John 17:1-5
Jesus Prays for Himself
1After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Jesus prays for Himself...He is praying aloud, so His disciples can hear Him...He is praying aloud so John can later write about it, and we can read about His prayers and learn from them, in the Gospel of St. John... These words, this prayer, and Jesus will never die...
This is the night before Jesus' arrest...The time has come...He knows His hour has come...Judas is off with Jesus' opposition and soon He will be arrested...His life on earth is coming to an end...Soon He will be crucified...Soon He will die...Then we will know what He meant by saying we would see the sign of Jonah, His resurrection...This sign of Jonah would prove to the world, He was who He said He was...He is the Messiah...The hour, that He had lived His entire life for, has arrived...His hour was here...On the cross He would fulfill all Scriptures, as our Messiah...
God had given Him all authority on earth over all people...He can do miracles on earth, as He can still do in heaven, because He lives...For those who believe in Him, He has been granted by God to give eternal life... Then He explains that eternal life is knowing that God is alive and that we may know Him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent for us...This is the definition of eternal life...When we know God the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ -it is eternal life...They are the Truth...They are love...They are complete...They make us complete...They live forever...They are the first and the last...They are in a union, and with the Holy Spirit...God is within us...This is eternal life...
Now Jesus asks God to glorify Him, with His presence that He had (with Him) before the world began... God is the source of the Holy Spirit...Jesus was with Him from the beginning...God can only be touched through Jesus...We cannot get to the Father except through His Son...Our Holy Spirit is our Father-Son connection...
We may not know how Jesus felt when He said this prayer to God...God has granted Him everything possible thing He needed while He was on earth...This was the most tragic hour is His life, and the most tragic hour in man's history...He never prayed like He was defeated, because He trusted in His Father...As we step back and read His pray, we see He is our powerful Redeemer, our Savior, our Almighty LORD and our God...The time had come to fulfill His Life...His hour had come to save us...This is the greatest hour for man...God's Grace is about LOVE and forgiveness...Thank God for His grace...