He adds: "As You sent Me into the world... and for them I consecrate Myself," that is, I offer Myself as a sacrifice; so sanctify them also, that is, set them apart as a sacrifice for the sake of preaching and appoint them as witnesses of the truth, just as You also sent Me as a witness of the truth and as a sacrifice. For everything offered as a sacrifice is called holy. "That they also," as I, "may be sanctified" and offered to You, God, not as sacrifices under the law, slain in figure, but "in truth."
For the Old Testament sacrifices—for example, the lamb, the doves, the turtledoves, and the rest—were types, and everything holy in the prefiguration was dedicated to God, foreshadowing something else, something spiritual. But souls offered to God are sanctified in the truth itself, set apart and consecrated to God, as Paul also says: "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy" (Rom. 12:1).
Sanctify, then, and consecrate the souls of the disciples, and make them true offerings, or strengthen them to endure even death for the truth.
Jn. 17:20. Not for these only do I pray, but also for those who believe in Me through their word,
He said: "For them I sanctify Myself." Lest anyone think that He died only for the apostles, He adds: "Not for them only, but also for all who believe in Me through their word." Here He again encouraged the souls of the apostles by the fact that they would have many disciples. And lest, hearing "not for them only do I pray," the apostles be offended, as though He gives them no advantage over the rest, He comforts them by declaring that they will be the cause of faith and salvation for many.
Jn. 17:21. That they all may be one,
And since He has sufficiently committed them to the Father, that He might sanctify them by faith and offered the holy sacrifice for them for the truth, He speaks, finally, again about unity of mind, and with what He began, that is, with love, with that He also concludes His discourse and says: "That they all may be one," that is, that they may have peace and unity of mind, and in Us, that is, according to faith in Us, that they may preserve complete harmony. For nothing so scandalizes disciples as when teachers are divided and not of one mind.
Jn. 17:21. As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so also may they be one in Us –
For who would want to listen to those who are themselves not of one mind? Therefore He says: "And let them also be one, in faith in Us, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You." The particle "as" again does not signify perfect equality. For it is impossible for us to be united with one another as the Father is with the Son. The particle "as" must be understood in the same way as in the words "be merciful, even as your Father" (Luke 6:36).
Jn. 17:21. that the world may believe that You sent Me.
The unity of mind among the disciples will prove that I, the Teacher, came forth from God. But if there is discord among them, no one will say that they are disciples of the Reconciler; and if I am not the Reconciler, they will not acknowledge Me as sent from You. Do you see how He affirms to the end His unity of mind with the Father?
Jn. 17:22. And the glory which You gave Me, I have given them: that they may be one, as We are one.
What glory did He give? The glory of miracles, of the dogmas of teaching, and also the glory of being of one mind, "that they may be one." For this glory is greater than the glory of miracles. "Just as we marvel before God, because in His nature there is neither revolt nor strife, and this is the greatest glory, so," He says, "let them also be glorified by the same thing, that is, by being of one mind."
Jn. 17:23. I in them, and Thou in Me; that they may be made perfect in one,
"I in them, and You in Me." By this He shows that the apostles also contained the Father within themselves. "For I," He says, "am in them; and I have You in Myself, therefore You also are in them."
In another place He says that the Father and He Himself will come and make Their abode (John 14:23). By this He shuts the mouth of Sabellius and shows two Persons. By this He also overthrows the madness of Arius; for He says that the Father abides in the disciples through Him.
Jn. 17:23. and that the world may know that You sent Me
"That the world may know that You sent Me." He speaks of this often, in order to show that the world can attract more than a miracle. For just as enmity destroys, so harmony binds together.
Jn. 17:23. And loved them, as He loved Me.
Here again understand the particle "as" in the sense of how much a person can be loved.
Jn. 17:24. Father! those whom You have given Me, I desire that where I am, they also may be with Me,
That is, having said that they will be safe, that they will be holy, that many will believe through them, that they will receive great glory, He now speaks also of the rewards and crowns that await them upon their departure from here. "I desire," He says, "that where I am, they also may be"; and lest you, hearing this, should think that they will receive the same dignity as He, He adds:
Jn. 17:24. that they may see My glory,
He did not say "that they may receive My glory," but "that they may see," for the greatest delight for man is to behold the Son of God. And in this lies glory for all who are worthy, as Paul also says: "But we all, with open face beholding the glory of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18). He shows by this that then they will behold Him not as they now see Him, not in a humiliated form, but in the glory which He had before the foundation of the world.
Jn. 17:24. The glory which You gave Me, because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.