(Hom. lxxxii. 2) After He has said that many should believe on Him through them, and that they should obtain great glory, He then speaks of the crowns in store for them; Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.
(Hom. lxxxii) He saith not, that they may partake of My glory, but, that they may behold, intimating that the rest there is to see the Son of God. The Father gave Him glory, when He begat Him.
(Hom. lxxxii) He says this as if He were troubled at the thought, that they should be unwilling to know One so just and good. And whereas the Jews had said, that they knew God, and He knew Him not: He on the contrary says, But I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent Me, and I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare1 it, by giving them perfect knowledge through the Holy Ghost. When they have learned what Thou art, they will know that I am not separate from Thee, but Thine own Son greatly beloved, and joined to Thee. This I have told them, that I might receive them, and that they who believe this aright, shall preserve their faith and love toward Me entire; and I will abide in them: That the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.
(Tr. cx. 4) Nor is this said, however, as if to mean that the Father was not in us, or we in the Father. He only means to say, that He is Mediator between God and man. And what He adds, That they may be made perfect in one, shows that the reconciliation made by this Mediator, was carried on even to the enjoyment of everlasting blessedness. So what follows, That the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, must not be taken to mean the same as the words just above, That the world may believe. For as long as we believe what we do not see, we are not yet made perfect, as we shall be when we have merited to see what we believe. So that when He speaks of their being made perfect, we are to understand such a knowledge as shall be by sight, not such as is by faith. These that believe are the world, not a permanent enemy, but changed from an enemy to a friend; as it follows: And hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me. The Father loves us in the Son, because He elected us in Him. These words do not prove that we are equal to the Only Begotten Son; for this mode of expression, as one thing so another, does not always signify equality. It sometimes only means, because one thing, therefore another. And this is its meaning here: Thou hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me, i. e. Thou hast loved them, because Thou hast loved Me. There is no reason for God loving His members, but that He loves him. But since He hateth nothing that He hath made, who can adequately express how much He loves the members of His Only Begotten Son, and still more the Only Begotten Himself.
(Tr. cxi. 1) These are they whom He has received from the Father, whom He also chose out of the world; as He saith at the beginning of this prayer, Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, i. e. all mankind, That He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. Wherein He shows that He had received power over all men, to deliver whom He would, and to condemn whom He would. Wherefore it is to all His members that He promises this reward, that where He is, they may be also. Nor can that but be done, which the Almighty Son saith that He wishes to the Almighty Father: for the Father and the Son have one will, which, if weakness prevent us from comprehending, piety must believe. Where I am: so far as pertains to the creature, He was made of the seed of David according to the flesh: He might say, Where I am, meaning where He was shortly to be, i. e. heaven. In heaven then, He promises us, we shall be. For thither was the form of a servant raised, which He had taken from the Virgin, and there placed on the right hand of God.
(Tr. cxi) But as respects the form of God, wherein He is equal to the Father, if we understand these words, that they may be with Me where I am, with reference to that, then away with all bodily ideas, and enquire not where the Son, Who is equal to the Father, is: for no one hath discovered where He is not. Wherefore it was not enough for Him to say, I will that they may be where I am, but He adds, with Me. For to be with Him is the great good: even the miserable can be where He is, but only the happy can be with Him. And as in the ease of the visible, though very different be whatever example we take, a blind man will serve for one, as a blind man though He is where the light is, yet is not himself with the light, but is absent from it in its presence, so not only the unbelieving, but the believing, though they cannot be where Christ is not, yet are not themselves with Christ by sight: by faith we cannot doubt but that a believer is with Christ. But here He is speaking of that sight wherein we shall see Him as He is; as He adds, That they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me. That they may behold, He says, not, that they may believe. It is the reward of faith which He speaks of, not faith itself.
(Tr. cxi. 3) When then we shall have seen the glory which the Father gave the Son, though by this glory we do not understand here, that which He gave to the equal Son when He begat Him, but that which He gave to the Son of man, after His crucifixion; then shall the judgment be, then shall the wicked be taken away, that he see not the glory of the Lord: what glory but that whereby He is God? If then we take their words, That they may be with Me where I am, to be spoken by Him as Son of God, in that case they must have a higher meaning, viz. that we shall be in the Father with Christ. As He immediately adds, That they may see My glory which Thou hast given Me; and then, Which Thou gavest Me before the foundation of the world. For in Him He loved us before the foundation of the world, and then predestined what He should do at the end of the world.
(Tr. cxi. 5) Or thus; What is to know Him, but eternal life, which He gave not to a condemned but to a reconciled world? For this reason the world hath not known Thee; because Thou art just, and hast punished them with this ignorance of Thee, in reward for their misdeeds. And for this reason the reconciled world knows Thee, because Thou art merciful, and hast vouchsafed this knowledge, not in consequence of their merits, but of thy grace. It follows: But I have known Thee. He is God the fountain of grace by nature, man of the Holy Ghost and Virgin by grace ineffable. Then because the grace of God is through Jesus Christ, He says, And they have known Me, i. e. the reconciled world have known Me, by grace, forasmuch as Thou hast sent Me. And I have made known Thy name to them by faith, and will make it known by sight: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them. (2 Tim. 4:7) The Apostle uses a like phrase, I have fought a good fight, by a good fight being the more common form. The love wherewith the Father loveth the Son in us, can only be in us because we are His members, and we are loved in Him when He is loved wholly, i. e. both head and body. And therefore He adds, And I in them; He is in us, as in His temple, we in Him as our Head.
(Moral.) What means then what the Truth saith above, No man hath ascended into heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:13) Yet here is no discrepancy, for our Lord being the Head of His members, the reprobates excluded, He is alone with us. And therefore, we making one with Him, whence He came alone in Himself, thither He returns alone in us.
That which He calls glory then is the love wherewith He was loved with the Father before the foundation of the world. And in that glory He loved us too before the foundation of the world.
After then that He had prayed for believers, and promised them so many good things, another prayer follows worthy of His mercy and benignity: O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee; as if to say, I would wish that all men obtained these good things, which I have asked for the believing. But inasmuch as they have not known Thee, they shall not obtain the glory and crown.
What means this? What connection has it? He here shows that no man knows God, save those only who have come to know the Son. And what He says is of this kind: I wished all to be so, yet they have not known You, although they had no complaint against You. For this is the meaning of, O righteous Father. And here He seems to me to speak these words, as vexed that they would not know One so just and good. For since the Jews had said that they knew God, but that He knew Him not, at this He aims, saying, For You loved Me before the foundation of the world; thus putting together a defense against the accusations of the Jews. For how could He who had received glory, who was loved before the foundation of the world, who desired to have them as witnesses of that glory, how could He be opposed to the Father? This then is not true which the Jews say, that they know You, and that I know You not; on the contrary, I know You, and they have not known You.
And these have known that You have sent Me.
Do you see that He alludes to those, who said that He was not from God, and all is finally summed up to meet this argument?
What does he mean when he says, “O righteous Father, the world has not known you”? What is the connection with what preceded? Here he shows that no one knows God except those who have come to know the Son. And what he says, then, is like this: “I wanted everyone to know you, and yet they have not known you, although they can find no fault with you.” For this is the meaning of “O righteous Father.” And here he seems to me to speak these words as one who is frustrated that they refused to know someone who is so just and good. For since the Jews had said that they knew God but that Jesus did not, he takes aim at this perception, saying, “For you [the Father] loved me before the foundation of the world.” In this way he put together a defense against the accusations of the Jews. For how could he who had received glory, who was loved before the foundation of the world, who desired to have them as witnesses of that glory—how could he be opposed to the Father? And so, he is in effect saying, “What the Jews say then is not true when they say they know you and I don’t. On the contrary, I know you, and they don’t.”
He here calls the Father righteous, where He might have used another title. For He is holy, pure, undefiled, Maker and Creator of the world, and whatever else befits the Ruler of the Universe. It is very desirable, then, to inquire why Christ entitled Him righteous, when He might have given Him another name. It will, then, be productive to us of much profit, if we do not allow any passages of Holy Writ to escape us. When, then, Christ desired us to be sanctified by the favour of His Father, fulfilling Himself the character of Advocate and Mediator, He made His intercession for us in the words: Holy Father, keep them in Thy Truth; meaning by Truth nothing but His own Spirit, by Whom He secureth our souls, sealing them in His Likeness, and edifying them, as it were, by His ineffable power, so that courage is undaunted; and exhorting us to manifest unrestrained zeal in abundant good works, and to let nothing stand in our way, or avail to call us back, that so we may hasten eagerly on our course to do God's pleasure, and may set at naught the manifold inventions of the devil and the pleasures of the world. For they who have once been sealed by the Holy Spirit, and who receive into their minds the earnest of His grace, have their hearts fortified, as they are girded with power from on high. Christ, therefore, besought the Father that He would sanctify us, in order that we might enjoy blessings so acceptable. Here, too, I think, He seems to have some such idea in His mind. For besides what He said about our need of sanctification from the Father, |561 He also added these words concerning us: And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as We are One; for Thou lovedst them, even as Thou lovedst Me; and again: Father, those whom Thou hast given Me, I will that where I am, they also may be with Me.
After thus speaking, He straightway calls the Father righteous, and with reason; for by His approval and consent the Son became Man, that He might endow the nature of man, which was created for good works, with sanctification through the Spirit, and union with God, and with an abiding place in the mansions above, there to live and reign with Him. For God did not create man at the beginning to work wickedness; but his nature was perverted into vice by the impious wiles of the devil, and was led astray from its guidance of old by the hand of God, and, as it were, upheaved from its foundation. Truly, it well beseemed the righteous Father to lift up again that human nature which had been cast down through the devil's malice, and to establish in its former position that which had been unduly debased, and to rid it of the foulness of sin, and, as it were, transform it into its original image as it had been at first created, and also to subject the adversary that assaulted man and impiously dared to compass his ruin, that is, Satan, to the vengeance that was meet; though methinks any kind of chastisement were slight for him who exhibited such madness against God. Therefore He saith: O righteous Father----for Thou art righteous and good, and true is Thy judgment; for Thou hast sent down Me, Who am Thine own true Son, to the world to succour and renew it. But, alas for the blindness of the world! He says: For though Thou wert such as I have said, the world knew Thee not. For surely they should straightway have seen the loving-kindness of Thy judgment and Thy merciful Will, and should have hastened to welcome their Saviour, and have brought Him willing service.
Christ, then, held this discourse with the Father, offering up, as it were, thanks on our behalf and for our sake, inasmuch as He, in His righteousness, had vouchsafed salvation to those who had suffered through the devil's malice, and had doomed the devil to perdition. And the world, He says, that is, they who oppose the Divine message of the Gospel through their worldly-mindedness, have not learnt that the Father is righteous, for the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, as Paul says, that the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ should not dawn upon them. But He bore witness to His own disciples that they knew and understood Him, and hereby He endows them once more with a great and enviable dignity. For He shows them to be far above all the humiliation and contumely of the world, through their knowledge of the Father, and clearly also through their confession that Christ was the Son. When, therefore, at the same time as the charge was brought against the world that it knew not the Father, that is, the true and living God, He bore witness to the disciples that they knew Him, is it not henceforth quite beyond dispute, that they were not of the world now that they had become Christ's, Who is above the world, according to the saying of Paul: Through which the world hath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world; who saith again concerning us: And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof? When we say that the disciples were out of the world, we do not mean that they were absent so far as their bodies and position in space were concerned, for they appear as lights in the world, holding forth the Word of Life. We rather mean that, while they still walked upon earth, they were citizens of heaven; and that, bidding farewell to the lusts of the flesh, and lifting their minds high above all worldly desire, they had attained to an exceeding height of virtue, according to the saying in the Psalms: The mighty men of God have been exalted high above the earth. For they who have reached true manliness through God have put aside the grovelling thoughts of earth, and |563 turned their minds heavenward; for this, I think, is the meaning of the word exalted. The world then, He says, O Father, knew not Thee in Thy righteousness. But I know Thee, for I am Thy Counsel and Wisdom. I regarded not the glory and Divine dignity that is Mine by Nature, but humbled Myself, and descended to human poverty, that I might save with Thine approval the race that had fallen away from kinship with Us. Though the world knew not this, yet were the disciples enriched with this knowledge, and verily comprehended that Thou hast sent Me; that is, that I have come to bring Thy purpose to a glorious issue, by rescuing the world which was in peril.
Christ calls the Father righteous with good reason. For by the Father’s approval and consent the Son became man that he might endow human nature, which was created for good works, with sanctification through the Spirit, and union with God and an abiding place in the mansions above where he will live and reign with him. For God did not create humanity at the beginning to do wickedness. But their nature was perverted into vice by the impious schemes of the devil, and they were led astray from the guidance of old that they had received at the hands of God. They were uprooted, as it were, from its moorings. In truth, it seemed good to the righteous Father to lift up again that human nature that had been cast down through the devil’s malice and to establish in its former position what had been unduly debased. He wanted to rid the human nature of the foulness of sin and, as it were, transform it into its original image as it had been at first created. He also sought to subject the adversary, that is, Satan, who assaulted humanity and impiously dared to make its ruin complete, to the vengeance that was fitting for him. Although I personally think any kind of chastisement was slight for someone who exhibited such madness against God. Therefore he says, “O righteous Father,” “for you are righteous and good, and your judgment is true,” because you have sent me down, your own true Son, to the world to help and renew it. But the world is blind to all this! He says, For though you are exactly as I described you, “the world did not know you.” Otherwise they would have surely seen the loving-kindness of your judgment and your merciful will. In that case, they should have hurried to welcome their Savior and provided him with willing service.
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 17:24-26
(Hom. lxxxii) He saith not, that they may partake of My glory, but, that they may behold, intimating that the rest there is to see the Son of God. The Father gave Him glory, when He begat Him.
(Hom. lxxxii) He says this as if He were troubled at the thought, that they should be unwilling to know One so just and good. And whereas the Jews had said, that they knew God, and He knew Him not: He on the contrary says, But I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent Me, and I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare1 it, by giving them perfect knowledge through the Holy Ghost. When they have learned what Thou art, they will know that I am not separate from Thee, but Thine own Son greatly beloved, and joined to Thee. This I have told them, that I might receive them, and that they who believe this aright, shall preserve their faith and love toward Me entire; and I will abide in them: That the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.