John 17:4

John 17:4-5 . I have glorified thee on earth — My doctrine, example, and miracles have manifested thy glory here on earth. I have finished the work thou gavest me to do — I have almost finished the work which I undertook for man’s redemption. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thyself — Or, in thine own presence, as Dr. Campbell translates παρα σεαυτω , observing, that the force of the Greek preposition, παρα , is not rightly expressed by the English with, which, as applied here, is exceedingly vague and indeterminate. With the glory which I had with thee — He does not say received. He always had it till he emptied himself of it in the days of his flesh; before the world was — “The Socinians, who deny, not only our Lord’s divinity, but his existence before he appeared in the world, are at a loss how to explain this passage, in consistency with their opinion. They imagine, that as in the prophetical writings, things to come are spoken of as already existing, to denote the divine decree concerning them, and the certainty of their happening; so, Jesus is here said to possess glory with the Father before the foundation of the world, not because he then existed, but because that glory was appointed him in the divine decree from eternity, and was certainly to be bestowed upon him in the fulness of time.

Withal, in confirmation of this observation, they cite Revelation 13:8 , where Christ is called a lamb slain from the foundation of the world; and 2 Timothy 1:9 , where the apostle, speaking of the favours conferred on Christians, says, Hath saved us, and called us according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. But here, without laying the whole stress of the matter on the answer given by Whitby, namely, that these passages are mistranslated, I observe, that though, for the reasons mentioned, the sacred writers, when warmed with the grandeur of their subject, might, in their discourses, represent the great events which were to befall the church under the gospel dispensation, as existing from eternity; yet, no fire of imagination could authorize the figure in the present instance. For it were absurd to fancy that Jesus, in this his last solemn prayer with his disciples, gravely spake of himself as existing from eternity, and as enjoying with God blessings which were to be bestowed upon him only in time. Such figures, how ever proper they may be in prophecy, are not of the style of prayer, far less of our Lord’s prayers, which are remarkable for their simplicity. Besides, it should be remembered that this is not the only passage which speaks of Christ’s pre-existence, for the Evangelist John ( John 1:1 ) represents him as existing from eternity, and making all things.

John 17:4 . ἐγώ σε … ποιήσω . This is a fresh ground for the petition of John 17:1 renewed in John 17:5 : “glorify Thou me”. The ground is “I have glorified Thee on the earth; having finished perfectly accomplished, cf. τετέλεσται of the cross] the work which Thou gavest me to do”. But it is not the idea of reward that is prominent here, although that idea is found in Php 2:6-11 ; Hebrews 2:9-11 ; Hebrews 5:4-10 ; the immediate thought here is of the necessary progress which the hour demanded. There remained no longer any reason for His continuance on earth. He did not desire, and did not need, any prolongation of life below. Beyschlag’s objection ( N.T. Theol. , i. 254) is therefore baseless, as also is Grotius’ “ostendit, non iniquum se petere”.

4, 5. I have glorified thee on the earth—rather, "I glorified" (for the thing is conceived as now past). I have finished—I finished. the work which thou gavest me to do—It is very important to preserve in the translation the past tense, used in the original, otherwise it might be thought that the work already "finished" was only what He had done before uttering that prayer; whereas it will be observed that our Lord speaks throughout as already beyond this present scene (Joh 17:12, &c.), and so must be supposed to include in His "finished work" the "decease which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem."

I have glorified thee on the earth; by preaching the gospel, by living up to the rule of thy law, by the miracles which I have wrought. God could not be glorified by Christ, by the addition of any thing to his essential glory; only by manifesting to the world his Father’s goodness, justice, mercy, truth, wisdom, and other of his attributes. One way by which he had glorified his Father, is expressed, viz. by finishing the work which he had given him in commission. But how could Christ say this, who had not yet died for the sins of men, which was the principal piece of his work? Answer. It was so nigh, that he speaks of it as already done: so, John 17:11 , he saith, I am no more in the world, because he was to be so little a time in the world. Again, he speaks of what he was fully resolved to do, as if it were already done.

4 . I have glorified ] Better, I glorified . In confident anticipation Christ looks backs from the point when all shall be accomplished, and speaks of the whole work of redemption as one act. Our translators have been very capricious throughout this chapter, rendering aorists as perfects and perfects as aorists. Comp. John 17:6; John 17:8; John 17:18; John 17:21-23; John 17:25-26 . I have finished ] According to the right reading, having finished or perfected . This is the way in which God is glorified, the completion of the work of revelation. gavest me ] Better, hast given Me . Christ did not choose for Himself. to do ] Literally, in order that I may do it: this was God’s purpose in giving it. It is S. John’s favourite particle; comp. John 5:36 and see on John 17:3 .

(4) I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work . . . —Better, I glorified Thee on earth: I finished the work . . . The former sentence is .explained by the latter. God was glorified in the completion of the Messianic work of Christ. For this conception of the work of life, which includes the whole life as manifesting God to man, comp. Notes on John 5:36 ; John 9:4 ; John 10:25 et al.

Have glorified thee - In my instructions and life. See his discourses everywhere, the whole tendency of which is to put honor on God. I have finished the work - Compare John 19:30. When he says "I have finished," he probably means to include also his death. All the preparations for that death were made. He had preached to the Jews; he had given them full proof that he was the Messiah; he had collected his disciples; he had taught them the nature of his religion; he had given them his parting counsel, and there was nothing remaining to be done but to return to God. We see here that Jesus was careful that his great and important work should be done before his dying hour. He did not postpone it to be performed just as he was leaving the world. So completely had he done his work, that even before his death he could I say, "I have finished the work." How happy would it be if men would imitate his example, and not leave their great work of life to be done on a dying bed? Christians should have their work accomplished, and when that hour approaches, have nothing to do but to die, and return to their Father in heaven.