17:22
Now what does this mean “The you have given me I have given to them”? I will use my twofold definition of glory, which is not complete, for we will need all eternity to grasp the fullness of God’s glory, but I think is helpful. So the twofold definition is (i) significance or weight; (ii) moral excellence. We do not appreciate the huge significance of the church (the church defined in God’s terms, not ours). The church is God’s primary instrument for achieving His purposes upon the earth. Then there is the moral excellence. Now this can be taken in two ways. One is the imputation of Christ’s righteousness upon us who believe. Then there is the transformation of our characters to become ever more Christlike.
The immediate purpose is that we become one, but we will say more about that when looking at the next verse.
17:23
Unity is not unity at any price, nor is it unity for no reason. Unity is built upon unity with Christ. It is to be the same as the unity between the Father and the Son, and on Christ in us. The purpose is that we may perfectly be one, and that the world may know that the Father sent the Son, and that He loves us as He loved the Son. Perfect unity only exists when we live in perfect obedience to Christ and have perfect trust in Him. The level of unity depends upon the level to which we trust and obey Christ. Then we need to be careful about the word love. We so often associate love with romantic love or sentimental mush. The love of the Father for the Son is far deeper than this. The Father’s love led Jesus to the cross, and raised Him from the dead. It is intimately tied in with the whole gospel.
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