20 "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who [will] believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." [23]
2232 After our Lord prayed for his disciples, he now prays in general for all the faithful. First, we see his prayer; secondly, he states why he should be heard (v 25). In his prayer he asks the Father two things for those who follow him: first, a perfect unity; secondly, the vision of glory, I desire that they also... may be with me (v 24). He does two things about the first: he asks, as man, for a perfect unity; secondly, he shows that as God he gives them the ability to acquire this unity (v 22). He does two things with the first: he mentions for whom he is asking; secondly, what he is asking for, that they may be one (v 22b).
2233 He is praying for the entire community of the faithful. He says: I have asked that you protect my disciples from evil, and that you sanctify them in the truth; but I do not pray for these only, but also for those who will believe, that is, for those whose faith will be strengthened, through their word, the word of the apostles. It is right for him to ask this, because no one is saved except by the intercession of Christ. So that it was not only the apostles who were saved, but also others, he also had to pray for these others: "He loved your fathers and chose their descendants after them" (Deut 4:37); "Their prosperity will remain with their descendants" (Sir 44:11).
2234 The objection is made that he does not seem to be praying for all his faithful, because he is praying for those who would be converted by the word of the apostles. But the old fathers and John the Baptizer were not converted by their word. We should answer that these persons had already arrived at their destination; and although they were not enjoying the vision of God, since the price had not yet been paid, they went from this world with their merits, so that as soon as the gate was opened they would enter. Thus, they did not need such prayer.
2235 Again, what of others who did not believe through the word of the apostles, but through Christ's, like Paul believed: "I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal 1:12), or like the thief on the cross (Lk 23:43). It does not seem that Christ prayed for them. The answer, according to Augustine, is that those are said to believe through the word of the apostles who not only listened to the apostles, but those also who believed through the word [as coming from others] which the apostles preached, which is the word of faith (Rom 10:8). [24] The word of faith is called the word of the apostles because they were especially commissioned to preach it. The same word was divinely revealed to Paul and the thief on the cross. Or, one could say that those who were converted directly by and through Christ, like Paul and the thief on the cross, and others like these, are included in that part of the prayer in which our Lord prayed for his disciples. And so our Lord said: "whom you gave me" (17:6), or will give me.
2236 What about us, who do not believe through the apostles? We should say that although we do not believe through the apostles, we do believe through their disciples.
2237 He prays for a perfect unity when he says, that they may all be one. First, he mentions the unity he is asking for; secondly, he gives an example of it, and its cause, as you, Father, are in me ; thirdly, he gives the fruit of unity, that the world may believe.
2238 He says: I am praying that they may all be one . As the Platonists say, a thing acquires its unity from that from which it acquires its goodness. For that is good for a thing which preserves it; and a thing is preserved only if it remains one. Thus when our Lord prays that his disciples be perfect in goodness, he prays that they be one. Indeed, this was accomplished: "Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul" (Acts 4:32); "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity" (Ps 133:1).
2239 He gives an example of this unity and its cause, saying, even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you . Others are one, but in evil. Our Lord is not asking for this kind of unity, but that which unites in good, that is, in God. And so he says, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you , that is, let them be united by believing in me and in you: "We, though many, are one body in Christ" (Rom 12:5); "Eager to keep the unity of the Spirit... one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph 4:3). We are one or united in the Father and the Son, who are one; for if we were seeking different things to believe and desire, our affections would be scattered.
2240 Arius uses this passage to argue that the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son in the same way that we are in God. However, we are not in God by a unity of essence, but by a conformity of will and love. Therefore, he says, like us, the Father is not in the Son by a unity of essence.
We should say to this that there is a twofold unity of the Father and the Son: a unity of essence and of love. In both of these ways the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father. The even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you , can be understood of the unity of love, according to Augustine, and then the meaning is: even as you, Father, are in me , through love, because love, charity, makes one be with God. [25] It is like saying: as the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father, so the disciples love the Father and the Son. Then the words even as do not imply equality but a remote likeness.
Or, according to Hilary, this statement can refer to a unity of nature; not indeed that the same numerical nature is in us and in the Father and the Son, but in the sense that our unity resembles that of the divine nature, by which the Father and the Son are one. [26] In this case the words even as indicate a certain imitation. That is why we are invited to imitate divine love: "Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us" (Eph 5:1). And we are also to imitate the divine perfection or goodness: "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48).
2241 He indicates the fruit of this unity when he says, so that the world may believe: for nothing shows the truth of the gospel better than the charity of those who believe: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (13:35). This will be the fruit of unity: because if my disciples are one, the world may believe that the teaching I gave to them is from you, and know that you have sent me. For God is a cause of peace, not of contentions.
2242 There is a problem here. If we will be perfectly one in our homeland, where we will not believe [but see], it seems out of place to say, after mentioning unity, that the world may believe that you have sent me . Our reply is that our Lord is speaking here of the unity which is taking shape and not of perfected unity.
2243 There is another problem. Our Lord is praying that those who believe in him may be one; therefore, even the believing world is one. Therefore, how can he say, after the world has become one, that the world may believe ? One can answer by giving the mystical sense. Then our Lord is praying that all believers be one. Yet all would not believe at the same time; some would be the first to believe, and they would convert others. So when he says, that the world may believe , it refers to those who did not believe at first, from the beginning, but when they did believe they did become one. And the same applies to those who would believe after them, and continuing to the end of the world.
Hilary has another interpretation. [27] The words so that the world may believe indicates the purpose of their unity and perfection. It is like saying: you will perfect them so that they may be one, for this purpose, so that the world may believe that you have sent me . Here the words so that indicate a final cause.
A third interpretation is by Augustine. [28] For him, that the world may believe , is another petition. In this case the I pray (v 20) has to be repeated, so that the sense is: I pray that they may be one, and I pray that the world may believe.
2244 Christ's part in establishing this unity is mentioned when he says, the glory which you have given me, I have given to them , since what he is asking for as man he is accomplishing as God. First, he shows that he acted to make them one; secondly, he mentions the kind and degree of this unity, I in them and you in me ; and thirdly, we see the purpose of this unity, so that the world may know (v 23).
2245 He says: Although, as man, I am asking for their perfection, still I am accomplishing this together with you, because the glory , of my resurrection, which you , Father, have given me , by an eternal predestination, and which you will soon give me in reality, I have given to them , my disciples. This glory is the immortality which the faithful will receive at the resurrection, an immortality even of the body: "Who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body" (Phil 3:21); "It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory" (1 Cor 15:43). And this is so that they may be one , because by the fact that they have glory they will be made one, even as we are one .
2246 He seems to be distinguishing his own activity from that of the Father, for he says that the Father gave him glory, and Christ gave this to his faithful. If this is understood correctly, we see that he is not saying these things to distinguish their activities, but their persons. For the Son, as Son, together with the Father, gives glory to Christ in his human nature, and together with the Father Christ gives it to the faithful. But because Christ gave glory to his faithful especially through his own human nature, he attributes this giving to himself, while he attributes to the Father the giving of glory to his own human nature. This is the opinion of Augustine. [29]
Or, according to Chrysostom, the glory , that is, the glory of grace, which you have given me , in my human nature, giving me a superior knowledge, perfection, and power to accomplish miracles, I have given to them , in a limited way, and will give it later more fully: "We are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another" (2 Cor 3:18); "You have given gifts to men" [Ps 68:18]. [30] And this is in order that they may be one even as we are one, for the purpose of God's gifts is to unite us in a unity which is like the unity of the Father and the Son.
2247 The manner of this unity is added when he says, I in them and you in me . They arrive at unity, because they see that I am in them, as in a temple: "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Cor 3:16), by grace, which is a certain likeness of the Father's essence, by which you, Father, are in me by a unity of nature: "I am in the Father and the Father in me" (14:10). And this is in order that they may become perfectly one .
Above, he had said, "that they may be one" (v 22), while here he says, perfectly one . The reason for this is that the first time he was referring to the unity brought about by grace, but here to its consummation. Hilary gives another interpretation: I in them , that is, I am in them by the unity of human nature, which I have in common with them, and also because I give them my body as food; and you in me , by a unity of essence. [31]
2248 Referring to the first explanation [the unity from grace], since the Father also, as well as the Son, is in them by grace - "We will come to him and make our home with him" (14:23) ‑ why does he say, I in them , without mentioning the Father? According to Augustine, he does this because they have access to the Father through the Son: "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access" (Rom 5:1); and it does not mean that the Son is in them without the Father. Or, according to Chrysostom, above Christ said, "We will come to him" (14:23), to indicate that there is a plurality of divine persons, contrary to Sabellius; but here he says, I in them , to indicate the equality of the Father and the Son, contrary to Arius. We can understand from this that it is enough for the faithful if the Son alone dwells in them.
2249 The purpose of this unity is given when he says, so that the world may know that you have sent me . If the "perfectly one" (v 23) refers to the perfection of this life, then that the world may know is the same as what he said before, "that the world may believe" (v 21). This would indicate just a beginning state. But here he is saying, know , because complete knowledge, not faith, comes after imperfect knowledge.