Verse 32
The hour cometh - Ye shall shortly have need of all the faith ye profess: ye now believe me to be the Omniscient; but ye will find difficulty to maintain this faith when ye see me seized, condemned, and crucified as a malefactor. Yea, your faith will be then so shaken that ye shall run away, each striving to save himself at his own home, or among his kindred.
Verse 33
That in me ye might have peace - I give you this warning as another proof that I know all things, and to the end that ye may look to me alone for peace and happiness. The peace of God is ever to be understood as including all possible blessedness - light, strength, comfort, support, a sense of the Divine favor, unction of the Holy Spirit, purification of heart, etc., etc., and all these to be enjoyed in Christ.
In the world ye shall have tribulation - Or, as most of the very best MSS. read, εχετε, ye have - the tribulation is at hand; ye are just about to be plunged into it.
But be of good cheer - Do not despond on account of what I have said: the world shall not be able to overcome you, how severely soever it may try you.
I have overcome the world - I am just now going by my death to put it and its god to the rout.
My apparent weakness shall be my victory; my ignominy shall be my glory; and the victory which the world, the devil, and my adversaries in general, shall appear to gain over me, shall be their own lasting defeat, and my eternal triumph. - Fear not!
Luther writing to Philip Melancthon, quotes this verse, and adds these remarkable words: "Such a saying as this is worthy to be carried from Rome to Jerusalem upon one's knees."
One of the grand subjects in this chapter, the mediation of Christ, is but little understood by most Christians. Christ having made an atonement for the sin of the world, has ascended to the right hand of the Father, and there he appears in the presence of God for us. In approaching the throne of grace, we keep Jesus as our sacrificial victim, continually in view: our prayers should be directed through him to the Father; and, under the conviction that his passion and death have purchased every possible blessing for us, we should, with humble confidence, ask the blessings we need; and, as in him the Father is ever well pleased, we should most confidently expect the blessings he has purchased. We may consider, also, that his appearance before the throne, in his sacrificial character, constitutes the great principle of mediation or intercession. He has taken our nature into heaven; in that he appears before the throne: this, without a voice, speaks loudly for the sinful race of Adam, for whom it was assumed, and on whose account it was sacrificed. On these grounds every penitent and every believing soul may ask and receive, and their joy be complete. By the sacrifice of Christ we approach God; through the mediation of Christ God comes down to man.
Introduction
Christ prays the Father to glorify him, [Joh 16:1]. In what eternal life consists, [Joh 16:2-3]. Shows that he has glorified his Father, by fulfilling his will upon earth, and revealing him to the disciples, [Joh 16:4-8]. Prays for them, that they may be preserved in unity and kept from evil, [Joh 16:9-16]. Prays for their sanctification, [Joh 16:17-19]. Prays also for those who should believe on him through their preaching, that they all might be brought into a state of unity, and finally brought to eternal glory, [Joh 16:20-26].
Verse 1
These words spake Jesus - That is, what is related in the preceding chapters. We may consider our Lord as still moving on towards Gethsemane, not having yet passed the brook Cedron, [Joh 18:1].
Our Lord, who was now going to act as high priest for the whole human race, imitates in his conduct that of the Jewish high priest on the great day of expiation; who, in order to offer up the grand atonement for the sins of the people: -
1. Washed himself, and put on clean linen garments. This Christ appears to have imitated, [Joh 13:4]. He laid aside his garments, girded himself with a towel, etc. There is no room to doubt that he and his disciples had been at the bath before: see [Joh 13:10].
2. The high priest addressed a solemn prayer to God:
1. For himself this Christ imitates, [Joh 17:1-5].
2. For the sons of Aaron: our Lord imitates this in praying for his disciples, [Joh 17:9-19].
3. For all the people: our Lord appears to imitate this also in praying for his Church, all who should believe on him through the preaching of the apostles and their successors, [Joh 17:20-24]. After which he returns again to his disciples, [Joh 17:25], [Joh 17:26]. See Calmet's Dict. under Expiation; and see La Grande Bible de M. Martin, in loc.
I. Our Lord's Prayer for Himself, [Joh 17:1-5]
Father - Here our Lord addresses the whole Divine nature, as he is now performing his last acts in his state of humiliation.
Glorify thy Son - Cause him to be acknowledged as the promised Messiah by the Jewish people, and as the universal Savior by the Gentile world; and let such proofs of his Godhead be given as shall serve to convince and instruct mankind.
That thy son also may glorify thee - That by dying be may magnify thy law and make it honorable, respected among men - show the strictness of thy justice, and the immaculate purity of thy nature.
Verse 2
As thou hast given him power - As the Messiah, Jesus Christ received from the Father universal dominion. All flesh, i.e. all the human race, was given unto him, that by one sacrifice of himself, he might reconcile them all to God; having by his grace tasted death for every man, [Heb 2:9]. And this was according to the promise of the universal inheritance made to Christ, [Psa 2:8], which was to be made up of the heathen, and the uttermost parts of the land, all the Jewish people. So that he got all from God, that he might give his life a ransom for the whole. See [2Cor 5:14], [2Cor 5:15]; [Rom 5:21]; [1Tim 2:4], [1Tim 2:6].
That he should have eternal life, etc. - As all were delivered into his power, and he poured out his blood to redeem all, then the design of God is that all should have eternal life, because all are given for this purpose to Christ; and, that this end might be accomplished, he has become their sacrifice and atonement.
Verse 3
This is life eternal - The salvation purchased by Christ, and given to them who believe, is called life:
1. Because the life of man was forfeited to Divine justice; and the sacrifice of Christ redeemed him from that death to which he was exposed.
2. Because the souls of men were dead in trespasses and sins; and Christ quickens them by his word and Spirit.
3. Because men who are not saved by the grace of Christ do not live, they only exist, no good purpose of life being answered by them. But when they receive this salvation they live - answer all the Divine purposes, are happy in themselves, useful to each other, and bring glory to God.
4. It is called eternal life to show that it reaches beyond the limits of time, and that it necessarily implies -
1. The immortality of the soul;
2. the resurrection of the body; and
3. that it is never to end, hence called αιωνιος ζωη, a life ever living; from αει, always, and ων, being or existence. And indeed no words can more forcibly convey the idea of eternity than these. It is called ἡ αιωνιος ζωη, That eternal life, by way of eminence. There may be an eternal existence without blessedness; but this is that eternal life with which infinite happiness is inseparably connected.
The only true God - The way to attain this eternal life is to acknowledge, worship, and obey, the one only true God, and to accept as teacher, sacrifice, and Savior, the Lord Jesus, the one and only true Messiah. Bishop Pearce's remark here is well worthy the reader's attention: - "What is said here of the only true God seems said in opposition to the gods whom the heathens worshipped; not in opposition to Jesus Christ himself, who is called the true God by John, in [1Jn 5:20]."
The words in this verse have been variously translated:
1. That they might acknowledge thee, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent, to be the only true God.
2. That they might acknowledge thee, the only true God, and Jesus, whom thou hast sent, to be the Christ or Messiah.
3. That they might acknowledge thee to be the only true God, and Jesus Christ to be him whom thou hast sent. And all these translations the original will bear.
From all this we learn that the only way in which eternal life is to be attained is by acknowledging the true God, and the Divine mission of Jesus Christ, he being sent of God to redeem men by his blood, being the author of eternal salvation to all them that thus believe, and conscientiously keep his commandments.
A saying similar to this is found in the Institutes of Menu. Brigoo, the first emanated being who was produced from the mind of the supreme God, and who revealed the knowledge of his will to mankind, is represented as addressing the human race and saying: "Of all duties, the principal is to acquire from the Upanishads (their sacred writings) a true knowledge of one supreme God; that is the most exalted of sciences, because it ensures eternal life. For in the knowledge and adoration of one God all the rules of good conduct are fully comprised." See Institutes of Menu, chap. xii. Inst. 85, 87.
Verse 4
I have glorified thee - Our Lord, considering himself as already sacrificed for the sin of the world, speaks of having completed the work which God had given him to do: and he looks forward to that time when, through the preaching of his Gospel, his sacrifice should be acknowledged, and the true God should be known and worshipped by the whole world.