John 17:24 - Meaning and Application

Here is a prayer for the glorifying of all those the Father gave to Christ, not only the apostles, but all believers (John 17:24). He says, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me.” Notice how this connects with the prayers before it. He had asked that God would keep them, make them holy, and unite them, and now he asks that God would finish all his gifts by glorifying them. In this way we should pray too, first for grace, then for glory (Psalm 84:11), because this is the way God gives.

It would be unthinkable for the only wise God to act like a foolish builder who starts without a foundation and builds on sand, if he were to glorify people whom he had not first made holy. It would also be unthinkable for him to act like a foolish builder who starts a house and cannot finish it, if he were to sanctify people and never glorify them. God’s work is complete and wise from beginning to end.

The request is made in a special way: “Father, I will.” Jesus still speaks to God as Father, and we should do the same. But when he says, “I will,” he speaks in a way that belongs to him alone. Ordinary people do not speak like this in prayer, but it fits him well, because he paid for what he asks.

This shows the power of his intercession, which means his pleading for us before God. His word has power in heaven as well as on earth. Since he entered the holy place with his own blood, his intercession there cannot fail. He pleads as a king, because he is a priest on his throne, like Melchizedek, a king-priest.

It also shows his special authority in this matter. He had power to give eternal life (John 17:2), and in line with that power he says, “Father, I will.” Even though he was then living in the form of a servant, this power would be shown most clearly when he comes again in the glory of a judge, saying, “Come, you who are blessed.” Keeping that day in view, he could rightly say, “Father, I will.”

The request itself is that all the elect, those chosen by God, may at last be with Christ in heaven, see his glory, and share in it. Heaven is described in three ways here. First, it is to be where Christ is, whether in the paradise where his soul went at death or in the third heaven where his soul and body went at his ascension. “Where I am” means where I am soon to be and where I will be forever.

Second, it is to be with him where he is. This is not needless repetition. It shows that heaven is not only the same place Christ is in, but a place whose joy comes from his presence. The fullest joy of heaven is to be with Christ, in fellowship and closeness with him (Philippians 1:23).

Third, it is to behold his glory, the glory the Father has given him. The Redeemer’s glory is the light of heaven. The glory before which angels cover their faces was his glory (John 12:41). The Lamb is the light of the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:23). Christ will come in the glory of his Father, because he is the brightness of that glory. God shows his glory there, as he shows his grace here, through Christ.

The Father has given Christ this glory, even though he was still in a low state when these words were spoken. Yet that glory was already certain and near. The happiness of the redeemed is very much found in seeing that glory. They will have a direct view of Christ’s glorious person. Job spoke of seeing God in his flesh (Job 19:26-27). They will also understand his great work more clearly, as it will then be fully completed. They will see the deep springs of love from which all streams of grace flow.

They will have a personal, saving sight of Christ’s glory, like a wife sharing in the honor of her husband. They will also be changed by that sight into the same image, from glory to glory. Seeing Christ will make them more like him.

We are to hope for heaven on no other ground than Christ’s mediation, that is, his work as the one who stands between God and people, and his intercession. He has said, “Father, I will,” and that is our title to heaven. Our holiness is the proof of our hope, because anyone who has this hope in him purifies himself. But Christ’s will is the basis of our right to glory, and by that will we are made holy (Hebrews 10:10).

Christ speaks here as if his own happiness would not be complete unless his elect shared it with him. Bringing many sons to glory is what makes the captain of our salvation complete (Hebrews 2:10). He does not want to be alone in his glory.

He adds one more reason for this request: “for you loved me before the foundation of the world.” This is a reason why he expected glory for himself, because the Father’s love to him as Mediator is the source of the honor and power given to him (John 5:20). The Father loves the Son and is fully pleased with his work, so he has given all things into his hands. Since this plan was settled in the divine counsel from eternity, Christ is said to have been loved before the foundation of the world.

It is also a reason why he expected those given to him to be with him and share his glory. It is as if he says, “You loved me, and you loved them in me, so you cannot deny me anything I ask for them.”

The prayer ends in a way that strengthens all the requests made for the disciples, especially the last one, that they may be glorified. Christ presses two things here.

First, he points to the honor of his Father in John 17:25. He calls God, “Righteous Father.” When he prayed that the disciples would be made holy, he called him “Holy Father.” Now that he prays they may be glorified, he calls him “Righteous Father,” because the righteous Judge will give a crown of righteousness. God’s righteousness is committed to giving all the good things the Father promised and the Son purchased.

He also describes the world lying in wickedness. “The world has not known you.” This shows the darkness spread over mankind, the darkness in which they live. He uses this in two ways. The disciples needed special grace because of the work before them, since they were to bring a God-ignoring world to know God. They also needed it because their work was hard, since they had to bring light to people who fought against the light. So he asks, keep them.

This also shows they were fit for further special blessings, because they knew God in a way the world did not. Second, Christ appeals to his own standing before the Father: “But I have known you.” Christ knew the Father as no one else ever has. He knew the grounds of his whole work, and he knew his Father’s mind in everything. So he comes in this prayer with confidence, as we come to someone we know well.

Christ is here asking for blessings for those who belong to him. After saying, “The world has not known you,” we might expect him to say, “but they have known you.” Instead, he says, “I have known you.” That shows there is nothing in us that earns God’s favor. All our access to God, and all our fellowship with him, comes from Christ’s own standing with the Father. We are not worthy, but he is worthy.

The plea Christ makes for his disciples is this: “They have known that you sent me.” This sets them apart from the unbelieving world. Many to whom Christ was sent, and to whom his grace was offered, would not believe that God had sent him. But these disciples did believe it, and they were not ashamed to say so. To know and trust in Jesus Christ, while living in a world that stays blind and unbelieving, is very pleasing to God and will certainly be honored with special glory. Strong faith is fit for special blessings.

This also gives them a share in Christ’s mediation, that is, his work as the one who brings us to God. Christ says, “I have known you, directly and perfectly, and these have known that you sent me. They have known what they were required to know. They have known the Creator through the Redeemer.” By knowing Christ as the one sent by God, they also come to know the Father through him. So Christ asks, “Father, care for them because of me.”

Christ also shows his care for his disciples in John 17:26: “I have made you known to them, and I will keep making you known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Christ had already led them into the knowledge of God, and he would keep doing so more and more. His great and kind purpose was that the Father’s love for the Son would be in them, and that Christ himself would be in them.

First, Christ had already declared the Father’s name to them. He had done this for his close followers while he lived among them. All the time he went among them, he made it his work to declare his Father’s name and teach them to honor it. The point of all his sermons and miracles was to honor his Father and spread knowledge of him (John 1:18). He had also done this for all who believe in him, because no one would have come to faith if Christ had not made the Father known. We owe all our knowledge of the Father’s name to Christ. He declares it, and he opens our minds to receive it. And those whom Christ brings into God’s favor are first brought into knowing God.

Second, Christ intends to keep declaring the Father’s name still more. He planned to give the disciples further teaching after his resurrection (Acts 1:3), and after his ascension he would bring them into a much closer understanding of divine things by pouring out the Spirit. He also keeps shining more and more into the hearts of all believers. Where Christ has already declared the Father’s name, he will go on declaring it, because to the one who has, more will be given. Those who know God both need and want to know him better. This is a strong plea on their behalf: “Father, own them and favor them, because they will own you and honor you.”

Third, Christ’s purpose in all this was not to fill their minds with clever ideas or make them sound wise before learned people. His aim was to secure and increase their real happiness in two ways. One was communion with God, that is, real fellowship with him. Christ gave them the knowledge of the Father’s name so that the Father’s love for the Son might be in them, not just toward them. This means, first, that they would receive the fruit of that love in sanctification, or being made holy. Let the Spirit of love that the Father gave to the Son be in them. Christ makes the Father known to believers so that, with that light in their minds, divine love may also be poured into their hearts. That love becomes a ruling and controlling power for holiness, and it makes them partakers of the divine nature.

When God’s love comes to be in us, it is like the power a magnet gives to a needle, turning it toward the pole. It draws the soul toward God in holy affections, which are like the life-breath of the soul’s spiritual life. Second, Christ wants them to have the comfort of that love. He wants them not only to know that they are included in God’s love through the Father’s name being made known to them, but also to feel the comfort of it through a deeper knowledge of that same love. Then they will not only know God, but know that they know him (1 John 2:3). It is the love of God poured into the heart that fills it with joy (Romans 5:3, Romans 5:5). God has provided this, so we may not only be content with his loving-kindness, but also be sure of it. Then we can live in gladness toward God and in fellowship with him. We should pray for this and pursue it. If we have it, we should thank Christ for it. If we lack it, we may blame ourselves.

The second great purpose is union with Christ in order to get this blessing. “And I in them.” No one comes into the love of God except through Christ. Nor can we remain in that love unless we abide in Christ, meaning that he abides in us. And we cannot have a clear sense of that love except by experiencing Christ dwelling in us, that is, by the Spirit of Christ in our hearts. It is Christ in us that is the only hope of glory that will not disappoint us (Colossians 1:27). All our fellowship with God, both receiving his love and returning our love to him, passes through the Lord Jesus. And the comfort of it comes entirely from him.

Christ had said just before, “I in them” (John 17:23), and he repeats it here, even though the thought was already complete. He closes with it to show how deeply his heart was set on this. All his requests center on this one thing, and with it the prayers of Jesus, the Son of David, come to an end: “I in them, let me have this, and I desire no more.” It is the glory of the Redeemer to live in those he has redeemed. This is his lasting joy, and he has desired it. So let us make sure we are united to Christ, and then take comfort in his prayer for us. This prayer ended, but his living work of intercession never ends.