Chapter XVII.

Chapter XVII.1-5.As man, Christ prays to the Father for Himself.6-19.He prays for the Apostles.20-23.He prays for all the faithful.24-26.His last prayer for the Apostles.1. Haec locutus est Iesus: et sublevatis oculis in coelum, dixit: Pater venit hora, clarifica Filium tuum ut Filius tuus clarificet te:1. These things Jesus spoke, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said: Father, the hour is come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee.1.These things, we understand here of all that is comprised in the discourses just recorded (xiii. 31-xvi. 33). Having completed His words of warning and consolation and love, Jesus now turns from teaching to prayer, from earth to heaven, from His children to His Father.Glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee.Christ,as man, prays to His Father; and the sense is: The time of My trial is come; do not desert Me, but glorify Me by exalting My humanity to a participation in the glory of the Divinity; that so, by My resurrection and ascension, I may give glory to Thee, by giving eternal life to all whom Thou hast given me107(verse 2).2. (a) Sicut dedisti ei potestatem omnis carnis, ut omne quod dedisti ei, det eis vitam aeternam.2. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he may give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him.2. These words explainhowChrist will glorify the Father, namely, by giving eternal life to all whom the Father had given Him.All fleshis a Hebraism for all mankind (Johni. 14); and by another Hebraism the nominative“omne”of the Vulgate is redundant, the sense being as in our English version.This verse we connect with the last clause of verse 1, and take the sense to be: That[pg 295]Thy Son may glorify Thee,according asThou hast given Him power over all men,in order thatin them He may glorify Thee. In other words, Christ prays that the Father may bring about His own glory, which He had in view in giving Christ power over all men. There are various other interpretations, but the above seems to us best, as it connects naturally with the preceding, and retains the ordinary signification of καθώς and ἵνα.This power over all men, Christ, as God, possessed from eternity, and as God-man He obtained at His incarnation.Though He has power over all men, yet He does not give eternal life to all men, but only to thosewhom God has given Him(vi. 37), because only these correspond with His grace. This is implied in Christ's language here, for the words,“to all whom Thou has given Him,”explain the expression all flesh, and show that it is only in those who believe that the universal Power over“all flesh”is efficacious.3. Haec est autem vita aeterna: ut cognoscant te, solum Deum verum, et quem misisti Iesum Christum.3. Now this is eternal life: that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.3.Now this is eternal life, &c. The sense is: this is the pledge, the cause of eternal life (see Johniii. 36), that they know Theewith the knowledge of faith, know Thee to be the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. The Greek ἵνα γινώσκωσίν σε τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεόν shows that the Father is here said to be the only God, to the exclusion of other Gods, but not to the exclusion of other Persons who participate in the same Godhead. It is not meant that the Father is the only Divine Person. There are other Persons in the Godhead, but there is no other Godhead. The words mean, then, that they may know Thee to be the only true God, to the exclusion of all other Gods; but do not mean that they may know Thee alone to be the true God, to the exclusion of the Son and Holy Ghost.Many of the fathers adopt another interpretation of the verse, holding that the order of the words is inverted, and that Divinity is predicated of both the Father and Christ. They understand the verse thus: that they may know Thee and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent, to be the only true God. So SS. Aug., Amb., Hil., Greg. Naz., Athan., Cyp.[pg 296]The latter interpretation more clearly establishes Christ's Divinity against the Arians; but in any interpretation it is clear that Christ implies His own Divinity, since He declares that the knowledge of Himself, equally with that of the Father, is the cause and pledge of eternal life. He who had said:“I and the Father are one”(John x. 30), and who, a few verses farther down in this prayer, says to the Father:“All my things are thine, and thine are mine,”cannot reasonably be supposed to withdraw His claims to Divinity in the words before us.Some of the fathers, and many of the scholastics, hold that there is question in verse 3 not of the knowledge of God throughfaith, but of the knowledge of the blessed in heaven; and they argue from this verse to prove that the essence of life eternal consists inknowingGod; in other words, that the happiness of the blessed consists in an act of theintellect; namely, the vision of God.108Since we believe that the question here is of the knowledge of God through faith, and not through the beatific vision, we hold that no argument can be drawn from this verse as to the essence of the happiness of the blessed.4. Ego te clarificavi super terram: opus consummavi, quod dedisti mihi ut faciam:4. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do:4. Some understand these words as proleptic, and take the sense to be: I am about to glorify Thee by My death, to finish the work ofredemptionwhich thou gavest Me to do. Others understand of the work of preaching, which was now actually completed, and by which the Father's name and glory had been manifestedupon the earth. The latter interpretation seems to us the more natural, and more suited to the context, especially to verse 6:“I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou hast given me out of the world.”5. Et nunc clarifica me tu, Pater, apud temetipsum, claritate, quam habui, prius quam mundus esset, apud te.5. And now glorify thou me, O Father, with thyself, with the glory which I had, before the world was, with thee.5. In return for His having given glory to the Fatherupon the earth, Christ, as man, prays the Father to glorify Him in heaven. There is a difficulty here, arising from the fact that Christ[pg 297]seems to pray that the glory which as God He possessed from all eternity may be given to Himas man. Now, the glory of God is incommunicable, and even the blessed humanity of Christ is incapable of partaking fully thereof. Hence various interpretations have been advanced in order to explain this difficulty:—(1) Some say that Christ, as man, prays merely for that glory which,in the decrees of God, was givento His humanity from all eternity. But against this view is the fact that the fathers generally quoted the latter part of this verse to prove the eternal existence and Divinity of Christ.(2) Hence others, and we believe rightly, hold that in the latter part of the verse there is question of the Divine and eternal glory of Christ, and understand Him to pray that His humanity, according to its capacity, may be made to partake of the glory of the Divinity. Of course, the humanity was incapable of receiving the infinite glory of the Divinity; but the glorious qualities of Christ's glorified body are a participation, according to the capacity of the body, of the eternal glory of the Son.“Da ut claritas et gloria quam ego ut Deus ab aeterno tecum habeo, communicetur et extendatur usque ad carnem meam, quae propter dispensationem hactenus est suspensa”109(Tolet.)6. Manifestavi nomen tuum hominibus, quos dedisti mihi de mundo. Tui erant, et mihi eos dedisti: et sermonem tuum servaverunt.6. I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou hast given me out of the world. Thine they were, and to me thou gavest them: and they have kept thy word.6. This passage from verse 6-19 refers primarily to the Apostles, as appears from verses 12 and 18; and Christ prayed specially for them because He was sending them into the world, the heralds of His Gospel (verse 18), the foundations upon which His earthly kingdom was to be reared (Eph. ii. 20). The sense is: I have manifested Thy name,[pg 298]Thy gloryeffectually(He had manifested it to others, who refused to believe) to those whom Thou hast given Me to be My Apostles; they were Thine by election, &c.In this verse, as well as in verses 7 and 8, the correct reading is ἔδωκας (gavest), not δέδωκάς (hast given).1107. Nunc cognoverunt quia omnia, quae dedisti mihi: abs te sunt:7. Now they have known that all things which thou hast given me are from thee.8. Quia verba quae dedisti mihi, dedi eis: et ipsi acceperunt, et cognoverunt vere quia a te exivi, et crediderunt quia tu me misisti.8. Because the words which thou gavest me, I have given to them: and they have received them, and have known in very deed that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.9. Ego pro eis rogo: non pro mundo rogo, sed pro his quos dedisti mihi, quia tui sunt:9. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me: because they are thine:9.I pray for them.The pronouns are emphatic. For these men who on so many grounds are deserving of Thy grace and care, do I, to whom Thou gavest them, ask. But what does the Saviour of the world mean by saying that He does not pray for the world, He who on the cross prayed for the very men that crucified Him:“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”? (Luke xxiii. 34). Some reply that Christ speaks not of sufficient, but of efficacious prayer; but the true view is that He is speaking only of this particular prayer, in which He asks for the Apostles what the world was unfit and unwilling to receive (see verses 13, 17, 18).The fact, then, that He prays in this prayer, not for the Father's enemies, but for those who belong to both the Father and Himself is put forward as a reason why He ought to be heard by the Father.Because they are thine.These words sum up this first reason, and we take them as depending upon the phrase:“I pray for them”at the commencement of the verse.10. Et mea omnia tua sunt: et tua mea sunt: et clarificatus sum in eis.10. And all my things are thine, and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them.10.And all my things are thine, and thine are mine.[pg 299]Could anyone but God address God so? These words seem to be thrown in to give a reason for the statement:“they are thine,”the reason being that since they were Christ's (the Father had made them Christ's), they must be the Father's also, for“all my things are thine, and thine are mine.”The remaining words of this verse afford a second reason why the Father ought to hear Christ's prayer for the Apostles and watch over them, because Christ, through them, had been glorified before men, as a teacher is honoured by disciples attaching themselves to him. Or the words:“I am glorified,”may possibly be proleptic, and mean that Christ was to be glorifiedafterwardsthrough the preaching of the Apostles.11. Etiam non sum in mundo, et hi in mundo sunt, et ego ad te venio. Pater sancte, serva eos in nomine tuo, quos dedisti mihi: ut sint unum, sicut et nos.11. And now I am not in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, whom thou hast given me: that they may be one, as we also are.11. A third reason why they ought now to receive the Father's special care was because Christ was now leaving them, and they were to remain in the world.Keep them in thy name, whom thou hast given me.The sense of this reading is sufficiently evident. The best-supported Greek reading, however, is ὧ111(not οὕς), ὧ being attracted into the dative case of the preceding noun, and standing for ὁ. The most probable meaning of this Greek reading is: keep them in the confession of Thy name, in the knowledge of Thee, which Thou hast given to Me, and which I in turn have given to them; that they may be one by a union of faith and charity resembling, though in an imperfect way, the union between the Persons of the Blessed Trinity.12. Cum essem cum eis, ego servabam eos in nomine tuo. Quos dedisti mihi, custodivi: et nemo ex eis periit, nisi filius perditionis, ut scriptura impleatur.12. While I was with them, I kept them in thy name. Those whom thou gavest me have I kept: and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture may be fulfilled.12.I kept them.In the original, the imperfect tense ἐτήρουν brings out more clearly Christ's continuous care.[pg 300]In this verse, too, there is a difference of opinion as to whether οὐς or ὦ is the correct reading, but the Vulgate reading is more strongly supported here than in verse 11.And none of them is lost, but the son of perdition.“Son of perdition”is a Hebraism, signifying one devoted to destruction, as Judas was, through his own fault.None of them was lost in either soul or body except Judas, who was already lost as to his soul, though not irreparably; and who was soon to be irreparably lost both as to soul and body. But this loss of Judas was not to be ascribed to Christ, but took placein order that(see above onxii. 37-40) the Scripture (Ps. xl. 10) might be fulfilled. The Holy Ghost had predicted the ruin of Judas, because it was foreseen that this would certainly come about through the wretched Apostle's own fault. In the words:“none of them is lost,”we think there is question of both the bodies and souls of the Apostles; for while it is generally admitted that Christ here claims to have guarded thesoulsof the Apostles from spiritual ruin, John xviii.8,9, seems to prove, as we shall there show, that in the words before us Christ speaks of having guarded from harm their bodies also.13. Nunc autem ad te venio: et haec loquor in mundo, ut habeant gaudium meum impletum in semetipsis.13. And now I come to thee: and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy filled in themselves.13.These thingswe refer to what Christ had already spoken in the hearing of the Apostles in this prayer to the Father; namely, that He should give them life eternal (verse 2); that He should be glorified with the Father (verse 5); and that in His absence the Father would watch over them, and keep them in His name (verse 11).That they may have my joy filled(made full)in themselves.“My joy”might mean the joy they had received from Christ, or the joy they feltbecauseof Christ; but we think the most probable and most natural meaning is: that they may have the joy whichI feelin going to the Father, made full in themselves. Before this time He had said to them:“If you[pg 301]loved Me, you would indeedbe glad, because I go to the Father”(xiv. 28); and now He has spoken in this prayer of the glory which awaited Him, and of the care of the Father for the Apostles, in order that they may be reconciled to, and fully rejoice in, His departure to the Father.14. Ego dedi eis sermonem tuum, et mundus eos odio habuit, quia non sunt de mundo, sicut et ego non sum de mundo.14. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world; as I am not of the world.14.I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them.“I”(ἐγώ) is emphatic; I, Thy Son. This is afourthreason why the Father ought to watch over and guard the Apostles—the world hated them, and this because they had received the words of Christ, which are the words of the Father.Thoughinthe world, the Apostles were notofthe world, not imbued with its spirit, nor pandering to its tastes.15. Non rogo ut tollas eos de mundo, sed ut serves eos a malo.15. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil.15.From evil(ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ). This may refer to the evil of the wicked world which is sin, or to the devil, theevil one. The parallel passage in 1 John v. 18, 19 favours the latter view. These words, to which the Apostles were listening, gave them to know that they must not despair, and wish to quit the world when trials should come; but rather, remaining in the world, keep themselves unspotted from its defilements.16. De mundo non sunt, sicut et ego non sum de mundo.16. They are not of the world: as I also am not of the world.16. The last clause of verse 14 is repeated as the ground of another petition, namely, that the Father may“sanctify”them.In order to emphasize the point in their hearing, and also as a motive why God ought to hear the petition that follows, the fact that the Apostles are not men of the world is repeated and insisted upon by Christ.17. Sanctifica eos in veritate. Sermo tuus veritas est.17. Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth.17.In the truth, is the correct reading; not“inthy[pg 302]truth,”nor“in truth.”The word in which they are to be sanctified is probably the word of God, which Christ had preached, and which is referred to in the end of the verse:“Thy word is truth;”and not, as Mald. holds, the real sanctification of the New Law as opposed to the typical and merely external sanctification by which the priests of the Old Law were set apart for their functions.In the Gospel, then, and for the preaching of the Gospel Christ prays that the Apostles may be sanctified. But what does the word“sanctify”here mean? Sometimes the word ἁγιάζειν signifies to make holy, or to make more holy, or to keep more holy (1 Cor. vii. 11; 1 Thess. v. 23); at other times, it means to set apart or destine for an office; and in this sense it is generally used throughout the Old Testament. Both senses are probably combined in the word here, for it was by making and keeping them holy that the Apostles were to be efficaciously set apart by the Father for the sacred mission to which Christ had already called them.18. Sicut tu me misisti in mundum, et ego misi eos in mundum.18. As thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.18. This verse shows that the sanctification is prayed for especially with a view to their mission as Apostles.Have sent(Greek“did send”) is used proleptically, for the Apostles had not yet received their mission to theGentileworld. See Johnxx. 21; Matthew xxviii. 18, 19; Mark xvi. 15.19. Et pro eis ego sanctifico meipsum: ut sint et ipsi sanctificati in veritate.19. And for them do I sanctify myself: that they also may be sanctified in truth.19.And for them do I sanctify myself.St. Aug. understands of the sanctification wherewith the Son of God sanctified the humanity He assumed.“Quando Verbum caro factum est, tunc sanctificavit se in se, id est hominem se in Verbo se, quia unus Christus Verbum et homo: propter sua vero membra dicit: et pro eis ego sanctifico meipsum, hoc est, ipsos in me, quoniam in me etiam ipsi sunt et ego. Ut sint et ipsi sanctificati in veritate. Quid est‘et ipsi’nisi quemadmodum ego.”(St. Aug.in loc.).But the common opinion is that Christ speaks of the sacrifice of Himself which He was about to offer a few hours afterwards. In this view the meaning is: and for them do I set Myself apart, do I consecrate Myself as a victim, that they may be truly and efficaciously set apart and consecrated for the preaching of the Gospel. Thus while the word“sanctify”has[pg 303]in both clauses the same generic meaning of setting apart, there is yet a difference. Christ sets Himself apart, devotes Himself to death, that they may be consecrated in the fulness of grace for the work of the Apostleship. Christ sets Himself apart, but the Apostles are evidently to be set apart by the Father; that is to say, effectually fitted by the Father for the work to which Christ had already called them.In truth.(ἐν ἀληθείᾳ). The absence of the Greek article distinguishes this clause from that in verse 17. There the question is of“thetruth,”the word of God; here“in truth,”seems to be equivalent to truly, really—that they also may be truly sanctified. Compare 2 John 1; 3 John 1.20. Non pro eis autem rogo tantum, sed et pro eis qui credituri sunt per verbum eorum in me:20. And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me:20. Instead ofshall believethe more probable Greek reading has the present tense, as if Christ looked upon the Church of the future as actually present. He now prays not alone for the Apostles, but for all who should believe through their preaching. There is direct reference to the Apostles and their converts, but the prayer of Christ included the successors of both.21. Ut omnes unum sint, sicut tu Pater in me, et ego in te, ut et ipsi in nobis unum sint: ut credat mundus quia tu me misisti.21. That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee: that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.21. The unity of the faithful cannot, of course, equal the unity of nature in the Persons of the Blessed Trinity; but since it is here compared with the latter, we are justified in concluding that it is as perfect as possible; and hence a unity of intellect through faith, of will through charity, and of government through the due subordination of the different members. Such a moral miracle as this unity implies, must suppose aprincipleof unity in the Church; that is to say, a teaching and ruling authority by which this marvellous unity is Divinely secured.The wordsThat the world may believe that thou hast sent meshow that this unity was to be anoteof the true Church, pointing it out even to the wicked world as the Church of God.22. Et ego claritatem quam dedisti mihi, dedi eis: ut sint unum, sicut et nos unum sumus.22. And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them: that they may be one, as we also are one.22.And the glory which thou hast given me, I have[pg 304]given to them.Some understand“the glory”here mentioned to be the gift of working miracles; others, the gloryabout to be enjoyedby Christ's humanity, which is to be shared in by all the faithful after the day of judgment; others, the glorious privilege of Divine filiation which makes the faithful the adopted sons, as Christ was the natural Son, of God; others, in fine, the glory of the Divinity which Christ had just shared with the Apostles that night, and which He was to share with all the faithful in future, in giving them His own glorious and Divine Person in the Blessed Eucharist.We believe that either the third or fourth is the correct opinion. But it is not easy to choose between these two. The third is the more obvious, and is certainly very probable; but in favour of the fourth it must be said it was very natural that Christ speaking of the union of the faithful on this night when He had instituted the Blessed Eucharist, should refer to that wonderful cause and pledge of union which He had just left to the faithful in the Blessed Sacrament:“For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake112of one bread”(1 Cor. x. 17). See also Johnvi. 57.23. Ego in eis, et tu in me: ut sint consummati in unum: et cognoscat mundus, quia tu me misisti, et dilexisti eos, sicut et me dilexisti.23. I in them, and thou in me: that they may be made perfect in one; and the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast also loved me.23.I in them, and thou in me.This clause is in apposition to the last clause of the preceding verse:“that they may be one, as we also are one,”and explains how the union there spoken of is effected, namely, by the presence of Christ in the faithful.24. Pater, quos dedisti mihi, volo ut ubi sum ego, et illi sint mecum: ut videant claritatem meam, quam dedisti mihi, quia dilexisti me ante constitutionem mundi.24. Father, I will that where I am, they also whom thou hast given me may be with me: that they may see my glory which thou hast given me, because thou hast loved me before the creation of the world.24. Here, too, as in verses 11, 12, some of the critics read the neuter pronoun ὃ (that which) instead of ὁὺς (they whom). The Vulgate reading is at least equally[pg 305]probable. Having prayed in verses 20-21 for all the faithful, Christ now continues His prayer for the Apostles, as a comparison of this verse with verses 11 and 12 proves. And this, His last petition for them, is, that they may one day be made partakers of that glory which He as God enjoyed eternally, and into which as man He was to enter at His ascension.That they may see my glory; that is to say, see and enjoy the glory of My Divinity (reflected also in My humanity; see above on verse 5). We believe there is not question merely of the glory of Christ's humanity, for He seems to pray here that the Apostles may enjoy the bliss of heaven, which does not consist in the vision of Christ's humanity, but in the vision and enjoyment of the Divinity. If this is the correct view, and we think, with A Lap., that it is, then this glory was given from all eternity to the Son. The words:Because thou hast loved me, do not, in this view, state thecauseof the communication of the eternal glory of the Father to the Son. See above on chapter v., verse20.If the words be understood, as St. Aug. understood them, of Christ's humanity, then the meaning is: Share with My Apostles the glory which Thou artabout to bestowupon Me because from all eternity Thou hast loved Me, and predestined Meas manfor this glory. In this view the love of the Father for Christ as man is the reason why He glorifies Christ's humanity.The phrasebefore the creation of the world, or more accurately,“before the foundation of the world,”denotes that the world is not eternal; while Christ's claim to have been loved by the Father before creation, is a claim to personal existence before the world began, and indirectly, therefore, a claim to an eternal Personality.25. Pater iuste, mundus te non cognovit: ego autem te cognovi, et hi cognoverunt quia te me misisti.25. Just Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee: and these have known, that thou hast sent me.26. Et notum feci eis nomen tuum, et notum faciam: ut dilectio, qua dilexisti me, in ipsis sit, et ego in ipsis.26. And I have made known thy name to them, and will make it known; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in them.25, 26. These verses give a reason why the Father who isjust, and who rewards man's[pg 306]merits, even though these merits are themselves the result of His grace, ought to hear Christ's prayer. The reason is, because He who prays had known and loved the Father, and they for whom He prays had known and received Himself as the Messias. Moreover, He had made known the Father to them, and would do so still more, afterwards, through the Holy Ghost.That the love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in them.Here He states His object in making known the Father's name. It was in order that the special love of the Father might extend to them, and that He Himself might remain intimately united to them by His grace, and by the presence of the Divinity in their souls.With these beautiful and consoling words, which bespoke the special love of the Father for the Apostles, and His own enduring presence with them notwithstanding His departure, Christ concludes this sublime prayer to His eternal Father.[pg 307]

1-5.As man, Christ prays to the Father for Himself.6-19.He prays for the Apostles.20-23.He prays for all the faithful.24-26.His last prayer for the Apostles.

1-5.As man, Christ prays to the Father for Himself.

6-19.He prays for the Apostles.

20-23.He prays for all the faithful.

24-26.His last prayer for the Apostles.

1.These things, we understand here of all that is comprised in the discourses just recorded (xiii. 31-xvi. 33). Having completed His words of warning and consolation and love, Jesus now turns from teaching to prayer, from earth to heaven, from His children to His Father.

Glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee.Christ,as man, prays to His Father; and the sense is: The time of My trial is come; do not desert Me, but glorify Me by exalting My humanity to a participation in the glory of the Divinity; that so, by My resurrection and ascension, I may give glory to Thee, by giving eternal life to all whom Thou hast given me107(verse 2).

2. These words explainhowChrist will glorify the Father, namely, by giving eternal life to all whom the Father had given Him.

All fleshis a Hebraism for all mankind (Johni. 14); and by another Hebraism the nominative“omne”of the Vulgate is redundant, the sense being as in our English version.

This verse we connect with the last clause of verse 1, and take the sense to be: That[pg 295]Thy Son may glorify Thee,according asThou hast given Him power over all men,in order thatin them He may glorify Thee. In other words, Christ prays that the Father may bring about His own glory, which He had in view in giving Christ power over all men. There are various other interpretations, but the above seems to us best, as it connects naturally with the preceding, and retains the ordinary signification of καθώς and ἵνα.

This power over all men, Christ, as God, possessed from eternity, and as God-man He obtained at His incarnation.

Though He has power over all men, yet He does not give eternal life to all men, but only to thosewhom God has given Him(vi. 37), because only these correspond with His grace. This is implied in Christ's language here, for the words,“to all whom Thou has given Him,”explain the expression all flesh, and show that it is only in those who believe that the universal Power over“all flesh”is efficacious.

3.Now this is eternal life, &c. The sense is: this is the pledge, the cause of eternal life (see Johniii. 36), that they know Theewith the knowledge of faith, know Thee to be the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. The Greek ἵνα γινώσκωσίν σε τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεόν shows that the Father is here said to be the only God, to the exclusion of other Gods, but not to the exclusion of other Persons who participate in the same Godhead. It is not meant that the Father is the only Divine Person. There are other Persons in the Godhead, but there is no other Godhead. The words mean, then, that they may know Thee to be the only true God, to the exclusion of all other Gods; but do not mean that they may know Thee alone to be the true God, to the exclusion of the Son and Holy Ghost.

Many of the fathers adopt another interpretation of the verse, holding that the order of the words is inverted, and that Divinity is predicated of both the Father and Christ. They understand the verse thus: that they may know Thee and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent, to be the only true God. So SS. Aug., Amb., Hil., Greg. Naz., Athan., Cyp.[pg 296]The latter interpretation more clearly establishes Christ's Divinity against the Arians; but in any interpretation it is clear that Christ implies His own Divinity, since He declares that the knowledge of Himself, equally with that of the Father, is the cause and pledge of eternal life. He who had said:“I and the Father are one”(John x. 30), and who, a few verses farther down in this prayer, says to the Father:“All my things are thine, and thine are mine,”cannot reasonably be supposed to withdraw His claims to Divinity in the words before us.

Some of the fathers, and many of the scholastics, hold that there is question in verse 3 not of the knowledge of God throughfaith, but of the knowledge of the blessed in heaven; and they argue from this verse to prove that the essence of life eternal consists inknowingGod; in other words, that the happiness of the blessed consists in an act of theintellect; namely, the vision of God.108Since we believe that the question here is of the knowledge of God through faith, and not through the beatific vision, we hold that no argument can be drawn from this verse as to the essence of the happiness of the blessed.

4. Some understand these words as proleptic, and take the sense to be: I am about to glorify Thee by My death, to finish the work ofredemptionwhich thou gavest Me to do. Others understand of the work of preaching, which was now actually completed, and by which the Father's name and glory had been manifestedupon the earth. The latter interpretation seems to us the more natural, and more suited to the context, especially to verse 6:“I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou hast given me out of the world.”

5. In return for His having given glory to the Fatherupon the earth, Christ, as man, prays the Father to glorify Him in heaven. There is a difficulty here, arising from the fact that Christ[pg 297]seems to pray that the glory which as God He possessed from all eternity may be given to Himas man. Now, the glory of God is incommunicable, and even the blessed humanity of Christ is incapable of partaking fully thereof. Hence various interpretations have been advanced in order to explain this difficulty:—

(1) Some say that Christ, as man, prays merely for that glory which,in the decrees of God, was givento His humanity from all eternity. But against this view is the fact that the fathers generally quoted the latter part of this verse to prove the eternal existence and Divinity of Christ.

(2) Hence others, and we believe rightly, hold that in the latter part of the verse there is question of the Divine and eternal glory of Christ, and understand Him to pray that His humanity, according to its capacity, may be made to partake of the glory of the Divinity. Of course, the humanity was incapable of receiving the infinite glory of the Divinity; but the glorious qualities of Christ's glorified body are a participation, according to the capacity of the body, of the eternal glory of the Son.“Da ut claritas et gloria quam ego ut Deus ab aeterno tecum habeo, communicetur et extendatur usque ad carnem meam, quae propter dispensationem hactenus est suspensa”109(Tolet.)

6. This passage from verse 6-19 refers primarily to the Apostles, as appears from verses 12 and 18; and Christ prayed specially for them because He was sending them into the world, the heralds of His Gospel (verse 18), the foundations upon which His earthly kingdom was to be reared (Eph. ii. 20). The sense is: I have manifested Thy name,[pg 298]Thy gloryeffectually(He had manifested it to others, who refused to believe) to those whom Thou hast given Me to be My Apostles; they were Thine by election, &c.

In this verse, as well as in verses 7 and 8, the correct reading is ἔδωκας (gavest), not δέδωκάς (hast given).110

9.I pray for them.The pronouns are emphatic. For these men who on so many grounds are deserving of Thy grace and care, do I, to whom Thou gavest them, ask. But what does the Saviour of the world mean by saying that He does not pray for the world, He who on the cross prayed for the very men that crucified Him:“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”? (Luke xxiii. 34). Some reply that Christ speaks not of sufficient, but of efficacious prayer; but the true view is that He is speaking only of this particular prayer, in which He asks for the Apostles what the world was unfit and unwilling to receive (see verses 13, 17, 18).

The fact, then, that He prays in this prayer, not for the Father's enemies, but for those who belong to both the Father and Himself is put forward as a reason why He ought to be heard by the Father.

Because they are thine.These words sum up this first reason, and we take them as depending upon the phrase:“I pray for them”at the commencement of the verse.

10.And all my things are thine, and thine are mine.[pg 299]Could anyone but God address God so? These words seem to be thrown in to give a reason for the statement:“they are thine,”the reason being that since they were Christ's (the Father had made them Christ's), they must be the Father's also, for“all my things are thine, and thine are mine.”

The remaining words of this verse afford a second reason why the Father ought to hear Christ's prayer for the Apostles and watch over them, because Christ, through them, had been glorified before men, as a teacher is honoured by disciples attaching themselves to him. Or the words:“I am glorified,”may possibly be proleptic, and mean that Christ was to be glorifiedafterwardsthrough the preaching of the Apostles.

11. A third reason why they ought now to receive the Father's special care was because Christ was now leaving them, and they were to remain in the world.

Keep them in thy name, whom thou hast given me.The sense of this reading is sufficiently evident. The best-supported Greek reading, however, is ὧ111(not οὕς), ὧ being attracted into the dative case of the preceding noun, and standing for ὁ. The most probable meaning of this Greek reading is: keep them in the confession of Thy name, in the knowledge of Thee, which Thou hast given to Me, and which I in turn have given to them; that they may be one by a union of faith and charity resembling, though in an imperfect way, the union between the Persons of the Blessed Trinity.

12.I kept them.In the original, the imperfect tense ἐτήρουν brings out more clearly Christ's continuous care.

In this verse, too, there is a difference of opinion as to whether οὐς or ὦ is the correct reading, but the Vulgate reading is more strongly supported here than in verse 11.

And none of them is lost, but the son of perdition.“Son of perdition”is a Hebraism, signifying one devoted to destruction, as Judas was, through his own fault.

None of them was lost in either soul or body except Judas, who was already lost as to his soul, though not irreparably; and who was soon to be irreparably lost both as to soul and body. But this loss of Judas was not to be ascribed to Christ, but took placein order that(see above onxii. 37-40) the Scripture (Ps. xl. 10) might be fulfilled. The Holy Ghost had predicted the ruin of Judas, because it was foreseen that this would certainly come about through the wretched Apostle's own fault. In the words:“none of them is lost,”we think there is question of both the bodies and souls of the Apostles; for while it is generally admitted that Christ here claims to have guarded thesoulsof the Apostles from spiritual ruin, John xviii.8,9, seems to prove, as we shall there show, that in the words before us Christ speaks of having guarded from harm their bodies also.

13.These thingswe refer to what Christ had already spoken in the hearing of the Apostles in this prayer to the Father; namely, that He should give them life eternal (verse 2); that He should be glorified with the Father (verse 5); and that in His absence the Father would watch over them, and keep them in His name (verse 11).

That they may have my joy filled(made full)in themselves.“My joy”might mean the joy they had received from Christ, or the joy they feltbecauseof Christ; but we think the most probable and most natural meaning is: that they may have the joy whichI feelin going to the Father, made full in themselves. Before this time He had said to them:“If you[pg 301]loved Me, you would indeedbe glad, because I go to the Father”(xiv. 28); and now He has spoken in this prayer of the glory which awaited Him, and of the care of the Father for the Apostles, in order that they may be reconciled to, and fully rejoice in, His departure to the Father.

14.I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them.“I”(ἐγώ) is emphatic; I, Thy Son. This is afourthreason why the Father ought to watch over and guard the Apostles—the world hated them, and this because they had received the words of Christ, which are the words of the Father.

Thoughinthe world, the Apostles were notofthe world, not imbued with its spirit, nor pandering to its tastes.

15.From evil(ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ). This may refer to the evil of the wicked world which is sin, or to the devil, theevil one. The parallel passage in 1 John v. 18, 19 favours the latter view. These words, to which the Apostles were listening, gave them to know that they must not despair, and wish to quit the world when trials should come; but rather, remaining in the world, keep themselves unspotted from its defilements.

16. The last clause of verse 14 is repeated as the ground of another petition, namely, that the Father may“sanctify”them.

In order to emphasize the point in their hearing, and also as a motive why God ought to hear the petition that follows, the fact that the Apostles are not men of the world is repeated and insisted upon by Christ.

17.In the truth, is the correct reading; not“inthy[pg 302]truth,”nor“in truth.”The word in which they are to be sanctified is probably the word of God, which Christ had preached, and which is referred to in the end of the verse:“Thy word is truth;”and not, as Mald. holds, the real sanctification of the New Law as opposed to the typical and merely external sanctification by which the priests of the Old Law were set apart for their functions.

In the Gospel, then, and for the preaching of the Gospel Christ prays that the Apostles may be sanctified. But what does the word“sanctify”here mean? Sometimes the word ἁγιάζειν signifies to make holy, or to make more holy, or to keep more holy (1 Cor. vii. 11; 1 Thess. v. 23); at other times, it means to set apart or destine for an office; and in this sense it is generally used throughout the Old Testament. Both senses are probably combined in the word here, for it was by making and keeping them holy that the Apostles were to be efficaciously set apart by the Father for the sacred mission to which Christ had already called them.

18. This verse shows that the sanctification is prayed for especially with a view to their mission as Apostles.Have sent(Greek“did send”) is used proleptically, for the Apostles had not yet received their mission to theGentileworld. See Johnxx. 21; Matthew xxviii. 18, 19; Mark xvi. 15.

19.And for them do I sanctify myself.St. Aug. understands of the sanctification wherewith the Son of God sanctified the humanity He assumed.“Quando Verbum caro factum est, tunc sanctificavit se in se, id est hominem se in Verbo se, quia unus Christus Verbum et homo: propter sua vero membra dicit: et pro eis ego sanctifico meipsum, hoc est, ipsos in me, quoniam in me etiam ipsi sunt et ego. Ut sint et ipsi sanctificati in veritate. Quid est‘et ipsi’nisi quemadmodum ego.”(St. Aug.in loc.).

But the common opinion is that Christ speaks of the sacrifice of Himself which He was about to offer a few hours afterwards. In this view the meaning is: and for them do I set Myself apart, do I consecrate Myself as a victim, that they may be truly and efficaciously set apart and consecrated for the preaching of the Gospel. Thus while the word“sanctify”has[pg 303]in both clauses the same generic meaning of setting apart, there is yet a difference. Christ sets Himself apart, devotes Himself to death, that they may be consecrated in the fulness of grace for the work of the Apostleship. Christ sets Himself apart, but the Apostles are evidently to be set apart by the Father; that is to say, effectually fitted by the Father for the work to which Christ had already called them.

In truth.(ἐν ἀληθείᾳ). The absence of the Greek article distinguishes this clause from that in verse 17. There the question is of“thetruth,”the word of God; here“in truth,”seems to be equivalent to truly, really—that they also may be truly sanctified. Compare 2 John 1; 3 John 1.

20. Instead ofshall believethe more probable Greek reading has the present tense, as if Christ looked upon the Church of the future as actually present. He now prays not alone for the Apostles, but for all who should believe through their preaching. There is direct reference to the Apostles and their converts, but the prayer of Christ included the successors of both.

21. The unity of the faithful cannot, of course, equal the unity of nature in the Persons of the Blessed Trinity; but since it is here compared with the latter, we are justified in concluding that it is as perfect as possible; and hence a unity of intellect through faith, of will through charity, and of government through the due subordination of the different members. Such a moral miracle as this unity implies, must suppose aprincipleof unity in the Church; that is to say, a teaching and ruling authority by which this marvellous unity is Divinely secured.

The wordsThat the world may believe that thou hast sent meshow that this unity was to be anoteof the true Church, pointing it out even to the wicked world as the Church of God.

22.And the glory which thou hast given me, I have[pg 304]given to them.Some understand“the glory”here mentioned to be the gift of working miracles; others, the gloryabout to be enjoyedby Christ's humanity, which is to be shared in by all the faithful after the day of judgment; others, the glorious privilege of Divine filiation which makes the faithful the adopted sons, as Christ was the natural Son, of God; others, in fine, the glory of the Divinity which Christ had just shared with the Apostles that night, and which He was to share with all the faithful in future, in giving them His own glorious and Divine Person in the Blessed Eucharist.

We believe that either the third or fourth is the correct opinion. But it is not easy to choose between these two. The third is the more obvious, and is certainly very probable; but in favour of the fourth it must be said it was very natural that Christ speaking of the union of the faithful on this night when He had instituted the Blessed Eucharist, should refer to that wonderful cause and pledge of union which He had just left to the faithful in the Blessed Sacrament:“For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake112of one bread”(1 Cor. x. 17). See also Johnvi. 57.

23.I in them, and thou in me.This clause is in apposition to the last clause of the preceding verse:“that they may be one, as we also are one,”and explains how the union there spoken of is effected, namely, by the presence of Christ in the faithful.

24. Here, too, as in verses 11, 12, some of the critics read the neuter pronoun ὃ (that which) instead of ὁὺς (they whom). The Vulgate reading is at least equally[pg 305]probable. Having prayed in verses 20-21 for all the faithful, Christ now continues His prayer for the Apostles, as a comparison of this verse with verses 11 and 12 proves. And this, His last petition for them, is, that they may one day be made partakers of that glory which He as God enjoyed eternally, and into which as man He was to enter at His ascension.

That they may see my glory; that is to say, see and enjoy the glory of My Divinity (reflected also in My humanity; see above on verse 5). We believe there is not question merely of the glory of Christ's humanity, for He seems to pray here that the Apostles may enjoy the bliss of heaven, which does not consist in the vision of Christ's humanity, but in the vision and enjoyment of the Divinity. If this is the correct view, and we think, with A Lap., that it is, then this glory was given from all eternity to the Son. The words:Because thou hast loved me, do not, in this view, state thecauseof the communication of the eternal glory of the Father to the Son. See above on chapter v., verse20.

If the words be understood, as St. Aug. understood them, of Christ's humanity, then the meaning is: Share with My Apostles the glory which Thou artabout to bestowupon Me because from all eternity Thou hast loved Me, and predestined Meas manfor this glory. In this view the love of the Father for Christ as man is the reason why He glorifies Christ's humanity.

The phrasebefore the creation of the world, or more accurately,“before the foundation of the world,”denotes that the world is not eternal; while Christ's claim to have been loved by the Father before creation, is a claim to personal existence before the world began, and indirectly, therefore, a claim to an eternal Personality.

25, 26. These verses give a reason why the Father who isjust, and who rewards man's[pg 306]merits, even though these merits are themselves the result of His grace, ought to hear Christ's prayer. The reason is, because He who prays had known and loved the Father, and they for whom He prays had known and received Himself as the Messias. Moreover, He had made known the Father to them, and would do so still more, afterwards, through the Holy Ghost.

That the love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in them.Here He states His object in making known the Father's name. It was in order that the special love of the Father might extend to them, and that He Himself might remain intimately united to them by His grace, and by the presence of the Divinity in their souls.

With these beautiful and consoling words, which bespoke the special love of the Father for the Apostles, and His own enduring presence with them notwithstanding His departure, Christ concludes this sublime prayer to His eternal Father.

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