After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. 'I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
The word today for me is glorify. It is used throughout the passage. These verses in the 17th chapter of John make up the longest prayer that we have of Jesus. It is a prayer of intercession, reconciliation and sanctification as Jesus approaches the shadowy period just before his arrest and crucifixion.
In the context of the prayer, Jesus prays for glorification, and intercedes for ALL people that they receive the eternal life promised by God. Jesus claims to have finished the work that God has given him to do, and now prays to be reunited and restored to the glorified presence within the Godhead. Humanity is God’s creation and Jesus came to earth to show humankind the way to be reconciled to God. As believers in Jesus, we have received the truth in our belief, and have hope in the promise of everlasting life.
This passage is pretty thick, theologically, and there are many layers of revelation to understanding God. One could dig for hours into this prayer alone and debate everything from Christology to Trinitarian theology. However, regardless of how much we feel is revealed, God remains that great mystery that we will continue to try to unpack throughout our lives. It takes prayer, presence & participation in the gathered community of God’s people (the Church), study and engagement of God’s Holy Word contained in scripture, and faith that is nurtured by these elements.
The call that I hear today is receive. God has given us a priceless, glorified gift in Jesus Christ who continues to take care of us as his own. God continues to offer the world a way to be reconciled to each other and to God’s self through him. The question for me in the context of the prayer is, “what does that this gift of Jesus require of us?” The answer to us, in this prayer of Jesus, is to receive God’s precious gift.
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