John 17:1 - Printer Friendly

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,

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.

John 17:1–5 begins what is known as Jesus' High Priestly Prayer. After giving a few last lessons to His disciples (John 16:31–33), Christ now prays. John explained certain earlier incidents by noting that it was not yet Jesus' "time." Here, that time has come. Christ begins by praying for Himself, though His words convey complete submission to the will of God. This moment occurs just before Jesus and the disciples enter Gethsemane, where He will pray again prior to being arrested.

In this passage, known as the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus speaks to God about three main topics. First is Christ Himself, asking God the Father to glorify Him so He can glorify the Father. Next, Jesus prays for the faith and courage in His closest disciples. Finally, He prays for those who will come to faith because of the apostles' writing and teaching. This moment occurs before Jesus enters Gethsemane, where the other Gospels will record His final anguished prayers before being arrested (Matthew 26:36–46; Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:39–46).

Over the last several chapters (John 13—16), Jesus has been giving last-minute instruction to His closest disciples. These lessons composed a large part of the Last Supper. Among those teachings were several warnings about persecution, with the encouragement of knowing the Holy Spirit would come. In chapter 17, we read Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, making requests on behalf of Himself, the apostles, and future believers. After this, Jesus will go into Gethsemane where Judas will turn Him over for arrest and His eventual execution.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.