John Chapter 17, Verse 3/commentary
From BibleWiki
This is life eternal. This is the source of eternal life; or it is in this manner that it is to be obtained. The knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ is itself a source of unspeakable and eternal joy. Comp. Jn 11:25, Jn 6:63, Jn 12:50.
Might know thee. The word know here, as in other places, expresses more than a mere speculative acquaintance with the character and perfections of God. It includes all the impressions on the mind and life which a just view of God and of Jesus is fitted to produce. It includes, of course, love, reverence, obedience, honour, gratitude, supreme affection. To know God as he is is to know and regard him as a lawgiver, a sovereign, a parent, a friend. It is to yield the whole soul to him, and strive to obey his law.
The only true God. The only God, in opposition to all false gods. What is said here is in opposition to idols, also contrasting with Jesus himself, who identifies himself not as God but as one having been sent by God. Jn 20:17Lk 4:43
And Jesus Christ. To know Jesus Christ is to have a practical impression of him as he is that is, to suffer his character and work to make their due impression on the heart and life. Simply to have heard that there is a Saviour is not to know it. To have been taught in childhood and trained up in the belief of it is not to know it. To know him is to have a just, practical view of him in all his perfections -- as God and man; as a mediator; as a prophet, a priest, and a king. It is to feel our need of such a Saviour, to see that we are sinners, and to yield the whole soul to him, knowing that he is a Saviour fitted to our wants, and that in his hands our souls are safe. Comp. Eph 3:19 Tit 1:16 Phil 3:10 1Jn 5:20.
