Charles Spurgeon Commentary John 17:13

"But now I come to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves." — John 17:13 (ASV)

And those things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

Have you ever obtained this blessing, brethren—Christ's joy in you, and—what is more—Christ's joy fulfilled in you? God grant all of us to know by happy experience the meaning of this wondrous expression!

And these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

While he drained the cup of sorrow to the dregs, and went forward to all the agonies of the cruel cross, he wanted his disciples to have his joy fulfilled in them, that they might be filled full with his joy.

And now come I to thee;

Christ looked beyond all that was to happen to him before he could return to his glory, and as he saw his Father waiting to welcome him, he cried And now come I to thee. These might be appropriate words in the mouth of a dying believer: And now come I to thee.

And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

What an unselfish Saviour! His heart is ready to break with his impending sufferings, and yet he prays for us, that we may be filled with his joy. I suppose that it is true that the Man of sorrows was the happiest man who ever lived.

For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame; and, despite his boundless and bottomless grief, yet there was within him such communion with God, love for humankind, and the certainty of his ultimate triumph, that kept him still joyous above the seas of tribulation. He prays that that same joy may be fulfilled in us; may God graciously grant it to all of us who believe in Jesus!

And now come I to thee;

I can only read you this wonderful chapter, but what must it have been to have heard it! I think I see the look on the Saviour's face as he says to his Father, "And now come I to thee." May something like that look be on your faces, my beloved, when your last moments come! Looking away from your dear ones whom you must leave as Jesus left his disciples, may you each one be able to say, "And now come I to thee"!