Jesus prays to God the Father to glorify him now that his hour has come. He asks to be glorified so that he may glorify the Father by giving eternal life to believers. Eternal life involves knowing God and Jesus Christ. Jesus glorified the Father on Earth by completing his assigned work, and he asks now to be glorified with the same glory he had with the Father before the world existed. His perfect obedience to the Father's will through death and resurrection allows believers to receive glory. The Father answers Jesus' prayer, as Stephen later sees Jesus glorified at God's right hand.

1. Jesus’ Prayer for Himself
John 17:1-5
24 May, 2015

2. The Bible is filled with great prayers…
• Abraham’s prayer in Genesis 18
• Moses’ prayer in Exodus 32
• David’s prayers in 1 Chronicles 17 and 29
• Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8
• Mary’s prayer in Luke 1 (Magnificate)
• But this prayer of Jesus’ is by far the
greatest in the whole of Scripture

3. The greatest prayer…?
How can we top God’s own prayer – the
Son of God praying to God the Father in
heaven? The entire chapter is a prayer by
Jesus. It is like we are walking into the
Holy of Holies of the Gospel and listening
to the very voice of Jesus to His Father
• Someone who is very wise said, “A
person’s innermost being is revealed by
genuine prayer.”

4. “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, 2 even as You gave Him authority
over all flesh, that to all whom You have given
Him, He may give eternal life. 3 This is eternal
life, that they may know You, the only true

5. God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4
I glorified You on the earth, [b]having
accomplished the work which You have given
Me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify Me together
with Yourself, with the glory which I had with
You before the world was.”
John 17:1-5, NASB

6. A. Glorify Your Son…
• This is the “hour”, according to V 1
• Now He asks, knowing through His
humiliation the Glory comes
• Note “How” He begins praying
• How many of you does this thought
make uncomfortable?
• never confuse the non-essential customs of
prayer with the essential aspects of prayer!

7. A. Glorify Your Son…
• This is the “hour”, according to V 1
• The hour for fulfilling all prophesies
regarding the Messiah
• The hour of triumph over sin, death,
and the Prince of this world, Satan
• The hour of ending the Old Covenant
and ushering in the new!
• The hour of darkness, quakes, graves emptied!

8. A. Glorify Your Son…
• Some have asked, “Was it selfish to pray
for Himself?”
• I don’t think so– see how much He laid
aside His own glory just to save the
wretched like us
• Jesus glorified the Father thru His miracles
• But brought the greatest Glory to Himself
thru suffering, death, resurrection,

9. B. The Source and Nature of Eternal Life…
• He’s in effect coroneted king, Vv 2-3
• Philippians 2:10 says, “…that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, of those
in heaven, and of those on earth, and of
those under the earth…”
• What is this “eternal life”?
• To start to answer that question we
must look at lots of Scripture!

10. B. The Source and Nature of Eternal Life…
• The first answer is mind-blowing—

11. But as it is written: “ Eye has not seen, nor
ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of
man The things which God has prepared for
those who love Him.”
1 Corinthians 2:9, NASB

12. B. The Source and Nature of Eternal Life…
• The first answer is mind-blowing—
• Revelation 4 gets more descriptive–
God’s Throne Room
• Revelation 21 and 22 have even more
astounding descriptions- I can’t even
imagine it really
• Only by knowing Him, Greek “ginosko”,
can we enter into this amazing place

13. C. His Perfect Obedience…
• V4 gives us the method by which Jesus
glorified the Father in all this
• Jesus said, “I have glorified You on the
earth. I have finished the work which
You have given Me to do.”
• Even though the agony at Gethsemane
and the Torture at Golgotha are still in the
“future” from this moment– all is finished

14. C. His Perfect Obedience…
• By going to the cross willingly, Jesus showed
us that there was nothing the love of God
would not do for His own, to redeem
them and bring them to Heaven
• Let’s look at V5 again
• Was Jesus asking for glory that is something
He didn’t possess before?
• NO! There are no degrees of being God

15. C. His Perfect Obedience…
• Unlike the Hinduism which has many
different levels one can “achieve”
• To Jesus, the cross was the gateway
to glory – glory for the Father who
sent Him; glory for Himself; glory for
the sinners He came to redeem
• Jesus wouldn’t have said V5 if He wasn’t God
already!

16. “I am the Lord, that is My name; And My
glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise
to carved images.”
“For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do
it; For how should My name be profaned?
And I will not give My glory to another.”
Isaiah 42:8, 11 (NASB)

17. C. His Perfect Obedience…
• According to these two verses, God DOES
NOT share His glory with absolutely anyone.
If the Father and the Son share their
glory, there is only one answer for
this –they must BOTH be GOD!
• Question: Did the Father answer
Jesus’ prayer? Yes!
• Stephen saw Jesus Glorified!

18. “When they heard these things they were cut
to the heart, and they gnashed at him with
their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy
Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of
God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of
God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens
opened and the Son of Man standing at the
right hand of God!”
Acts 7:54-56 11 (NASB)

19. Take-Home!
• The essential aspects of our prayer are
the One who hear our prayers –
our God, not the people around
us, our sincere and humble hearts, and
praying according to His will.
• We need to imitate our Lord Jesus’
complete obedience to the Father –
without resistance, without complaint.