The Greatest Prayer Ever: God's Glory Revealed

John 17:1–5 ESV

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, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Prayer

Today is Palm Sunday.

It’s the day that we celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

It’s called Palm Sunday because it was the day that Christ rode into Jerusalem with people, waving palm, branches and shouting, “Hosanna!”

I want us to consider a passage of Scripture that bears a particular kind of glory today.

We may often wonder, what was Jesus thinking about during that time?

What was Jesus consumed with?

What consumed His thoughts during that time?

What was He praying for as he approached the cross?

It was the same thing that consumed His mind and heart throughout His earthly ministry.

It was Glory.

It was glory in the form of Christ’s prayer.

Now it’s surprising in the gospels that we actually don’t hear Jesus pray very often.

The disciples asked him to teach them to pray.

We’re often told that Jesus went away to pray.

But we are rarely told of the substance of those particular prayers.

Which makes the passage we’re gonna look at today all the more glorious.

Commentators have said that John 17 is like the burning bush of the New Testament.

It’s the passage that we hear the very heart of Christ.

Jesus had finished an important conversation with his disciples.

It’s a conversation that we call, “The Upper Room Discourse”

He has washed His disciples feet.

He has shown them what true servanthood looks like.

And he knows that He is going to die.

This would have taken place after the passover meal.

As they were going to the garden of Gethsemane.

As they were going to Jesus’ darkest hour.

As they were going to Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, trial, and ultimately crucifixion.

John 17:1 ESV

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,

Christ’s Glory

“Jesus’s Desire is for God’s Glory” (John 17:1)

Jesus knew the path he was on, and yet his mind was consumed with bringing glory to God.

When you think about your most sorrowful moments, what does your prayer life sound like?

I can tell you what mine sounds like, ME, MYSELF, and I.

But Jesus is SO different from ME and You.

He knew he was going to be betrayed.

He knew he was going to be crucified.

As he went to his darkest hour, his mind and heart were consumed with one thing the glory of God.

John 17:1 (ESV)

“Father, the hour has come;

The Hour Has Come

“The Cross in View” (John 12:23)

In John’s Gospel, “the hour” represents the cross.

All throughout the gospel, John tells us that his hour had NOT yet come.

John 7:30 ESV

So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

His hour was the time that the father had ordained for him to go to the cross.

Now turn back to John 12:23 and see when Jesus starts to say that His hour has come.

It’s actually after He has entered Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowds received Him.

John 12:23 ESV

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Jesus is now assured that His hour had come.

He now knows that it is time.

What does it mean for “the Son of Man to be glorified?”

Jesus goes on the describe what this glorification will look like.

John 12:24 ESV

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Jesus uses the analogy of a grain of wheat dying to show us something of the kind of death he will die.

He compares HIS glorification to a grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies.

Not only does it fall into the Earth and die but when it dies it bears much fruit.

This is what is meant parabolically when Jesus says it is now his hour.

Or we could see further of the same idea in verse 31 of chapter 12.

John 12:31–32 ESV

Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Jesus is saying that when he is lifted up, that will be his glorification.

Jesus’ Inverted Kingship

I want you to think for a moment of how contrary Jesus is to this world.

When he sees the crowds receive him as a king, he knows what’s prepared for him.

He knows that what the Father has asked him to do runs contrary, to the way all kings are glorified.

Now turn back with me to John 17...

John 17:1 (ESV)

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,

The Glory of the Son

“The Worthiness of Jesus”

Jesus asks for the Father to glorify the Son for the purpose that the Son may glorify the Father.

He asks something that should give us pause to think.

He asks that the Father may glorify Him.

Now to catch the wonder of this, I want us to consider an OT example.

In the book of Exodus, Moses asks to see God’s glory.

Exodus 33:18 (ESV)

“Please show me your glory.”

The way that God responds is striking.

He tells Moses that he cannot see Gods face but the Lord will pass before him and declare His Name.

Exodus 34:6–7 ESV

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

The great question of the OT is…

How will God be both merciful and loving while NOT clearing the guilt?

This is where we see so much of the sacrificial system of the OT.

This is where we see how a HOLY God is supposed to interact with sinful people and NOT consume them.

The ONLY way for God to be both merciful and just is there must be ONE who is able to bear God’s wrath toward sin and be pure enough to be received in our place.

Its in this moment that we hear Jesus praying in this way that we see the two realities of Exodus 34 come together.

Jesus will be the ONE who will bear God’s wrath toward sin.

While being able to lovingly receive sinners.

We don’t often think of this, but for this to be able to happen, there is a bit of a precondition.

It’s a precondition which is exposed in the question...

How could ONE man bear the sins of the world?

Answer: If that ONE MAN was worth more than all of the world combined.

John–Acts 17:1–5. Jesus Wants His People to Know God

The cross will display his ability to satisfy the almighty wrath of the Father, whose worth and dignity and authority and justice are comprehensive. In order for Jesus to satisfy the Father’s justice against sin—justice owed for all the sins of all his people at all times and in all places—the worth of Jesus must equal that of the Father himself.

Since Christ is supremely worthy, then nothing is worth comparing to the joy of knowing Him.

Application

This means that every sin that ever looks pleasurable pales in comparison to the worthiness of Christ.

The next time you find yourself being tempted to sin, I want you to stop and consider the worth in beauty of the Lord Jesus.

Not only do we see Christ’s Glory, but we see His authority....

Christ’s Authority

“Jesus’s Desire is to Give Life” (John 17:2-3)

John 17:1–2 (NET 2nd ed.)

“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you—

just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.

Jesus is asking that the father glorify the son in the same way that he has already given him all authority over humanity.

All Authority

“That He May Give Life”

One of the founding idea of the United States of America is this idea of “Separation of Power”

We love separation of power because the founding fathers understood that power was corrupting...

They knew that humanity was desperately depraved and that power did as the famous quote says...

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

We could give endless examples of countries and nations who had a leader who gain absolute power and destroyed the nation.

Mao Zedong - China

Hitler - Germany

The examples go on and on.

How does Christ use the authority that He has been given?

But Jesus is saying here that the Father has given Him all authority and notice what He does with it.

John 17:2 NET 2nd ed.

just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.

I want you to notice two characteristics of the authority of Jesus.

Gracious

When every other person is given great power, they abuse it.

They exploit it.

They use others under their rule for their own gain and benefit.

But Jesus says that He has a purpose with His authority.

“I have all control but My desire is to do the Father’s will”

“I have all control but I am going to use my control to bless those under my care”

“I have all control but I am going to graciously pour out love and compassion”

The second thing I want you to notice is it is....

Life Giving

John 17:2 NET 2nd ed.

just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.

Jesus will be able to give life to others because His death will pay their penalty for sin.

He will be able to give life because the requirements to give life have been met.

Eternal Life

“Knowing the Father and Son”

If I asked you to define eternal life, how would you define it?

It’s helpful if we think about several other brief definitions.

Eternal Life As A Gift Under the Tree

I want you to picture eternal life as a gift under a Christmas tree that God has given to us.

The box is all eloquently wrapped up.

The bow is tied tight.

The wrapping paper is crisp.

But what matters is the contents of that box.

“Goodies” View

I would describe this view as seeing the gift under the Christmas tree and expecting that the inside is filled with “goodies”.

By goodies, I mean things like streets of gold...

Living forever

Eternal paradise

Basically an everlasting day at Disneyland

If this is our view of eternal life, we will be deeply disappointed by what Jesus says about it.

Spiritual View

A second view is what I would call a spiritual view.

This view could be summarized as viewing eternal life as something entirely in the future.

This view sees the eternal wife box under the Christmas tree, and knows that there’s nothing really in it right now except for an IOU slip.

The IUO slip reads, “To be received later.”

If this is our view of eternal life, I would argue that we have a deeply insufficient view of eternal life that Jesus is describing here.

Listen to the way Jesus describes the offer of eternal life....

John 17:1–3 (NET 2nd ed.)

“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you—

just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.

Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

Knowing and Loving

Jesus summarizes the essence of eternal life as knowing the Father and the Son.

The essence of eternal life finds its beginning, its middle, and its end in knowledge of God.

Jesus is offering a Christmas present under the tree that when we open it, it is God himself.

Intellectual Knowledge vs. True Knowledge

Now this knowledge of God is not simply intellectual knowledge in our mind.

As MLJ says...

It is comparable to the knowledge which a man has who is in love with a woman. It is not possible for him to sit down and write out a philosophical account of his love, he cannot explain it rationally: he knows it, but here his reason ceases. The great love which reason and knowledge do not understand—that is it. We know, because we have love and love recognizes love, and love attracts love. The little lamb cannot give you a rational reason why it should pick out one sheep as its mother but it knows that sheep is his mother. The Christian’s knowledge of his Lord is something like that.

Saved in Eternity, 157

It’s the difference of knowing facts about my wife versus holding my wife’s hand.

The difference of knowing that my wife is 5 foot five with brown hair and brown eyes versus holding her hand and gazing into her eyes.

Since Christ is supremely worthy, then nothing is worth comparing to the glory of knowing Him.

John 17:24 ESV

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.

Now ‘eternal’ not only concerns duration; it does mean that, but it means something else also. Eternal life means life of a certain quality.

Life in this world is not only a temporary limited life; actually, as far as death is concerned, it is always, in a sense, a living death. Life outside God is not life, it is existence, for there is a difference between the two.

Eternal life always carried that suggestion. Apart from God, life, as we call it, is really death

Saved in Eternity, 148

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Or as the Apostle Paul says in another place.

Philippians 3:7–9 ESV

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Since Christ is supremely worthy, then nothing is worth comparing to the glory of knowing Him.

What do you think Jesus’ posture of heart going to the cross was?

Annoyance?

Frustration?

Worried?

Fearful?

What if I told you Christ’s heart was filled with JOY.

That Christ’s heart considered the JOY of experiencing the communion He shared within the TRIUNE Godhead as better than anything else He could experience.

Christ’s Joy

“Jesus’s Desire is for His Joy” (John 17:4-5)

Again notice what brought Christ joy throughout His life.

John 17:4 ESV

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

I Have Glorified You

“That You May Glorify Me”

At the heart of Christ, is the joy of obedience to his Father in heaven.

Jesus was completely faithful to the Father at every point.

Unlike Adam our first father, Christ was completely faithful.

Unlike Israel’s rebellion in the wilderness, Christ was completely faithful.

Unlike the priesthood which stood defiled, our high priest, stood blameless.

Unlike the unruly kings of the past, our great king wields his ultimate power perfectly.

That same word for “accomplished” could equally be translated “finished”

John 17:4 NIV

I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

Our faithful high priest,

supremely worthy,

supremely faithful,

and supremely able to bring about the salvation that God has determined.

Our minds should then go to the cross and remember the words of Jesus.

John 19:30 (ESV)

“It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

When we hear Christ calling out from the cross, we need to hear.

He has been faithful in His life.

He has been faithful in His death.

He has been faithful in His resurrection.

Christ is supremely WORTHY, and NOTHING is worth comparing to the joy of knowing Him.

John 17:5 ESV

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

For the Joy Set Before Him

“Jesus’ Joy And Ours”

As Jesus has shown throughout this gospel...

John 1:1–3 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John 8:58 ESV

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

What was God doing before Genesis 1:1?

I would argue from verse 5 that God prior to creating everything was enjoying himself in perfect harmony and perfect unity.

Equally giving honor to one another in perfect unbroken fellowship.

Jesus’ prayer is that the Father would glorify Him in the same way He has done since eternity past.

And the joy of knowing and believing that what laid ahead of Him, though harrowing and terrifying in one sense

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Since Christ is supremely worthy, then nothing is worth comparing to the joy of knowing Him.

John 17:13 ESV

But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.