These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: Ver. 1. _And lift up his eyes to heaven_] This and the like outward gestures in prayer, as they issue from the fervency of the good heart, so they refl... [ Continue Reading ]
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Ver. 2. _That he should give eternal life_] And what more free than gift? Note this against our merit mongers, who not only cry, with Novatus, _Non habeo, Domine, quod mihi ignoscas, _ I... [ Continue Reading ]
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Ver. 3. _That they may know thee_] To know God in the face of Christ is heaven beforehand; _Qui non habet Christum in horoscopo, non habet Deum in medio caeli._ (Bucholcer.) "By his knowled... [ Continue Reading ]
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Ver. 4. _That thou gavest me to do_] Our Saviour counts his work a gift; so should we take it for a favour, that he employs us, that we may have any office about him, that we may magnify him with our bodies, "w... [ Continue Reading ]
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Ver. 5. _With the glory which I had, &c._] Our Saviour then is no upstart God, and of a later standing, as the Arians and Mahometans would make of him. Mahomet speaks very honourably of... [ Continue Reading ]
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Ver. 6. _I have manifested thy name_] The Jews seek to detract from the glory of our Saviour's miracles, by giving out, that he did them by I know no... [ Continue Reading ]
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. Ver. 7. _Now they have known, &c._] That the gospel is a plot of God's own contriving, and no device of man, as that _Evangelium regni_ Gospel of power, was, set out by the family of love; and those fanatics mentioned by... [ Continue Reading ]
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received _them_, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. Ver. 8. _For I have given unto them_] A sweet and precious gift. It was the Jews' primary privilege that unto th... [ Continue Reading ]
I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. Ver. 9. _I pray for them_] Christ hath left us this prayer here recorded, as a pattern of that intercession he incessantly maketh for us at the right hand of his heavenly Father. Joab was heard for... [ Continue Reading ]
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. Ver. 10. _And I am glorified in them_] It will be a singular prop to our prayers, if we so carry ourselves, that Christ in his daily intercession may give this testimony of us to the Father. He undertakes for us, as it were, an... [ Continue Reading ]
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we _are_. Ver. 11. _Keep through thine own name_] "The name of the Lord is a strong tower," Proverbs 18:10; "A munition... [ Continue Reading ]
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. Ver. 12. _But the son of perdition_] This exception shows that Judas was never of Christ's body, for can he... [ Continue Reading ]
And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. Ver. 13. _And these things I speak in the world_] Not for his own or his Father's sake, but for the comfort of his disciples; to cure them of their anxiety and anguish, when they hear... [ Continue Reading ]
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Ver. 14. _I have given them thy word, &c._] I have put my word into their mouth, therefore the world hateth them; Persecution being the black angel (as Calvin said) that dogs... [ Continue Reading ]
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. Ver. 15. _That thou take them out of the world_] Many godly men, weary of the world's ill usages, are found often sitting under Elijah's juniper, and wishing to die; for what are they better... [ Continue Reading ]
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Ver. 16. _They are not of the world, &c._] Here indeed they have their commoration, but their conversation is in heaven, πολιτευμα, Philippians 2:21 : they are clothed with the Sun of righteousness, and have the moon (all earthly things) und... [ Continue Reading ]
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. Ver. 17. _Sanctify them by thy truth_] Affect their hearts therewith, that they may the better affect others; speaking _a corde ad cor, _ from the heart to the heart, which is the life of preaching. _Quod iussit et gessit, _ What he orders and doe... [ Continue Reading ]
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. Ver. 18. _Even so have I sent them, &c._] Therefore they have need that there be put upon them of my Spirit, that they may be fit for the work. This boon none are to expect, but they that are sent of Christ, and such... [ Continue Reading ]
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Ver. 19. _And for their sakes do I sanctify_] As both priest, altar, and sacrifice; and this Christ did from the womb to the tomb; at his death especially, when this Paschal Lamb was roasted in the fire of... [ Continue Reading ]
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; Ver. 20. _Neither pray I for these alone_] Lo here a sure and sweet haven for all believers to have recourse to, where they may sit and sing away care of miscarrying; for here Christ doth as much as if h... [ Continue Reading ]
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, _art_ in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Ver. 21. _That they all may be one_] Though not by the same kind of union whereby the Father and the Son are one, yet by a union every way as re... [ Continue Reading ]
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: Ver. 22. _And the glory which thou, &c._] That is, the grace, which is glory begun, as glory is grace perfected; we are here "transformed into the same image from glory to glory," 2 Corinthians 3:18; "an... [ Continue Reading ]
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Ver. 23. _I in them, and thou in me_] Christ was the only fit mediator; as being God for the business with God; and man for the business w... [ Continue Reading ]
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. Ver. 24. _Father, I will, &c._] Every word is full of life and joy. I would not (saith Mr Baxter) for all t... [ Continue Reading ]
O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. Ver. 25. _O righteous Father_] God's righteousness is either, 1. Of equity, to punish offences. Or, 2. Of fidelity, to make good his promises. In which respect it is no arrogance n... [ Continue Reading ]
And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare _it_ : that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. Ver. 26. _That the love, &c._] _Claritas in intellecta parit ardorem in affectu. Ignoti nulla cupido._ Clarity of mind gives birth to zeal in devotion. The unlea... [ Continue Reading ]