The Glory of Jesus / John 17 / Part 2

Good morning, please open your bibles to John 17.

We’ve begun exploring what is commonly called Jesus’ “high-priestly prayer.” This is the prayer that he prayed immediately before his arrest, and it marks the end of his earthly work, prior to the cross. Follow along as I read it:

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.”

This is a remarkable prayer. What we find in these 26 verses is really a summary of everything John’s been teaching about who Jesus is, and its implications. In this prayer, Jesus reveals who he is, where he came from, and what his relationship to the Father is. Further, he clearly articulates what his earthly work was, and what it was meant to accomplish. In this way, Jesus’ prayer in John 17 serves as almost an interpretive framework for the entire gospel of John.

But his prayer does not merely look back over his earthly ministry, it looks forward also. Forward to the cross? Yes. But beyond. This prayer actually reaches into eternity.

This shouldn’t surprise us when we consider who it is that is praying, and to whom. What we are witnessing here in John 17 is a prayer between the Son of God, the Word incarnate, the second person of the Trinity, and God the Father. In this way, this prayer is actually a communication between two persons of the eternal Godhead.

Since one person of the Godhead has taken on flesh, and walked this earth, this prayer uniquely addresses both earthly and heavenly matters. It is couched in both temporal and eternal contexts. Again, something entirely appropriate considering it is a prayer prayed by the only one who has united heaven and earth, the temporal and the eternal, in his incarnation.

THE TIME FOR GLORY

So, as I said, this is a very unique prayer. Unique because of who it is that is praying. Unique because of his relationship to the Father. But it’s unique in another way. Not only is this a prayer that could only be prayed by Jesus, but it is a prayer that could only be prayed by Jesus at this particular point in time.

Take a look at verse 1 again:

John 17:1 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,

“The hour has come,” he says. What hour has come? It’s the hour in which the Son is to be glorified. Well, what does it mean for Jesus to be glorified? How did we get to this moment when it was entirely appropriate for him to pray for this glorification?

First, at its most basic level, to glorify someone is to extol, magnify, honor, or exalt them. To glorify someone is to make much of them. It’s to extol their virtues, their character, and their worth. It’s to elevate them in the eyes of others. It’s to render to them the honour that they are due.

What we learn in the gospel of John is that the cross becomes the instrument of that glorification. Not that there is glory in crucifixion but that through Jesus’ death on the cross, the plan of salvation would be completed. By bearing our sins on the cross, and later rising victoriously from the grave, he would redeem all of fallen creation, and receive it as his inheritance. In this way, the crucifixion paradoxically becomes a means of glorification.

So, when Jesus says the hour has come, he means the hour of the cross – because of what the cross accomplishes – the ultimate establishment of the Son as Lord of All.

What we want to do this morning is consider this post-cross glory. What does it mean for Jesus to be glorified? What glory is he due, and why? This is our purpose this morning. We’re going to consider just what it means when Jesus speaks of his glory, and his glorification. We’re going to discover how his earthly mission leads to this glory, and how this glory relates to his nature prior to his incarnation.

We’re going to do this by answering the question “Why Does Jesus Deserve Glory?” And we’re going to answer it in four parts.

First, consider:

1. Jesus Deserves Glory Because He is the Only Obedient Son

Look at verse 4. Jesus prays:

John 17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

We won’t spend much time here because our last sermon in John 17 covered much of this. However, note that This is a prayer of the Son to the Father. We learned last time that the title “Son of God” is packed with scriptural meaning.

It reaches back to Adam, who was created in the image and likeness of God and was therefore the son of God by creation, called to honour and obey the Father, to reflect his character, and to exercise dominion over the earth. It reaches to Israel, whom God called his firstborn son by redemption, charged with the same vocation of imaging God and spreading his worship. It reaches to the king who sat on David’s throne, God’s Son via coronation, given the task of leading the people in that sonship.

In each case the son failed. Adam sought his own glory. Israel turned aside. David and his sons stained the throne with sin and left it vacant. Jesus is the Son who has not failed. He is the perfect earthly Son who perfectly accomplished all that the Son of God should do. He succeeds where everyone else fails.

So, what exactly was the work that he accomplished as the obedient Son? We find multiple aspects of that work in this prayer, but they all fall under one stated purpose in verse 4. Look at it:

John 17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

Jesus lived a perfect life, and perfectly obeyed the Father so that God the Father was perfectly glorified through all that he did. This was something no one else has ever done.

So, specifically, what does Jesus reveal to be the ways that he glorified the Father on earth? We can answer this by following Jesus’ “I have” statements in this prayer.

I won’t explain them here, but take note:

• 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.

• John 17:8 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.

• John 17:12 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.

Jesus revealed the Father to God’s people. Jesus revealed himself as God’s sent Son. Jesus kept the people that the Father entrusted to him, in the faith. This was the primary mission, and Jesus accomplished it perfectly.

The greatest and expression of this obedience would take place on the cross. Jesus said in John 8:

John 8:28-29 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

So, the glory that Jesus prays for in this prayer is the glory that rightfully belongs to the obedient Son. He asks to be glorified then cites his perfect obedience as the grounds.

The Son of God deserves honour, glory, and exaltation, and Jesus has shown himself to be that perfect Son by perfectly accomplishing the Father’s work.

Next, in addition to Jesus deserving glory because he is the ONLY OBEDIENT SON:

2. Jesus Deserves Glory Because He Has Been Granted Authority Over Men

Look at verses 1 and 2 again:

John 17:1-2 …“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.

It is entirely appropriate for Jesus to pray for this glory, because it is his rightful due. God the Father has appointed him as the authority over all mankind. He is the one who exercises power over the eternal destiny of every person born into this world. This is what the Father has established.

Listen to John 5:

John 5:19-27 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.

21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23

24 [consequently…] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

In this amazing passage we see that the Son has been entrusted with position, and power, and glory. In verse 22 and 26, the Father has given all judgment to the Son. In verse 26, he’s been granted life in himself so that he might give eternal life to whomever he wills.

And what’s the consequence of the Father giving these things to the Son?

Verse 23 says, “that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”

Verse 24 says, “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

Jesus has been established by the Father as the soul source of eternal life for mankind, and the ultimate judge of all. Since the Father has granted to the Son the power and authority to give eternal life, and because he has entrusted all judgment to the Son, all men must honour the Son just as they might honour the Father. Further, they must believe in the Son to attain eternal life.

John 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

According to the Father’s decree, human destiny is now determined by what one does with his Son. Trust him as the only source of eternal life. Honour him as the final judge. Live your life so that he is glorified through you.

So, in this prayer, Jesus asks that the glory proper to the position he’s been given by the Father would be openly given and displayed, establishing him forever before men as the only saviour, and ultimate judge. Glorified by God, that all of creation might glorify him.

So…

[1. Jesus Deserves Glory Because He is the Only Obedient Son][2. Jesus Deserves Glory Because He Has Been Granted Authority Over Men]

Next, consider…

3. Jesus Deserves Glory Because He is the Perfect Revealer of the Father

Look at verses 6-8:

John 17:6-8 “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.

Not only has God established Jesus, the Son, as the only source of eternal life, and as the ultimate judge. He’s given his Son as the perfect revelation of himself. When he declares that his earthly mission is accomplished in this prayer, he’s saying, in part, that he has succeeded in making the Father known to those whom the Father has given him.

To “manifest the name” of God, is to reveal who the Father is, and what the Father’s will is. It is to do the Father’s work, and reveal the Father’s plan for the ages. Success in his earthly ministry is that men and women receive that revelation as it really is – directly from the Father. Further, success is that men and women not only believe that Jesus is sent from the Father, and receive what Jesus says about God, and salvation, but that they continue living in those truths (“they have kept your word” v6).

This is why Jesus came – to reveal God, and God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. The writer of Hebrews begins his letter this way:

Hebrews 1:1-3 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…

The Son has been established not only as the heir of all things - the one who rightfully inherits all of creation, but also as the perfect, and final revelation of, and from God. If anyone would know God, they must know him through Jesus Christ. If anyone would know God’s will, they must know it through the Son. The Father, who cannot be seen, is only revealed through Jesus.

Paul writes to the Colossians:

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

So, for the purposes of salvation, one cannot know God apart from Jesus Christ. The Father is only known, and eternal life is only attained, when one believes in the Father, and the testimony he has given regarding Jesus, as his sent Son.

Listen to John in his first letter:

1 John 5:9-13 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

If one claims to believe in God, but does not believe what God himself has revealed about his Son, then that one does not really know God. You must believe that God gives eternal life only through his Son. There is no fellowship, no union, no relationship with God, apart from the Son

Look back in our text in John 17 and verse 3:

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Jesus has come. He’s the perfect revelation of the Father. He said to Philip, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father (14:9).” We must hear in everything Jesus says, the words of God. We must see in everything Jesus did, the works of God. We must receive in everything Jesus commands, the will of God.

Jesus came to reveal the Father

So, as the perfect revelation of the Father, Jesus deserves glory. Glory as the perfect revelation of the Father, and as the only way to the Father.

[1. Jesus Deserves Glory Because He is the Only Obedient Son][2. Jesus Deserves Glory Because He Has Been Granted Authority Over Men][3. Jesus Deserves Glory Because He is the Perfect Revealer of the Father]

Next…

4. Jesus Deserves Glory Because He First Laid Aside His Glory

Notice something incredible about the glory that Jesus is praying for in this prayer. Look at verse 5:

John 17:5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

We learn here that the glory that Jesus is praying for, is not a foreign glory. It’s not an alien glory. It’s actually a glory he once already possessed. So, this is not just a prayer that the Father might glorify the Son, as if he has never experienced such glory. It’s a prayer that the pre-incarnate Word, now in a body, might receive the same glory that he had in eternity past.

This is now bringing us into a territory of tremendous truths. Note that Jesus explicitly claims to have existed prior to creation, and to have been with God. Remember, I said that this prayer sort of summarizes everything John’s been teaching about Jesus throughout this gospel? Look at the way he began:

John 1:1-2 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.

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.

This, of course, is related to what we’ve already said about Jesus as the perfect revealer of the Father. Jesus is “the Word” which became flesh. The “logos” or “Word” has always been the means by which God discloses himself. This Word became flesh, in the person of the Son. But note that the Word is eternal. The Word is divine. The Word was in the beginning with God. The Word was God. The Word was not the Father, he was with the Father, yet still God.

So, Jesus deserves to be glorified, not only because of what he accomplished on earth, but because it has always rightfully belonged to him.

A DISTINCTION IN GLORY

But, now before we move on let’s consider the fact that John in John 1 says that the Apostles “saw his glory.” John says, “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.” If John and the apostles “saw his glory,” does that mean that he already possessed the glory that he is now praying for in this prayer in John 17?

Well, the glory they saw was real but a distinction needs to be made. It was the glory of the sent Son, manifested in the flesh he took, displayed in the words he spoke and the signs he performed, and received by those who believed. Yet it was not the open, undiminished display of the glory he had with the Father before the world existed. That glory was veiled in the form of a servant.

What the disciples beheld was the incarnate glory - the glory of the Word made flesh, full of grace and truth - while the glory for which he now prays is the glory he possessed in the Father’s presence before the world was made, the glory whose open exercise he laid aside in order to finish the work.

The two are not opposed. The glory seen in the days of his flesh is the beginning of the manifestation of the glory that has always been his, and the prayer asks that this same glory would now be restored and displayed in its fullness in the Father’s presence, in the Son who has taken flesh and accomplished the mission.

This also explains how Jesus can say in verse 22 of his prayer:

John 17:22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,

Obviously, this is not the undiminished glory of his deity. This is a participation in the benefits and effects of the glory of the incarnate Son. The glory given to them is the glory of being brought into the knowledge of God, kept in the Father’s name, sanctified in the truth, and made one so that the world may know that the Father sent the Son and loved them even as he loved the Son.

HIS PRE-INCARNATE GLORY

Now, as we consider Jesus’ eternal glory, we recognize that these are weighty truths. These are truths reaching back into eternity, and dealing with the spiritual or metaphysical. The very relations of the persons of the Godhead – what we commonly call the Trinity. When dealing with such things we want to tread lightly. We don’t want to go too easily beyond what is clearly revealed in scripture and into philosophical conjecture - as if philosophy can take us where God’s revelation can’t. When dealing with such things we want to clearly recognize what scripture plainly reveals, and where speculation has begun.

Now, that being said, is there anywhere we can go to get a glimpse of Jesus’ pre-incarnate glory? Do we have any revelation of what it would have been like when the Word possessed the fullness of his divine glory? Shockingly, there is.

Back in John 12, as John explained the people’s rejection of Jesus, he writes:

John 12:37-41 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.

“Isaiah saw his glory.” John claims that Isaiah spoke these things because he saw the glory of Jesus. How, and when did this happen? When did Isaiah see the glory of the second person of the Godhead? When did Isaiah see the Word in his glory? We have a record of it in Isaiah 6. We know that’s what John has in mind because Isaiah 6 is the source of the second quote above. Now, what’s incredible about this is that the sixth chapter of Isaiah is where we find what is commonly known as Isaiah’s “throne-room vision.” Let’s read it:

Isaiah 6:1-10 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts!”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

The vision is of the Lord of hosts as a glorious King, seated on a high throne, his robe filling the temple, surrounded by seraphim who cry, “Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” Isaiah is undone. He is a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips, and his eyes have seen the King. The text itself presents the God of Israel, high and lifted up, whose holiness fills the earth and whose word will harden rather than immediately heal.

Verse 10 supplies the words John later quotes. After citing both Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 6, John writes that Isaiah said these things because he saw the glory of Jesus and spoke of him. John identifies the one whose glory Isaiah beheld as the Son. He testifies that the glory filling the temple is the glory of Christ.

For John, because the Word is the perfect self-disclosure of the Father, the glory Isaiah saw is the glory of the Son who would later dwell among us, the same glory the Son now asks the Father to restore and display once the work is finished.

The Old Testament does not require us to hunt for occasional appearances of the Son. If the Word is the one through whom the Father makes himself known, then every revelation given to men is given through the Word. Wherever God speaks or discloses himself, he does so through the eternal Word, the pre-incarnate Christ. The Scriptures are therefore filled with the presence of the second person of the Godhead, and the glory Isaiah beheld in the temple is the glory of the one who would later become flesh and dwell among us.

So, in Isaiah 6, we see Jesus in his undiminished glory. This is a glimpse into a heavenly, and eternal scene where we can see the glory of Jesus filling the whole earth. This is the glory that Jesus now prays to see restored to himself. Now however, it will be the Word, who has taken on flesh who will possess that undiminished glory.

WHY RESTORATION?

But now we have to ask, why does Jesus need to pray for this glory to be restored to him? Was this glory taken from him? Absolutely not. Let’s read Philippians 2 where Paul is encouraging the Philippian church toward humility. He writes:

Philippians 2:5-11 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Prior to the incarnation, Jesus existed in perfect equality with God. Yet, Paul says, he didn’t consider this equality something he had to cling to, but was instead willing to take on the role of a servant. He was willing to become a man. He was willing, even, to die the humiliating death of crucifixion. At the incarnation, Jesus laid aside his divine prerogatives. He gave up his rights. Though equal with God, he submitted like a servant might submit to a master.

He didn’t lay aside his divine nature, but did lay aside the exercise of the entitlements that belong to his glory. Since he became incarnate as the obedient Son, he placed the bestowal of that glory into the Father’s hands.

Upon the completion of his earthly mission, the Father would restore that glory. But, this time it would be the incarnate Son, having subdued all of creation via his perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection, who would receive the glory. The second person, now forever in the form of a glorified body, would receive the glory that was always his, from eternity past. The glory from the throne room in Isaiah 6, that filled the whole earth, would be the glory of the incarnate Son.

Look at how Paul concludes the passage in Philippians 2 after speaking of Christ’s laying aside his glory for the purpose of giving himself on the cross…

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God has glorified the Son. He has exalted him, giving him a name above every name. He has established him as King over all of creation. What he once laid aside, has been given to him once more. The prayer of John 17 is answered.

SEE HIM IN HIS GLORY

Now, don’t you wish you could have a vision like Isaiah’s and see the heavenly glory of Jesus in person? Don’t you wish you could see him in his exalted, magnified form? Well, there’s good news. Look at what Jesus prays in verse 24 of our passage in John 17:

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.

Christ’s prayer, which will surely be answered, is that all who belong to him might see him in his undiminished glory. That includes you and I, if you are a believer this morning. We will all see him, not as the humble servant who laid aside the rights to his glory in the incarnation, but as the ruling King who is magnified by all of creation.

John wrote in his first letter:

1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

BACK TO THE PRAYER

So, as Jesus prays to the Father in John 17, he says that the time has come for him to be glorified. What had happened so that the time had arrived for his glorification? He accomplished all that the Father had given him to do, except the cross. And when he went to the cross, as his final act of obedience, the cross itself would paradoxically become the instrument by which he would be glorified. What the world intended as a tool of humiliation would actually serve to crown him as the rightful King – the Son of God who subdued all the enemies of mankind through his perfect obedience.

CONCLUSION – HE IS GLORIFIED IN US

We have traced the reasons the Son asks to be glorified.

• He is the only obedient Son, the one who has finished the work the Father gave him to do, succeeding where Adam, Israel, and the kings failed.

• He is the one to whom the Father has given authority over all flesh, so that he might give eternal life and so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.

• He is the perfect revealer of the Father, the Word who has manifested the Father’s name and given the words the Father gave him, so that eternal life is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

• And he is the one who first laid aside the open exercise of the glory he had with the Father before the world existed, taking the form of a servant and becoming obedient to the point of death, so that the Father might now restore and display that glory in the incarnate Son who has finished the work.

The hour has come. The prayer is offered. The cross will be the final act of that obedience, and through it the Son will be glorified so that the Father may be glorified in him. Yet the prayer does not end with the Son alone in the Father’s presence. He desires that those the Father has given him may be with him where he is, to see his glory, the glory the Father gave him because he loved him before the foundation of the world. That is the hope set before us. We will see him, not as the servant who has laid aside the prerogatives of his glory, but as the exalted Lord whose glory fills the earth and to whom every knee will bow.

Until that day, the same glory is already at work among us. Look at what he says in verse 10:

John 17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

He says, “I am glorified in them.” The people who have received his word, who have believed that the Father sent him, and who keep that word are the place where his glory is seen on earth. Our lives are to be the earthly display of the glory he has asked the Father to restore.

We honor him by trusting him as the only source of eternal life, by receiving the revelation he has given, by obeying the word he has spoken, and by living so that others may see that the Father sent him and loved us even as he loved the Son. The glory we long to see in heaven is the glory we are called to reflect now. He is glorified in us, and one day we will be with him to see that glory face to face.