John 17:1-5

¹ After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

“this is eternal life: that they know you …”

Our Lord was facing the final and most difficult hour of his mission on earth when he made this passionate prayer to the Father. Jesus faithfully fulfilled the duty of a loving and obedient son who willingly faced the cross for our sakes.

Our Lord’s desire is to obey the Father and to do his work so that the Father might be glorified, something that is reflected in many other parts of the gospel. This also brings to mind the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus by our Savior when he testified that this was for the glory of God and that the Son of God might be glorified through it (John 11:4). The ultimate fulfillment of the plea to glorify the Son that he may glorify the Father, is accomplished through Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross, the subsequent resurrection from death and ascension to heaven.

It is difficult to fully comprehend the magnitude and depth of his love for us. I personally think that this is something that our limited human minds cannot fully comprehend. When we consider the heights from where he came – seated in glory in heaven even before the creation of the world, and the depth to which he descended – coming to earth as a humble human being to endure the most excruciating and humiliating death, we should have a better grasp of the scale of his love for us.

This prayer to the Father also reveals the divinity of the Son and makes clear his power to give eternal life. Our Lord exclaims that eternal life is to know the only true God, the Father, our Creator and Jesus, his Son, whom he sent. Eternal life is to have eternal communion with the Father whom our Redeemer has revealed and who has destroyed the barrier of sin which separated us from him.

In our daily struggles in life, we can take comfort and strength, knowing that we serve the only true and living God, who loves us and cares for us and to whom we can turn. We can not only overcome our difficulties but experience the love, peace and joy that comes from abiding in him and having communion with him.

During this Lenten season, let us be guided and strengthened by our Savior’s prayer in today’s Bible text quoted above.

Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, help us to humbly trust and abide in you even in difficult or challenging situations, as our Savior taught and demonstrated to us. Help us to learn and grow in you through our daily communion with you.