Church Fathers Commentary John 17:24-26

"Father, I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world knew thee not, but I knew thee; and these knew that thou didst send me; and I made known unto them thy name, and will make it known; that the love wherewith thou lovedst me may be in them, and I in them." — John 17:24-26 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: After He said that many would believe in Him through them and that they would receive great glory, He then speaks of the crowns in store for them: Father, I will that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am.

St. Augustine of Hippo: These are the ones He has received from the Father, whom He also chose out of the world. As He says at the beginning of this prayer, You have given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. In this, He shows that He had received power over all people, to deliver whomever He willed and to condemn whomever He willed. Therefore, He promises this reward to all His members: that where He is, they may be also.

This cannot fail to be done, for it is what the Almighty Son says He wills to the Almighty Father. The Father and the Son have one will, which, if our weakness prevents us from comprehending, our piety must lead us to believe.

Regarding the phrase where I am, as it pertains to His human nature, He was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. He could say, where I am, meaning where He was shortly to be—that is, in heaven. He promises, then, that we shall be in heaven. For it was the form of a servant, which He had taken from the Virgin, that was raised and placed at the right hand of God.

St. Gregory the Great: What, then, is the meaning of what the Truth says elsewhere: No man has ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man who is in heaven? Yet there is no discrepancy here. Since our Lord is the Head of His members—excluding the reprobate—He is alone, and yet He is with us. Therefore, as we are made one with Him, He returns alone in us to the place from where He came alone in Himself.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But regarding the form of God, in which He is equal to the Father, if we understand the words that they may be with Me where I am with reference to that, then we must cast away all bodily ideas. We must not ask where the Son, who is equal to the Father, is, for no one has discovered where He is not.

Therefore, it was not enough for Him to say, I will that they may be where I am; 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.

To use an example from the visible world—however different it may be—consider a blind man. Though he is where the light is, he is not himself with the light but is absent from it even while in its presence. In the same way, not only unbelievers but also believers, though they cannot be where Christ is not, are not themselves with Christ by sight. By faith, however, we cannot doubt that a believer is with Christ.

But here He is speaking of that sight by which we shall see Him as He is, as He adds, that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me. He says, that they may behold, not that they may believe. He is speaking of the reward of faith, not faith itself.

St. John Chrysostom: He does not say, that they may partake of My glory, but, that they may behold, intimating that our rest there consists in seeing the Son of God. The Father gave Him glory when He begot Him.

St. Augustine of Hippo: When we have seen the glory that the Father gave the Son—though by this glory we do not mean that which He gave to the equal Son when He begot Him, but that which He gave to the Son of Man after His crucifixion—then the judgment will come. Then the wicked will be taken away so that they do not see the glory of the Lord. And what glory is this but that by which He is God?

If, then, we take His words, That they may be with Me where I am, as spoken by Him as the Son of God, they must have a higher meaning: namely, that we shall be in the Father with Christ. He immediately adds, that they may see My glory which You have given Me, and then, which You gave Me before the foundation of the world. For in Him, the Father loved us before the foundation of the world and predestined what He would do at the end of the world.

The Venerable Bede: What He calls glory, then, is the love with which He was loved by the Father before the foundation of the world. And in that glory, He also loved us before the foundation of the world.

Theophylact of Ohrid: After He had prayed for believers and promised them so many good things, another prayer follows that is worthy of His mercy and goodness: O righteous Father, the world has not known You. This is as if to say, “I wish that all people might obtain these good things which I have asked for those who believe. But since they have not known You, they will not receive the glory and the crown.”

St. John Chrysostom: He says this as if He were troubled at the thought that they are unwilling to know One so just and good. And while the Jews had said that they knew God and that He did not know Him, He on the contrary says, But I have known You, and these have known that You have sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it—giving them perfect knowledge through the Holy Spirit.

When they have learned who You are, they will know that I am not separate from You, but am Your own Son, greatly beloved and joined to You. I have told them this so that I might receive them, and so that those who believe this rightly will preserve their faith and love for Me completely. And I will abide in them: That the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Or, we can understand it this way: What is it to know Him but to have eternal life, which He gave not to a condemned world, but to a reconciled one? For this reason the world has not known You: because You are just and have punished it with this ignorance of Yourself as a penalty for its misdeeds. And for this reason the reconciled world knows You: because You are merciful and have granted this knowledge, not because of its merits, but by Your grace.

It follows: But I have known You. He is by nature God, the fountain of grace; and by ineffable grace, He is man, born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin. Then, because the grace of God is through Jesus Christ, He says, And these have known that You have sent Me—that is, the reconciled world has known Me by grace, because You have sent Me.

And I have made known Your name to them by faith, and will make it known by sight, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them. The Apostle uses a similar phrase, I have fought a good fight, though saying “by a good fight” is the more common grammatical form. The love with which the Father loves the Son can be in us only because we are His members, and we are loved in Him when He is loved as a whole—that is, both Head and body.

Therefore, He adds, and I in them. He is in us as in His temple; we are in Him as our Head.