John 17:23 - Exposition

I in them, and thou in me . He does not say, "Thou in them, as thou in me," nor "They in thee, and I in thee;" but he includes in the ἡμεῖς of the previous verse, ἐγὼ καὶ σύ , and distinctly regards himself as the mediating link of relation between the Father and the disciples. The ἐγὼ is that of the Son of God, manifested in Christ's consciousness of the God-man-hood; the σύ is the eternal and non-incarnate God. God is in him, as he is in them. They are in him, as he is in the Father. That they may be perfected , completely realizing the end of their being and the meaning of the gift of eternal life, fully ripened in their graces until they reach up into one , into the fullness of the stature of the perfect Man, until they become the one new and immortal body of the living Christ, ( εἰς ἓν indicates the sublime result so far as they are concerned). Each individual believer reaching the highest perfection of his being, as according to his own capacity and function he fills his place in the one living body of the Lord The end is not here, however, so far as others are concerned; for this unity, when consummated, is to bring about a yet further result on this earth, and in order that the world may come to know ( γινώσκῃ .) that thou didst send me, and lovedst them as thou lovedst me. Our Lord has advanced upon the assertion of John 17:21 ,