And the glory which thou gavest me (better, hast given Me) I have given them. — Comp. John 13:32, and in this chapter John 17:1; John 17:5; John 17:24. Here, as all through this Intercessory Prayer, the future which immediately grows out of the present is regarded as present; the fulness of the glory which awaits Him at His Father’s right hand is thought of as already given to Him; and the believers who have become, and will become, one with Him, to whom He has given eternal life (John 17:2), are thought of as sharers in it. It is the thought which is expanded by St. Paul when he speaks of the children being “heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if we suffer with Him to the end that we may be also glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17); and by St. John when he speaks of “children of God being like Him because we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:1-2). In the original the pronoun “I” is emphatically expressed. “The glory which Thou hast given Me,” our Lord’s words seem to mean, “I have on My part given to them. I have fulfilled the work which Thou hast given Me to do. I have made and declared an atonement between man and God. My work is done. I pray that Thou wouldst fulfil Thine own.”
That they may be one, even as we are one. — This is here expressed, in addition to the thought of the last verse, as the purpose for which He has given to them the glory which the Father has given Him. It is future in the union of the glory of heaven; it is present in the realisation of heaven now in those who have the one common hope of their calling.