13. These things we refer to what Christ had already spoken in the hearing of the Apostles in this prayer to the Father; namely, that He should give them life eternal (verse 2); that He should be glorified with the Father (verse 5); and that in His absence the Father would watch over them, and keep them in His name (verse 11).
That they may have my joy filled (made full) in themselves. “My joy” might mean the joy they had received from Christ, or the joy they felt because of Christ; but we think the most probable and most natural meaning is: that they may have the joy which I feel in going to the Father, made full in themselves. Before this time He had said to them: “If you [pg 301] loved Me, you would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father” ([xiv. 28]); and now He has spoken in this prayer of the glory which awaited Him, and of the care of the Father for the Apostles, in order that they may be reconciled to, and fully rejoice in, His departure to the Father.
| 14. Ego dedi eis sermonem tuum, et mundus eos odio habuit, quia non sunt de mundo, sicut et ego non sum de mundo. | 14. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world; as I am not of the world. |
14. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them. “I” (ἐγώ) is emphatic; I, Thy Son. This is a fourth reason why the Father ought to watch over and guard the Apostles—the world hated them, and this because they had received the words of Christ, which are the words of the Father.
Though in the world, the Apostles were not of the world, not imbued with its spirit, nor pandering to its tastes.
| 15. Non rogo ut tollas eos de mundo, sed ut serves eos a malo. | 15. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil. |
15. From evil (ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ). This may refer to the evil of the wicked world which is sin, or to the devil, the evil one. The parallel passage in 1 John v. 18, 19 favours the latter view. These words, to which the Apostles were listening, gave them to know that they must not despair, and wish to quit the world when trials should come; but rather, remaining in the world, keep themselves unspotted from its defilements.
| 16. De mundo non sunt, sicut et ego non sum de mundo. | 16. They are not of the world: as I also am not of the world. |
16. The last clause of verse 14 is repeated as the ground of another petition, namely, that the Father may “sanctify” them.
In order to emphasize the point in their hearing, and also as a motive why God ought to hear the petition that follows, the fact that the Apostles are not men of the world is repeated and insisted upon by Christ.