Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 20, verses 17-27
17 At Miletum he calleth the elders together, telleth them what shall befall to himselfJohn, Chapter 17, verses 1-11
1 Christ prayeth to his Father to glorify him, 6 to preserve his apostles, 11 in unity17 In this chapter our Lord prays,
- For himself, Joh 17:1-5.
- For the apostles, Joh 17:6-19.
And again, Joh 17:24-26.
- For all believers, Joh 17:20-23. And
- For the world, Joh 17:21-23.
In his prayer he comprises all he had said from Joh 13:31,
and seals, as it were, all he had hitherto done, beholding things past, present, and to come. This chapter contains the easiest words, and the deepest sense of any in all the Scripture: yet is here no incoherent rhapsody, but the whole is closely and exactly connected.
17:1 Father - This simplicity of appellation highly became the only - begotten Son of God; to which a believer then makes the nearest approach, when he is fullest of love and humble confidence.The hour is come - The appointed time for it; glorify thy Son - The Son glorified the Father, both before and after his own glorification.When he speaks to the Father he does not style himself the Son of man.
17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh - This answers to glorify thy Son. That he may give eternal life, etc - This answers to that thy Son may glorify thee. To all whom thou hast given him - To all believers. This is a clear proof that Christ designed hissacrifice should avail for all: yea, that all flesh, every man, should partake of everlasting life. For as the Father had given him power over all flesh, so he gave himself a ransom for all.
17:3 To know - By loving, holy faith, thee the only true God - The only cause and end of all things; not excluding the Son and the Holy Ghost, no more than the Father is excluded from being Lord, Co1 8:6; but the false gods of the heathens;and Jesus Christ - As their prophet, priest, and king: this is life eternal - It is both the way to, and the essence of, everlasting happiness.
17:4 I have finished the work - Thus have I glorified thee, laying the foundation of thy kingdom on earth.
17:5 The glory which I had - He does not say received - He always had it, till he emptied himself of it in the days of his flesh.
17:6 I have manifested thy name - All thy attributes; and in particular thy paternal relation to believers; to the men whom thou hast given me - The apostles, and so Joh 17:12.They were thine - By creation, and by descent from Abraham. And thou hast given them me - By giving them faith in what I have spoken.So Joh 17:9.
17:7 Now they know that all things - Which I have done and spoken, are of thee - And consequently right and true.
17:8 They have received them - By faith.
17:9 I pray not for the world - Not in these petitions, which are adapted to the state of believers only. (He prays for the world at Joh 17:21, Joh 17:23, that they may believe - That they may know God hath sent him.) This no more proves that our Lord did not pray for the world, both before and afterward, than his praying for the apostles alone, Joh 17:6-19, proves that he did not pray for them also which shall believe through their word, Joh 17:20.
17:10 All things that are mine are thine, and that are thine are mine - These are very high and strong expressions, too grand for any mere creature to use; as implying that all things whatsoever, inclusive of the Divine nature, perfections, and operations, are the common property of the Father and the Son. And this is the original ground of that peculiar property, which both the Father and the Son have in the persons who were given to Christ as Mediator; according to what is said in the close of the verse, of his being glorified by them; namely, believing in him, and so acknowledging his glory.
17:11 Keep them through thy name - Thy power, mercy, wisdom, that they may be one - with us and with each other; one body, separate from the world: as we are - By resemblance to us, though not equality.
20
20:17 Sending to Ephesus, he called the elders of the Church - These are called bishops in the Act 20:28 (rendered overseers in our translation). Perhaps elders and bishops were then the same; or no otherwise different than are the rector of a parish and his curates.
20:18 Ye know - Happy is he who can thus appeal to the conscience of his hearers.
20:19 Serving - See the picture of a faithful servant! The Lord - Whose the church is, with all humility, and with tears, andtrials - These are the concomicants of it. The service itself is described more particularly in the following verse. This humility he recommends to the Ephesians themselves, Eph 4:2.His tears are mentioned again, Act 20:31, as also Co2 2:4; Php 3:18. These passages laid together supply us with thegenuine character of St. Paul. Holy tears, from those who seldom weep on account of natural occurrences, are no mean specimen of the efficacy and proof of the truth of Christianity. Yet joy is well consistent therewith, Act 20:24. The same person may be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.
20:20 I have preached - Publicly; and taught - From house to house.Else he had not been pure from their blood. For even an apostle could not discharge his duty by public preaching only. How much less can an ordinary pastor!
20:21 Repentance toward God - The very first motion of the soul toward God is a kind of repentance.
20:22 Bound by the Spirit - Strongly impelled by him.
20:23 Save that - Only this I know in general; the Holy Ghost witnesseth - By other persons. Such was God's good pleasure to reveal these things to him, not immediately, but by the ministry of others.
20:24 Nor do I count my life precious - It adds great force to this and all the other passages of Scripture, in which the apostles express their contempt of the world, that they were not uttered by persons like Seneca and Antoninus, who talked elegantly of despising the world in the full affluence of all its enjoyments; but by men who daily underwent the greatest calamities, and exposed their lives in proof of their assertions.
20:25 Ye shall see my face no more - He wisely inserts this, that what follows might make the deeper impression.
20:27 For I have not shunned - Otherwise if any had perished, their blood would have been on his head.