I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do.
All Commentaries on John 17:4 Go To John 17
John Chrysostom
AD 407
I have finished the work which You gave Me that I should do it.
And yet the action was still but beginning, or rather was not yet beginning. How then said He, I have finished? Either He means, that I have done all My part; or He speaks of the future, as having already come to pass; or, which one may say most of all, that all was already effected, because the root of blessings had been laid, which fruits would certainly and necessarily follow, and from His being present at and assisting in those things which should take place after these. On this account He says again in a condescending way, Which You gave Me. For had He indeed waited to hear and learn, this would have fallen far short of His glory. For that He came to this of His own will, is clear from many passages. As when Paul says, that He so loved us, as to give Himself for us Ephesians 5:2; and, He emptied Himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant Philippians 2:7; and, As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. John 15:9
