I have manifested Thy Name unto the men which Thou gavest Me.
Christ’s work upon earth
I. ITS NATURE. The manifestation of the name of God. (John 17:6). In Himself invisible and incomprehensible (John 1:18, John 6:46; Job 11:7, Job 37:23; 1 Timothy 6:16), who and what He was must have remained a secret. Genesis 32:29; Judges 13:18), had not God been pleased to make some disclosure thereof. This He did in creation (Psalms 8:1, Psalms 19:1-3; Romans 1:20), and still does in Providence (Daniel 4:34-35; Romans 11:36; Ephesians 1:11). A further revelation He furnished to the Jews; but never till Christ came, who was the Image of the invisible Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:2); and who could say, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9), was God completely manifested. Besides publishing to men the fact of the Divine existence, Christ unfolded
1. The nearness of God to man, and conversely man’s nearness to God, a thought so little understood that even the Jews with Psalms 139:1-24, to guide them had no proper conception of God as a heavenly Friend.
2. The holiness of God--which, though dimly apprehended and vaguely believed in before the Advent, was never adequately comprehended until embodied in Christ (Hebrews 7:26).
3. The graciousness of God, which though referred to (Psalms 103:13; Malachi 2:10) was imperfectly realized until Christ taught men to say “Our Father.”
4. The helpfulness of God. No one who looked on Christ healing the sick, pardoning the guilty, &c., could doubt that, if He was God’s image, God could also relieve the needy.
5. The blessedness of God or, more correctly, the eternal life which is in 1 John 1:1).
II. ITS SUBJECTS.
1. The world. Although throughout this prayer a distinction is drawn between the world and the Church (John 17:6), and the Saviour’s intercession is for the latter rather than for the former (John 17:9), yet Christ’s manifestation of the Father’s name has an outlook to the race no less than to believers. Of this perhaps a hint is furnished by the word “men” (John 17:6).
2. The Church. Christ describes those in whom His work took effect as persons who had been
(1) Separated from the race (John 17:6), i.e., in their characters as believers, while the world remained in unbelief (John 17:25, John 7:7; 1 John 5:19), separated by grace, which alone made them to differ (1 Corinthians 4:7; 1 Corinthians 15:10), and separated unto the purposes of the gospel (Romans 1:1; Galatians 1:15).
(2) Owned by the Father--“Thine they were”--as His creatures Ezekiel 18:4), as being born of God (John 1:13), and so inwardly disposed to hear and obey God’s voice (John 8:47; John 18:37).
3. Given to Christ--“Thou gavest them Me,” (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 6:45).
III. ITS RESULTS.
1. The reception of Christ’s words (John 17:8). This world had rejected Christ’s words (John 12:48): the disciples had believed them (John 16:27). A gracious soul desirous of learning the Father’s name does not begin by criticising Christ’s teaching, but with docility receives it into his understanding and heart (1 Samuel 3:9; Psa 85:8; 1 Peter 2:2; James 1:22).
2. The recognition of Christ’s words as the Father’s (John 17:7; cf John 7:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13).
3. The preservation of the Father’s words (John 17:6). To keep God’s word means more than to remember it--viz., to enshrine it in the spirit, to give it a chief place in the affections, to subject to it the entire being, intellect, heart, conscience, will.
Lessons:
1. Who would know God must study Him as revealed in Christ.
2. Who would be wise unto salvation must learn at Christ’s feet.
3. Who would reach eternal glory must keep the Father’s words. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
The Divine instruction
We now come to the second part of this prayer, the intercessory portion of it. But before offering any special petition Christ states several preliminary pleas. These pleas are contained in the text. We have here
I. THE SCHOLARS. The Lord’s words regarding them express a threefold relationship.
1. To the world. “The men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world.” Originally these disciples, as they came into the world, belonged to it, with tastes, desires, and modes of thinking, &c, like the men around them. But they had been given “out of the world” to Christ, so that their position in it and their relationship to it were alike changed. So it is with all the people of God; they are given to Christ “out of the world,” to be taught and trained for service here and glory hereafter. But, alas I what a commentary does the conduct of myriads supply on these words, when the world seems to bound their ambition and contain their all.
2. To God “Thine they were.” They were His by the law of their original creation, by the ties of providential preservation and blessing, and by all the bonds of moral obligation.
3. To Christ. “Thou gavest them Me.” By giving them to the Son, the Father did not part with His property or His pleasure in them, for they were given to Christ in pursuance of a gracious purpose, and by the arrangements of an all-wise providence. This was the first small instalment of the promise that Jesus as mediatorial King should have the heathen given Him as His inheritance, &c.
II. THE INSTRUCTION GIVEN. This, generally, was the manifestation of the Divine name. The name of God is often put for God Himself (Pr Exodus 34:5; Exodus 34:7). How often in aspects of attraction and grace is the name of God put before men in His Word. There he presents Himself as Jehovah-jireh, ever ready to provide for the wants of His people; as Jehovah-nissi, ever willing to defend them and lead them to victory; as Jehovah-tsidkenu, working out and bringing near to them an all-sufficient righteousness for their salvation; as Jehovah-shammah, blessing with His presence every spot to which His providence may bring them. But it was Jesus who manifested the Divine name in all its fulness of glory How did He do it?
1. By what He was. He came to be the representative amongst men of the infinite God. He was “the brightness of His glory,” &c. Every element of the Divine glory had its perfect and practical embodiment in Him, so that in His personal history we have a living map of the boundless expanse of the Divine perfections reduced to the scale which our humanity can contemplate and study.
2. By what He said. (John 17:8). Every considerable human teacher has some theme or some aspect of a subject with which he is more especially familiar to which his own taste inclines him, and on which he loves chiefly to dilate Christ Jesus was master of all truth, but especially did He dwell on the glory and excellence of the Father’s character.
3. By that which He did. He went about doing good. As His words were not His own, but His Father’s, so also were His works (John 10:37; John 5:17).
III. THE ATTAINMENTS MADE BY THEM.
1. They accepted Christ’s words. “They have received them.” If His words commanded the attention and admiration of His foes, much more might be expected of His disciples; they devoutly received His words. Attention was not enough, nor admiration, nor mere assent: the words of Jesus dropped into the souls of these disciples as Divine seeds of thought, germs of higher life and hope.
2. They had some apprehension of the Divine glory of Christ--“They have known,” &c. They recognised
(1) The Divinity of His doctrine. They felt that His words were the truth of God; for they had in them the glow and glory of Divinity.
(2) The Divinity of His person: “That I came out from Thee.” He that could teach such truth about God, and do such works, and produce such impressions, must have come out from the Father (John 6:69).
(3) The Divinity of His mission--“That Thou didst send Me.” They mistook, indeed, for a long time its true nature and glorious design; but they recognized its Divinity. This apprehension of the glory of Christ is the highest attainment for men on earth, even as the contemplation of it will be the blessedness of heaven. To discover Christ and trust in Him is the triumph and turning-point of any human life here.
3. They clung to Christ; they maintained adherence to His truth. “They have kept Thy Word.” Continuance was essential as it is still. To keep God’s word was to obey it, walk in it, and abide by it. They were neither stony-ground hearers nor wayside hearers. Christ will not acknowledge any as His disciples who do not keep His word and endure unto the end. Hebrews 3:14) (J. Spence, D. D.)
The Lord Jesus manifested the Father’s name
1. By what He was. He was the representative of God upon the earth.
2. The Lord Jesus manifested the Father’s “name” by what He spake. In His teaching He set forth the Father in His nature and character.
3. By what He did, the Lord Jesus manifested His Father’s “name.” As His words were not His own but His Father’s, so His works were the Father’s also. (T. Alexander, M. A.)
The apostolic community
Christ here states two facts concerning the school He had established for the diffusion of His doctrines and Spirit--one infinitely superior to those established by any philosopher of ancient or modern times.
I. THEY ARE GIVEN TO HIM BY THE FATHER. What does this mean?
1. Negatively
(1) Not that a certain number were given Him in “the councils of Eternity,” on the ground that He would become their substitute, and the rest passed by. This covenant is not found in the Bible, and seems derogatory to the Father, who is Love.
(2) Not that men are so given to Christ as to interfere with their freedom as responsible beings. This would reduce men to mere animated machines.
(3) Not that men are so given to Christ as to lessen God’s claim upon them; nor
(4) So as to render their salvation absolutely certain. If that were the case why does Christ pray for them? And why was Judas, who also was given Him, lost?
2. Positively. This means that Christ, as the Model of Piety, ascribes everything He has to His Father. The power of Pilate to condemn He regarded as the gift of God. The cup of suffering in Gethsemane was also the Father’s gift. So with all things--“All power is given unto Me.” So pastors are God’s gift to a Church, &c.
II. THEY ARE BELIEVERS IN THE FATHER THROUGH HIM. They believed the Father so as
1. To obey His will. “They have kept Thy word.”
2. To accept Christ as His Messenger. They were led to regard Christ as
(1) The Administrator of the Father’s blessings.
(2) The Revealer of the Father’s character. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Disciples, God’s gift to Christ
Thou gavest them Me
1. As sheep to the shepherd to be kept.
2. As patients to the physician to be cured.
3. As children to a tutor to be educated. (M. Henry.)
The Father’s gift to the Son
I. ALL BELIEVERS ARE GIVEN TO CHRIST. As
1. His purchase and His charge.
2. His subjects.
3. The members of His body.
II. NONE ARE GIVEN TO CHRIST BUT THOSE WHO WERE FIRST THE FATHER’S.
III. ALL THOSE WHO ARE GIVEN TO CHRIST KEEP HIS WORD. (W. Burkitt.)
Believers, the Father’s gift to Christ
The Son loved them as the Father’s choice, He loved them as the Father’s gift to Him. These are some of the bonds of the everlasting covenant which binds His people around the heart of His Son. They were beloved of His Father with an everlasting love. His Father chose them and set His heart upon them. He gave them to the Son as a gift of His love. Therefore the Son loved them. There are other, and strong, cords that bind Christ and His people together, but these are good and strong. How we love, how highly we prize a Father’s gift! (T. Alexander, M. A.)
Christian privilege and duty
Note
I. THAT CHRISTIANS BELONG TO GOD. “Thine they were.”
1. By creative right--as a man has a right to the products of his skill and industry.
2. By sovereign right--as a monarch has a right to the loyalty of his subjects.
3. By Fatherly right--as a parent has a right to the affection and obedience of his children If, then, we belong to God
(1) We belong to One who is wise to guide us, strong to defend us, authoritative to govern us, kind and wealthy to supply all our need.
(2) How safe we are!
(3) How happy and grateful we should be!
II. THAT THEY HAVE BEEN GIVEN BY GOD TO CHRIST.
1. In answer to prayer. “Ask of Me and I shall give thee,” &c., and as we are given to, so are we kept by Christ in response to prayer (John 17:11).
2. As the purchase of redemption. “We were not redeemed with corruptible things,” &c.
3. As the reward of conflict. Slaves of Satan are rescued and transformed into sons of God and joint heirs with Christ by the Saviour’s conquering might. Learn, then
(1) How precious we are to Christ. What so precious as a father’s gift, a costly purchase, a trophy of fierce conflict?
(2) How honoured we are by God! No higher dignity could be conferred upon us than to be given to Christ.
(3) How imperative are God’s claims! These are not relinquished, but emphasized. “All Mine are Thine.”
III. THAT CHRIST HAS MANIFESTED TO THEM GOD’S NAME.
1. Literally. The “Father’s” name was little more than a sublime guess and a devout hope before Christ came. But He taught His disciples to say “Our Father.”
2. Exemplarily. “My name is in Him.” “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” All the perfections of the Divine character were embodied in Christ. The Father’s wisdom in His teaching; the Father’s power in His miracles; the Father’s love and justice in His death.
3. Experimentally. “To as many as received Him,” &c. (Romans 8:15 - Galatians 4:4-31. This being so
(1) Study the revelation of the Father in Christ’s word and life.
(2) Live up to your privilege as children of God.
IV. THAT THEY KEEP GOD’S WORD. This is their distinguishing characteristic and their imperative duty. It covers everything in Christian practice. He keeps this word
1. In their minds by understanding and remembering it.
2. In their hearts by loving it.
3. In their lives by practising it. (J. W. Burn.)
I have given them the words which Thou gavest Me
The fountain of Christian theology
On the truth of this saying stands the whole fabric of creeds and doctrines. It is the ground of authority to the preacher, of assurance to the believer, of existence to the Church. It is the source from which the perpetual stream of Christian teaching flows. All our testimonies, instructions, exhortations derive their first origin and continuous power from the fact that the Father has given to the Son, the Son has given to His servants, the words of truth and life. (Canon T. D. Bernard.)