1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyea to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come ; glo- rify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify" thee :
2 As tliou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And this is life eternal, that thiy might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, 0 Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee be- fore ttie world was.
6 1 have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world : thine they were, and thou gavest them me ; and tliey have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all
JOHN, CHAP. XVII. -^Qf^
tilings whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 8 For I have ffiven unto them the
they have received tTiem, and have known .surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that
words which thou gavest me ; and • thou didst send me.
These verses begin one of the most wonderful chap- ters in the Bible. It is a chapter in which we see our Lord Jesus Christ addressing a long prayer to God the Father. It is wonderful as a specimen of the commu- nion that was ever kept up between the Father and the Son, during the period of the Son's ministry on eartli. — It is wonderful as a pattern of the intercession which the Son, as an High Priest, is ever carrying on for us in heaven. — ISTot least it is wonderful as an example of the sort of things that believers should mention in prayer. What Christ asks for His people, His people should ask for themselves. It has been well and truly said by an old divine, that "the best and fullest sermon ever preached was followed by the best of prayers."
It is needless to say that the chapter before us con- tains many deep things. It could hardly be otherwise. He that reads the words spoken by one Person of the blessed Trinity to another Person, by the Son to the Father, must surely be prepared to find much that he cannot fully understand, much that he has no line to fathom. There are sentences, words, and expressions, in the twenty-six verses of this chapter, which no one probably has ever unfolded completely. We have not minds to do it, or to understand the matters it contains, if we could. But there are great truths in the chapter which stand out clearly and plainly on its face, and to these truths v.-' shall do well to direct our best atten- tion.
We should notice, firstly, in these verses, what a glorious account they contain of our Lord Jesus Christ'*s office and dignity. We read that the Father has " given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal
IgS EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
life." The keys of heaven are in Christ's hands. The salvation of every soul of mankind is at His disposal. — We read, furthermore, that " it is life eternal to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent." The mere knowledge of God is not sufficient, and saves none. We must know the Son as well as the Father. Go i known without Christ is a Being whom we can only fear, and dare not approach. It is " God in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself," who alone can give to the soul life and peace. — We read, furthermore, that Christ " has finished the work which the Father gave Him to do." He has finished the work of redeaip- tion, and wrought out a perfect righteousness for His people. Unlike the first Adam, who failed to do God's will and brought sin into the world, the second Adam has done all, and left nothing undone that He came to do. — Finally, we read that Christ " had glory with the Father before the world was." Unlike Moses and Da- vid, He existed from all eternity, long before He came into the world ; and He shared glory with the Father, before He was made flesh and born of the Virgin Mary.
Each of these marvellous sayings contains matter which our weak minds have not power fully to compre- hend. We must be content to admire and reverence what we cannot thoroughly grasp and explain. But one thing is abundantly clear: sayings like these can only be used of one who is very God. To no patriarch, or prophet, or king, or apostle, is any such language ever applied in the Bible. It belongs to none but God.
Forever let us thank God that the hope of a Chris- tian rests on such a solid foundation as a Divine Sa- viour. He to whom we are commanded to flee for pardon, and in whom we are bid to rest for peace, is God as well as man. To all who really think about their souls, and are not careless and worldly, the