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.

“(iii. Tr. c. 10) He doth not say that the day, or the time, but that the hour is come. An hour contains a portion of a day. What was this hour? He was now to be spit upon, scourged, crucified. But the Father glorifies the Son. The sun failed in his course, and with him all the other elements felt that death. The earth trembled under the weight of our Lord hanging on the Cross, and testified that it had not power to hold within it Him who was dying. The Centurion proclaimed, Truly this was the Son of God. (Matt. 27:54) The event answered the prediction. Our Lord had said, Glorify Thy Son, testifying that He was not the Son in name only, but properly the Son. Thy Son, He saith. Many of us are sons of God; but not such is the Son. For He is the proper, true Son by nature, not by adoption, in truth, not in name, by birth, not by creation. Therefore after His glorifying, to the manifestation of the truth there succeeded confession. The Centurion confesses Him to be the true Son of God, that so none of His believers might doubt what one of His persecutors could not deny.”

“(Tr. civ) Our Lord, in the form of a servant, could have prayed in silence had He pleased; but He remembered that He had not only to pray, but to teach. For not only His discourse, but His prayer also, was for His disciples’ edification, yea and for ours who read the same. Father, the hour is come, shews that all time, and every thing that He did or suffered to be done, was at His disposing, Who is not subject to time. Not that we must suppose that this hour came by any fatal necessity, but rather by God’s ordering. Away with the notion, that the stars could doom to death the Creator of the stars.”

“Above, the Lord strengthened the disciples by example and by exhortation; in this part he strengthens them by prayer, and in this prayer he does three things. First he prays for himself; second, for the company of the disciples, at the place "I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world"; third, for the whole faithful people, at the place "I do not pray for these only, but for those also who shall believe." Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets forth the petition; second, the fruit of the petition, at "that your Son may glorify you," etc.; third, the merit for the petition's being heard, at "I have glorified you," etc. Concerning the first, first the order of praying is set down; second, the manner of praying; third, the words of the prayer. The order of praying is fitting, because it comes after the exhortation; hence he says, "These things Jesus spoke." In this an example is given to us, that those whom we instruct by word we should also help by the support of prayers, because divine discourse has its greatest effect in the hearts of its hearers when it is sustained by prayer, through which divine help is implored; 2 Thessalonians, last chapter, 1: "praying at the same time for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word." Hence also the end of our discourse ought to terminate in prayer; Ecclesiasticus 43:29: "he himself is the consummation of all words." The manner is fitting, because "with eyes lifted up to heaven." For there is a difference between the prayer of Christ and our prayer: our prayer is only for necessity, but the prayer of Christ is rather for instruction. For there was no necessity in him for praying, since he hears together with the Father. But he instructed us in this, both by word and by deed. By deed indeed, in lifting up his eyes, that we too might in our prayer lift our eyes to heaven; Psalm 122:1: "To you have I lifted up my eyes, who dwell in the heavens." And not only our eyes, but also our operations, by referring them to God; according to that saying of Lamentations 3:41: "Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens." By word, however, because he clearly uttered the prayer; hence he says "and he said," namely so that those whom he had instructed by teaching, he might also instruct by praying. For not only the word of Christ, but also his deeds, are our instruction. But his words are efficacious; hence he says "Father, the hour has come": and this efficacy is caused from three things. Namely, from the affection of the one praying: for the Son prays to the Father, and it belongs to him to seek the Father out of love, and to ask out of love; hence he says "Father," that by this he may give us to understand that we should pray to God with filial affection; Jeremiah 3:19: "You shall call me Father, and shall not cease to walk after me." Second, from the necessity of praying; hence he says "the hour has come," namely of the Passion, concerning which above, 2:4: "my hour has not yet come." The hour, I say, not the time, not the day, because he was immediately to be seized, etc. Nor the hour of fatal necessity, but of his own ordination and good pleasure. And fittingly, being about to ask, he interposes tribulations, because it is in tribulations that God hears most; Psalm 119:1: "To the Lord, when I was in trouble, I cried, and he heard me"; 2 Chronicles 20:12: "since we know not what we ought to do, this only remains to us, that we direct our eyes to you." Third, from the tenor of the petition; hence he says "glorify your Son." But since the Son of God is Wisdom itself, 1 Corinthians 1; and this Wisdom has the greatest brightness, Wisdom 6:13: "Wisdom is bright, and never fades away": how then is a brightness said to be glorified, especially since he himself is the splendor of the Father? Hebrews 1:3. But it must be said that Christ sought to be glorified by the Father in three ways. Namely, in the Passion: and this through the many miracles which were then shown, when the sun was darkened, the veil of the temple was torn, and the tombs were opened. And of this it is said above, 12:28: "and I have glorified," namely by miracles before the Passion, "and again I will glorify," in the Passion. Hence he says, according to this, "glorify," in the Passion, by showing me to be your Son. Hence the centurion, having seen the miracles, said: "truly this was the Son of God." Second, in the resurrection. For that holy soul was always joined to God, having glory from the vision of God; above, 1:14: "we saw his glory, glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." For from the beginning of his conception, as to his soul, he had brightness, but in the resurrection he had the brightness of the body, concerning which Philippians 3:21: "he will reform the body of our lowliness, configured to the body of his glory." Third, in the knowledge of all peoples; Wisdom 8:10: "through her I shall have glory among the multitudes, and honor among the elders." And thus he says "glorify," that is, manifest to the whole world that I am your Son, namely your own Son, and this by nativity, not by creation — against Arius, who said that the Son of God is a creature; in truth, not merely in name — against Sabellius, who said that he who is called Father is the same as he who is called Son; by origin, not by adoption — against Nestorius, who said that Christ is an adoptive son. Here the fruit of the glorification is set down, and first he sets forth the fruit; second he expounds it, at "as you have given him power over all flesh." But the fruit of the glorification of the Son is the glorification of the Father, hence he says, "that your Son may glorify you." And it must be known that Arius, hearing the Lord say "glorify your Son," supposed the Father to be greater than the Son: which indeed is true according to his humanity. Above, 14:28: "the Father is greater than I." And therefore, to show his equality to the Father according to divinity, he adds, "that your Son may glorify you," namely in the knowledge of men. For glory is bright knowledge joined with praise. But God formerly was glorious among the Jews, because "God is known in Judea," Psalm 75:2, but afterward, through the Son, he became known throughout the whole world. But holy men also, by good works, make the knowledge of God glorious. Matthew 5:16: "let them see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Hence above, 8:50: "I seek not my own glory: there is one who seeks and judges." Here he sets down the fruit of the petition, and first he sets down the benefit conferred by Christ on men; second he shows that this benefit pertains to the glory of the Father, at "and this is eternal life." He says, therefore, "that your Son may glorify you"; and this "as you have given him power over all flesh." For it must be known that the intention of any agent that acts from another is to lead its effect back to the manifestation of its cause: for from the action of a principle that is itself from a principle, the principle itself is manifested. But whatever the Son has, he has from the Father, and therefore it is fitting that through the things he does he should manifest the Father, and therefore he says, "you have given him power," over all men. But the Son ought also, through this power, to lead them to the knowledge of you, which is eternal life. And so the sense is: "may the Son glorify you, as you have given him power over all flesh," that is, over every man, Luke 3:6: "all flesh shall see the salvation of God." "You have given," I say, according to Hilary, by giving through eternal generation the divine nature, through which he has the power of containing all things; Matthew 11:27: "all things have been delivered to me by my Father." And above, 5:20: "the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does." Or, "you have given him," namely Christ as man, on account of his personal fellowship with your Son, so that thus flesh might have power over flesh; Matthew, last chapter, 18: "all power is given to me in heaven and on earth." Daniel 7:14: "he gave him," namely the Son of Man, "power and honor and kingship." "To this end," he says, "you have given," namely so that, just as you have the power not to receive anything from man, but to confer yourself upon him, so also to Christ as man, that everything you have given him, through eternal predestination, he might give to them, to those given to him, eternal life. Above, 10:27: "my sheep hear my voice, and I know them." But does eternal life, given to men, pertain to the glory of the Father? Indeed it does, because "this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent"; that is, that the Father may be glorified in the knowledge of men. But here two things must be expounded. First indeed, what this means, which he says: "this is eternal life, that they may know." Concerning which it must be known that we properly say those things live which move themselves to operation; but whatever things are moved only by others are not called living, but dead: and therefore all the operations to which the operator moves itself are called works of life, such as to will, to understand, to sense, to grow, and to move. But something is said to live in two ways: either because it has the works of life in potency, and thus one who is sleeping is said to live with sensitive life, because he has the power of moving himself, although he is not actually moved; or because he already exercises the works of life in act, and then a thing is said to live perfectly: hence sleep is called the half of life. But among the works of life, the higher work is that of understanding, which is to understand; and therefore the operation of the intellect is life in the highest degree. But just as the sense in act and the sensible thing in act are the same, so too the one understanding in act and the thing understood in act are the same. Since, therefore, understanding is life and to understand is to live, it follows that to understand an eternal thing is to live with eternal life; but God is an eternal thing, therefore to understand and to see God is eternal life. And therefore the Lord says that eternal life consists in vision, namely principally, according to its whole substance. But love is what moves toward this, and is a certain complement of it: for from the delight which is in divine enjoyment, which charity produces, comes the complement and adornment of beatitude; but its substance consists in vision; 1 John 3:2: "we shall see him as he is." Second, this must be expounded, which he says: "you, the only true God." For it is manifest that Christ was speaking to the Father; since, then, he says "you, the only true God," it seems that God the Father alone is the true God. This indeed the Arians grant, saying that the Son differs from the Father in essence, since he is a created substance — yet participating more and more perfectly than all creatures in the Father's divinity, to such an extent that he is called God, but not truly, because he is not God by nature, but only the Father is. But Hilary argues against this. For it is established that when we wish to know concerning any thing whether it is true, we can know it from two things: namely from its nature and from its power. For true gold is that which has the appearance of true gold; and this indeed we know if it produces the operation of true gold. If, therefore, we have it concerning the Son that he has the true nature of God, and this through the true operation of divinity which he exercises, it is manifest that he is true God. But that the Son exercises the true works of divinity is clear above, 5:19: "whatever things the Father does, these the Son also does likewise." And again he says: "as the Father has life in himself," not indeed participated, "so also he has given the Son to have life in himself"; 1 John, last chapter, 20: "that we may be in his true Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." But he says "you, the only God," according to Hilary, not excluding anything. Hence he does not say absolutely "you alone," but adds "and Jesus Christ whom you have sent"; as if he were saying, that they may know that you, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent, are one only and true God: according to that manner of speaking, "you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit." Nor does he make mention of the Holy Spirit, because wherever the Father and the Son are set down, and especially in those things which pertain to the majesty of the divinity, the Holy Spirit is understood together with them, who is the bond of both. Or, according to Augustine in On the Trinity, he says this to exclude the error of certain ones saying that this is false: "the Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God"; but this is true: "the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God." And the reasoning of these was, because, as is said by the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 1:24, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. But it is manifest that no one can call anyone God unless he has divine power and wisdom. Since, therefore, these wished that the Father be the wisdom which is the Son, they said further that the Father, considered without the Son, would not be God, and likewise the Son and the Holy Spirit considered without the others. And because in the sending is signified the incarnation of the Son of God, therefore by his saying "and Jesus Christ whom you have sent," it is given to be understood that in eternal life we shall rejoice also in the humanity of Christ; Isaiah 33:17: "the king," that is Christ, "they shall see in his beauty." Above, 10:9: "he shall go in and shall find pastures." Here is set down the merit for the petition's being heard, and first he calls to mind the merit; second he asks for the reward, at "and now glorify me, you, Father." But he calls to mind a twofold merit. Namely, of teaching, saying "I have glorified you," namely in the knowledge of men, by manifesting through teaching; Isaiah 24:15: "in the teachings glorify God." Likewise of obedience: hence he adds, "I have finished the work." He uses the past tense for the future, namely "I have glorified," that is, "I will glorify"; and "I have finished," that is, "I will finish": and this because it had already been begun, and again because the hour of the Passion was imminent, when this work was completed. "Which you have given me" — not "commanded": for it is not enough that it be divinely commanded to Christ and to us; because whatever Christ, according as he is man, did, and whatever we can do, is from the gift of God; Wisdom 8:21: "I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, except God gave it." "You have given," I say, "me," through the gift of grace, "to do," that is, to complete; Ecclesiasticus 38:31: "he will give his heart to the completion." But because the reward of Christ's obedience and teaching is glory; Philippians 2:8: "he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; for which cause God also exalted him, and gave him a name which is above every name": therefore he asks for the reward, saying, "and now glorify me, you, Father." This is not to be understood, as some have thought, as Augustine says, that the human nature in Christ, taken up by the Word, should at some point be converted into the Word, and man be changed into God; because this would be nothing other than that nature itself being annihilated. For everything that is so converted into another thing that the thing into which it is converted is not increased, seems to be annihilated: but nothing can be added to the divine Word of God. And therefore, according to Augustine, "and now glorify me, you, Father," must be understood of the predestination of Christ the man. For we have something both in divine predestination and in the effect of the thing. But the man Christ Jesus, like other men, was predestined by God the Father; Romans 1:4: "who was predestined the Son of God," etc. And according to this he says "and now," that is, after I have glorified you, and finished the work which you gave me to do, "glorify me, you, Father, with yourself"; that is, make me sit at your right hand; and this with the glory which I had before the world was made, "with you," that is, in your predestination; Mark, last chapter, 19: "the Lord Jesus indeed was taken up into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God." Or otherwise, according to Hilary. For the glory of men is a certain conformity to the glory of God, although unequal; but Christ, according as he is God, had glory from eternity with the Father, namely divine glory, and equal to the Father. He asks, therefore, here that he be glorified in his humanity, namely that that which in time was flesh, and transformed in corruption, might receive the glory of that brightness which is without time. Not, however, equal, but similar: namely, that just as from eternity he was immortal with the Father and seated at his right hand, so also, according as he is man, he might be made immortal, and be exalted to the right hand of God.”

“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, These are the last words of Christ, when going to His Passion, and like the dying notes of the swan, are full of sweetness, love, and warmth. He teaches us (1.), when trouble is pressing on, to have recourse to prayer, and to ask God for strength to overcome it. (2.) That fathers both earthly and spiritual should, when going away or dying, commend their children to God in prayer. (3.) That preachers should study their discourses, so as to obtain both such power of speech as to move the hearts of their hearers, and so as to gain acceptance with them, that they may understand what they hear, and lovingly carry it out in their lives. “But no vain waste of words may have a place,” says S. Cyril, xl 14. Lifted up His eyes . — To teach us, by using the same gesture, to lift up our heart to God. Each word has its force. “Father.” Christ prays as man, but as God-man : hypostatically united to God. He therefore calls God His Father, because He begat the Son as God, and hypostatically united Digitized by v^iOOQLe 88 to Him man’s nature (hominem) which He assumed The Name of Father invites to confidence and love ; for what can a father deny his son ? It also indicates majesty and power ; for as S. Cyril says ( Thesaur i. 6), “It is in God a greater thing to be the Father than to be Lord Because as the Father He begat His consubstantial Son, but as Lord He made the creatures, who are infinitely inferior to Him.” Is come. — In the Greek it is in the past tense. It is, that is, the fitting time, almost the last hour of my liberty and life. My seizure, My passion, My cup and death are at hand, when I shall specially need, O Father, Thy grace and help. For then will My Godhead be especially hid, when I shall be nailed to the Cross, as a seditious person, and as aiming at being King of the Jews. I therefore pray Thee to wipe away this infamy, to manifest My Godhead and glorify Me. S. Augustine says (in loc.), “This denotes that all time, and that what He would do at any time, or allow to be done, were all ordered by Him, who is not subject to time. The hour is come, not by the force of destiny, but by God’s ordering. Be it far from our thought that the stars should compel the Maker of the stars to die.” Glorify Thy Son . — But what glory and glorification does Christ here ask for? (i.) Some understand His Passion and death; this indeed was great glory to Christ For by it He reconciled men to God, He abolished sin, He overcame the devil, He destroyed death, He procured for us life and glory. So Origen, Horn. 6 in Exod. ; S. Ambrose, Hexam. iv. 2 ; S. Hilary, Lib. iii. de Trinit., who says, “ He was to be spit upon, to be scourged, to be crucified. But the Father glorifies Him by the sun withdrawing its light, by the earth trembling, by the witness of the Centurioa” The cross therefore was in itself a dishonour to Christ, but in its fruits it was glorious. (2.) S. Augustine (in loc.) and Ribera consider that this glorifying of Christ was in His resurrection, ascension, His being seated at the Right Hand of the Father, and His sending the Holy Spirit. I offer Myself (He would say) to an ignominious death for Thy glory, and for the salvation of men, whom Thou hast chosen from all eternity. Do Thou glorify Me, that in My Passion I may appear as Digitized by Google GLORIFYING CHRIST. 1 89 thy true Son ; and afterwards rise again and ascend into heaven ; that men, for whom I die, may thus believe in Me, that Thy Godhead, power, and goodness may be acknowledged, and that Thou mayest be adored by all. Hear S. Augustine : “ If He is glorified in His Passion, how much more in His Resurrection ? He says therefore, the hour is come for sowing in humility, delay not Thou the fruit thereof in glory.” (3.) More correctly, and to the point This glory was the manifestation of Christ, to be the Son of God. This was the end and scope of His Incarnation, as He explains in the next verse, and so its meaning is, " Thou hast sent Thy Son into the world to redeem it. My Passion, whereby many will be offended and fall from Me, is at hand. I pray Thee, O Father, to glorify Me, that men may not contemn and despise Me for My death on the cross, but may acknowledge Me as Thy Son, and Very God, and thereby obtain grace, righteousness, and salvation.” Christ asks that this purpose of God may be manifested to the world, to the end that this His mighty work may attain its end and object. Glorify Me then by miracles, the earthquake, the rending of the veil, the opening of the tombs, &c., by My speedy Resurrection, by My Ascension, the conversion of the whole world, that all may recognise Me as God, and the Saviour of the world. It is clear then that all these three interpretations come to the same point. Glory and distinction mean the same thing, as is shown by many heathen authorities. It is also plain that this glorification properly relates to Christ’s manhood, and that it should be acknowledged as united to the Godhead. Consequently it is an acknowledgment of His Godhead. For by its being made known to the world that Christ’s manhood was united to the Godhead, it was made known also that God of His boundless mercy humbled Himself to be born, and to die for us from His supreme love for maa Arius used to object. The Son seeks to be glorified by the Father, therefore the Father is greater than the Son. S. Basil retorts by quoting the words which follow, “That Thy Son also may glorify Thee.” The Son therefore glorifies the Father quite as much as the Father glorifies the Son. Morally, Christ teaches us Digitized by v^iOOQLe 190 here, that God turns into glory any ignominy which has been incurred for His name, and that the greater the ignominy, so much greater is the glory. And that ignominy is the true way to glory, according to the Apostle's words (Phil. ii. 7, seq.) And in like manner, SS. Peter and Paul, having been evilly entreated and put to death by Nero, attained to the highest glory, so as to be lords not only of Rome but also of the whole world, and to have had their statues placed on the columns of Trajan and Antonine, in the place of these two Emperors. The Gentiles had some faint notion of this. As Agesilaus said that the way to obtain undying glory was to despise death. And so also Alexander, Julius Caesar, and many others, gained their renown in war by despising death (see Horatius> Carm . i. 1 2). Hence the Spaniards have an axiom to the same effect. Apostolic men should be more ready to say the same, for what is earthly glory to heavenly, human to divine, temporal to eternal? See Rom. viii. 18. And the Apostle speaks elsewhere of the eternal weight of glory : For the Holy Trinity, all the countless angels, all the hosts of the blessed prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors will glorify through all eternity the champions of virtue. That Thy Son also may glorify Thee . — By showing that I am not a mere man, but the God-man, sent by Thee for the salvation of man. And I ask this, not for Myself, as being greedy of glory, but that it may come back to Thee, as the Fount and Author of all My glory, that so I may in turn glorify Thee by making Thee known to the whole world. Christ did this (1.) “ Because when the Son is glorified the Father is glorified also," says S. Cyril ; and so also S. Hilary {Lib. iii. de Trinit.) says, “ He shows that the virtue of the Godhead is the same in Both ; for the glory of the Son is the glory of the Father.” (2.) Because when this great mystery of godliness, viz., the Incarnation of the Word and by it the salvation and redemption of men, was made known, all who heard and believed it praised the boundless compassion, wisdom, and omnipotence of God the Father, which He manifested in this His work. (3.) Christ especially glorified His Father by the living voice of His doctrine Digitized by Google CHRIST GLORIFIES THE FATHER. I9I and preaching. For Christ preached the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and in many places of St John He magnifies God the Father, saying that He was sent by Him, and ascribing to Him everything He had received. Hear S. Augustine (in loc. “God was known in Judea only, but it was by the Gospel of Christ that the Father was made known to the Gentiles. He saith therefore, Glorify Thou Me, raise Thou Me up, that through Me Thou mayest be made known to all the world.” Note the word “Thy Son;” for, as S. Hilary says (Lib. iii. de Trinity “There are many sons, but He was the proper , the Very Son, by origin, and not by adoption, in truth and not in name, by nativity and not by creation.””

“Here we have, I. The circumstances of this prayer, Joh 17:1. Many a solemn prayer Christ made in the days of his flesh (sometimes he continued all night in prayer), but none of his prayers are recorded so fully as this. Observe, 1. The time when he prayed this prayer; when he had spoken these words, had given the foregoing farewell to his disciples, he prayed this prayer in their hearing; so that, (1.) It was a prayer after a sermon; when he had spoken from God to them, he turned to speak to God for them. Note, Those we preach to we must pray for. He that was to prophesy upon the dry bones was also to pray, Come, O breath, and breathe upon them. And the word preached should be prayed over, for God gives the increase. (2.) It was a prayer after sacrament; after Christ and his disciples had eaten the passover and the Lord's supper together, and he had given them a suitable exhortation, he closed the solemnity with this prayer, that God would preserve the good impressions of the ordinance upon them. (3.) It was a family-prayer. Christ's disciples were his family, and, to set a good example before the masters of families, he not only, as the son of Abraham, taught his household (Gen 18:19), but, as a son of David, blessed his household (Sa2 6:20), prayed for them and with them. (4.) It was a parting prayer. When we and our friends are parting, it is good to part with prayer, Act 20:36. Christ was parting by death, and that parting should be sanctified and sweetened by prayer. Dying Jacob blessed the twelve patriarchs, dying Moses the twelve tribes, and so, here, dying Jesus the twelve apostles. (5.) It was a prayer that was a preface to his sacrifice, which he was now about to offer on earth, specifying the favours and blessings designed to be purchased by the merit of his death for those that were his; like a deed leading the uses of a fine, and directing to what intents and purposes it shall be levied. Christ prayed then as a priest now offering sacrifice, in the virtue of which all prayers were to be made. (6.) It was a prayer that was a specimen of his intercession, which he ever lives to make for us within the veil. Not that in his exalted state he addresses himself to his Father by way of humble petition, as when he was on earth. No, his intercession in heaven is a presenting of his merit to his Father, with a suing out of the benefit of it for all his chosen ones. 2. The outward expression of fervent desire which he used in this prayer: He lifted up his eyes to heaven, as before (Joh 11:41); not that Christ needed thus to engage his own attention, but he was pleased thus to sanctify this gesture to those that use it, and justify it against those that ridicule it. It is significant of the lifting up of the soul to God in prayer, Psa 25:1. Sursum corda was anciently used as a call to prayer, Up with your hearts, up to heaven; thither we must direct our desires in prayer, and thence we must expect to receive the good things we pray for. II. The first part of the prayer itself, in which Christ prays for himself. Observe here, 1. He prays to God as a Father: He lifted up his eyes, and said, Father. Note, As prayer is to be made to God only, so it is our duty in prayer to eye him as a Father, and to call him our Father. All that have the Spirit of adoption are taught to cry Abba, Father, Joh 17:25. For it will be of great use to us in prayer, both for direction and for encouragement, to call God as we hope to find him. 2. He prayed for himself first. Though Christ, as God, was prayed to, Christ, as man, prayed; thus it became him to fulfill all righteousness. It was said to him, as it is said to us, Ask, and I will give thee, Psa 2:8. What he had purchased he must ask for; and shall we expect to have what we never merited, but have a thousand times forfeited, unless we pray for it? This puts an honour upon prayer, that it was the messenger Christ sent on his errands, the way in which even he corresponded with Heaven. It likewise gives great encouragement to praying people, and cause to hope that even the prayer of the destitute shall not be despised; time was when he that is advocate for us had a cause of his own to solicit, a great cause, on the success of which depended all his honour as Mediator; and this he was to solicit in the same method that is prescribed to us, by prayers and supplications (Heb 5:7), so that he knows the heart of a petitioner (Exo 23:9), he knows the way. Now observe, Christ began with prayer for himself, and afterwards prayed for his disciples; this charity must begin at home, though it must not end there. We must love and pray for our neighbor as ourselves, and therefore must in a right manner love and pray for ourselves first. Christ was much shorter in his prayer for himself than in his prayer for his disciples. Our prayers for the church must not be crowded into a corner of our prayers; in making supplication for all saints, we have room enough to enlarge, and should not straiten ourselves. Now here are two petitions which Christ puts up for himself, and these two are one - that he might be glorified. But this one petition, Glorify thou me, is twice put up, because it has a double reference. To the prosecution of his undertaking further: Glorify me, that I may glorify thee, in doing what is agreed upon to be yet done, Joh 17:1-3. And to the performance of his undertaking hitherto: "Glorify me, for I have glorified thee. I have done my part, and now, Lord, do thine," Joh 17:4, Joh 17:5. (1.) Christ here prays to be glorified, in order to his glorifying God (Joh 17:1): Glorify thy Son according to thy promise, that thy Son may glorify thee according to his understanding. Here observe, [1.] What he prays for - that he might be glorified in this world: "The hour is come when all the powers of darkness will combine to vilify thy Son; now, Father, glorify him." The Father glorified the Son upon earth, First, Even in his sufferings, by the signs and wonders which attended them. When they that came to take him were thunder-struck with a word, - when Judas confessed him innocent, and sealed that confession with his own guilty blood, - when the judge's wife asleep, and the judge himself awake, pronounced him righteous, - when the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple rent, then the Father not only justified, but glorified the Son. Nay, Secondly, Even by his sufferings; when he was crucified, he was magnified, he was glorified, Joh 13:31. It was in his cross that he conquered Satan and death; his thorns were a crown, and Pilate in the inscription over his head wrote more than he thought. But, Thirdly, Much more after his sufferings. The Father glorified the Son when he raised him from the dead, showed him openly to chosen witnesses, and poured out the Spirit to support and plead his cause, and to set up his kingdom among men, then he glorified him. This he here prays for, and insists upon. [2.] What he pleads to enforce this request. First, He pleads relation: Glorify thy Son; thy Son as God, as Mediator. It is in consideration of this that the heathen are given him for his inheritance; for thou art my Son, Psa 2:7, Psa 2:8. The devil had tempted him to renounce his sonship with an offer of the kingdoms of this world; but he rejected the offer with disdain, and depended upon his Father for his preferment, and here applies himself to him for it. Note, Those that have received the adoption of sons may in faith pray for the inheritance of sons; if sanctified, then glorified: Father, glorify thy Son. Secondly, He pleads the time: The hour is come; the season prefixed to an hour. The hour of Christ's passion was determined in the counsel of God. He had often said his hour was not yet come; but now it was come, and he knew it. Man knows not his time (Ecc 9:12), but the Son of man did. He calls it this hour (Joh 12:27), and here, the hour; compare Mar 14:35; Joh 16:21. For the hour of the Redeemer's death, which was also the hour of the Redeemer's birth, was the most signal and remarkable hour, and, without doubt, the most critical, that ever was since the clock of time was first set a going. Never was there such an hour as that, nor did ever any hour challenge such expectations of it before, nor such reflections upon it after. 1. "The hour is come in the midst of which I need to be owned." Now is the hour when this grand affair is come to a crisis; after many a skirmish the decisive battle between heaven and hell is now to be fought, and that great cause in which God's honour and man's happiness are together embarked must now be either won or lost for ever. The two champions David and Goliath, Michael and the dragon, are now entering the lists; the trumpet sounds for an engagement that will be irretrievably fatal either to the one or to the other: "Now glorify thy Son, now give him victory over principalities and powers, now let the bruising of his heel be the breaking of the serpent's head, now let thy Son be so upheld as not to fail nor be discouraged." When Joshua went forth conquering and to conquer, it is said, The Lord magnified Joshua; so he glorified his Son when he made the cross his triumphant chariot. 2. "The hour is come in the close of which I expect to be crowned; the hour is come when I am to be glorified, and, set at thy right hand." Betwixt him and that glory there intervened a bloody scene of suffering; but, being short, he speaks as if he made little of it: The hour is come that I must be glorified; and he did not expect it till then. Good Christians in a trying hour, particularly a dying hour, may thus plead: "Now the hour is come, stand by me, appear for me, now or never: now the earthly tabernacle is to be dissolved, the hour is come that I should be glorified." Co2 5:1. Thirdly, He pleads the Father's own interest and concern herein: That thy Son may also glorify thee; for he had consecrated his whole undertaking to his Father's honour. He desired to be carried triumphantly through his sufferings to his glory, that he might glorify the Father two ways: - 1. By the death of the cross, which he was now to suffer. Father, glorify thy name, expressed the great intention of his sufferings, which was to retrieve his Father's injured honour among men, and, by his satisfaction, to come up to the glory of God, which man, by his sin, came short of: "Father, own me in my sufferings, that I may honour thee by them." 2. By the doctrine of the cross, which was now shortly to be published to the world, by which God's kingdom was to be re-established among men. He prays that his Father would so grace his sufferings, and crown them, as not only to take off the offence of the cross, but to make it, to those that are saved, the wisdom of God and the power of God. If God had not glorified Christ crucified, by raising him from the dead, his whole undertaking had been crushed; therefore glorify me, that I may glorify thee. Now thereby he hath taught us, (1.) What to eye and aim at in our prayers, in all our designs and desires - and that is, the honour of God. It being our chief end to glorify God, other things must be sought and attended to in subordination and subserviency to the Lord. "Do this and the other for thy servant, that thy servant may glorify thee. Give me health, that I may glorify thee with my body; success, that I may glorify thee with my estate," etc. Hallowed be thy name must be our first petition, which must fix our end in all our other petitions, Pe1 4:11. (2.) He hath taught us what to expect and hope for. If we sincerely set ourselves to glorify our Father, he will not be wanting to do that for us which is requisite to put us into a capacity of glorifying him, to give us the grace he knows sufficient, and the opportunity he sees convenient. But, if we secretly honour ourselves more than him, it is just with him to leave us in the hand of our own counsels, and then, instead of honouring ourselves, we shall shame ourselves. Fourthly, He pleads his commission (Joh 17:2, Joh 17:3); he desires to glorify his Father, in conformity to, and in pursuance of, the commission given him: "Glorify thy Son, as thou hast given him power, glorify him in the execution of the powers thou hast given him," so it is connected with the petition; or, that thy Son may glorify thee according to the power given him, so it is connected with the plea. Now see here the power of the Mediator. a. The origin of his power: Thou hast given him power; he has it from God, to whom all power belongs. Man, in his fallen state, must, in order to his recovery, be taken under a new model of government, which could not be erected but by a special commission under the broad seal of heaven, directed to the undertaker of that glorious work, and constituting him sole arbitrator of the grand difference that was, and sole guarantee of the grand alliance that was to be, between God and man; so as to this office, he received his power, which was to be executed in a way distinct from his power and government as Creator. Note, The church's king is no usurper, as the prince of this world is; Christ's right to rule is incontestable. b. The extent of his power: He has power over all flesh. (a.) Over all mankind. He has power in and over the world of spirits, the powers of the upper and unseen world are subject to him (Pe1 3:22); but, being now mediating between God and man, he here pleads his power over all flesh. They were men whom he was to subdue and save; out of that race he had a remnant given him, and therefore all that rank of beings was put under his feet. (b.) Over mankind considered as corrupt and fallen, for so he is called flesh, Gen 6:3. If he had not in this sense been flesh, he had not needed a Redeemer. Over this sinful race the Lord Jesus has all power; and all judgment, concerning them, is committed to him; power to bind or loose, acquit or condemn; power on earth to forgive sins or not. Christ, as Mediator, has the government of the whole world put into his hand; he is king of nations, has power even over those that know him not, nor obey his gospel; whom he does not rule, he over-rules, Psa 22:28; Psa 72:8; Mat 28:18; Joh 3:35. c. The grand intention and design of this power: That he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Here is the mystery of our salvation laid open. (a.) Here is the Father making over the elect to the Redeemer, and giving them to him as his charge and trust; as the crown and recompence of his undertaking. He has a sovereign power over all the fallen race, but a peculiar interest in the chosen remnant; all things were put under his feet, but they were delivered into his hand. (b.) Here is the Son undertaking to secure the happiness of those that were given him, that he would give eternal life to them. See how great the authority of the Redeemer is. He has lives and crowns to give, eternal lives that never die, immortal crowns that never fade. Now consider how great the Lord Jesus is, who has such preferments in his gift; and how gracious he is in giving eternal life to those whom he undertakes to save. [a.] He sanctifies them in this world, gives them the spiritual life which is eternal life in the bud and embryo, Joh 4:14. Grace in the soul is heaven in that soul. [b.] He will glorify them in the other world; their happiness shall be completed in the vision and fruition of God. This only is mentioned, because it supposes all the other parts of his undertaking, teaching them, satisfying for them, sanctifying them, and preparing them for that eternal life; and indeed all the other were in order to this; we are called to his kingdom and glory, and begotten to the inheritance. What is last in execution was first in intention, and that is eternal life. (c.) Here is the subserviency of the Redeemer's universal dominion to this: He has power over all flesh, on purpose that he might give eternal life to the select number. Note, Christ's dominion over the children of men is in order to the salvation of the children of God. All things are for their sakes, Co2 4:15. All Christ's laws, ordinances, and promises, which are given to all, are designed effectually to convey spiritual life, and secure eternal life, to all that were given to Christ; he is head over all things to the church. The administration of the kingdoms of providence and grace are put into the same hand, that all things may be made to concur for good to the called. d. Here is a further explication of this grand design (Joh 17:3): "This is life eternal, which I am empowered and have undertaken to give, this is the nature of it, and this the way leading to it, to know thee the only true God, and all the discoveries and principles of natural religion, and Jesus Christ whom, thou has sent, as Mediator, and the doctrines and laws of that holy religion which he instituted for the recovery of man out of his lapsed state." Here is, (a.) The great end which the Christian religion sets before us, and that is, eternal life, the happiness of an immortal soul in the vision and fruition of an eternal God. This he was to reveal to all, and secure to all that were given him. By the gospel life and immortality are brought to light, are brought to hand, a life which transcends this as much in excellency as it does in duration. (b.) The sure way of attaining this blessed end, which is, by the right knowledge of God and Jesus Christ: "This is life eternal, to know thee," which may be taken two ways - [a.] Life eternal lies in the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ; the present principle of this life is the believing knowledge of God and Christ; the future perfection of that life will be the intuitive knowledge of God and Christ. Those that are brought into union with Christ, and live a life of communion with God in Christ, know, in some measure, by experience, what eternal life is, and will say, "If this be heaven, heaven is sweet." See Psa 17:15. [b.] The knowledge of God and Christ leads to life eternal; this is the way in which Christ gives eternal life, by the knowledge of him that has called us (Pe2 1:3), and this is the way in which we come to receive it. The Christian religion shows us the way to heaven, First, By directing us to God, as the author and felicity of our being; for Christ died to bring us to God. To know him as our Creator, and to love him, obey him, submit to him, and trust in him, as our owner ruler, and benefactor, - to devote ourselves to him as our sovereign Lord, depend upon him as our chief good, and direct all to his praise as our highest end, - this is life eternal. God is here called the only true God, to distinguish him from the false gods of the heathen, which were counterfeits and pretenders, not from the person of the Son, of whom it is expressly said that he is the true God and eternal life (Jo1 5:20), and who in this text is proposed as the object of the same religious regard with the Father. It is certain there is but one only living and true God and the God we adore is he. He is the true God, and not a mere name or notion; the only true God, and all that ever set up as rivals with him are vanity and a lie; the service of him is the only true religion. Secondly, By directing us to Jesus Christ, as the Mediator between God and man: Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. If man had continued innocent, the knowledge of the only true God would have been life eternal to him; but now that he is fallen there must be something more; now that we are under guilt, to know God is to know him as a righteous Judge, whose curse we are under; and nothing is more killing than to know this. We are therefore concerned to know Christ as our Redeemer, by whom alone we can now have access to God; it is life eternal to believe in Christ; and this he has undertaken to give to as many as were given him. See Joh 6:39, Joh 6:40. Those that are acquainted with God and Christ are already in the suburbs of life eternal. (2.) Christ here prays to be glorified in consideration of his having glorified the Father hitherto, Joh 17:4, Joh 17:5. The meaning of the former petition was, Glorify me in this world; the meaning of the latter is, Glorify me in the other world. I have glorified thee on the earth, and now glorify thou me. Observe here, [1.] With what comfort Christ reflects on the life he had lived on earth: I have glorified thee, and finished my work; it is as good as finished. He does not complain of the poverty and disgrace he had lived in, what a weary life he had upon earth, as ever any man of sorrows had. He overlooks this, and pleases himself in reviewing the service he had done his Father, and the progress he had made in his understanding. This is here recorded, First, For the honour of Christ, that his life upon earth did in all respects fully answer the end of his coming into the world. Note, 1. Our Lord Jesus had work given him to do by him that sent him; he came not into the world to live at ease, but to go about doing good, and to fulfill all righteousness. His Father gave him his work, his work in the vineyard, both appointed him to it and assisted him in it. 2. The work that was given him to do he finished. Though he had not, as yet, gone through the last part of his undertaking, yet he was so near being made perfect through sufferings that he might say, I have finished it; it was as good as done, he was giving it its finishing stroke eteleiōsa - I have finished. The word signifies his performing every part of his undertaking in the most complete and perfect manner. 3. Herein he glorified his Father; he pleased him, he praised him. It is the glory of God that his work is perfect, and the same is the glory of the Redeemer; what he is the author of he will be the finisher of. It was a strange way for the Son to glorify the Father by abasing himself (this looked more likely to disparage him), yet it was contrived that so he should glorify him: "I have glorified thee on the earth, in such a way as men on earth could bear the manifestation of thy glory." Secondly, It is recorded for example to all, that we may follow his example. 1. We must make it our business to do the work God has appointed us to do, according to our capacity and the sphere of our activity; we must each of us do all the good we can in this world. 2. We must aim at the glory of God in all. We must glorify him on the earth, which he has given unto the children of men, demanding only this quit-rent; on the earth, where we are in a state of probation and preparation for eternity. 3. We must persevere herein to the end of our days; we must not sit down till we have finished our work, and accomplished as a hireling our day. Thirdly, It is recorded for encouragement to all those that rest upon him. If he has finished the work that was given him to do, then he is a complete Saviour, and did not do his work by the halves. And he that finished his work for us will finish it in us to the day of Christ. [2.] See with what confidence he expects the joy set before him (Joh 17:5): Now, O Father, glorify thou me. It is what he depends upon, and cannot be denied him. First, See here what he prayed for: Glorify thou me, as before, Joh 17:1. All repetitions in prayer are not to be counted vain repetitions; Christ prayed, saying the same words (Mat 26:44), and yet prayed more earnestly. What his Father had promised him, and he was assured of, yet he must pray for; promises are not designed to supercede prayers, but to be the guide of our desires and the ground of our hopes. Christ's being glorified includes all the honours, powers, and joys, of his exalted state. See how it is described. 1. It is a glory with God; not only, Glorify my name on earth, but, Glorify me with thine own self. It was paradise, it was heaven, to be with his Father, as Pro 8:30; Dan 7:13; Heb 8:1. Note, The brightest glories of the exalted Redeemer were to be displayed within the veil, where the Father manifests his glory. The praises of the upper world are offered up to him that sits upon the throne and to the lamb in conjunction (Rev 5:13), and the prayers of the lower world draw out grace and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ in conjunction; and thus the Father has glorified him with himself. 2. It is the glory he had with God before the world was. By this it appears, (1.) That Jesus Christ, as God, had a being before the world was, co-eternal with the Father; our religion acquaints us with one that was before all things, and by whom all things consist. (2.) That his glory with the Father is from everlasting, as well as his existence with the Father; for he was from eternity the brightness of his Father's glory, Heb 1:3. As God's making the world only declared his glory, but made no real additions to it; so Christ undertook the work of redemption, not because he needed glory, for he had a glory with the Father before the world, but because we needed glory. (3.) That Jesus Christ in his state of humiliation divested himself of this glory, and drew a veil over it; though he was still God, yet he was God manifested in the flesh, not in his glory. He laid down this glory for a time, as a pledge that he would go through with his undertaking, according to the appointment of his Father. (4.) That in his exalted state he resumed this glory, and clad himself again with his former robes of light. Having performed his undertaking, he did, as it were, reposcere pignus - take up his pledge, by this demand, Glorify thou me. He prays that even his human nature might be advanced to the highest honour it was capable of, his body a glorious body; and that the glory of the Godhead might now be manifested in the person of the Mediator, Emmanuel, God-man. He does not pray to be glorified with the princes and great men of the earth: no; he that knew both worlds, and might choose which he would have his preferment in, chose it in the glory of the other world, as far exceeding all the glory of this. He had despised the kingdoms of this world and the glory of them, when Satan offered them to him, and therefore might the more boldly claim the glories of the other world. Let the same mind be in us. "Lord, give the glories of this world to whom thou wilt give them, but let me have my portion of glory in the world to come. It is no matter, though I be vilified with men; but, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self." Secondly, See here what he pleaded: I have glorified thee; and now, in consideration thereof, glorify thou me. For, 1. There was an equity in it, and an admirable becomingness, that if God was glorified in him, he should glorify him in himself, as he had observed, Joh 13:32. Such an infinite value there was in what Christ did to glorify his Father that he properly merited all the glories of his exalted state. If the Father was a gainer in his glory by the Son's humiliation, it was fit the Son should be no loser by it at long run, in his glory. 2. It was according to the covenant between them, that if the Son would make his soul an offering for sin he should divide the spoil with the strong (Isa 53:10, Isa 53:12), and the kingdom should be his; and this he had an eye to, and depended upon, in his sufferings; it was for the joy set before him that he endured the cross: and now in his exalted state he still expects the completing of his exaltation, because he perfected his undertaking, Heb 10:13. 3. It was the most proper evidence of his Father's accepting and approving the work he had finished. By the glorifying of Christ we are satisfied that God was satisfied, and therein a real demonstration was given that the Father was well pleased in him as his beloved Son. 4. Thus we must be taught that those, and only those, who glorify God on earth, and persevere in the work God hath given them to do, shall be glorified with the Father, when they must be no more in this world. Not that we can merit the glory, as Christ did, but our glorifying God is required as an evidence of our interest in Christ, through whom eternal life is God's free gift.”

“These words spake Jesus - That is, what is related in the preceding chapters. We may consider our Lord as still moving on towards Gethsemane, not having yet passed the brook Cedron, Joh 18:1. Our Lord, who was now going to act as high priest for the whole human race, imitates in his conduct that of the Jewish high priest on the great day of expiation; who, in order to offer up the grand atonement for the sins of the people: - 1. Washed himself, and put on clean linen garments. This Christ appears to have imitated, Joh 13:4. He laid aside his garments, girded himself with a towel, etc. There is no room to doubt that he and his disciples had been at the bath before: see Joh 13:10. 2. The high priest addressed a solemn prayer to God: 1. For himself this Christ imitates, Joh 17:1-5. 2. For the sons of Aaron: our Lord imitates this in praying for his disciples, Joh 17:9-19. 3. For all the people: our Lord appears to imitate this also in praying for his Church, all who should believe on him through the preaching of the apostles and their successors, Joh 17:20-24. After which he returns again to his disciples, Joh 17:25, Joh 17:26. See Calmet's Dict. under Expiation; and see La Grande Bible de M. Martin, in loc. I. Our Lord's Prayer for Himself, Joh 17:1-5 Father - Here our Lord addresses the whole Divine nature, as he is now performing his last acts in his state of humiliation. Glorify thy Son - Cause him to be acknowledged as the promised Messiah by the Jewish people, and as the universal Savior by the Gentile world; and let such proofs of his Godhead be given as shall serve to convince and instruct mankind. That thy son also may glorify thee - That by dying be may magnify thy law and make it honorable, respected among men - show the strictness of thy justice, and the immaculate purity of thy nature.”