John 17:26. I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them.
[Henry explains the verse:] Therefore I have given them the knowledge of Thy name, of all that whereby Thou hast made Thyself known, that Thy love, even that wherewith Thou hast loved Me, may be, not only towards them, but in them.
That is, First, Let them have the fruits of that love for their sanctification; let the Spirit of love, with which thou hast filled Me, be in them. Christ declares His Father’s name to believers, that with that divine light darted into their minds, a divine love may be shed abroad in their hearts, to be in them a commanding, constraining principle of holiness, that they may partake of a divine nature.
When God’s love to us comes to be in us, it is like the power which the magnet gives the needle, inclining it to move towards the pole; God’s love draws out the soul towards God in pious and devout affections, which are as the spirits of the divine life in the soul.
Secondly, Let them have the taste and relish of that love for their consolation; let them not only be interested in the love of God, by having God’s name declared to them. But, by a further declaration of it, let them have the comfort of that interest; that they may not only know God, but know that they know Him (1 Jn 2:3). It is the love of God thus shed abroad in the heart that fills it with joy (Rom 5:3,5). This God has provided for, that we may not only be satisfied with His loving kindness, but be satisfied that we have it; and so may live a life of complacency in God and communion with Him. This we must pray for; this we must press after. If we have it, we must thank Christ for it; if we lack it, we may thank ourselves.
Taken, with slight editing from Henry’s Commentary* on the verse at the top of the article.