Jesus, the Son | John 17, Part 1
Good morning, please open your Bibles to John 17.
This morning we come to an amazing passage which marks the end, not only of Jesus’ Upper Room discourse (chapters 13-16), but the end of Jesus’ entire earthly ministry, short of the cross.
His betrayal by Judas is underway, and soon he will be arrested, tried, and crucified. His death however will not cut his earthly mission short, as if the schemes of his enemies could thwart God’s plans. But his death will serve as the capstone of a life of perfect obedience in which he accomplished everything the Father had given him to do.
This is, in fact, the theme of John 17. Here we find Jesus, as the obedient Son, praying to his Father, with some final requests prior to his death and resurrection. What we will find is that these requests are predicated upon his finished work. That is, the things he’s praying for are only now possible because of the work he has accomplished. The things he prays for were always the end goal of the work he came to do, and the time had come to finally see them realized.
With that, let’s listen to Jesus, the obedient Son of God, praying to his Father, having accomplished what he came to do:
John 17:1-26 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.
8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. 20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
There is much here, and it will take us weeks to work our way through it but, for a start just observe the overarching themes.
The Father has given the Son work to do (v4), and all the authority necessary to do it (v2). Further, the ultimate purpose for which the Son has been granted this authority is so that the Father might be glorified through him (v1). And how might the Father be glorified through the Son? By the Son bringing all the men that the Father has given him, to a place of faith (v2, v6, v8). Not just believing in the Father, but believing that Jesus is his Son, the one granted authority to give eternal life to all who believe (v2–3).
Now, having accomplished this work (v4), and knowing that he will soon depart (v11, v13), Jesus prays to the Father for the men that he had been given (v9). He prays that the Father would keep these men in the faith (v11), keep them from the evil one (v15), sanctify them in the truth (v17), make them one with one another (v11, v21–23), and ultimately take them to be with Jesus where they might see his undiminished glory (v24). This is the Son, sent to accomplish the Father’s will, presenting his finished work back to the Father (v4), so that the Father might keep what the Son has secured (v11, v15).
I know that those are some dense paragraphs, but as I said, we’ll be unpacking this over the coming weeks.
A PRAYER FOR US
Now, we can read John 17 with a bit of disconnect if we think Jesus’ prayer here is only for his eleven disciples. But, look at verse 20. Jesus says:
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
If you are a Christian this morning, you’ve come to believe in Jesus because of the word of the apostles. So, everything prayed by Jesus here, is prayed for you too. That makes this prayer immediately relevant to all of this morning. In fact, as we work through it, we’ll be able to consider just how we see the Father continually answering Jesus’ prayer in your life and mine.
JESUS, THE SON OF GOD
Now, as I noted, we’re not going to get very far into this prayer this morning. What I would like to do is focus on verses 1-3. It’s in these verses that we understand the relationship between the pray-er and the pray-ee. That is, who is praying and who is receiving the prayer. Let’s read it:
John 17:1-3 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
This is a prayer from the Son, to the Father. These titles are not incidental – they reveal that this is a unique prayer that could only take place between these two persons. This is a prayer from the unique Son, to God the Father regarding the glory, authority, mission, and accomplishments that only the Son of God could claim. So this is a very special prayer. This is a prayer that could only be prayed by Jesus, and only at this very point in time.
Now, as an introduction to this prayer, we’re going to spend some time considering just what it means that Jesus is the “Son” praying to the Father. What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God? This will help us understand the prayer in general in the coming weeks.
So, what exactly does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God? Does it mean he is divine? Yes, but that is not all. The title “son of God” has Old Testament roots which must be explored in order for us to fully grasp who Jesus is. This is vitally important because John tells us that he has written this gospel so that:
John 20:31 [we] may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing [we] may have life in his name.
And also, for our immediate purposes in John 17, an understanding of what it means that Jesus is the Son of God will make sense of his claims to authority, and mission, and glory from God.
As we explore the development of the concept of “son of God” throughout scripture, we will find that when Jesus calls himself God’s son, he is invoking a title which would have been very well known to the Jews of his day. In fact, the idea of one being the son of God stretches as far back as Adam and finds an Old Testament climax in David and subsequent Davidic Kings.
So, let’s begin at the beginning.
ADAM – THE SON OF GOD
In the account of God’s creation of man in Genesis 1, we read:
Genesis 1:26-28 ¶ Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
Image
When God made Adam, he made him in his own image. That is, Adam and Eve were created to reflect of God himself. Whereas God is a Spirit and cannot be seen, mankind was created to image forth the nature, and dominion of God on earth. This was a covenantal relationship in which Adam and Eve as God’s image-bearers were to worship, honour, and obey him, while reflecting his glory upon creation.
If Adam and Eve were faithful as God’s image-bearers, they would see his worship and dominion spread across all of creation as they were fruitful and multiplied.
Whereas an earthly King might erect a statue or monument of himself in his conquered lands in order to represent his dominion. God created man to be his image, spreading and representing his dominion across all of creation as they subdued it. And so the Lord says:
28 …And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
So, as those bearing God’s image, they were to be God’s vice-regents, even kingly figures established by God as those who were to exercise his dominion over creation. The Psalmist in Psalm 8 reflects upon mankind as God’s royal vice-regents given dominion over creation:
Psalm 8:3-9 ¶ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 9 O Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
So Adam was created by to represent God and his rule in creation. As God’s image he was spread the worship and dominion of God through all the earth. But, Genesis 1 says more than “Adam was created in God’s image” it also says that Adam and Eve were made in God’s likeness.
Likeness
To be made in the likeness of God is to be made in some way to be like him. As Adam exercised God’s dominion on earth as his image, he was to do so while exhibiting the character and nature of God. He was to rule for God, while espousing the character of God. To what extent mankind is made in the likeness of God is not entirely clear, but certainly this involves the fact that we are made with the ability to express his communicable attributes.
As Adam exercised dominion over creation as God’s royal vice-regent, he was to do so with holiness, love, grace, mercy, justice, goodness, kindness, etc.
But in addition to this, we find that to be made in the likeness of God also entails the idea of relationship. Specifically, the relationship of a Father and a Son. Look at Genesis 5:
Genesis 5:1-3 ¶ This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.
In this text we gain some insight into the terms “image and likeness.” Specifically, we learn that these are terms of sonship. As Adam’s son, it could be said that Seth was fathered in Adam’s likeness and after his image.
This may be somewhat lost on us, in our culture, in 2026, but traditionally it was expected that a son would not only inherit the traits of his Father, but would represent him well. The son would honour and obey his father, counting it shameful to tarnish his name. He would often follow in his father’s footsteps and take up his father’s vocation.
The son, as the image and in the likeness of his father, would honour and obey him, in the context of loving relationship. He would reflect his father’s character and values, while representing him well. He would even share in the work of his father.
He would be like his father in nature, character, and vocation.
So, here’s a question. If likeness and image are used in connection to sonship where Seth and Adam are concerned. Would it be appropriate to refer to Adam, as the son of God? Yes.
As Luke traces Jesus’ genealogy backwards through Joseph, he traces Jesus’ ancestry all the way back to Adam. We take up this list of “sons of” in the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:37:
Luke 3:37-38 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Adam was the son of God. What does that mean? It means that Adam was created in God’s image and likeness.
He was created to live in relationship with God, loving, honouring and obeying him, while operating as his appointed King over creation. A King which ruled with the traits of God, properly representing and reflecting God. In this way, he was to spread the worship and dominion of God throughout all of creation. This would include raising up faithful offspring who would also image forth God on earth, while living in loving relationship with him. If Adam did this, he would be a faithful son.
So, as early s Genesis, we find the concept of sonship introduced. God’s faithful son would honour and obey him. He would live in godliness, reflecting the character of God. He would represent God accurately, bringing his glory to bear upon the earth. He would share in the work of the Father, including exercising dominion. He would bring forth an entire race of men and women who would do the same. He would do all of this in the context of a loving Father/Son relationship with God.
If all of this worked as it should, the entire world would be filled with faithful image-bearers, spreading God’s dominion and his worship across the globe for all time.
GOD’S IMAGE DEFACED – THE FALLEN SON OF GOD
That, of course, is not what Adam accomplished. Before we are out of Genesis 3, Adam has failed in every point. Adam proved to be a disobedient son.
Instead of bringing God’s dominion to bear upon creation, he sought his own dominion.
Instead of subduing creation, he was dominated by it.
Instead of representing God and his interests, he gave into his own wants.
Instead of bringing God’s glory to bear upon the earth, he sought his own glory.
Instead of carrying out the work of God, he went rogue and did his own thing.
Instead of treasuring his relationship with God, he broke that relationship and hid from God.
Instead of bringing forth a race of men and women who would spread the worship and dominion of God across the globe in the context of loving relationship with God, he plunged the entire race into sin, so that all had sinned.
Adam was defaced as the image of God and failed to live in God’s likeness. He was not God’s faithful son.
So then, did God abandon his design for the world to be filled with worshipers made in his image, exercising dominion on earth, while reflecting his glory? Not at all.
ABRAHAM
Fast-forward and you’ll find that God chose a man named Abram and made a covenant with him. He gave him new name, as if he had adopted him into his family. He promised him an inheritance as a Father would promise a son. Through Abraham then would come Isaac, and then Jacob and through Jacob the entire nation of Israel.
Then we read something astounding. When Israel found themselves enslaved in Egypt, God remembered his covenant with Abraham and sought to deliver them from Pharaoh. Through this redemption however, he would do far more than rescue a people. In redeeming Israel, God would take them to be his own people. He would enter into a covenant relationship with them.
Now, how do you think God would describe the relationship which he would have with the nation of Israel?
Exodus 4:21-23 And Yahweh said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says Yahweh, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, "Let my son go that he may serve me." If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.'"
In Egyptian culture, Pharaoh was believed to be the son of their god. What Yahweh, the true God says to Pharaoh is, you are not the son of God, Israel whom you have enslaved is my son. As my son, they must come and serve me, so let them go.
Hosea refers to the Exodus this way:
Hosea 11:1 ¶ When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
The sonship for which God created Adam, has now been bestowed upon Israel as a nation. The entire nation was to be a nation of men and women who:
Imaged forth the glory of God.
Who advanced the dominion and spread the worship of God throughout the earth.
Who carried out the work of God.
Who reflected the holy character of God.
Who accurately represented God to all other nations.
Who loved, and served, and obeyed God in the context of an intimate relationship as sons and daughters of God.
Of course, Israel, like Adam proved itself to be an unfaithful son. Shortly after being redeemed and adopted by God, they grumble and complain and rebel. They fall back into idolatry and continually give into temptation while wandering in the wilderness.
THE KING AS SON
Eventually, the Lord would establish a King over Israel to lead the people to fulfill their calling as his chosen people. In an interesting turn, the Lord would adopt this King as his son.
Psalm 2:1-12 ¶ Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh and against his Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." 7 ¶ I will tell of the decree: Yahweh said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 10 ¶ Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
In this Psalm, the Psalmist likens the installation of David on the throne of Israel to God begetting a son. “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” Whereas Adam was a son via creation, and the nation of Israel via redemption, David is king via installation. Installation on the throne.
So, what of the nation of Israel, are they no longer God’s son? They are. However, in this new arrangement, King David would be the representative son. He would represent the entire nation leading them, and exemplifying for them what it means to be a son of God.
And so we find that David is a man who
Spreads the dominion of God
Advances the worship of God
Intercedes for the people of God
Reflects the character of God
Carries out the work of God
And all in the context of a loving relationship in which God is his Father, and he is the Son.
From this point on, a pattern is established in Israel, indeed in the whole earth. The King sitting upon the throne of David is the son of God, charged with being faithful where Adam fell.
Speaking of David’s son and his sons after him, the Lord says to David:
2 Samuel 7:14-16 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.'"
He who sits on the throne of David is the son of God. He represents the people of God, leading them to love, adore, worship, and obey the Father. He is to spread the worship and dominion of God across the globe, producing an entire people who reflect God’s image and his likeness as sons and daughters of God.
Well, how did David do as the son of God? He sinned against God. How about his son Solomon? He sinned against God. How about subsequent Davidic Kings? Disaster.
So that when we come to the New Testament period, the Davidic throne is vacant and, as far as the people are concerned, there is no son of God.
THE DIVINE SON-KING
This did not mean there was not hope however. A host of Old Testament scriptures looked forward to a day when one would sit upon the throne of David once more, and for eternity. This one would faithfully lead God’s people into genuine worship, and spread that worship throughout the world. He would succeed where Adam, Israel and previous Davidic kings failed. Look at how this future figure is promised in Isaiah 9:
One such text is in Isaiah 9:
Isaiah 9:6-7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.
A King would come who would be called a son. Not only would he be called a son, but he would be called mighty God. He would be different from all others in that the throne upon which he sat, would last forever.
Who would this son be?
Matthew 3:16-17 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
God’s beloved Son, in whom he was well-pleased had arrived. Not Adam, or Israel, or David, all who sinned and proved to be unfaithful sons, but Jesus, beloved by the Father and only pleasing to him.
The long-anticipated son of God hard arrived. It is because of this anticipation that many figures, in encountering Jesus in the New Testament are so quick to declare that he is the Son of God. These early confessions were not firstly declarations of Jesus deity, but that he was the one who came to sit on the throne of David as God’s son, representing God’s people, reflecting the glory of God, accomplishing the Lord’s work, exercising power and authority and dominion and leading God’s people to do the same.
That is why Nathaniel could so quickly confess:
John 1:49 Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
THE ETERNAL SON
What these early followers of Jesus would eventually realize is that Jesus, this one who came as the Son of God, was also eternally, God the Son. This is the confession of the Apostle John:
John 1:1-4 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
…
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Listen to the writer of Hebrews as he refers to Jesus as the eternal Son through whom God created the world.
Hebrews 1:1-14 ¶ Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Jesus is the perfect earthly Son of God, because he is the eternal Son of God. The writer of Hebrews continues:
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Unlike Adam who was created in the image and likeness of God to reflect God’s glory, Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. There is no diminishing, and no dilution. He is the exact expression of the Father.
…After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Unlike David the son of God, who sat on a throne and defiled it by giving into his own sin, Jesus the son of God, was sinless and made purification for the sins of his people.
Unlike David who sat on an earthly throne ruling a kingdom, Jesus sits on a heavenly throne, ruling the universe.
The writer of Hebrews now makes his comparison of Jesus the son of God to David the son of God explicit. Look in verses 4-5:
4 ¶ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"? Or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son"?
He quotes Psalm 2 and 2 Samuel 7, both passages which establish David as the King who is the son of God. But here it is applied to Jesus who is the greater David. He will sit on David’s throne, but unlike David, he will rule over an eternal kingdom. Look in verse 8:
8 But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." 10 And, "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, 12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end." 13 And to which of the angels has he ever said, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"?
Jesus, the Son of God, sits on an eternal throne. He is the obedient son who loves righteousness, and hates wickedness. He is God the Son of eternity past who laid the foundations of the earth and fashioned the heavens. He sits upon an eternal throne and all nations and all of creation are being brought under his dominion.
So then, if Jesus, God the Son, is the Son of God, come to succeed where all prior sons failed, what would we expect to see in his earthly life? We would expect the profile we have already traced, and John 17 gives it to us in his own words.
We would expect a Son who lives before the Father as a Son, loved by him and known by him. John 17:24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
We would expect him to seek and spread the Father’s glory. John 17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
We would expect him to receive dominion, and to use it for the Father’s purpose. John 17:2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
We would expect him to do the Father’s work in obedience, and to finish it. John 17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
We would expect him to represent the Father truly, with nothing withheld and nothing distorted. “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world,” and again, “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known” (vv. 6, 26).
We would expect him to lead a people into genuine knowledge of God John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 17:6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
We would expect him to stand between God and that people, interceding for them and keeping them. “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me.” He has guarded them in the Father’s name, and he asks the Holy Father to keep them, and to keep them from the evil one (vv. 9, 11–12, 15).
This is the faithful Son. He does not merely claim the title that Adam, Israel, and David bore and lost. He fulfills the office. He honours the Father, he finishes the Father’s work, he reveals the Father’s name, and he keeps the people the Father gave him. In all ways, Jesus, the eternal Son is also the perfect earthly Son of God.
BACK TO JOHN 17
So when we come to John 17, we find Jesus, the Son of God, praying to the Father and stating that he has accomplished all that the Father had given him to do. The titles in the opening line are not a form of address. They are the whole argument of the prayer. “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.”
Adam was a son by creation, and he sought his own glory. Israel was a son by redemption, and the nation turned aside. David was a son by installation, and the throne he received was stained by his sin and left vacant by his sons. Jesus speaks here as the Son who has not failed. He has done the Father’s works, he has obeyed the Father’s will, and he has kept the people the Father gave him. He now asks to be glorified, not so that he may stand apart from the Father, but so that the Father may be glorified in him.
The authority he names is the authority of that Son. “Since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.” Adam was given dominion and lost it. David was promised the nations and could not hold them in righteousness. The Son has been given authority over all flesh, and the end of that authority is life for the people the Father gave him.
He does not ask the Father to repair a failed sonship. He presents a completed obedience, and he asks the Father to keep what that obedience has secured: to keep them in the Father’s name, to keep them from the evil one, to sanctify them in the truth, to make them one, and at the last to bring them where he is, that they may see the glory given him because the Father loved him before the foundation of the world.
If you have believed through the apostolic word, this is not a prayer spoken over someone else. Verse 20 places you inside it. The Son who succeeded where Adam, Israel, and David fell is the Son who prays for you.
He prays for men and women given to him, kept by him, and brought to know the Father through him. And what is his prayer, that we might honour him as the Son of God, through faith, obedience, and worship – honouring him just as we would honour the Father.
