NOTES for Joh 17:11-19
We all know that Jesus came into this world and became human. And that means the Lord came to know all the weaknesses of our bodily existence; He experienced for Himself what it is to thirst and hunger, to freeze and languish from heat, to suffer and to take pleasure in tasty food. And all this was so that no person could reproach Him: "You are my God, who sent me into this cruel world, but You Yourself have not experienced everything that I have had to experience!" We have the opportunity to look at Jesus, to see how He teaches, interacts with the disciples, breaks bread, and suffers. And most often some very, very serious image appears before us. But this means that we do not see everything, or do not want to see it; it is simpler and somehow more proper for us, perhaps, to see God in exactly that way.
And yet the Lord is a God who rejoices. And He rejoices not merely in some material things, as is characteristic of all of us, but with perfect joy. He Himself speaks of this joy in addressing the Father and asks for such joy for all of us as well (see John 17:13). He rejoices that He is one with the Father and is going to Him. And this means that our joy too will be perfect precisely when He Himself, with His joy, comes to us and makes His dwelling with us (see John 14:23).