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John 17:1
ESV When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
NIV After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.
NASB Jesus spoke these things; and raising His eyes to heaven, He said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, so that the Son may glorify You,
CSB 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,
NLT After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, 'Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you.
KJV These 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:
NKJV Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,

What does John 17:1 mean?

John's Gospel was written well after Matthew, Mark, and Luke's writings were in circulation. This is likely why he includes or excludes certain details. Here, John will record the longest prayer from Jesus included in Scripture, leaving details of Jesus' later prayers in Gethsemane to the other three accounts (Matthew 26:36–46; Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:39–46). After explaining more about the coming of the Holy Spirit and looming persecution (John 16:4–15), Jesus now begins to pray.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus submitted to the timeline given Him by God the Father. This meant not displaying power in the wrong way or at the wrong time (Matthew 4:1–11; John 2:4), controlling the expectations of the people (John 6:15), managing how and when people proclaimed Him (Matthew 16:20; John 7:6), and even whether or not He could be captured by His enemies (John 7:30; 8:20). All those choices were in anticipation of "the hour" when God's ultimate purpose for Jesus' earthly life would be fulfilled. Jesus prays, now, in recognition that this time has arrived (John 12:27–32).

References to God as "Father" are common in the gospel of John, and especially so in this High Priestly Prayer. About half those are in chapters 13—17.

Scripture indicates that man's primary purpose is to glorify God (Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 10:31). Part of glorifying God is obedience to His will, and perseverance in difficult circumstances. What Jesus is about to experience will give glory to God, in that usual sense, by demonstrating humility and submission. It will also bring immense glory to God as the pivot point of salvation by grace through faith.
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