Jesus’ Prayer for Glory
John 17:1-5
John 17 contains the inspired record of our Lord’s prayer to the Father. In the fifth century, Clement of Alexandria remarked that in this prayer, Jesus was acting as a high priest on behalf of His people. Since then many have called this the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus because He intercedes on behalf those the Father has given Him.
In one sense, this prayer in John 17 is one of many prayers of our Lord. The Gospels show many times when Jesus prayed. Jesus prayed often both in solitary (Luke 5:16), with a small group (Luke 9:29) and in public (John 6:11). Sometimes we can read short snippets of His prayers (e.g., John 11:41-42; 12:27-28). But here, just hours before Jesus was arrested, we get to eavesdrop on His prayer, the longest recorded prayer in the New Testament.
What a privilege to be able to listen to the Son of God in intimate conversation with His Father! G. Campbell Morgan, British pastor in the early 20th century said: “I would be careful lest I should appear to differentiate between the value of one part of Holy Scripture and another, but no one will deny that when we come to this chapter we are at the center of all the sanctities.” We are entering the holy of holies. Let us come with reverence and awe (Psa. 89:7).
John 17:1-5
1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
Notice a few things about this prayer. First, John links this prayer with Jesus’ teaching His disciples that night. John 17:1 begins, “Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said …” Our Lord’s prayer was based upon the words He had taught them, but it also petitioned the Father to cause that word to come to fulfillment in the lives of His disciples. Second, Jesus prays prayer out loud in the presence of his disciples. He wanted them to hear His prayer. Thirdly, the structure of this prayer divides neatly into three sections:
1) John 17:1-5 concerns Christ and His Father and the key word is “glory.” Jesus prays for Himself, that He would be glorified.
2) John 17:6-19 concerns Christ and His disciples and the key word is “keep” or “kept”. Jesus prays for His disciples, that they would be sanctified.
3) John 17:20-26 concerns Christ and His church and the key word is “one”. So Jesus prays for the church, that it would be unified.
I find this entire prayer to be deeply encouraging and also fascinating. It is encouraging to be reminded that Jesus prays for us. We will see this mainly in the second and third parts of the prayer. This prayer is fascinating in that it gives us an intimate glimpse into the mind and heart of Jesus Christ. John 17 is a wide-open window into the most intimate and honest thoughts, desires, and passions of Jesus Himself.
Although Jesus prays this prayer only hours before He will be crucified, it is not a prayer of doom and gloom. This is a prayer of love and triumph and joyful expectation. Remember, Jesus had just said (John 16:33), “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” This prayer reveals Christ’s raw courage in facing the cross! He was resolute because He knew God’s plan and He submitted in prayer to that plan.
“The best and most effective remedy for fear and uncertainty is a healthy dose of the sovereignty of God! So don’t let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Your loving, all-wise heavenly Father is in complete control. Whatever He permits or decrees, you can rest assured that it is designed for your ultimate spiritual good, even if in the immediate present it is unbearably painful and perplexing.” (Sam Storms).
Jesus begins His prayer saying (John 17:1), “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You.” As I showed last time (Jesus Prays for the Glory of God) glory is an dominant theme in this prayer. Jesus prays that the Father would bring Him to glory, and bring the disciples to glory, and bring all of us to glory. Today I want to emphasize some features of Jesus’ prayer for glory that will assure us in our times of uncertainty.
1. God the Father is glorified when the Son of God is glorified.
What does it mean to glorify God? To glorify God is to display His perfect attributes so that others will marvel at who He is. It means to display God’s goodness. Jesus prayed for His own glory. But this prayer was not from a selfish desire, but for the purpose of the Son being able to glorify the Father. Back in John 13:31-32 after Judas has left the upper room to betray Him, Jesus had said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.”
You’ll notice that Jesus had this glory with the Father before creation. John 17:5, “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” This of course means that the Son of God is eternally co-existent with the Father and co-equal with the Father. His glory is the Father’s glory. Christ’s glory was concealed by His humanity while He was incarnate on earth. He was still glorious, but in His humanity His glory was mostly unnoticed by men. They only saw glimpses of it in His works and His words.
How would Jesus ultimately be glorified? Through His death, His resurrection, and His ascension. When Jesus prays. “Father, the hour has come” He means the time has come for Him to fulfill His ultimate purpose in coming to earth: to die for our sins and be raised from the dead for our justification. It was the hour determined before the foundation of the world between the Father and the Son when the Son would make atonement for our sins. Jesus knows that hour is here and prays knowing that His great work of redemption is completed through His death and resurrection. So in John 17:4 Jesus says, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” The cross was the primary work that Jesus came to accomplish.
Jesus’ obedience unto death and His subsequent resurrection from the dead is the zenith His glorifying the Father on earth, for it would be the display of not only the Father’s power to raise Him, but also of the Father’s righteousness and justice in accepting Jesus’ sacrifice for sin.
So God the Father is glorified when the Son of God is glorified. This is what Jesus prays for.
2. The Son is glorified in giving eternal life.
What does Christ’s glorification through His death and resurrection accomplish? Eternal life for us. John 17:2, “…as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.” Jesus is saying that He has authority over all people to give eternal life. Eternal life is a gift. Jesus gives it, we do not earn it.
To whom does He give eternal life? “…to as many as You have given Him.” Seven times in this prayer Jesus emphasizes that believers are the Father’s gift to His Son (John 17:2, 6, 9, 11-12, 24). We usually think of Jesus as God’s gift to us (and He is, John 3:16), but Jesus affirms that we are the Father’s “love gift” to His Beloved Son. From our human perspective, we receive eternal life when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But from God’s perspective, we have eternal life because the Father gave us to the Son in divine election. Those whom the Father has given to the Son are responsible to come to Him; but Jesus says that there is no doubt that they all will come and that He will keep them, because their eternal destiny ultimately rests upon God’s purpose and will.
Why does Jesus emphasize His authority to give eternal life to all whom God has given to Him? He emphasizes it to teach us that His work on the cross is not in vain. Sinners crucified Him, but God glorified Him. By His death and resurrection He will give eternal life to those the Father gives to the Son.
What is the essence of eternal life? Jesus says it in John17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Eternal life is to know God. And we can only know God by knowing His Son Jesus Christ. “Eternal life is the perfect knowledge of God and Christ; that’s eternal life. That’s what it is. That is the definition of eternal life. It is not a quantity of time; there is no time. It is a quality of existence.” (MacArthur).
The word “know” in this verse is not just knowledge about God. It is possible to know of God, to know a lot of things about God, without really knowing God. Eternal life is to know God in your experience, to know Him personally, to know Him intimately. Eternal life is a relationship where we know God and He knows us. Eternal life is not just to live forever. It is not just a place called heaven. Eternal life is God Himself. Eternal life is Christ.
1 John 5:11-12 says, “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (NASB).
There are a lot of people that talk about going to heaven when they die or they talk about seeing loved ones who have died. Although I believe the scripture teaches that we will see and know other saints in heaven that is not what eternal life is all about. It is about God. It is about Christ. The thing that makes eternal life, eternal – the thing that makes paradise, paradise, is God! He is the source of all life. Apart from him there is no life at all. All that makes life good, and pleasant, and to be desired, is God! He is what makes heaven, heaven. He is our great treasure, our inheritance, our reward. To know Christ is eternal life.
Do you know God? You know Jesus Christ? Do you have eternal life?
If you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and know Him, then don’t be afraid to tell everyone. Jesus Christ is alive! Your sins are paid for and forgiven. You have been clothed with His righteousness and adopted into God’s family. You have a personal relationship with the Creator of everything that will last throughout eternity.
If you do not know God through knowing Jesus Christ then you have no confidence that if you died today that you would be with the Lord in Heaven. Here is the good news for you: You can know Him today! 1 John 5:13 sates, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.”
