Jesus Prays for Himself

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.

Glorify Christ

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,

Glorify means to give weight or importance to to honor something

Jesus then is requesting that God honor him in this hour that he might honor God

This is significant because man does not ask God to honor him rather man honors God. Jesus starts his prayer by doing that which no other man can do and claim equality with God.

Yet his purpose is dual fold the honor is not just for himself but as God honors Jesus, Jesus will honor God. This moment is not just about honoring Christ but rather it honors the entire Godhead, by his justice and his great grace and mercy all being displayed at the same time. What a wonderful God that can remain holy and righteous while still showing grace and mercy to sinners like us.

Then notice he says the hour has come - planned purpose for God to honor Jesus

The cross is not an accident or a last ditch effort rather as Luke states in Acts 2:23

Acts 2:23 ESV

this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

This moment was planed and ordained by God to fulfill the demands of righteousness while allowing him to display his loving mercy to mankind. Now the moment of Christ glory his crowning work has arrived.

Lastly I do not want us to think that Christ is now earning honor from God rather he is gaining back the glory he set aside when he came to earth. John 17:5

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.

Jesus True Purpose

Many would say Jesus came to save men from sins. Yet that would make the entire story in the bible about us and not about God.

Notice what John says John 17:2-3

John 17:2–3 ESV

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.

Jesus says his true purpose is to give eternal life.

You might say pastor I told you it was about salvation but you would be wrong.

He tells us here that eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ whom God Sent.

In other words the true purpose of Jesus was that we know God.

It was not to save us from sins though for us to truly know God we had to be made right with him so we would not seek to hide from him as did Adam and Eve in the Garden

Jesus came that we might know and love God with every fiber of our being. Remember what he said the greatest commandment was Matthew 22:37

Matthew 22:37 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Everything Jesus did was to help us know and understand God better. If it was just about salvation Jesus could have skipped the 3 years of ministry and just came and died on the cross. Yet all of that was important because he was pointing man to God.

Our Purpose

John 17:3 ESV

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

This means that the primary goal of man should be to know God to Glorify him to give him weighty importance in our lives and to help others do the same.. That God becomes the most significant most influential part of our lives. That God becomes the one in whom we find our significance our joy our purpose.

To Glorify God also means to praise him, to worship him and honor him with our lives. It is not that we just that we worship him in song but we worship him in obedience and righteous living. This too honors God.

Thus the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 is not simply a duty but rather it is the very purpose for which we exist.

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Discipleship and Evangelism are not simply things Christians do but rather they are their very purpose for being on earth. God wants us to glorify him and we give him glory by helping others to know him.

Thus evangelism is the first step of knowing God and discipleship is the steps that follow. The entire process is about getting to know who God is his character his love for us and his will for our lives. To know God as we know ourselves.

When we explain the Gospel to someone else. That we are all sinners, each one of us has made broken the commands of God. That the wages the due payment for our sin is death and thus all of us having sinned deserve death, and there is nothing we can do to fix it. Yet God in his mercy provided salvation through Jesus Christ who lived a perfect sinless life and died on the cross as a substitute for us that we might be forgiven our sins and be able to have eternal life with God forever in heaven.

Invitation

Are you glorifying God with your life? Do you know God? Are you seeking daily to know him More? Jesus says this is the true meaning of eternal life to know God. Thus making knowing God and giving him glory and honor in our lives the most important thing we do. Yet maybe you say I don’t know him at all. I encourage you let today be the day you seek him for the first time. You can give him glory and honor today simply by admiting that you are not perfect you have made mistakes we call that sin, and that you need God to fix your brokenness. Accept Jesus as Lord, master and ruler of your life and you will have made the first step to knowing God. You too can have eternal life. Regardless of where you are a new believer in Christ or a believer for more than 50 years there is much to learn of God we have barely scratched the surface. Will you decide to today to seek to know him better each day than the day before.