Read: John 17:1-5
Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. (v. 1)
If you knew this was your last day on earth, what would you do? You might try to accomplish everything that you have put off for years. Or maybe you would choose to abandon your responsibilities! On his last night, Jesus chose to pray.
On the night before he died, Jesus prayed to be glorified so that the Father’s name would be glorified (v. 1). When someone is glorified, they are elevated, lifted up so people can look to them. The purpose of Jesus’s glorification, the purpose of his exaltation, is so that the Father would be glorified in all the earth. That God’s name—his goodness, his mercy, his justice, his righteousness, his holiness—would be lifted up like a banner for the whole world to see.
How was Jesus to be glorified? Through the cross. Glory is connected with honor, but the cross was the greatest instrument of humiliation conceivable for people in the ancient world. It was in this lowest place, this place of deepest shame and humiliation, that Jesus would be lifted high and God’s glory would be revealed.
As followers of Jesus, we can begin to pray like Jesus. We can pray that the name of Jesus, our crucified and risen Savior, would be lifted high in our church gatherings, in our cities, in our countries, in our world, so that the Father would be glorified to the ends of the earth.
As you pray, ask God to glorify his name so that the world would know him.
About the Author
Stephen Shaffer is the pastor at Bethel Reformed Church in Brantford, Ontario.
