gating the gospel, and that the glory which he hoped for he expected by their means.

9. I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

In these words Christ assigns the reasons why he prayed to God for his disciples: it was because while they were his disciples, they belonged also to God, and were to be employed in executing his purposes in the world: this gave him reason to hope that his prayers for them would be heard. He does not mean to say that the unbelieving part of the world were not to be prayed for, since he prays for them himself in the twenty-first verse; but that they were not the persons about whom he was concerned at present. Having said that his disciples belonged to the Father, he is led to make a more general declaration, that every thing which he had was his.

10. And all mine are thine and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.

Or, as the verse has been more intelligibly rendered, "Indeed all things that are mine are thine, and all things that are thine are mine, and I am glorified thereby." That is, all my extraordinary powers proceed from thee, and every thing of thine relating to the Christian dispensation is communicated to me, or is at my disposal; and these circumstances reflect upon me the highest honour.

11. And now I am no more in the world;

to

By this expression Christ probably does not mean say that he was going to quit the earth for ever, but only that he was going to leave that scene of exercise and trial in which he had been engaged, whch Vol. 2.

3 z

is a sense in which we often understand the term world. He appeared, long after his resurrection and ascension, to the apostle Paul, once at least, if not more frequently, which could not have been the case if the expression was to be understood literally. This sense of the word seems to be confirmed by what he immediately adds,

But these are in the world, and I come to thee.

They are in that scene of temptation and danger which I am quitting, and therefore stand in need of that assistance which I no longer want; because I am coming to dwell where thou art pleased to manifest thy more immediate presence.

Holy Father, keep through thine own name, rather," in thine own name,” those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are.

Keep in the knowledge and worship of thyself those my disciples, that they may be united in affection to us, as we are united to each other. The reason of this anxiety which he felt about his disciples was the prospect of being separated from them, when they would no longer enjoy the benefit of his instructions and counsels; for he adds,.

12. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name, in the knowledge and worship of thyself. Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled.

"The son of perdition," is a Hebrew phrase for a person that deserves perdition. It is by this language that Christ describes Judas the traitor. The passage of scripture to which he is supposed to allude is Ps. cix. 8.

REFLECTIONS.

He

1. From this admirable prayer of Christ we may learn what ought to interest us most at the approach of death. It is the honour of God, in the advancement of the cause of truth and righteousness in the world, and the religious interests of those who are dear to us. These were the objects which engaged the attention of our master in his last moments. is not concerned for himself, so much as for others. If he prays for his own glory, it is only so far as it is founded upon the success of the gospel and the glory of God, and connected with them. When he prays for his disciples, it is not that God would make them rich or great, when he was gone; but that he would. preserve them in the path of truth into which they had been first led by himself. In like manner, when we come to die, let not the sufferings of nature confine all our attention to ourselves; let us still offer our good wishes and fervent prayers for the prevalence of genuine Christianity in the world; and while we commend our friends and relatives to the care of Divine Providence, let us show ourselves more concerned about their religious conduct than about their worldly prosperity; that they may continue good, rather than that they may become great.

2. We see that Christ prays for what he knew would be granted; for glory which it was in the divine intention to give him before the world was, and

2 Samuel xii. 5. Matt. xxiii. 15.

the communication of which did not depend upon his petitions. Nevertheless, it was natural to express to a friend and father the wish for what it was desirable to obtain. The act of doing it would impress his own mind with the recollection of him from whom it proceeded, and with a sense of his obligations to the divine goodness in bestowing it. The possession of this glory was, therefore, very properly made the subject of prayer. Hence we may derive a rule for the direction of our own conduct. Although we may have reason to think that God will bestow upon us the ordinary blessings of life, let not this prevent us from asking them in prayer, or from acknowledging his goodness in bestowing them.

3. This prayer of Christ furnishes us with a striking example of the composure of his mind and the dignity of his character. A few minutes only before he knew that a band of soldiers were coming to apprehend him, after which he should be treated in the most ignominious manner, and at length put to death with circumstances of the greatest pain and cruelty, he is able to address a solemn prayer to God, full of reverence for the divine character and of submission to the divine will, and of benevolent regards to his disciples. He calls God his Father, although he knew what he was about to inflict upon him: the disgrace and sufferings of the cross, he calls being glorified, on account of the consequences which were to ensue. What steady faith in God must be in the man that could use such language and behave with so much composure in such circumstances!

John xvii. 13. to the end.

Christ began this prayer with praying for the glory destined for him in the divine counsels before the foundation of the world, that is, for the honours intended him by his death, resurrection, exaltation and the spread of his religion in the world. As his dis

ciples were to be the instruments employed in this great work of converting the world, he mentioned what he had done for them, how well they had received his instructions, and how worthy they were of enjoying the divine protection and favour, to which he commended them. He now mentions the reason why he had addressed this prayer to God in their hearing.

13. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves, rather, " in them."

What Christ had before called his glory, that is, the success of his gospel, he now calls his joy, and says that he offers this prayer, at his departure from the world, that this joy might be completed in his disciples, that is, that it might rise to the highest pitch by their complete success.

14. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Here was a fresh motive for divine protection: those for whom it was requested had incurred the hatred of the unbelieving and wicked part of the Jews, by receiving the revelation which Jesus had brought from God, and this, on principles of piety and virtue, which animated them as well as their master. Those, therefore, who suffered in his cause, were peculiarly entitled to his regards, and stood in peculiar need of them. From what Christ now said about his disciples being hated by the world, they might be led to suppose that he wished them to be removed from it, as he was about to be. To prevent his meaning from being misunderstood, he explains it in the next verse.