John 17:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

To remove this wrong thought, He says, "All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them" (Jn 17:10). Do you see the equality of honor? When you hear, "You have given them to Me," do not think they are now alienated from the Father's authority. Nor should you think that earlier they were alienated from the Son. He destroyed both thoughts by these words. It is as though He said: when you hear, "You have given them to Me," do not think they become strangers to the Father. For all Mine belongs to Him. Likewise, when you hear, "They were Yours," do not think they were strangers to Me. For all that belongs to Him is Mine. Thus, "You have given" is said only by way of accommodation. All that the Father has belongs to the Son, and all that the Son has belongs to the Father. This cannot be said even of the Son according to His humanity. It is said of Him because He is greater than man. Everyone knows that what belongs to the lesser belongs also to the greater, but not the reverse. Yet here the reverse is also said, and this shows equality. Christ also showed this elsewhere when, speaking of knowledge, He said, "All that the Father has is Mine" (Jn 16:15). The expressions "You have given Me" and the like show that He did not come as a stranger and draw them to Himself, but received them as His own. Then He gives the reason and proof, saying, "And I am glorified in them." That is, I have authority over them. Or else, they will glorify Me, believing in You and in Me, and will glorify Us equally. If He were not glorified in them equally, what belongs to the Father would not belong to Him. No one is glorified by that over which he has no authority.

So also the son of a king, having equal honor and kingdom with his father, is glorified by possessing as much as his father. Therefore, if the Son were less than the Father, He would not have dared to say, "All Yours is Mine." For a master possesses all that belongs to a servant, but a servant does not possess all that belongs to the master. Here He mutually assigns the Father's things to the Son, and the Son's things to the Father. Therefore the Son is glorified in those who belong to the Father, for He has as much authority over all as the Father has.

He who by essence is heir to the divine dignities of His Father also Himself possesses all that the Father has. He will also show His own Begetter to possess all that belongs to Him, the Son. Each is manifested naturally in the Other. The Son shines in the Father, and the Father in turn shines in the Son. Thus the God-inspired Scriptures initiate us into the mystery. Therefore, if one of the dignities of the Father is authority over all, this must belong also to the Son. For He is the express image of His essence, admitting no unlikeness or change in anything. Nevertheless, as He declares, He is glorified in those once given to Him. By this He shows that prayer for them is a most just recompense.

Since they belong to both the Father and the Son, they show the equality of Those to whom they equally belong. When He says concerning the Holy Spirit, "All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you" (Jn 16:15), He refers to all that belongs to the Father's divinity. In this He is equal to the Father, having all that the Father has. The Holy Spirit could not take this from a creature subject to the Father and the Son. For example, the angels. "And I am glorified in them," He said. Now He speaks of His glorification as though it had already taken place, although it was still to happen, since earlier He had asked the Father that it might happen. We must consider whether this is the glorification of which He said, "And now, Father, glorify Me with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was" (cf. Jn 17:5). For if it is with You, how is it in them? Or is it the glorification by which He became known to them, and through them to all who believed them as His witnesses? In either case, we may fully conclude that the Lord was speaking of the apostles when He said that He was glorified in them. By saying that this had already happened, He showed that it had already been predestined. He wished what was to happen to be received as certain.

Therefore "all things were made through Him" (Jn 1:3), and "all things were created through Him and for Him" (Col 1:16). This is not because He performs some instrumental and servile ministry. Rather, He creatively accomplishes the will of the Father.

For one is the glory of the sun, and another the glory of the moon (1 Cor 15:41), since the nature of the elements does not coincide with one another. If they had one and the same glory, we would think they had no difference of nature. So He who foretold that He would appear in the glory of the Father indicated, through the identity of glory, the communion of Their nature.

He also used the word "given" so that they might know that He did not draw them to Himself against the will of the Father. "And I am glorified in them." I have authority even over Yours as over My own, just as You have authority over Mine as over Your own. Or else: I have been glorified in the disciples given to Me, who acknowledge Me as their Lord, worship Me, and acknowledge Me as God.

The Son is begotten of the Father, but He neither begets nor causes procession. Likewise the Spirit proceeds from the Father, but He neither begets nor causes procession. Therefore the Father is the cause and principle of the Son and the Spirit. The Son and the Spirit are caused by Him, that is, they depend upon, or exist from, that Cause, namely the Father. Therefore, when you hear, "All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine," understand all things, except the personal properties. For if you interpret this "all" without that exception, that is, if you understand even the personal properties to be common, you fall away from the Orthodox faith. You would confound the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity and unite Them into one, like the heretic and blasphemer Sabellius. The Savior adds this, "I am glorified in them," as the fourth reason why He intercedes for His disciples. I pray for them, He says, first, because they have kept Your word. Second, because they have believed that I came forth from You and that You sent Me. Third, because they are Yours. Fourth, because I am glorified in them. How, then, was Jesus glorified in the disciples? Through their faith, for they believed that He is the Son of God. Through their good works, for they left all and followed Him. Through the apostolic preaching, by which they were to spread throughout the whole world the saving light of the knowledge of God. Although this was still future, the all-seeing eye of Jesus saw it as already fulfilled. He adds yet another reason for His prayer, saying: "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, that they may be one, as We are."

Foreseeing all this, Jesus knew that victory would not come easily to His disciples. Without special support from above they could not emerge victorious from the struggle before them. Therefore, after giving them all His final farewell instructions, He turns in supplication to His Father. He asks Him to guard their faith from every temptation and wavering, and to sanctify them by His truth. He asks that, after completing their earthly contest, they may be worthy to be where He, Christ, will be. He asks that not only they, but all who believe through their word, may be united by self-sacrificing love for one another. He asks that they remain in constant union with Him, Jesus Christ, and with the Father who sent Him.

What consolation it is for the disciples of Jesus to know that, belonging to Christ Jesus, they belong to the heavenly Father. In such a state they are the object of the heavenly Father's love. "And I am glorified in them." Here is another reason to intercede for sincere disciples. Christ Jesus was glorified in His disciples because they recognized Him as their Lord. By teaching and works they proclaimed Him as the One sent by God, the Savior of the world, and the Son of God. Much was still lacking in them at that time for His full glorification in them. But the Lord sees the future reality that is to unfold from the present. In the weak fishermen He sees the conquerors of age-old paganism, the planters of churches, and fearless teachers before synagogues and Caesars. In the person of the fishermen He sees all who, receiving their teaching, glorify His name on earth and in heaven (Jn 17:20). O hearers, how much it means for us to love the Lord with a sincere heart, as the Galilean fishermen loved Him. Their simplicity is remembered by the Savior in His intercessory prayer to the heavenly Father, and for them He asks His special love. Truly, truly, one thing is needful (Lk 10:42). The earth and all its renown will pass away without a trace. Amen.