He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh…
John 17:1b-2a NASB
Let us pray:
LORD, help us to understand the Person of Your Son Jesus Christ through His prayer to the Father. Amen.
We have begun our look at Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer made corporately before the Eleven just prior to the Lord’s departure for Gethsemane where He will be betrayed. The Hour Is Come – Glory to the Son AND the Father
Jesus stands before the Apostles, looks up (probably with His arms extended as later they would be on the Cross) and His open hands of flesh turned heavenward and prays,
“Father the hour has come … glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you—
Jesus, the faithful only Son of God always prayed to the Father; but listen once more to a most familiar prayer and hear along with this High Priestly Prayer a connection you may have missed.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen.
Jesus’ closing from ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ – Matthew 6:13b KJV
Did you catch that Jesus connects ‘the power‘ to ‘the glory’ of the LORD God – a glory we examined at some length previously in our study of John 17:1?
Our prayer to Heaven’s King
Now beloved believer, you will not have had much cause to consider so far anything less than glorifying this humble Servant Son of God made flesh; for Jesus epitomizes everything peaceful in mankind. Our Lamb of God is submissive in His love of God and approachable by His fellow man.
But this temporal nature of Emmanu-El, born humbly in Bethlehem, though His humble nature will continue to the Altar of the Cross, Jesus will not continue as servant until the judgment of the world, but ultimately as its ruler and Lord!
We pray to GOD because HE IS THE LORD GOD, and the humble must confess that we are NOT.
- Does your daily life witness your own humility to bow down to GOD in prayer as did Jesus the Son?
- Will the created acknowledge the authority of Jesus, WHO WITH THE FATHER IS the creator of all things and Judge of all flesh?
This is why we pray.
Jesus now prays for us as the Perfect High Priest. The Messiah Jesus therefore intercedes before the Father for those who willingly seek eternal life with Him in glory — disciples in spirit seeking grace for a dying flesh from dust rather than the judgment we deserve of sinners refusing the authority and mercy of the LORD God.
Christians of these last days speak lightly of grace given as if any claim of Jesus is fruit of a sinful spirit saved. Yet does our witness of Christ glow in the glory of His High Authority?
Roger Harned – talkofJesus.com
Authority
Jesus is not praying about anything new here, for authority in relationships both earthly and between the created and Creator appear throughout Scripture.
When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice.
But when the wicked are in power, they groan.When the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes,
Proverbs 29:2 & 29:16 NLT
but the godly will live to see their downfall.
The authority between those on earth ought to be immediately evident since Jesus provided much guidance and many examples to the Disciples and crowds of Jews so well schooled in the discipline of Scripture.
In this prayer, however, Jesus speaks directly to God the Father not only as their Authority but about His and the Apostles authority.
John 17:
Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said,
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.
What does our Lord and High Priest pray?
Glorify your Son; that is, Jesus prays in essence, ‘Father glorify Me!’ Yet what reason does Jesus offer?
Jesus prays that HIS glory will be necessary “so that [He, Jesus] the Son may glorify you [the Father]. The Lord restates His own authority recalling an action of the Father which had already taken place.
Jesus then offers through this granted authority a higher reason for His intercessory request:
“… So that he [Jesus] may give eternal life…”
Note that Jesus does not promise eternal life to all, but to only to those the Father has already given to the Son our Savior. He becomes our perfect Priest and Sacrifice.
As for those who refuse Christ? Justice will find the dust and ashes of unrepentant souls who will stand before Jesus’ authority at the judgment.
Authority of The Word
John opens his Gospel with Jesus’ preeminent authority.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 KJV
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 5 excerpt:
[We shall stick with the King James Version for the moment to remind our long-lost 21st century perception of the authority and appropriate approach of a king.] – RH
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
You with ears to hear, LISTEN to this previous proclamation of Jesus our King! Jesus clearly proclaims:
- God the Father raises the dead to life (quickeneth).
- Jesus the Son gives life (quickeneth) to whom He will.
- The dead will hear the voice of Jesus, Son of God.
- Those dead souls who Jesus chooses shall live again.
Did we overlook one point of power of the Lord Jesus’ authority?
In our too-near familiarity with the humble Lamb of God made man we often lose His authority to come in the wrath of God:
and He [the Father] gave Him [Jesus] authority to execute judgment, because He [Jesus] is the Son of Man.
John 5:27 NASB
- The Father gave Jesus authority to execute judgment!
WHY? Because He IS the “Son of Man,” as well as the “Son of God.”
Returning to the Upper Room
Do you recall what Jesus had said after Judas left the room to go to Jerusalem’s religious leaders to betray his Lord?
Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. – John 13:31 NASB
Now in His High Priestly Prayer Jesus prays, “you gave him authority over all people.
“I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
(or from the more formal King James Version🙂
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. – John 17:6 KJV
Power over all flesh
Once again returning to the kingly language of the King James Version as introduction once more to Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer:
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Prayer of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of John 17:2-3 KJV
Jesus prays of His Power over all flesh, over creation, over you and me, even power over all authority of this world.
Is Jesus your Lord, a High Priest interceding for your sinful flesh before the HOLY LORD GOD ALMIGHTY?
To be continued...
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