John 17:20Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Thus, after Him who is above all and the "Head of the body of the Church" (Col 1:18), they were, and are, the most honorable and most glorious members. Therefore He asks His Father for the sending upon them of blessing through the Spirit and of holiness, without doubt also through Himself.

It could not be otherwise, since He is the living, true, almighty, and active Wisdom and Power of Him who begot Him. Yet someone who does not attend properly to the words of divinely inspired Scripture might lightly think that the coming of the divine Spirit was invoked only upon the disciples and does not apply to us, that is, to those who came after them and lived in former times.

To prevent the foolish thoughts of such people, the Mediator between God and men, the Intercessor and High Priest of our souls (1 Pet 2:25), judged it necessary to add this saying to the words already cited: "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in Me through their word."

It would be strange indeed if condemnation extended to all through the one first man, I mean Adam, and even those who did not sin bore the most inglorious image of the earthly. This happened at the time when the forefather transgressed the commandment given to him. Yet, when Christ came and appeared as the heavenly Man, it would be strange if all those called by Him to righteousness, clearly through faith, did not also reflect His image in themselves.

We say that the most inglorious image of the earthly appears in that form and shape which contain the defilement of sin, the weakness of death and corruption, the impurity of fleshly passions, and earthly thoughts. Conversely, we think that the image of the Heavenly, that is, of Christ, shines with purity and truth, with incorruption in all things, with life and holiness.

It was impossible to raise us to our original beauty after we had fallen from it through transgression in the first man, except by receiving ineffable communion and unity with God. For so the nature of earth-dwellers was fashioned in the beginning.

This unity with God could not exist in anyone except through participation in the Holy Spirit. He implants in us His own property of holiness, transforms the nature subject to corruption into the life proper to Himself, and in this way raises to God and to His image what had been deprived of that glory.

For the Son is the pure image of the Father, and the natural likeness of the Son is His Spirit. Therefore, by transforming human souls as it were into Himself, the Spirit inscribes the divine image in them and stamps upon them the reflection of the supreme Essence.

Thus our Lord Jesus Christ prays not only for the Twelve disciples alone, but for all who, in every age, were to obey and follow the words that came from them. Those words summon hearers to receive sanctification through faith and purification accomplished through the communication of the Spirit.

For however many later believed in Him, they undoubtedly believed through the word of the apostles, and they will believe until He comes. It was to the apostles that He said, 'You also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning' (Jn 15:27). Through them the Gospel was preached even before it was written. Certainly everyone who believes in Christ believes the Gospel. Therefore, by those who, as He says, will believe in Him through their word, we must understand not only those who heard the apostles while they lived in the flesh. We must also understand others who lived after their death, and also ourselves, born much later, who have believed in Christ through their word. For those who were then with Him preached to others what they had heard from Him. In this way their word reached us, so that we too might believe. It spread everywhere His Church exists, and it will reach later generations who will believe in Him afterward, whoever and wherever they may be. Yet it may seem that in this prayer Jesus did not pray for all His own. We must therefore examine carefully His words in this prayer. For if He first prayed for those who, as we have shown, were then with Him, and afterward for those who believed in Him through their word, someone may say that He did not pray for those who were not then with Him when He said this. Nor did He pray for those who later believed through their word, but who had nevertheless believed in Him earlier, either by themselves or in some other way. Indeed, was Nathanael then with Him (cf. Jn 1:45-51)? Was Joseph of Arimathea then with Him, who asked Pilate for His body, and of whom the same Evangelist John testifies that he was already His disciple (cf. Jn 19:38)? Was Mary, His Mother, then with Him, and were the other women, who, as we know from the Gospel, were already then His disciples? Were those then with Him of whom the same Evangelist John often says, 'Many believed in Him' (cf. Jn 2:23; 4:39; 7:31; 8:30; 10:42)? For where did that multitude come from, some going before and others following Him as He sat upon the donkey, carrying branches of trees and crying, 'Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord' (Mt 21:9)? And with them were the children, concerning whom He Himself said that the prophecy was fulfilled: 'Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants Thou hast perfected praise' (Mt 21:16; cf. Ps 8:3). Where did the five hundred brethren come from, to whom He would not have appeared at once after the resurrection if they had not previously believed in Him (cf. 1 Cor 15:6)? Where did those one hundred and nine believers come from who, together with the eleven apostles, made one hundred and twenty? After His ascension they were gathered together, filled with hope, and received the promised Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:16; 2:4). Where did all these come from, if not from among those of whom it is said, 'Many believed in Him'? Thus it could seem that the Savior did not then pray for them. For, it is said, He prayed for those who were then with Him and for those who had not yet believed but would believe through their word. But these were not then with Him, and had already believed in Him earlier. I do not even speak of the aged Simeon, who believed in the Infant (cf. Lk 2:25-32). Nor do I speak of Anna the prophetess (cf. Lk 2:36-38), or of Zacharias and Elizabeth, who prophesied about Him even before His birth from the Virgin (cf. Lk 1:41-45, 67-79). Nor do I speak of their son John, His Forerunner, the friend of the Bridegroom. He knew Him in the Holy Spirit, foretold Him before He came to the Jordan, and pointed Him out so that others might know Him after He appeared at the Jordan (cf. Jn 1:19-36; 3:26-36). I say nothing of these, because someone could answer me that He did not need to pray for those who had already died. They had departed from here with great merits and rested, having been received by Him into the Kingdom. A similar answer is also given concerning the righteous of old. For who among them could have found salvation from the condemnation of the mass of perdition, which had its beginning through one man, unless he had believed in the one Mediator between God and men, Who was to come in the flesh according to the revelation of the Spirit? But was He to pray for the apostles and not to pray for those many who were still in this life? They were not with Him then, but had already believed earlier. Who can say this? Therefore we must understand that they had not yet believed in Him in the manner in which He wanted men to believe in Him. Even Peter himself confessed and said, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God' (Mt 16:16). Yet when He gave so great a testimony concerning His Passion and Resurrection, Peter desired that He not die more than he believed that He would rise from the dead. For this reason he was called Satan by Him (cf. Mt 16:21-23). Therefore the righteous who died before His resurrection, and who by the revelation of the Holy Spirit did not doubt that Christ would rise, appear to be more believing than those who had believed that He would redeem Israel. For when they saw His death, they lost all the hope they had placed in Him. Therefore it is better for us to believe that after His Resurrection, when the Holy Spirit came down, when the apostles instructed and confirmed, and when teachers were established in His Church from the beginning, others believed in Christ through their word as one ought to believe. That is, they kept faith in His Resurrection. Therefore all those who already seemed to believe in Him then belonged to the number of those for whom He prayed when He said, 'I do not pray for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word' (Jn 17:20). Yet to resolve this question fully, we must turn to the blessed Apostle and also to the thief sunk in his crime, who believed on the cross. For the Apostle Paul says that he was made an apostle not by men nor through man, but by Jesus Christ (cf. Gal 1:1). Speaking of his own Gospel, he says, 'For I neither received it nor learned it from man, but through a revelation of Jesus Christ' (Gal 1:12). How then could he be among those of whom it was said, 'They will believe in Me through their word'? The thief believed at the very time when the faith to which the teachers themselves had somehow recently held had vanished. Therefore he did not believe in Jesus Christ through their word. Yet he believed in such a way that he acknowledged that the One Whom he saw crucified would not only rise, but also reign. He said, 'Remember me when Thou comest in Thy Kingdom' (Lk 23:42). Finally, if we wish to believe that the Lord Jesus in that prayer prayed for all His own, who either then remained or would later be found in this life, which is a trial upon earth (cf. Job 7:1), we must understand the phrase 'through their word' in this way. We should understand that the very word of faith is meant here, which they preached in the world. It is called 'their word' because it was first and above all preached by them. Indeed, it was already being preached on earth when Paul received this word of theirs through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Therefore he compared his Gospel with theirs, lest he had run or was running in vain. They gave him the right hand, because they found in him their word, which they had already preached and in which they had been established, though it had not been given to him through them (cf. Gal 2:2, 9). Concerning this word about the resurrection of Christ, the same Apostle says, 'Whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed' (1 Cor 15:11). Again he says, 'This is the word of faith which we preach: if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved' (Rom 10:8-9). In the Acts of the Apostles we read that God gave faith to all in Christ by raising Him from the dead (cf. Acts 17:31). This word of faith was called their word because first and originally it was preached through the apostles who had remained with Him. Yet because it is called their word, it does not cease to be the word of God. For the same Apostle told the Thessalonians that they received this word from him not as the word of men, but as the word of God, which it truly is (1 Thess 2:13). Therefore it is God's word because God gave it. But it was called 'their word' because God entrusted it first and originally to them for preaching. For the same reason, the thief already mentioned had as the foundation of his faith their word. It was called 'their word' because the obligation to preach it was first and originally laid upon them. Finally, when a complaint arose among the widows of the Hellenists concerning the serving of tables, before Paul believed in Christ, the apostles who had first accompanied the Lord answered it. They said, 'It is not good for us to leave the word of God and serve tables' (Acts 6:2). Then they saw to the ordination of deacons, so that they themselves would not be distracted from carrying out the ministry of preaching the word. Therefore it is rightly called their word, being the word of faith through which all have believed in Christ, wherever they heard it, or will believe when they hear it. Thus our Redeemer prayed for all whom He redeemed, both for those who then lived in the flesh and for those who would live later. In that prayer, after praying for the apostles who were then with Him, He also added those who through their word would believe in Him. What He said after adding mention of them should be examined in another discussion.

Therefore Paul also says elsewhere, "Our Head is the Lord, and we are members of one another." Having said this, he added: "Put on the new man, and speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, for we are members of one another" (Eph 4:24-25). He speaks this directly. For the eye, being our member, does not tell us that light is darkness or darkness is light. The tongue itself, being our member, does not tell us that sweet is bitter or bitter is sweet. Rather, what each thing truly is, our members communicate to our mind. So each of us, called by Christ and being a member of the whole Church, must utter nothing except what he knows to answer to the truth. If he does otherwise, he is a liar and an enemy, not a member and not a neighbor. The quotation does not exactly correspond to the Gospel text now in use. There is no exact quotation of this kind, but it reflects the meaning of Rom 12:5, 1 Cor 12:27, Eph 1:22, Eph 5:30, and Eph 4:25.

Foreseeing all this, Jesus knew that victory would not come easily to His disciples. Without special support from above, they could not even 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 preserve their faith from every temptation and wavering. He asks Him to sanctify them by His truth. He asks Him to make them worthy, after completing their earthly contest, to be where He, Christ, will be. He prays that not only they, but all who believe through their word, may be united by self-sacrificing love for one another. He prays that they may abide in constant union with Him, Jesus Christ, and with the Father who sent Him.

It is for the union of the whole body of the Church with her Head, Christ, and through Him with God in the eternal glory and love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. "Those who believe in Me through their word": the believers are still contemplated only in idea, as the whole multitude of future believers. At that time there were almost no believers yet through their word. Since their word, sealed by the Spirit, is contained in their writings, which are appointed for all ages, this saying clearly also indicates the greatest importance of the apostolic writings. It also points to those who believe through this word of theirs in every age.

Whatever believers may be, "Christ asks for all the faithful the grace of the Holy Spirit, which transforms man into the image of God." Let many of them fail to answer their faith by their life. Let them prove ungrateful to eternal love. He is the Savior of all and prays for all believers. He fulfills the work of the one Mediator. The ungrateful will answer before heavenly Justice because they do not wish to share in the fruits of His prayer. O my listener, may it not happen to us that, instead of offering a living sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to our Savior who loves us so greatly, we show coldness, inattention, and contempt toward His love. Does He pray for all who believe in Him? Therefore faith is the condition by which the prayer of the Lord Jesus shows its power over us. Faith is a duty laid upon us in this sense. If we do not acquire it with God's help already prepared for us, we shall have nothing: neither faith nor the fruits of the Savior's prayer. "They have not all obeyed the gospel," says the Apostle, explaining the unhappy lot of the Jews (Rom 10:16). Such is the teaching of all Holy Scripture concerning our work of salvation (Acts 2:40-41; Jn 20:31). The more we grow in faith, the more we shall share in the exalted fruits of the Savior's prayer. He prays for all who believe in Him "through their word," that is, through the word of the Apostles. Therefore it is not enough simply to believe. We must also believe according to the teaching of the Apostles. This is because the word of the Apostles is the word of God. The Lord Himself said, "As You sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world" (v. 18). Therefore no one whose thoughts are not governed by the Apostles' teaching can have true faith or share in the fruits of the Savior's prayer. The faith of the Church of Christ, as the faith of her who lives by apostolic teaching, is the faith for which the Lord Jesus prays. "Even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be anathema" (Gal 1:8). Such is the apostolic judgment upon every faith that does not agree with the teaching of the Apostles.