John Calvin Commentary John 17:11

"And I am no more in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we [are]." — John 17:11 (ASV)

And I am no longer in the world. He assigns another reason why he prays so earnestly for the disciples: namely, because they will very soon be deprived of his bodily presence, under which they had rested until now. As long as he lived with them, he cherished them.

As a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings
(Matthew 23:37).

But now that he is about to depart, he asks that the Father will guard them by his protection. He does this on their account, for he provides a remedy for their trembling, so that they may rely on God himself, to whose hands, as it were, he now commits them. It provides no small comfort to us when we learn that the Son of God becomes all the more earnest about the salvation of his people when he leaves them regarding his bodily presence. For we should conclude from this that, while we are struggling with difficulties in the world, he keeps his eye on us, to send down from his heavenly glory relief from our distresses.

Holy Father. The whole prayer is directed to this purpose: that the disciples may not lose courage, as if their condition were made worse on account of the bodily absence of their Master. For Christ, having been appointed by the Father to be their guardian for a time, and having now discharged the duties of that office, gives them back again, as it were, into the hands of the Father, so that from now on they may enjoy his protection and be upheld by his power. It amounts, therefore, to this: when the disciples are deprived of Christ’s bodily presence, they suffer no loss, because God receives them under his guardianship, the efficacy of which will never cease.

That they may be one. This points out the way in which they will be kept, for those whom the heavenly Father has decreed to keep, he brings together in a holy unity of faith and of the Spirit. But as it is not enough that people agree in some manner, he adds, As we are. Then our unity will be truly happy when it bears the image of God the Father and of Christ, as the wax takes the form of the seal that is impressed upon it. But in what manner the Father and Jesus Christ his Son are one, I will explain shortly.