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John 17:1-5

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Jesus Prays To Be Glorified

 

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

 

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.  For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.

 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.  I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.  And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

 

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John Chapter 17 comes in three parts. 

1. Jesus prays to be glorified.

2. Jesus prays for the disciples.

3. Jesus prays for all future believers.

 

Today, I am only going to talk about part one – Jesus prays to be glorified.  I bet you didn’t think that I could be so long winded that I could talk that long about just 5 verses, did you?

 

Jesus and the disciples are in the garden of Gethsemane.  He spent a good amount of time preparing them for what is about to happen.  These first 5 verses summarize all of Jesus’ ministry.  This starts off with the following:

 

“After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:”

 

Now if Jesus is one with the Father, one wonders why he needs to even pray at all.  Wasn’t it Jesus who said, “The father knows what you want even before you ask?” 

 

So, why does Jesus pray out loud?

 

We can peek ahead at verse 13 and see why.

 

“I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.” 

 

We can also take a look back at chapter 11 verse 42 and see why:

 

“I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

 

So, everything that Jesus says in this prayer are things that Jesus wants us to know so that we will believe that God sent Jesus and so that we may have the full measure of Jesus’ joy within us.

 

Now, how much joy is the full measure of Jesus’ joy?

 

Isn’t Jesus’ joy infinite? 

 

Back in chapter 15, when Jesus spoke about keeping his commands, he said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

 

Just back in chapter 16, Jesus said, “You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”  And then he said, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” 

 

Let’s move on to Jesus’ prayer.  The first thing that Jesus says is:

 

          “Father, the hour has come.”

 

What is THE HOUR? 

 

In John 2:4, Jesus said, “My hour has not yet come.”

 

In John 5:25, 28, Jesus said, “The hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live… Do not be amazed at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice.”

 

In John 7:8, Jesus’ brothers were going to the festival and the Pharisees were looking to arrest Jesus so Jesus said, “You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my hour has not yet fully come.”

 

In John 12:23, Jesus said, “Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

 

In John 12:27, Jesus said, “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.” 

 

In John 13:1, John, the disciple, said, “Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.” 

 

Jesus is talking about His hour, The Hour that He and the Father knew. 

 

Since when did the Father and Jesus know about this Hour? 

 

Revelation 13:8 says, “the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.”

 

When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” 

 

Therefore, even John the Baptist certified the whole purpose of Jesus coming into the world. 

 

By the way, Jesus did not call his disciples till after his baptism.  So, already, the news has spread that this is the Messiah according to John the Baptist’s testimony.  The disciples knew who they were following.  The baptism of Jesus is the second most certain event in ancient history after the crucifixion of Jesus. 

 

So, THE HOUR has come. 

 

The next thing that Jesus says is, “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” 

 

So, Jesus asks the Father to glorify him so that he may in turn glorify the Father.  Interesting.  I wonder if anyone else knew about this glory.

 

According to John, Isaiah the prophet saw Jesus’ glory.

 

Back in John 12:37-41,

 

“Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.  This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

 

“Lord, who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

“He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
    nor understand with their hearts,
    nor turn—and I would heal them.”

Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.”

 

This passage came after Jesus has performed the seven signs that are significant to the disciple John:

 

• Changing water into wine at the wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-11);

• Healing the royal official’s son (Jn 4:46-54);

• Healing the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (Jn 5:1-15);

• Feeding the 5,000 (Jn 6:5-14);

• Walking on water (Jn 6:16-21);

• Healing the man born blind (Jn 9:1-7); and

• Raising Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:1-45).

 

So, the signs that Jesus performed are also a part of Jesus’ glory. 

 

When Jesus changed the water into wine, John says, “What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” John 2:11

 

About resurrecting Lazarus, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” John 11:4.

 

This passage also quotes from Isaiah 6 and Isaiah 53.  We should especially look back at those passages and read the fuller passage when it is quoted.  We especially find in Isaiah 53 the following about the glory of Jesus in Isaiah 53:4-6:

 

“Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.”

 

And yet there is one more sign in the gospel of John.  The sign of THE HOUR. 

 

John equates Jesus’ glory with his being “lifted up” 3 times.

 

John 3:14—“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life;”

 

Jesus equates his being lifted up with how Moses lifted up the brass snake so that those that looked upon it would live.  The purpose is that all who believe in him will not just save their immediate life, but have eternal life.

 

John 8:28—“Whenever you lift up the Son of man, then you will know that I AM, and from myself I do nothing, but just as the Father has given me, these things I speak;”

 

Here Jesus says something very ironic.  He is saying that by his very crucifixion, they will know that he is the ‘I AM,’ the God of Moses in Exodus 3:14. 

 

How does the crucifixion prove that Jesus is God? 

Perhaps because everything from Psalm 22 occurred before their very eyes.

Perhaps because it proves his obedience to the Father. 

Perhaps because it also resulted in his resurrection. 

 

John 12:32, 33—“… and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.  He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.”

 

By his death, Jesus draws men to himself.  Why does this draw people to him?

          Because he provided the payment for the sins of all of mankind.

          Because we put our faith in what he did for us.

          Because of his sacrifice, we are drawn in a response of love.

 

Jesus also spoke of his glorification right after Judas Iscariot left to betray him.  The destiny of his crucifixion was set in motion, and Jesus says:

 

“When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.  If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.”

 

So, once again, his glorification is equated with his crucifixion.

 

Is Jesus is the only human being that can honestly ask the Father to glorify himself?  Glorification of Jesus results in glorification of the Father.  More on this question will be dealt with in future Bible Studies.

 

Then Jesus prays:

 

“For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.”

 

The word “for” in this sentence tells us that this is the reason that the son is going to be glorified.

 

This equates the glory with the giving of eternal life.  This is the glory of Jesus Christ. 

 

Jesus has been granted authority over all people to accomplish this. 

 

This verse solves a big mystery.  Do you know what mystery that is? 

 

          The mystery is in these verses:

 

Matthew 16:28  “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

 

Luke 9:27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

 

Mark 9:1 “And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”

 

So, did someone live for 2,000 years, or did Jesus mean something other than a physical kingdom?

 

Jesus explains this in the following verses:

 

Luke 17:20-21, “Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

 

John 18:36, “Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

 

Jesus was saying that his kingdom was here and now. 

 

Jesus was saying that his kingdom is within you. 

 

The power of the kingdom of God is the crucifixion of Jesus on the Cross.

 

The Glory of God is the crucifixion of Jesus on the Cross. 

 

When do we see the kingdom of God?

 

John 3:3, “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

 

When do we see the kingdom of God?

 

When we are born again. 

 

No, who are those that God has given Jesus? 

 

Did God spin some wheel of fortune to decide who is to be given to Jesus?

 

Remember, Jesus said when he is lifted up, he will draw all to himself.  We don’t need to get into a complicated discussion about predestination here.  Jesus came to give eternal life.  Those that are drawn to the death of Jesus on the cross, and accept his gift are those that God has given to Jesus. 

 

Verse Three

 

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

 

Notice that Jesus is further explaining eternal life mentioned in the previous sentence. 

 

Remember that we noted that Jesus prays for the benefit of his disciples.  We know that at least one disciple, John, is listening and soaking this all in.  Also, in the last chapter, Jesus promised that he would speak plainly about his Father. 

 

Here, in this prayer, Jesus is speaking plainly and everything from his entire ministry is coming together.

 

Jesus says, “This is eternal life.”  In other words, this equals eternal life.  See what equals eternal life – that they know Jesus’ Father, the only True God, and… AND Jesus Christ, whom the Father has sent.” 

 

I have met people that wanted to take that ‘and’ out of the Bible.  You just can’t do it.  Jesus put it there for a reason, and he really means it. 

 

John 3:18, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

 

John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

 

John 10:38, “But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

 

Jesus and the Father are inseparable.

 

John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.”

 

Jesus is saying we should believe in him just as we believe in God.  The two are inseparable. 

 

Verse 4

 

“I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.”

 

What is the work God gave Jesus to do? 

 

John 5:19, “Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” 

 

(For those that try to use this verse to prove that Jesus isn’t God, this is the strongest proof of Jesus’ Deity there is.  Do you put your right or left shoe on first because God told you to dress in that order?  Jesus is saying he can only do what the Father is doing – the Father and the son are inseparable.)

 

John 5:30, “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”

 

John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”

 

John 10:17-18, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

 

John 10:25, “The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me.”

 

John 14:10, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”

 

So, Jesus is finishing the work that God gave him to do.  What is left for him to do at this hour?

 

(Die on the cross to provide propitiation for the sins of the world, and rise from the dead). 

 

The bulk of his work will occur in the next few hours.

 

Verse 5

 

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

 

How can one share the glory of God before the creation of the world without being God? 

 

It just cannot be done.

 

What is this glory again?

 

The glory of God is the Lamb that was slain before the creation of the world.  God’s plan is the same now as it was then.  God’s plan is infinite in wisdom and power and is for all time past present and future. 

 

Remember that small miracle that John barely notes.  The disciples were rowing across the sea of Galilee and they were halfway across, when they see Jesus walking on the water towards the boat.  Jesus gets in the boat they immediately appeared at the other shore.  This proves that Jesus is Lord of Time and Space.  God’s plan is for all time and all things because he established it as Lord over all time and space.