This is eternal life
John 17:1-3 It is important to continue studying God’s Word as long and as diligently as we can in our earthly lives to gain more understanding.
Image of the Last Supper generated by DALL-E 3 AI.
“Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, 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, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
John 17:1-3 NASB1995
This part of the Gospel of John is known as the High Priestly Prayer or Final Discourse. In John 17, Jesus is praying for himself at the Last Supper, with all of the disciples in attendance.
This prayer is fascinating; Jesus is in an attitude of prayer as it should be — with eyes lifted to heaven, not closed and cast downward. He knows that He is about to be betrayed, taken into custody, beaten, mocked, scourged, and crucified, and He is speaking to His Father as He should — as an equal.
Charles Spurgeon had this to say about His prayer:
“In the sacred record, however, much more space is taken up by our Lord’s intercessions as he nears the end of his labors. After the closing supper, his public preaching work being ended, and nothing remaining to be done but to die, he gave himself wholly unto prayer. He was not again to instruct the multitude, nor to heal the sick, and in the interval which remained, before he should lay down his life, he girded himself for special intercession. He poured out his soul in life before he poured it out unto death.”1
David Guzik of Enduring Word said this of the prayer:
This remarkable prayer is made with a heart and mind looking up towards heaven. Jesus made no mention of His problems or the decisions He must make. His heart and mind were fixed on the highest things, pledging Himself to the absolute fulfillment of God the Father’s will no matter what the cost, so that eternal life could come to others.
Jesus begins this prayer asking His Father to glorify Him, so that He could give glory to God. This is not a selfish prayer; it is a necessity. Enduring Word explains:
The Son can only glorify the Father if the Father first answers the prayer of the Son, “Glorify Your Son.”
i. “It will bring no glory to the Father if Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is not acceptable, or if the Son is not restored to his rightful place in the presence of the Father’s unshielded glory. That would mean the divine mission had failed, the purposes of grace forever defeated.” (Carson)
ii. “Father, the hour has come: glorify Thy Son: i.e. make plain to these there that the Man Jesus is also the God-Man; make it plain by His resurrection and ascension.” (Trench)
iii. “This glorification embraced His death, resurrection, and session at God’s right hand, as accredited Mediator.” (Dods)
In the eyes of humanity, the cross was a sign of the humiliation and death of a man. In the eyes of God, the cross was a sign of glorification. The cross glorified Jesus the Son, and also glorified God the Father by demonstrating His wisdom and His plan in sacrificing the Son to bring them both glory.
The very wise Charles Spurgeon pointed out that this prayer is a template for our petitions to God as well:
Christ’s motive should be ours. When you ask a blessing from God, ask it that you may glorify God by it. Do you pine to have your health back again? Be sure that you want to spend it for him. Do you desire temporal advancement? Desire it that you may promote his glory. Do you even long for growth in grace? Ask it only that you may glorify him.”
In the next two verses (John 17:2-3), Jesus speaks words that claim His authority over the destiny of mankind. He notes that He has authority over all mankind, even those who reject or don’t know of Him. This authority is demonstrated in Philippians 2:5-11, that all will recognize the authority of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord.
Enduring Word says the following about how this all works:
This indicates something that we can dimly understand as a division of labor in the work of salvation between the Persons of the Godhead. Here we see that the Father gives some unto the Son, and the Son gives them eternal life through His work on the cross. Of course, the Holy Spirit also has His work in salvation, unmentioned in this particular passage.
Next, we get an explanation of how we’ll find eternal life; it’s found in the knowledge of both God the Father and God the Son. That’s why it is so important to continue studying God’s Word as long and as diligently as we can in our earthly lives, to gain more understanding.
I’ll close today’s rather lengthy devotional with one more quote from Enduring Word:
Eternal life means that we are alive and active to God’s environment. If God and His spiritual environment does not affect (and even dominate) our life, then it can be said that we do not have or experience eternal life. If this is true, then we live life in the same dimension that animals live, and we exist as if we are dead to God and His environment.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, I thank You that I am in Christ, my Lord and Savior. Thank You for having Him pay the price for my sin, and for giving Him all authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus spent His lifetime glorifying You through His obedience and submission. I pray that I may emulate His example through willing obedience and joyful submission to Him. AMEN
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org.
Commentary from Enduring Word used with written permission of the author.
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon "The New Park Street Pulpit" Volumes 1-6 and "The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit" Volumes 7-63 (Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications, 1990)