24. Here, too, as in verses 11, 12, some of the critics read the neuter pronoun ὃ (that which) instead of ὁὺς (they whom). The Vulgate reading is at least equally [pg 305] probable. Having prayed in verses 20-21 for all the faithful, Christ now continues His prayer for the Apostles, as a comparison of this verse with verses 11 and 12 proves. And this, His last petition for them, is, that they may one day be made partakers of that glory which He as God enjoyed eternally, and into which as man He was to enter at His ascension.
That they may see my glory; that is to say, see and enjoy the glory of My Divinity (reflected also in My humanity; see above on verse 5). We believe there is not question merely of the glory of Christ's humanity, for He seems to pray here that the Apostles may enjoy the bliss of heaven, which does not consist in the vision of Christ's humanity, but in the vision and enjoyment of the Divinity. If this is the correct view, and we think, with A Lap., that it is, then this glory was given from all eternity to the Son. The words: Because thou hast loved me, do not, in this view, state the cause of the communication of the eternal glory of the Father to the Son. See above on chapter v., verse [20].
If the words be understood, as St. Aug. understood them, of Christ's humanity, then the meaning is: Share with My Apostles the glory which Thou art about to bestow upon Me because from all eternity Thou hast loved Me, and predestined Me as man for this glory. In this view the love of the Father for Christ as man is the reason why He glorifies Christ's humanity.
The phrase before the creation of the world, or more accurately, “before the foundation of the world,” denotes that the world is not eternal; while Christ's claim to have been loved by the Father before creation, is a claim to personal existence before the world began, and indirectly, therefore, a claim to an eternal Personality.
| 25. Pater iuste, mundus te non cognovit: ego autem te cognovi, et hi cognoverunt quia te me misisti. | 25. Just Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee: and these have known, that thou hast sent me. |
| 26. Et notum feci eis nomen tuum, et notum faciam: ut dilectio, qua dilexisti me, in ipsis sit, et ego in ipsis. | 26. And I have made known thy name to them, and will make it known; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in them. |
25, 26. These verses give a reason why the Father who is just, and who rewards man's [pg 306] merits, even though these merits are themselves the result of His grace, ought to hear Christ's prayer. The reason is, because He who prays had known and loved the Father, and they for whom He prays had known and received Himself as the Messias. Moreover, He had made known the Father to them, and would do so still more, afterwards, through the Holy Ghost.
That the love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in them. Here He states His object in making known the Father's name. It was in order that the special love of the Father might extend to them, and that He Himself might remain intimately united to them by His grace, and by the presence of the Divinity in their souls.
With these beautiful and consoling words, which bespoke the special love of the Father for the Apostles, and His own enduring presence with them notwithstanding His departure, Christ concludes this sublime prayer to His eternal Father.