To Jesus Be the Glory
In the Triune Godhead, there are three Persons who give and who receive glory from one another. This has been a reality, is a reality, and will be a reality for eternity. All that God is and all that He does is for His own glory. He does not share His glory with others, in that all things are from God, flow through God, and end up in God (Rom 11:36). To God alone be the glory.
The heavens declare the glory of God (Ps 97:6). All creation is telling of God’s glory. The pinnacle of His craftsmanship is man made in the image of God, both male and female (Gen 1:27). Despite the fall into sin (Gen 3), everything should ascribe all glory to God. We were made to glorify our Creator and Sustainer (Col 1:16–17; Heb 1:1–3)
It is the devil who led the rebellion to steal glory from God. Lucifer left His exalted position in heaven and took up residence here on earth, which is why Jesus called him, “the god of this world” (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Humanity joined in the rebellion by heeding the advice of the deceiving serpent in the Garden of Eden. Man, today, continues to take glory away from God. In his pride, man receives the praises of men but not from God.
Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was sent from heaven to fulfill the plan of God, that is, to execute the plan of salvation, determined by the council of the Trinity before the world began. Jesus came from God the Father, took on flesh and became human (Jn 1:14), with the important distinction that He was without sin (Heb 4:15).
Everything Jesus did was to glorify God the Father. His initiative, His speech, His will, His work, was all from the Father — with whom He shared glory before the world was made (Jn 17:5). Jesus glorified God when He prayed as a man.
There are numerous accounts of Jesus praying in all four Gospels; but one prayer is different because of its length and when it was prayed. Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is often called, “His high priestly prayer.” It has been called that since the Reformation era of the late 1500s. It is the longest recorded prayer of our Lord. In it, Jesus prays for Himself for His immediate disciples, and for His church.
Throughout church history, people have drawn great comfort from the petitions and pleas Jesus issued to the Father, audible to the disciples, following His farewell discourse with them, on the night His passion began. The reason for this comfort is because Jesus was on the cusp of great suffering that was followed by great glory being ascribed to both the Father and to Him. Christ’s disciples followed on this path in every epoch and every place since that hour.
The reader of John 17 is greatly blessed just to consider who is praying and how He prays when His hour of tribulation has arrived. This is the seventh and final allusion to “His hour” in the Gospel of John. Until the Greeks had approached Him at Jerusalem, His hour had not yet come. When they did, Jesus knew the hour was upon Him and soon would be His to suffer…and yet be glorified. We learn this from verse 1 of John 17.
Jesus’ prayer is linked to the discourse (Jn 14–16); but it is now time to lift His eyes to heaven (17:1). Just as He had spoken with His disciples, Jesus now speaks with His Father in heaven. Thus, we learn much of the relationship between the Father and the Son of God, incarnate. As Jesus prays, we also learn much of the work Jesus accomplished in His earthly ministry.
At the center of this very priestly work of prayer is the plan of salvation that was established before the world began. In the eternal good pleasure of God, it was determined that God would save a portion of the whole of humanity from throughout history. It was His perfect, sinless life that qualified Jesus to represent this remnant portion of God’s own choosing, when He laid down His life for them at the cross of Calvary. There, Jesus’ priestly work as Mediator would find its climax in His prayer and sacrificial death on our behalf.
Jesus’ first plea was for God the Father to glorify Him as the Son on a mission to serve the eternal purposes of God. In granting the request, God the Father would also be glorified because the plan of salvation, especially redemption of God’s elect would be executed with perfect precision. Jesus knew that maximum glory would be achieved as the character of God was put on full display for the world to see. All that Jesus was about to endure would not be accomplished unless the Father glorified the Son.
For Jesus to be glorified by God the Father would be pure blasphemy and act of desertion by deity, if Jesus Himself was not God the Son to be glorified. Jesus received glory from God, not from the world, not from men. From them He received the exact opposite. Thus, in praying for the Father to glorify the Son, the Son maximized the glory of the Father through the execution of His atonement. He preached. He prayed. He performed all with perfection.
As beneficiaries of so great a salvation, it is for us to pray with thanksgiving, for the Father and the Son to be glorified for their perfect plan, perfectly executed. We must also pray that by the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit that our prayers be rich with the intention of living lives that glorify the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit because our God deserves all glory for the plan of salvation, the execution of salvation and the application of salvation by Him, who has made all of this known to us — the redeemed of the Lord, who live to give glory where it is due.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
October 2, 2024
John 17:1