John 17:1 - Exposition

Jesus spake these things ; i.e. the discourse which precedes, and then turned from his disciples to the Father. The place where the prayer was offered is comparatively unimportant, yet it must have been uttered somewhere. It has been well suggested that the Lord, with the disciples, sought the comparative quiet of the Father's house, and in some of the courts of the temple, within sight of the golden gate with its mighty vine , had enacted all that is recorded in Jn 15-17. This does not interfere with the idea that the starry sky was visible to them, and that from some portion of the temple-courts our Lord should have lifted his eyes to heaven; for the heavens are the perpetual symbol of the majesty of God, and show that side on which, by instinctive recognition of the fact, men may and do look out upon the infinite and the eternal. And having £ lifted up his eyes to heaven —or, lifting (Revised version) up his eyes to heaven— he said , in a voice which the wondering, believing, and troubled disciples might hear (see John 17:13 ), and from which they were intended to learn much of the relation between their Lord and the eternal Father. There is a twofold division of the prayer: From John 17:1-5 he offers prayer for himself , but in special relation to his own power over and his own grace to the children of men; from John 17:6-19 he contemplates the special interests of his disciples, in their present forlorn condition, in their work, conflict, and ultimate triumph; from John 17:19-26 he prays for the whole Church,

(a) for its unity,

(b) for its expansion,

(c) its glory.

"For himself he has little to ask ( John 17:1-5 ), but as soon as his word takes the form of intercession for his own ( John 17:6-26 ), it becomes an irresistible stream of the most fervent love. Sentence rushes upon sentence with wonderful power, yet the repose is never disturbed" (Ewald). Father ; not "my Father," nor "our Father," the prayer given to his disciples, nor "my God" as afterwards upon the cross; nor was it the customary address to "God" of either Pharisee or publican; but it recalls the "Abba, Father" of the garden, which passed thence into the experience of the Church ( Romans 8:15 ; Galatians 4:6 ). The hour which has so often presented itself as inevitable, but which so often has receded, and which even now delays its full realization ( John 2:1-25 ., 7., 12., 13.) as part of a Divine plan concerning him, the hour of the fiery baptism, of the solemn departure, of the conflict with the prince of this world, and of complete acceptance of the Father's will, has come; glorify thy Son, that ( thy £ ) the Son may ( also £ ) glorify thee . Lift thy Son into the glory which thou hast prepared, that the Son whom thou hast sanctified and sent into the world may glorify thee. It is very noticeable that he speaks of himself in the third person. This is justified by the fact that he here conspicuously rises out of himself into the consciousness of God, and loses himself in the Father. The glorification of the Son is first of all by death issuing in life. He was crowned with glory in order that he might taste death for every man. The conflict, the victorious combat with death, was the beginning of his glory. In taking upon himself all the burden of human sorrow, and exhausting the poison of the sting of death, he would "glorify God" (cf. John 21:19 ). This does not exhaust the meaning, but the further forms and elements of his glory are referred to afterwards.