Is It Good News that Jesus is Glorified? (John 17:1-5)

Jesus asks here for glorification. The fact that he has to ask indicates that he is speaking here as the Father’s servant. His glorification is connected to the service he had given to the Father when he was here. He mentions that service in verse 4: ‘I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.’ What encouragements would Jesus, as the servant, have for asking the request?

 

One encouragement was the number of prophecies in the Old Testament that describe what would happen to the Servant of the Lord. Take Isaiah 52:13 where the Father speaks and says, ‘Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.’ 

When would that exaltation happen? In the next verse, the Father says to the Servant: ‘As many were astonished at you,’ and then describes what would happen at the cross. ‘His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.’ 

What would the exaltation involve? The Father says that the Servant will ‘sprinkle many nations,’ which is a way of describing cleansing from sin. Even rulers of the earth will recognise his exalted state: ‘Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.’ Surely we can see how such prophetic promises would have encouraged Jesus at the time when he was praying.

 

What does in mean for Jesus to be glorified? 

The answer includes consideration of the place, the position and the purpose. Jesus mentions the place in his petition. The place is the presence of the Father. We know that God is omnipresent, but that is not the aspect of his presence that Jesus is referring to here. We also know that the Father was with Jesus at the time he was praying, but that also is not the aspect of his presence that Jesus is referring to.

 

The presence of the Father is heaven. We do not know what heaven is like because it is very different from with what we are familiar. A couple of days ago a space rocket was launched to Mars and it is going to take several months to get there. Travel in heaven is not like that. Or we can think of a large crowd trying to see an important figure, and here it is impossible for all to be near that individual. Heaven is not like that, because all inhabitants can see Jesus. In heaven, no one asks what the weather will be like.

 

Heaven is a place of perfection, with nothing impure in it. All its inhabitants are glorified. Angels are glorified. The spirits of believers who have gone there are glorified. The few who have their bodies, like Elijah and Moses, are glorified. The expectancy of every Christian who dies today is that he or she will be glorified. It is part of the perfection of heaven to have glorified inhabitants who worship God in true holiness and true love, with continual peace and full joy. We can understand why Jesus would want to be there.

 

Yet Jesus is not just asking to be in heaven. Rather he is asking to be given a special place in heaven, which he describes as ‘the glory that I had with you before the world existed’ (v. 5). This description reveals the dignity of the Servant. Jesus mentions his pre-existence before creation, and we know from elsewhere in the Bible that he is eternal, without beginning. The description also reveals his communion throughout that beginningless period – he was with the Father. This is similar to how John describes Jesus as the Word who was with God and who was God. What an amazing Servant! Jesus is totally unique. There is not another like him.

 

When Jesus makes this request to be with the Father in heaven, he is asking that he can ascend to the throne of God. It is important to recognise that he is making this statement as the Servant, the one who is God and man. When he prayed, his humanity had not yet experienced exaltation, and since his human nature belongs to his person, it will share in the experience of exaltation when it occurs.

 

If you or I were to ask a monarch if we could sit on their throne, the request would be regarded as audacious. Indeed, it would be seen as an expression of insanity or rebellion. It is not possible. In the case of Jesus, it was not audacious; instead it was appropriate, indeed the only appropriate request he could make because it was the next stage in God’s eternal plan.

 

We have thought about the place where Jesus asked to go to (heaven), we have thought about the position that he asked to be given (the throne of God), and now we can think about the purpose. As we do, we should remember that he is not requesting that he should cease to be the Servant. His intention is still to serve the Father, engaged in a suitable activity, which he describes as giving ‘eternal life to all whom you have given him’. This is going to be his main activity after he is highly exalted.

 

Jesus tells us what eternal life is, and his explanation is different from ways that we often describe it. We usually connect it to length, but saying that we will exist for ever is not really an accurate description because every human will exist forever. Those who will be lost will exist for ever as the lost. Eternal life is more than endless existence. 

 

What is eternal life?

According to Jesus, eternal life is an ongoing experience of knowing God and Jesus. I think that means that Jesus will the source of this experience. 

When does eternal life begin? It does not begin when we die; rather, it begins when we are regenerated and trust in Jesus. Every Christian in the world today has eternal life. Their conversion may have happened seventy years ago, or it may have happened this morning, but they have the same life. Spurgeon put it this way: ‘The life of the new-born Christian who, only a few minutes ago began to pray, is precisely the same life which is to be found in yonder bright spirits that have now been thousands of years in perfection at the right hand of God praising His name!’

 

Since it involves knowing the Father and the Son, there must be contact. The contact we have with them is enabled by the Holy Spirit. For example, Paul mentions in Romans 8 that the Spirit groans in us and with us to God – that describes contact. He also says that the love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit – that describes contact.

 

In addition, in order for contact to be effective, there has to be communication. We can speak to God in prayer, but how does he speak to us? The answer is that he speaks in his Word. But what does he speak about? There are lots of details in the Bible about history and geography, but how are we meant to respond to those details? They are speaking about God and his activities. Take the Book of Acts. We sometimes describe it as an account of the early church, which is true at one level. But Luke tells us that his book is about the activities of the exalted Christ. The Bible is the main way that God communicates life to our souls. We have to feed on it, we have to reflect and meditate on it. 

 

Eternal life is not static. Instead, there is growth. Recall the closing words of 2 Peter: ‘But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ We can see that is where progress should be made. God has given life to his people, and desires will show themselves. Our desire is expressed in the words of the hymn, ‘More about Jesus would I know.’ 

 

Eternal life, as we have it now, is hindered by sin. It is striking to think that the only people who have eternal life in this world are all sinners. The life that flows in the souls of Christians is like a stream of pure water that comes into contact with mud. Thankfully, we can go to God and confess our sins, tell him how we have defiled the river of his grace as it comes to us from the heavenly throne where the Father and the Son dispense their grace and peace. Confession of sin is a real evidence that we love eternal life and that we are looking forward to the perfection of the eternal state. 

If my tap was pouring out impure water, I would take all necessary steps to find the cause. If my mind or heart have desires and attitudes that mar the flow of grace in my soul, I should be diligent in dealing them. The water will never be fully pure in this life, but there is something like spiritual laziness regarding mortification if I am still affected adversely by things that were affecting me adversely thirty years ago.

 

Application

Do we know the Father and the Son? Did we have contact with them today by the Spirit? How much time did we spend in communication with them through the Bible and prayer? Did they warm our souls by their love? Did we confess with shame how our sinfulness hinders the expression of the life that God has given? 

 

The good news is that Jesus asked the Father to glorify him in order to deal with the souls of his people. He is our prophet, priest and king, always faithful to his role. He will ensure that they will receive eternal life in this world, and continue to supply it in the world to come.