Title John 17:1-10
We already know well that all of John 17, including today's text, is Jesus' prayer. In the first few verses of chapter 18, after Jesus’ prayer, “After Jesus had said these words, he and his disciples went out across the Kidron brook, and there was a garden there which he entered with his disciples. Judas, who betrayed Jesus because it was a gathering place, knew the place. / And Judas brought the army and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees and came there with lamps, torches, and weapons." Just before the breathtaking series of events in which Jesus was arrested, dragged here and there, subjected to interrogation, severe insults, and all kinds of cruelty, he carried his cross up to Calvary Hill and eventually died on the cross, wretchedly. It can be seen that the work of
But in Jesus' prayer in the face of this absolute crisis, we cannot find any words of anger, resentment, lamentation, anxiety, and despair. Rather, successive appearances in our eyes are "glory" (verses 1, 4, 5), "eternal life" (verses 2, 3), "glory" (verses 10, 22, 24), "joy" (verse 13) , "truth" (verses 17, 19), "love" (verses 23, 24, 26). Among them, the words "glorified" and "glory" are especially repeated. We cannot help but be amazed at the fact that Jesus spoke of glory ahead of His suffering and death on the cross. And I can't help but ask: "What kind of glory is Jesus talking about?"
First, in verse 1, he says, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, that your son may glorify you.” The “time” here is the time when you must suffer suffering, reproach, and death on the cross. It is a moment of failure and defeat, and a time when all the hard work in the meantime may seem to be in vain. But, "Glorify your son so that your son may glorify you" here means, "Father, I am unjustly faced with such shame and humiliation in this world. That's not a prayer. Jesus' own evaluation of Jesus' work and its results is radically different from that of this world. Jesus fulfilled all the missions his Father entrusted to him, and the cross that will soon be carried is not a failure but a success, not a defeat but a victory, the culmination of his life, and the conclusion of all his earthly ministry. that is prayer.
The mission that Jesus received from God the Father was to lead the people who originally belonged to God, but had no choice but to perish because of their sins, to God the Father so that they would not perish. Look at verse 10: "All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them". “I was glorified in them” means that they knew that Jesus was the Son of God, sent by God. As we have already seen in verse 3, “Eternal life is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.” Knowing Jesus and knowing God who sent him is the way to eternal life. It means that it is an honor for Jesus to have kept it from being destroyed according to his will, and to have accomplished that mission. Look at verse 12: "When I was with them, I preserved them and kept them in your name, which you gave me. Not one of them perishes, but only the children of perdition, so that the scriptures are fulfilled."
Jesus is pleased with the completion of this mission. The cross, which he will bear soon, is therefore not a failure of his work, but the completion of his work. He rejoices that he will return to the Father after completing all his work on earth, and the people he will leave behind will also know the meaning of the cross of Jesus. He wanted them to share the joy of Jesus before the cross. Look at verse 13: "Now I am coming to the Father, and I say these things in the world, that they may have My joy in them to the full." Returning to verse 5 of the text, “Father, glorify me even now with the glory that I had with you before the foundation of the world,” is the last thing you say when you finish all the work that you have entrusted to you by hanging on the cross. This can be understood as a prayer asking them to return to the place where they enjoyed the glory.
Here we can see that the prayer of John 17 is not a simple prayer, but a praise of great victory and glory, a profound interpretation of the saving work of Jesus Christ, and a gracious revelation of God's infinitely good will toward His people. . In addition, this prayer is a precious word that teaches us what to do as our glory and how to live life in this world to all of us who have received the command from Jesus to “take up our cross and follow me.”
Jesus did not seek worldly glory. Jesus saw his glory on the cross, the greatest shame in the eyes of the world. Likewise, we should know that the glory of a Christian is different from that of the world. Christian glory does not come from worldly successes and victories. There can be a Christian glory where the world is ashamed and wants to avoid it all. It is the Christian's glory to neither covet nor seek worldly successes and victories.
Jesus did not want to be glorified by doing the things He liked and according to His will. Jesus did only the things that the Father had told him to do, and he did everything according to the Father's will. Likewise, the Christian's glory comes solely from doing God's will according to his will. You cannot enjoy the true glory of a Christian by mobilizing human and worldly tricks and means and pursuing your own well-being and honor.
In 16:32-33, just before today's text, Jesus said, "Behold, the hour is coming, when you will all be scattered to your own place, and leave me alone. But I am not alone; the Father is with me. I speak so that you may find peace in me. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Before he was betrayed and crucified by the disciples who followed closely and the crowd waving palm branches and cheering “Hosanna”, Jesus said “peace” and “victory”. Earlier, in 12:23, Jesus already said, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified."
Those of us who believe in and follow Jesus Christ as Lord also have the cross. There are betrayals, conspiracies, persecutions, hardships, slander, damage, and even death in a sense when we try to keep and follow the faith that the Lord has given us. But in front of such a cross, we must think of the Lord. We must remember that the Lord did not regard the cross as failure, defeat, shame or vainness. As long as we follow Heavenly Father's will and live according to God's Word, it is important for us to live a life that can regard all things given to us as "the glory that has been given to me." That is the way to be truly victorious in life in this world, free from all the temptations of worldly glory. The glory we desire should not be the glory of this world. We should not try to glorify God in a work that does not glorify Him. The glory we want is only the glory of God, and it should be the glory that God gives us to enjoy in it.