John 17:1-51These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. (John 17:1‑5)
EVERY utterance, and every request, in the 9 first five verses of chapter 17 has in view the glory of the Father. Wherever the Son is viewed, whether on earth, in heaven, or on the cross—between earth and heaven, His first and great desire is to glorify the Father. Such purity of motive is beyond the conception of fallen man. The natural thought is to use power, whatever form it may take, to glorify self. Such was the thought of His brethren, after the flesh, when they said, “If Thou do these things shew Thyself to the world” (John 7:44For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world. (John 7:4)). What is this but saying in effect, “Use your power to glorify yourself?” Alas! does not history show that whenever man is entrusted with power, whether by God or his fellow men, he uses it to glorify himself? Entrusted with power, the first head of the Gentiles encompasses his fall by saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty” (Dan 4:3030The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? (Daniel 4:30) N. Tn). Well may all heaven unite to say, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power,” for He alone uses power for the glory of God, and the blessing of man. The Lord desires a glory far greater than this world can give, for He says, “O Father, glorify Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” And with this great glory He desires that He may glorify the Father.
(V. 2). Power had already been given to Him on earth, displayed in the raising of Lazarus, and used to the glory of. God, As He said at the grave side, “If thou wouldest believe thou shouldest see the glory of God” (John 11:4040Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? (John 11:40)). Now the Lord asks for a glory that would be commensurate with His power. Power had been given Him over all flesh, that He should glorify God by carrying out the counsels of God. In this world we see the terrible power of the flesh energized by Satan, yet, for our comfort, we know from this prayer, that a power above every other power has been given to the Lord so that no power of evil, however great, can hinder Christ from carrying into effect the counsels of God to give eternal life to as many as the Father has given to the Son.
(V. 3). This life finds its highest expression in the knowledge and enjoyment of our relationships with the Father and the Son. It is not like the natural life, limited to the knowledge and enjoyment of natural things and human relationships: it is not confined to earth nor bound by time, nor ended by death. It is a life that enables us to know and enjoy communion with divine Persons. It carries us outside the world, above the earth, beyond time, and into the regions of eternal glory.
(V. 4). If, however, the Lord desires to glorify the Father in the new place in heaven, already He has done so in His path on earth, and in His sufferings on the cross. Who but the Lord could look up to heaven and say to the Father, “I have glorified Thee on the earth.” Alas! fallen man has dishonored God on the earth. Man was made in the image and likeness of God, to be a true representative of God before the universe. If however, now that man has fallen, the world were to form its ideas of God from man, the conclusion would be reached that God is an unholy, selfish, cruel and vindictive Being, without wisdom, love, or compassion. This indeed is the terrible conclusion that the heathen has reached, through presuming that God is such an one as themselves. Thus they have fashioned gods that, like themselves, are filthy, cruel, and selfish. They have “changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man.” Thus instead of glorifying God by a true representation of God, man has dishonored God on the earth. When, however, we turn from man fallen to the Man Christ Jesus—the Son—we see One who, in every step of His path, has glorified God. Born into this world, the heavenly host can say, as they gaze upon their Maker, “Glory to God in the highest.” Now, at the completion of His path, the Lord can say, “I have glorified Thee on the earth.” He fully set forth the character of God, and fully maintained all that was due to God; He upheld His glory before the whole universe. In Christ God was manifest in flesh, seen of angels as well as seen of man.
Moreover Christ not only glorified God in His path on earth, but above all, He glorified God on the Cross, for He can say, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.” There He maintained the righteousness of God in relation to sin, and displayed the love of God to the sinner.
Here Christ speaks according to the perfect Manhood He had taken. As Man He had glorified God, and finished the work given Him to do. As believers it is our privilege to walk as He walked—to be here for the glory of God, and to finish the work given us to do, though never forgetting that the work He came to do at the Cross must forever stand alone. None but the Son could undertake, and finish, that great work.
(V. 5). In verse 5 we listen to requests in which no man can have part, for here the Lord speaks as the eternal Son, and makes requests in which only One who is God can have His part. First the Lord can say, “O Father glorify Thou Me.” We may indeed desire to have our bodies of glory, that Christ may be glorified in us (2 Thess. 1:1010When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. (2 Thessalonians 1:10)), and thus say “Glorify Christ in me,” but who save a divine Person could say, “Glorify Me?”
Secondly, the prayer rises to a higher plane, for the Lord adds, “With thine own self.” Only the Eternal Son, who dwelt in the bosom of the Father could ask for glory commensurate with the glory of the Father. The One who speaks thus claims equality with the Father.
Moreover, when the Lord proceeds to speak of “the glory which I had,” He claims a glory which He possessed in eternity as a divine Person—not a glory that He received, but a glory that He had. Then He can say “the glory which I had with Thee,” an expression which involves not only that He was a divine Person, but also a distinct Person in the Godhead. Finally He speaks of this glory as the glory He had with the Father “before the world was.” It was outside of time; it belonged to eternity. He was a divine Person, a distinct Person in the Godhead, and He was an Eternal Person. It has been truly said, “We hear Him speaking in full conciousness of being the same before the world was and now, and of a glory which He had as His own in the eternal fellowship with God.”