Tag Archives: glorify your Son

JESUS PRAYED FOR HIS DISCIPLES

Christian Life, ,

JESUS PRAYED FOR HIS DISCIPLES

Jesus’ final act of love for His disciples was to pray for them before He left them. How blessed we are to have a record of His prayer and to glean from His words the depth of His love for them and His confidence in the Father that they would not fail Him or waste all the effort He put into them to become His true talmidim!

In this prayer Jesus summed up His entire life’s work and His attitude towards the most important people in His life, His Father and His followers.

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. For you granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those you have given Him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (John 17: 1b -5)

Why did Jesus pray for Himself first? He took nothing for granted. Is this a sample of His daily prayers as He fellowshipped with the Father late at night and in the early hours of the morning? He was on earth on the Father’s business. He could not afford to miss a cue or to mess up on any assignment. His Father’s glory took precedence over everything else. It was always uppermost in His mind and, because they were one, when the Father glorified Him, He reflected that glory straight back to the Father.

In our journey with Jesus, we have discovered that God’s glory is supremely revealed in the mercy He showed to undeserving people. Jesus was the Father’s representative, always extending the Father’s mercy to those who needed Him most. As He showed mercy, so the Father’s heart was revealed to His people who had badly misunderstood Him through those who falsely represented Him. Whenever He extended mercy to a suffering soul, Jesus was not only revealing His own nature but also the nature of the Father, glorifying Him by revealing His own glory wherever He went.

Jesus was facing an ordeal no person in all of history before Him had ever faced. Yes, people had suffered. People have always suffered, from the moment sin had entered into the world, but no one has ever suffered in the way that Jesus was about to suffer. He needed the Holy Spirit’s strength to endure the agony of a death He did not deserve so that the glory He reflected would be the pure light of God’s glory. His glory and the glory of the Father were inseparably linked together.

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. (John 17: 1b)

And so Jesus prayed, not at this point to return to the glory He had with the Father but that He would endure His suffering and death in such a way that the glory of God would be reflected in Him every step of the way. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the battle raged and was won – so fierce that bloody sweat oozed from His pores. He made His surrender then, remaining in perfect unity with the Father and perfectly fulfilling the Father’s will. 

What was the kernel of His prayer for His disciples? One had already fallen away – on his way to sell his rabbi for a few pieces of silver? Have you noticed that Jesus excluded Judas from His prayer? Judas’s mind was already made up. Jesus made no urgent request for the Father to stop him or for the Holy Spirit to convict him. It had to be and in the sovereignty of God He would blend every circumstance into His plan of redemption, even the free will of Judas who chose to betray his Master.

I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave then to me, and they have obeyed your word. (John 17: 6)

What an insight into the heart of Jesus! The Father had given Him twelve men as a sacred trust. It was His task to impart the Father’s Word to them until they had grasped, embraced, and obeyed that Word. Jesus could not leave them alone in this world until He was sure that His task of training them to be His disciples was complete. From the moment He finally left them, their role would change. No longer would they simply be His disciples. They would be, like Him, true sons of the Father.

Verse 6 can also be translated:

I have revealed your name to those you gave me out of the world.

What was the significance of this declaration? The Lord revealed Himself to His covenant people by many names; Elohim – the Mighty One; El Elyon – the Most High God; El Shaddai – the one who nourishes; Adonai – the Master; El Olam – the everlasting God; Yahweh – the one who is; and the many facets of Yahweh – provider, shepherd, healer, righteousness, peace, banner, sanctifier, Lord of hosts and the Lord who is there.

But there was one name by which He was not known until Jesus came – the name, Father. Jesus came to reveal that name by being the perfect Son. It was that name He made known to His disciples and it was to that name that He entrusted them because He knew that God, as the perfect Father, would always be with them, vigilant and caring like no earthly father could ever be.  

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

PRAYER

Bible Study, ,

PRAYER

“After Jesus had said this, He looked toward heaven and prayed: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those you have given Him.

“‘Now this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.'” John 17:1-3.

Jesus prayed…Now this is prayer!

He prayed many times during His earthly life. Few of His prayers were recorded for us. Some were brief, sentence prayers…sometimes He prayed all night…but this is the only time we have a glimpse into the words of His communion with the Father.

This was not the agonising, blood-sweating Gethsemane prayer. This was quiet fellowship with His Abba, pouring out His heartfelt desires before the whirlwind events that were soon to overtake Him. There would be no opportunity then to share His heart with Abba in the silence of the night. In the presence of the men He loved most in the world, He mouthed His hopes and dreams for them and for those who would follow them in faith and obedience.

What emotions were packed into those words, ‘Father, the hour has come’? The “hour” of His suffering had hung over Him from the moment of His birth. It was His reason for coming. It was the pinnacle of His revelation of the Father’s love to a world that would rather not know. It was the final nail in the coffin of His arch enemy and the enemy of all humanity. Did He shiver with anticipation and dread?

The writer to the Hebrews caught the spirit of this moment: “For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2b.

As always, Jesus looked beyond the immediate events to the triumph of God’s final purpose for mankind. “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”  We read these words easily enough without understanding the depth of Jesus’ request.

“In the intense pain and suffering I am about to endure; the physical agony of flogging and crucifixion; the emotional pain of rejection, humiliation and betrayal; the searing heat of the devil’s rage against me and the utter abandonment I must face when you, Father, also turn your face away from me, give me the strength to be a perfect reflection of you, your love, mercy and grace, so that the whole world will see you mirrored in me.”

God the Father gave Him, Jesus – this God-man who came from heaven to live the ordinary life of an ordinary human being in a hostile world that hated and rejected Him, and a spiritual realm that fired its entire arsenal of weapons at Him – the authority to give life to all those who believed in Him. Sin had killed them; spiritual death had claimed them and would destroy them forever without His intervention. They would never rise to new life unless He first died in their place to take the rap for their sin; and His death would accomplish nothing unless He did not deserve it.

“Father glorify your Son…” just four simple words, but a world of desire in them. Once again, Jesus exemplified the heart of a true son. This was not about Him. It was ultimately about the Father…; “that the Son may glorify you.” All He wanted, in this whole cross event, was that the wonder of His Father’s true nature would be revealed to the world.

In one short sentence, Jesus forever defined the nature of eternal life – knowing the Father and the Son, because they are one. To know the Son is to know the Father; notice – not know about, but know, implying intimate, personal knowledge and understanding as a husband “knows” his wife. “Adam lay with (knew – yada) his wife and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.” Genesis 4:1 NIV.

That takes time, fellowship, and obedience!

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Jesus Prayed For His Disciples

Christian Life, , ,

JESUS PRAYED FOR HIS DISCIPLES

Jesus’ final act of love for His disciples was to pray for them before He left them. How blessed we are to have a record of His prayer and to glean from His words the depth of His love for them and His confidence in the Father that they would not fail Him or waste all the effort He put into them to become His true talmidim!

In this prayer Jesus summed up His entire life’s work and His attitude towards the most important people in His life, His Father and His followers.

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. For you granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those you have given Him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (John 17: 1b -5)

Why did Jesus pray for Himself first? He took nothing for granted. Is this a sample of His daily prayers as He fellowshipped with the Father late at night and in the early hours of the morning? He was on earth on the Father’s business. He could not afford to miss a cue or to mess up on any assignment. His Father’s glory took precedence over everything else. It was always uppermost in His mind and, because they were one, when the Father glorified Him, He reflected that glory straight back to the Father.

In our journey with Jesus, we have discovered that God’s glory is supremely revealed in the mercy He showed to undeserving people. Jesus was the Father’s representative, always extending the Father’s mercy to those who needed Him most. As He showed mercy, so the Father’s heart was revealed to His people who had badly misunderstood Him through those who falsely represented Him. Whenever He extended mercy to a suffering soul, Jesus was not only revealing His own nature but also the nature of the Father, glorifying Him by revealing His own glory wherever He went.

Jesus was facing an ordeal no person in all of history before Him had ever faced. Yes, people had suffered. People have always suffered, from the moment sin had entered into the world, but no one has ever suffered in the way that Jesus was about to suffer. He needed the Holy Spirit’s strength to endure the agony of a death He did not deserve so that the glory He reflected would be the pure light of God’s glory. His glory and the glory of the Father were inseparably linked together.

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. (John 17: 1b)

And so Jesus prayed, not at this point to return to the glory He had with the Father but that He would endure His suffering and death in such a way that the glory of God would be reflected in Him every step of the way. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the battle raged and was won – so fierce that bloody sweat oozed from His pores. He made His surrender then, remaining in perfect unity with the Father and perfectly fulfilling the Father’s will.

What was the kernel of His prayer for His disciples? One had already fallen away – on his way to sell his rabbi out for a few pieces of silver? Have you noticed that Jesus excluded Judas from His prayer? Judas’s mind was already made up. Jesus made no urgent request for the Father to stop him or for the Holy Spirit to convict him. It had to be and in the sovereignty of God He would blend every circumstance into His plan of redemption, even the free will of Judas who chose to betray his Master.

I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave then to me and they have obeyed your word. (John 17: 6)

What an insight into the heart of Jesus! The Father had given Him twelve men as a sacred trust. It was His task to impart the Father’s Word to them until they had grasped, embraced and obeyed that Word. Jesus could not leave them alone in this world until He was sure that His task of training them to be His disciples was complete. From the moment He finally left them, their role would change. No longer would they simply be His disciples. They would be, like Him, true sons of the Father.

Verse 6 can also be translated:

I have revealed your name to those you gave me out of the world.

What was the significance of this declaration? The Lord revealed Himself to His covenant people by many names; Elohim – the Mighty One; El Elyon – the Most High God; El Shaddai – the one who nourishes; Adonai – the Master; El Olam – the everlasting God; Yahweh – the one who is; and the many facets of Yahweh – provider, shepherd, healer, righteousness, peace, banner, sanctifier, Lord of hosts and the Lord who is there.

But there was one name by which He was not known until Jesus came – the name, Father. Jesus came to reveal that name by being the perfect Son. It was that name He made known to His disciples and it was to that name that He entrusted them because He knew that God, as the perfect Father, would always be with them, vigilant and caring like no earthly father could ever be.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

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