John 17:11

John 17:11. And I am no longer in the world, and they are in the world, and I come to thee. One thought rising before the mind of Jesus now deepens His earnestness of entreaty on behalf of His disciples, the contrast between their condition and His own. His labours and sorrows are over, but they are left behind in the struggle which He is leaving. The very greatness of His joy in the thought of His own glorious return to His Father rouses His tenderest sympathy for those who have so much to do and to suffer before they can share His joy.

Holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one even as we are. In John 17:1 we had simply ‘Father:' we have now ‘Holy' prefixed to that name. The reason is obvious. ‘Holy' does not express mere freedom from sin; He who is holy is entirely separated from all that is carnal and outward in this present world, so that pure spirituality and heavenliness alone rule in Him. As, therefore, a state similar to this is that to which God would raise His people, the epithet ‘Holy' brings this thought prominently into view, and strengthens the argument of the prayer. The petition is that, for the purpose mentioned in the last words of the verse, they may be kept in the Father's name which He has given to the Son. Light is again thrown upon the word ‘name.' It cannot be simply the name ‘Father,' for that could not be given to another: it is His revelation of Himself in Jesus. That revelation had been given to the Son; it had been appropriated by the disciples; they were living in it; the prayer is that, amidst all the temptations of the world, they may he kept in it. Then follows the purpose, that they may be one ‘even as' are the Father and the Son. It is the Divine unity of love that is referred to, all wills bowing in the same direction, all affections burning with the same flame, all aims directed to the same end one blessed harmony of love.