Day 1

John 17:1-5

¹When 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, ²since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ⁵And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed."

Jesus Prays for Himself (John 17:1-5)

This chapter contains what is called Jesus' 'high-priestly prayer' in which he prays for himself, his disciples and the church through the centuries to come. It was Clement of Alexandria (c. AD 150-215) who said that in this prayer Jesus was a high priest acting on behalf of his people. It was a good description. We should note the following:

He Spoke to the Father
'Father' (verse 1). We're so used to addressing God like this that we forget how unusual it was in Bible times to use the language of the family in prayer. Six times Jesus addresses God as 'Father' (verses 1,5,11,21,24,25).

It is the moment for him to be glorified
To 'glorify' normally speaks of adding 'weight and splendour' to make a person more majestic, but in John's vocabulary it is often used to refer to the cross of Jesus. Here the word is really used in both senses; Jesus is saying, 'Father, the moment for the cross has come, help me to magnify you.'

Amazing giving
The idea of 'giving' comes seventeen times in this prayer; thirteen times it speaks of the Father giving to the Son and four times of the Son's gifts to his disciples. for John the Father is someone who gives and gives and gives. He 'gave his one and only Son' and he continues to give. John used the idea of giving in much the same way that Paul spoke of grace.

A glimpse of pre-history and a glance at post-history
Through the lowliness and humility of his life, Jesus has brought the Father glory 'on earth' (verse 4). Now he looks ahead to the restoration of the 'glory' (in the sense of brilliance, honour and majesty) that he had with the Father 'before the world existed' (verse 5).

Think: How does what Jesus says here help to explain what eternal life is all about?