Still in the upper room, and just before leaving, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and spoke with God, his Father. This is both the longest and most solemn of Jesus’ recorded prayers, and has become known as his High Priestly Prayer (John 17:1-26). It has been divided into three parts by some scholars: Jesus first spoke specifically about himself to his Father (John 17:1-5). Next, he prayed for his disciples in the upper room (John 17:6-19), and, finally, he prayed for those who would believe their witness (John 17:20-26).
After the end of this prayer, one is quite astonished with all the black letters in a red letter Bible. Jesus becomes nearly silent between the upper room and his death on the cross. This is particularly noticeable in John due to his record of the Upper Room Discourse, and in a real sense this prayer ought to be considered to be Jesus’ last words to believers before his death, for, although they were directed to his Father, they were spoken aloud for the benefit of his disciples (John 17:13).
With his eyes raised toward heaven, Jesus told his Father that his hour had come. By this Jesus meant that the time of his departure via the crucifixion (cp. John 13:31) and his return to God (John 17:11, 13) had finally arrived. So, he said to his Father: “glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you…” (John 17:1). Basically, Jesus was telling his Father in the presence of the disciples that he (Jesus) had done his part, now Jesus expected his Father to do his part. In other words, they had made a bilateral covenant between them. Jesus would do whatever his Father commanded (John 1:1, 14), and the Father would do what he had promised. This was not unlike the Mosaic Covenant, which was also a bilateral agreement. Nevertheless, Israel had not kept their covenant with God (Jeremiah 11:7-10), vis-à-vis the Sinai Covenant (Jeremiah 31:32), which covenant was soon coming to its end (Deuteronomy 31:16, 29; Hebrews 8:13), and the Jews would be scattered among the nations, their national covenant broken and irreparable (Leviticus 26:15, 38-39).
This wasn’t so in Jesus’ case. For 32-33 years he had spent his life, especially the final 3 ½ years, revealing the Father to the world (John 1:14, 18), manifesting what the Father was like in the words he spoke and the things he did (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus had kept his part of that covenant between himself and his Father. However, the problem was, now that Jesus’ hour had come, a trap had been set for him (Luke 22:1-6), and he knew it. Nevertheless, he would voluntarily walk into it, exposing himself to the devises of his enemies, who would condemn him as a criminal (Luke 22:47-48). Would the Father do his part and declare Jesus’ innocence (Matthew 27:3-4). Jesus would hang on a cross, spilling his life’s blood out upon the ground, as though he were a cursed man (Deuteronomy 21:23). Would the Father declare his innocence (Matthew 27:51, 54)? Finally, he would go to his death, giving up his life and any power or authority he may have had to cause that life to count for anything good (cp. Isaiah 53:7-9). Would the Father do his part and insure that his name would continue in his disciples’ witness by declaring him innocent (Psalm 2:7; Acts 13:33; Romans 1:4; cp. Isaiah 53:10)? How could the Son glorify the Father in all of this, unless the Father glorified his Son? Basically, this is what Jesus asked his Father to do.
Jesus reminded his Father that he had given him, meaning the Father had given Jesus, authority over all mankind, in order that he (Jesus) could give eternal life to everyone the Father had given him (John 17:2). Therefore, everything the Father had given Jesus was inextricably tied to the Father’s integrity to glorify his Son, which would also end in glorifying the Father, because Jesus had held up his end of their covenant by revealing the Father to his disciples (John 1:18). Therefore, if eternal life is coming to know the eternal Father and Jesus, whom he had sent (John 17:3), then it stands to reason that this could only occur if the Father glorifies his Son.
Therefore, since Jesus did glorify his Father, while he was on earth, and since he had finished all the works the Father had given him to do, Jesus asked his Father to glorify his Son, vis-à-vis clothe his Son with the glory of the Father’s self, which glory Jesus had always had before the world came into existence (John 17:4-5; cp. 1Timothy 6:15-16). In other words, With Jesus betrayed by his friend, judged as an unrighteous criminal, mocked by the world and executed as though he were cursed of God, himself, would the Father identify himself with this, his Son (cp. 2Corinthains 5:19)?[1]
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[1] Some men teach that the Father did not identify with his Son, but turned away from him, forsook him, while Jesus hung on the cross. This is a false doctrine through and through. There isn’t an ounce of truth in it.
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