“Father, Glorify Your Son” The Lord’s Prayer Part 1 John 17:1-5

Review Jesus has spent the evening with His disciples (John 13-16) –They have discussed love, service, obedience, His coming departure, their eternal home, the coming and work of the Spirit, etc Now Jesus closes their gathering in the upper room with a prayer –Unlike the prayer of Mt 6 which was merely an example of how to pray –John 17 actually records the Lord’s prayer By reading we can understand His concerns at this pivotal moment

Introduction The prayer can be divided into three parts: –A petition for Himself –A petition for His apostles –A petition for all future believers We’ll look at each petition in separate lessons –Starting with His petition for Himself –And we’ll try to answer... What is Jesus asking for? Why should God grant His request? Was Jesus' prayer answered?

The reason for the prayer “Father, the hour has come” –Jesus began His ministry saying His hour had not yet come (Jn 2:4) –He told the Samaritan woman at the well that the hour was coming that would change the place and manner of acceptable worship (Jn 4:21-24) –He told the Jews that the hour was coming (and had already begun) when people who heard Him could have eternal life (Jn 5:24-29) –Those who wanted to kill Jesus the preceding year were unable to, for the hour had not yet come (Jn 7:30, 8:20) –A few days earlier, Jesus said the hour had come (Jn 12:23-28) –It was central to His thoughts for this entire evening (Jn 13:1)

The reason for the prayer “Father, the hour has come” –The climatic point in human history Everything prior had pointed to this time –When man would finally be saved from sin Everything after this point would be because of this time –When salvation became possible What did Jesus ask for at this climactic hour?

What is Jesus asking for? The petition expressed –“Father...glorify Your Son” (v1) –“Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (v5) But what did He mean?

What is Jesus asking for? The petition examined –glorify – “to exalt to a glorious rank or condition” (Thayer) –Jesus asks to be restored to His state of glory He had before the world existed (v5) –His request implies two great truths concerning Jesus: His pre-existence, as foretold in prophecy(Mic 5:2) His Deity, for God shares His glory with no one (Isa 42:8) –Reading this prayer, we can appreciate why John began his gospel with these words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” (Jn 1:1-2) –Jesus is asking the Father to reinstate Him to the glorious position He had before coming to earth

Why should God grant His request? “that Your Son also may glorify You” (v1) –Not a selfish request, and a good reminder for us in our own prayers Do we ask for blessings that we might better serve God and do His will? Many prayers go unanswered because they are for selfish reasons (Jms 4:3) Our requests should always be with the Father's will in mind (1Jn 5:14) –But how would glorifying Christ also glorify the Father?

Why should God grant His request? “as You have given Him authority over all flesh” (v2) –The plan of salvation was the Father’s plan –To carry out the plan, He gave the Son authority Authority to give eternal life (v2) –An “eternal life” that begins when we “know” the Father and His Son (1Jn 5:11-13) »As discussed in a previous lesson “knowing God” is to believe and obey Him (1Jn 2:3-4) Authority to forgive sins (Mt 9:6) Authority to execute judgment (Jn 5:26-27) All authority in heaven and on earth (Mt 28:18) –By returning Jesus to His former glory, He verifies Christ’s authority

Why should God grant His request? “ I have glorified You on the earth ” (v4) –How did He glorify His Father? By doing His will and finishing the work He had been given (Jn 4:34, 6:38) “ I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (v4) –Not that He had yet died, but that all the steps had been completed to bring about a certain conclusion »As He said once the final decision by Judas was made (Jn 13:30-31) –By returning Jesus to His former glory, He verified that the plan of salvation was His plan and that Jesus had completed that plan

Was Jesus’ prayer answered? Or, asked another way, was Jesus glorified? –Yes, by His death as a redeeming sacrifice Rev 5:9-14 –Yes, by His resurrection Rom 1:4; 1 Pet 1:21 –Yes, by His place at the right hand of God 1 Pet 3:22; Eph 1:20-23 –Yes, through more glory to come 2 Thes 1:10; Phil 2:9-11

Conclusion Jesus prayed that... –The Father would glorify Him –And return Him to the glory He had before coming to earth The Father did those things for the Son We too give glory to Him and the Father when we believe and obey Him Are you ready to glorify Him by submitting to the plan of salvation?