When they see the authority and power that Jesus has given to us, they'll
know that Jesus is for real.
Lesson:
Grow in the authority God gives you.
The more we understand and operate under the power and authority
that God has given to us, the greater the witness will be to those
around us.
Jesus said:
(Mat 5:14-16 KJV) Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set
on an hill cannot be hid. {15} Neither do men light a candle, and
put it undera bushel, buton a candlestick; and it giveth light unto
all that are in the house. {16} Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works, and glorify your Fatherwhich
is in heaven.

When people see God's powerat work through your life, they will
glorify your Father in heaven.
Paul wrote:
(2 Cor 4:7 TLB) Butthis precious treasure--this light and power
that now shine within us--is held in a perishable container, thatis,
in our weak bodies. Everyone can see that the glorious power
within must be from God and is not our own.
When they see that it's something above and beyond you, they'll
realize it's God at work.
Lesson:
Grow in prayer.
I think one aspectthat this authority is displayed in our lives is
through prayer.
Jesus said,
(John 14:13 KJV) And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that
will I do, thatthe Fathermay be glorified in the Son.
Prayer isn't an easy thing to do.
It's not as easy as "name it and claim it".
Yes we must have faith.
But we must also pray according to God's will.
We must also pray with perseverance.
We must pray with thanksgiving.
I wonder if we need to learn to pray with fasting as well.
Quotes:
Charles Spurgeon -
"I would rather teach one man to pray than 10 men to preach."
Andrew Murray -
"The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make
the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history."
Illustration:
Two pastors' wives sat mending their husbands' pants. One of them
said to the other, "My poorJohn, he is so discouraged in his church

Jesus was wanting believers to see his glory

Jesus was wanting believers to see his glory

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