John 20

John 20:2

For their sakes I sanctify myself. He did this when he came into the world, when he made it his meat to do the Father’s will, and when he gave himself to death. We sanctify ourselves when we “present our bodies as living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1).

John 20:3

Neither pray I for these alone. We enter upon the third section of the prayer, that for all disciples in every age.

John 20:4

That they all may be one; . . . that they also may be one in us. This is a prayer for the unity of the saints. The Lord all through this discourse has shown the intimate union between the Father and himself. The Father is in him and he in the Father, all that is the Father’s is his, and his is the Father’s. They have no separate will, kingdom, or interests. Such a union is demanded among the disciples of Christ.

Such union is impossible while they are divided into various denominations, with separate work, property and interests, separate churches, colleges, papers and missions. Denominationalism is utterly opposed to this prayer, and every apologist for it is disloyal to the spirit of the prayer. Nor is it fulfilled in any church where there are factions, where “all are not perfectly joined together, of the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). If Christ abides in the heart, the one life will draw all who have Christ formed within them into the family. This unity is needful, and for it the Lord prays, That the world may believe that thou hast sent me. It must be a union that the world can see and recognize. It is therefore an organic union, one Body as there is one Lord. There is no other source of skepticism so fruitful as church quarrels and sectarian divisions.

John 20:5

The glory which thou gavest to me I have given to them. God gave Christ the glory of Sonship and this resulted in their unity. So Christ gives to his disciples the glory of becoming the sons of God (John 1:12 1 John 3:1). This glory, the adoption and gift of the Spirit, ought to effect that they may be one as we are one. We cannot pray this prayer of Jesus and have the party spirit or labor to build up sectarianism. In the spirit of love we should oppose it, and labor to destroy sectarian names, creeds, organizations and interests. As the Son and the Father are one, have one work, one kingdom, one spirit, one interest, so must all that are Christ’s. We must “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). There is “one body” and “one Spirit”, as there is “one Lord” (Ephesians 4:4,5).

John 20:11

Jesus Betrayed and Condemned SUMMARY OF JOHN 18: Jesus in Gethsemane. Judas and the Band. The Lord Seized. Peter Uses the Sword. Christ Before Annas. Peter Denies His Master. Christ Questioned and Sent to Caiaphas. Delivered to Pilate. His Kingdom Not of This World. Barabbas Chosen Instead of Christ. He went . . . over the brook Cedron. It flows through the valley east of Jerusalem between the city and the Mount of Olives. They went to Gethsemane.

John 20:12

Judas . . . knew the place. For notes on the Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus, see Matthew 26:47-58. Compare Mr 14:43-54 Lu 22:47-54.

John 20:16

They went backward, and fell to the ground. This statement of John is omitted by the other gospels. As Christ answers them, either his majesty and their own terror so impressed them, that, awed, they fell backward to the earth, or his divine power was exerted to prostrate them. Then the Lord submitted himself “as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7 Jeremiah 11:19 Acts 8:32), and his power is not again exerted until he rises from the tomb, except to heal the smitten servant of the high priest.

John 20:25

For the trial of Jesus before Caiaphas and the denial of Peter, see notes on Matthew 26:57-75. Compare Mr 14:53-72 Lu 22:54-71.