He says, that the world may know, not the world as it is now, but as it was [will be?], so that the meaning is: so that the world, now a believing world, may know . Or, so that the world, that is, the lovers of the world, may know that you have sent me: for by that time those who are evil will know by clear signs that Christ is the Son of God: "Every eye will see him" (Rev 1:7); "They shall look on him whom they have pierced" (19:37); "They will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Lk 21:27).
2250 The world will not only know this, it will also know the glory of the saints, that you have loved them , that is, the faithful. At the present time we cannot know how great God's love for us is: this is because the good things that God will give us exceed our longings and desires, and so cannot be found in our heart: "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor 2:9).
Thus the believing world, that is, the saints, will now know by experience how much God loves us; but the lovers of the world, that is, the wicked, will know this by seeing in amazement the glory of the saints: "This is the man whom we once held in derision... Why has he been numbered among the sons of God? And why is his lot among the saints?" (Wis 5:4); and it continues, "Why has he been numbered among the sons of God? And why is his lot among the saints?" (v 4).
2251 He continues, as you have loved me. This does not imply an equality of love, but a similarity and a reason. It is like saying: the love you have for me is the reason and cause why you love them: for by the fact that you love me, you love those who love me and are my members: "The Father himself loves you, because you have loved me" (16:27).
God loves all the things he has made, by giving them existence: "For you love all things that exist, and have loathing for none of the things you have made" (Wis 11:24). But above all he loves his only Son, to whom he has given his entire nature by an eternal generation. In a lesser way he loves the members of his only Son, that is, the faithful of Christ, by giving them the grace by which Christ dwells in them: "He loved his people; all those consecrated to him were in his hand" (Deut 33:3).
LECTURE 6
24 "Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which you have given me in your love for me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you; and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."
2252 Above, our Lord prayed for the perfect unity of his disciples; here he is asking the vision of glory for them. First, he mentions the persons for whom he is praying; secondly, he shows the way he is praying; thirdly, he states what he is asking for.
2253 He is praying for those given to him; he says, whom you have given me. That is given to a person which is subject to his will, so he can do with it as he wills. We can distinguish two wills in Christ: a will to mercy and a will to justice. His will to mercy is fundamental and absolute, because "His compassion is over all that he has made" (Ps 145:9); "who desires all men to be saved" (1 Tim 2:4). But his will for a punishing justice is not fundamental, as it presupposes sin: "God does not delight in the destruction of men" [Wis 1:13]; and in Ezekiel [18:32] we read: "I do not desire the death of the sinner," absolutely; but he wills it as a consequence of sin. [32]
All men have been given to the Son: "You have given him power over all flesh" (17:2), that is, over all men, to accomplish his will in their regard: his will for mercy, leading to salvation, or his will for justice, leading to punishment: "He is the one ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead" (Acts 10:42). But those were given to him absolutely who were given to him so that he might accomplish his will of mercy for their salvation; he says of these people, whom you have given to me, that is, in your predestination from all eternity: "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me..." (Is 8:18).
2254 The way he asks is given when he says, I desire . This can indicate authority or merit. It indicates authority if we refer this to Christ's divine will, which is the same as the will of the Father: for by his will he justifies and saves men: "He has mercy upon whomever he wills" (Rom 9:18). If we refer this to Christ's human will, it indicates merit, for Christ's human will merits our salvation. For if the wills of the just, who are the members of Christ, have merit entitling them to be heard ‑ "Ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you" (15:7) ‑ much more so does the human will of Christ, who is the head of all the saints.
2255 He mentions what he is asking for when he says, that they also... may be with me. First, he asks that the members be united to the head; secondly, that his glory be shown to his members, to behold my glory.
2256 He says, I desire that they also... may be with me where I am . This can be understood in two ways. In the first way it can be understood of Christ in his human nature. Christ, in his human nature, is soon to ascend and to be in heaven: "I am ascending to my Father and your Father" (20:17). Then the meaning is: I desire that they also, the faithful, may be with me, in heaven, where I am about to ascend: "Wherever the body is, there the eagles," that is, the saints, "will be gathered together" (Mt 24:28). For this is what Christ promised: "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven" (Mt 5:12).
2257 There is a difficulty with this meaning. Since Christ was not yet in heaven, he should have said, "where I will be," and not "where I am." And besides, he also said, "No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven" (3:13).
I reply to the first that Christ, who was speaking, was both God and man. And although he was not yet in heaven in his human nature, he was there in his divine nature. And so, while present on earth, he was in heaven; and thus he says, where I am .
As to the second objection, when we read that "No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven" (3:13), we should understand that the Son is in heaven by reason of his divinity, and descended by taking on a human nature, and then ascended by reason of his human nature, now glorified. But now we have been made one with him. Thus, he alone comes, in himself, by descending from heaven, and he alone returns there, now one with us, by ascending into heaven. This is the observation of Gregory, ( Morals , 28). [33]
He says, where I am , using the present tense instead of the future, either because he would very soon be there, or because he was referring to Christ as God.
2258 But since God is everywhere ‑ "Do I not fill heaven and earth" (Jer 23:24) ‑ it seems to follow that the saints also will be everywhere. We should reply to this that God is related to us like light is. When the sun is over the earth, the light spreads everywhere. And although the light is with all, yet all are not in the light, but only those who see it. So, since God is everywhere, he is with all, wherever they are; yet not all are with God, but only those joined to him by faith and love; and they will be finally joined in complete joy: "I am continually with you" (Ps 73:23); "We shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thess 4:17).
Thus the meaning is this: where I am , that is, in your divinity, Father, which I have by nature, they may be with me, by participating in grace: "He gave power to become children of God" (1:12); "He who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (1 Jn 4:16).
2259 He speaks of manifesting his glory to his members when he says, to behold my glory. First, he makes his request; secondly, he mentions the source of this glory, which you have given me; thirdly, he gives the reason for this glory, in your love for me .
2260 He says that he not only wants them to be with him, but he also wants them to behold my glory, in a beatifying vision: "When he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (1 Jn 3:2). This can be understood to refer to the glory of his human nature after the resurrection ‑ "He will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body" (Phil 3:21) ‑ or to the glory of his divine nature, for he is the radiance of the Father's glory and the image of his substance, as we see from Hebrews (1:3); "The radiance of eternal light" [Wis 7:26]. The saints in glory will see both of these glories. We read about the first [the glory of Christ's human nature]: "Your eyes will see the king in his beauty" (Is 33:17). The wicked will see this glory only at the judgment: "And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and majesty" [Lk 21:27]; and Mark adds "and glory" (Mk 13:26). But the sight of this glory will be taken away from them after the judgment: "Let the wicked be taken away so they cannot see the glory of the Lord" [Is 26:10], as we read in one version. Yet the saints will see the second glory [that of the divine nature] forever: "In your light," that is, of grace, "do we see light," that is, of glory, which the wicked will never see.
2261 The source of this glory is the Father: so he says, which you have given me. He gave him the glory of his body at the resurrection. Although this still remained to be done, it had already been done in the divine decree; and this is why he says, have given: "You have crowned him with glory" [Ps 8:5]. But he gave him divine glory from all eternity, because the Son is from the Father from all eternity, like radiance from light.
2262 He gives the explanation for the glory given to him when he says, in your love for me before the foundation of the world. If we refer this to Christ in his human nature, then the in indicates the cause. For just as love and predestination are the cause why we have the radiance of grace in the present life and of glory in the future ‑ "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world" (Eph 1:4) ‑ so also it is the cause of the radiance which Christ has in his human nature, "predestined the Son of God in power" [Rom 1:4]. So the meaning is this: I say that you have given me this radiance: and the cause of this is that you have loved me, in your love for me before the foundation of the world. The result being that this man is united to the Son of God to form one person: "Blessed is he whom you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts" (Ps 65:4).
If we refer this to Christ as God, then the in indicates a sign. For then the Father did not give because he loved: for when we say the Father gave to the Son we are referring to the eternal generation of the Son. If love is taken essentially, it indicates the divine will; if it is taken notionally, it indicates the Holy Spirit. Now it was by nature that the Father gave radiance to the Son, not by his will, because the Father begot the Son by nature. And so he also did not give to the Son because he brought forth the Holy Spirit. [34]
2263 Now he gives the reason why his prayer should be heard. Before, our Lord had included the faithful in his petition when he said, "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word" (17:20). He also excluded the world and unbelievers when he said, "I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world" (17:9). Now he gives the reason for this: first, he mentions the failure of the world; secondly, the progress of the disciples (v 25).