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“I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do” (John 17:4).
Yesterday we raised the question about why the three hours of darkness are mentioned in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but not in John. I may not be able to give a complete answer to this, but it is noteworthy that the Lord’s time in the Garden of Gethsemane is not mentioned in John either. It simply says that he went “where was a garden.”
Our verse today helps us to understand this. In John’s gospel the Lord Jesus is portrayed to us as the eternal Son of God. As such, He rose above all the suffering and agony connected with the cross. Of course He went through it all, but also He could pray ahead of the time as if the work were already completed. It had all been settled in past eternity, long before this world and the whole universe were made.
When it came time to go to the cross, the Lord Jesus looked beyond it all, and saw all the glory that would result from the cross, and all the blessing for you and me. He knew that He would be satisfied with the results of His own work, as we read in Isaiah 53:11. For these reasons the Spirit of God does not mention the immediate cost involved.
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