1 These words spake Iesus, and lift vp his eyes to heauen, and said, Father, the houre is come, glorifie thy Sonne, that thy Sonne also may glorifie thee.
2 As thou hast giuen him power ouer all flesh, that he should giue eternall life to as many as thou hast giuen him.
3 And this is life eternall, that they might know thee the onely true God, and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
4 I haue glorified thee on the earth: I haue finished the worke which thou gauest me to doe.
5 And now O Father, glorifie thou me, with thine owne selfe, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6 I haue manifested thy Name vnto the men which thou gauest me out of the world: thine they were; and thou gauest them me; and they haue kept thy word.
7 Now they haue knowen that all things whatsoeuer thou hast giuen me, are of thee.
8 For I haue giuen vnto them the words which thou gauest me, and they haue receiued them, and haue knowen surely that I came out from thee, and they haue beleeued that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them, I pray not for the world: but for them which thou hast giuen me, for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them.
11 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 owne Name, those whom thou hast giuen mee, that they may bee one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy Name: those that thou gauest me, I haue kept, and none of them is lost, but the sonne of perdition: that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee, and these things I speake in the world, that they might haue my ioy fulfilled in themselues.
14 I haue giuen them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, euen as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keepe them from the euill.
16 They are not of the world, euen as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctifie them through thy trueth: thy word is trueth.
18 As thou hast sent mee into the world: euen so haue I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctifie my selfe, that they also might be sanctified through the trueth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone; but for them also which shall beleeue on me through their word:
21 That they all may be one, as thou Father art in mee, and I in thee, that they also may bee one in vs: that the world may beleeue that thou hast sent mee.
22 And the glory which thou gauest me, I haue giuen them: that they may be one, euen as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in mee, that they may bee made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loued them, as thou hast loued me.
24 Father, I will that they also whom thou hast giuen me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast giuen mee: for thou louedst mee before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not knowen thee, but I haue knowen thee, and these haue knowen that thou hast sent me.
26 And I haue declared vnto them thy Name, and will declare it: that the loue wherewith thou hast loued mee, may be in them, and I in them.
Christ's prayer for himself. (1-5) His prayer for his disciples. (6-10) His prayer. (11-26)1-5 Our Lord prayed as a man, and as the Mediator of his people; yet he spoke with majesty and authority, as one with and equal to the Father. Eternal life could not be given to believers, unless Christ, their Surety, both glorified the Father, and was glorified of him. This is the sinner's way to eternal life, and when this knowledge shall be made perfect, holiness and happiness will be fully enjoyed. The holiness and happiness of the redeemed, are especially that glory of Christ, and of his Father, which was the joy set before him, for which he endured the cross and despised the shame; this glory was the end of the sorrow of his soul, and in obtaining it he was fully satisfied. Thus we are taught that our glorifying God is needed as an evidence of our interest in Christ, through whom eternal life is God's free gift.
6-10. Christ prays for those that are his. Thou gavest them me, as sheep to the shepherd, to be kept; as a patient to the physician, to be cured; as children to a tutor, to be taught: thus he will deliver up his charge. It is a great satisfaction to us, in our reliance upon Christ, that he, all he is and has, and all he said and did, all he is doing and will do, are of God. Christ offered this prayer for his people alone as believers; not for the world at large. Yet no one who desires to come to the Father, and is conscious that he is unworthy to come in his own name, need be discouraged by the Saviour's declaration, for he is both able and willing to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God by him. Earnest convictions and desires, are hopeful tokens of a work already wrought in a man; they begin to evidence that he has been chosen unto salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. They are thine; wilt thou not provide for thine own? Wilt thou not secure them? Observe the foundation on which this plea is grounded, All mine are thine, and thine are mine. This speaks the Father and Son to be one. All mine are thine. The Son owns none for his, that are not devoted to the service of the Father.
11-16 Christ does not pray that they might be rich and great in the world, but that they might be kept from sin, strengthened for their duty, and brought safe to heaven. The prosperity of the soul is the best prosperity. He pleaded with his holy Father, that he would keep them by his power and for his glory, that they might be united in affection and labours, even according to the union of the Father and the Son. He did not pray that his disciples should be removed out of the world, that they might escape the rage of men, for they had a great work to do for the glory of God, and the benefit of mankind. But he prayed that the Father would keep them from the evil, from being corrupted by the world, the remains of sin in their hearts, and from the power and craft of Satan. So that they might pass through the world as through an enemy's country, as he had done. They are not left here to pursue the same objects as the men around them, but to glorify God, and to serve their generation. The Spirit of God in true Christians is opposed to the spirit of the world.
17-19 Christ next prayed for the disciples, that they might not only be kept from evil, but made good. It is the prayer of Jesus for all that are his, that they may be made holy. Even disciples must pray for sanctifying grace. The means of giving this grace is, "through thy truth, thy word is truth." Sanctify them, set them apart for thyself and thy service. Own them in the office; let thy hand go with them. Jesus entirely devoted himself to his undertaking, and all the parts of it, especially the offering up himself without spot unto God, by the eternal Spirit. The real holiness of all true Christians is the fruit of Christ's death, by which the gift of the Holy Ghost was purchased; he gave himself for his church, to sanctify it. If our views have not this effect on us, they are not Divine truth, or we do not receive them by a living and a working faith, but as mere notions.
20-23 Our Lord especially prayed, that all believers might be as one body under one head, animated by one soul, by their union with Christ and the Father in him, through the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. The more they dispute about lesser things, the more they throw doubts upon Christianity. Let us endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, praying that all believers may be more and more united in one mind and one judgment. Thus shall we convince the world of the truth and excellence of our religion, and find more sweet communion with God and his saints.
24-26 Christ, as one with the Father, claimed on behalf of all that had been given to him, and should in due time believe on him, that they should be brought to heaven; and that there the whole company of the redeemed might behold his glory as their beloved Friend and Brother, and therein find happiness. He had declared and would further declare the name or character of God, by his doctrine and his Spirit, that, being one with him, the love of the Father to him might abide with them also. Thus, being joined to Him by one Spirit, they might be filled with all the fulness of God, and enjoy a blessedness of which we can form no right idea in our present state.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.