John 17:1-8

(John 17:1-8)

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: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

 

This is the scene of the farewell prayer that Jesus had before he suffered from the cross, at his last dinner with his disciples, and after he gave his farewell sermon. Jesus said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: The life of Jesus is always focused and purposeful on glorifying the Father. Jesus is God in the kingdom of God, but he is sure to play a role as a son on earth. This life of Jesus clearly shows what the direction and purpose of the life of the saints should be. Jesus is telling us how He glorified his Father.

 

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Jesus says, "I glorified my Father in this world by doing what the Father told me to do." And what the Father has given him to do is to give eternal life to all those whom the Father has given to his Son. Eternal life is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom he sent. To know God is to become one with God. When a couple know each other (Yada), it means that they are one. Jesus obeyed the work that the Father commanded and entrusted to glorify the Father, that is, saving lives. Saints are those whom the Father gave to Jesus, and thus belong to Jesus. The saints became those who knew the Father and the Son through Jesus. The saints become one by being united with Jesus Christ, who died on the cross.

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