The Lord's Prayer.

  14 I have given them thy word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. [An additional reason for the Father's care is here presented. The reception of the Father's word had brought upon them the heavenly blessing, as a counter-balance to the curse of the world. Jesus as advocate gives potency to his petitions as to the sufferings of his disciples by suggesting that he has himself shared them-- Hebrews 2:10-18 .]

  15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them from the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one. [The care which he asks in protection in, and not removal from, the world. It is best both for the Christian and for the world that he should remain in it. The world is blessed by the Christian's presence ( Matthew 4:14-16 ), and abiding in the world affords the Christian an opportunity of conquest and reward-- Romans 8:37 ; Revelation 2:26 ; 3:21 .]

  16 They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.

  17 Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth.

  18 As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world.

  19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

[To sanctify means to set apart to a holy use. As Jesus himself had been set apart as God's messenger to the world, so he had set apart the apostles as his messengers to it. This setting apart was not a formal, empty act, but was accomplished by God's imparting or developing a fitness in the one sanctified to perform the duties for which he was set apart. Fitness in this case would be imparted by imbuing the apostles with the Spirit of truth. Jesus had set himself apart ( Hebrews 9:14 ), that the apostles might follow his example-- 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 (and also the church-- Philippians 2:5 ; Romans 12:1 Romans 12:2 ), that thereby the world might be saved. Our Lord's prayer as to the apostles is, therefore, a threefold petition, viz.: that they may be kept in unity, kept from the world and the devil, and that they may be set apart and equipped for the gospel service. We come now to the third division of the prayer wherein he asks for blessings upon future believers.]

  17 Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth.

  18 As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world.

  19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

  20 Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word;

  21 that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may

me. [Here again the first petition is for unity, and again the unity subsisting between the Father and the Son is designated as the kind desired. That future disciples may understand the nature of this unity, Jesus sets it forth in an amplified statement, which reveals the fact that he does not ask for a unity similar to that subsisting between the Father and the Son, but for that very unity itself enlarged and extended so as to become a triple instead of a dual unity by the comprehension of the disciples within its compass. As a reason why the Father should bring about this unity (and a reason also why all Christians should work for it), our Lord states that its attainment will result in the conversion of the world to the Christian faith.]

  21 that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may

  22 And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one [Jesus here states that to bring about the unity which he here prays for he has bestowed upon the disciples the glory which the Father had bestowed upon him. The glory mentioned was that of being the Son of God ( Matthew 3:17 ; John 1:14 ; Hebrews 1:5 ; 3:6 ), which glory Jesus imparts to his followers ( John 1:12 ; 1 John 3:1 ). In other words, he made us his brethren that we might be united in one great household ( Romans 8:29 ; Ephesians 1:10 ; 2:19 ; 1 John 3:9 1 John 3:10 ; 1 John 4:8 1 John 4:16 ). A true comprehension of the Fatherhood of God and our brotherhood in Christ must result in unity];

  23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that thou didst send me, and lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me. [He here states that the perfect unity of the church and the putting forth of its power in harmonious effort to convert the world will be equivalent to a demonstration of the truth of his divine mission. Verse 21 above asserts that the initial stages of unity will produce faith in the world, and this verse adds that the perfection of that unity will lead the world beyond faith into the realm of actual knowledge as to the divine mission of Christ. The context suggests that this unity will result in gracious manifestations of the Father's love. Possibly these manifestations the state of knowledge mentioned.]

  24 Father, I desire 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. [While Jesus prays that his disciples may enter the heavenly state, that state is not expressed as the end desired. He wishes them to be in that state that they may behold his glory. The glory of Christ is his Sonship, and the love which accompanies that relationship. To behold this is the height of spiritual exaltation. To know God is life eternal, and to behold God is joy ineffable. God is truly beheld subjectively. We must be like him to see him as he is ( 1 John 3:2 ). The second petition of Jesus, therefore, in no way savors of a vainglorious desire that his disciples may behold him to lead them to admire him, but a wish that they may participate in the heavenly state, and know the Sonship of Jesus and all its attendant blessedness by, in some measure, participating in it.]

  25 O righteous Father, the world knew thee not, but I knew thee; and these knew that thou didst send me;

  26 and I made known unto them thy name, and will make it known; that the love wherewith thou lovedst me may be in them, and I in them.

[In theses closing sentences Jesus blends his present and his future disciples. To his present disciples he had made known the Father's name, and to the future ones he would make it known. The knowledge which he had of the Father had been imparted to the disciples, and they had received it, and had thereby been in some measure fitted for the revelation of the glory for which he had just prayed. The world, on the contrary, had rejected Christ's revelation, and had refused to know God, and had thus become unworthy of the privilege here asked for the disciples. Jesus had revealed the Father while on earth that men might attain to the revelation of God in the hereafter, thus participating in the love which the Father has for the Son because the Son is spiritually in them. It is a significant fact that the two of the five petitions of this the petitions that they ask the Father to complete that which the Son has already begin and completed to the limit of his present circumscribed power.]

  26 and I made known unto them thy name, and will make it known; that the love wherewith thou lovedst me may be in them, and I in them.