John 17:1-5
1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,
2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.
3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
This passage is known as “The High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus and so it is.
Jesus Christ is the only priest that sinful man may rightly approach.
Some preachers are reluctant to expound on this most holy event. While it is certainly true that we cannot plumb the depths of this prayer, it is also true that Paul instructs us through 2 Timothy 3:16-17:
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
This prayer, the longest recorded prayer in the Bible, was intended for us to hear and understand. E.g., when Jesus prayed to the Father before He called Lazarus out of the grave He prayed aloud for the benefit of His hearers:
John 11:40-43
40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me."
So I will not entertain some false humility that I am not qualified to explain this passage.
Of course I am not qualified to explain any part of Scripture unless the Holy Spirit has blessed my studies and will now give me unction to preach it to you.
In a sense, Chapter Seventeen of John is one of the easiest passages in the entire Bible to preach. It preaches itself! What Jesus says may be twisted by false theology and even rejected but it cannot be misunderstood!
There is an entire body of theology in John 17:1-5. If you are able to grasp the meaning of these five verses you will have come a long way in your knowledge of the purpose of God in Creation and the Redemption of sinners.
Can you answer these questions that arise from verses 1-5?
What is the “hour” that has come?
What is it that glorifies the Father?
What does “glorify” as the word is used here mean?
Who is this “Son” who speaks to God the Father?
What “authority” or “power” does Jesus have?
What does “all flesh” mean?
How does anyone get “saved”?
If to be “saved” is to have eternal life; what then is eternal life?
When was Jesus equal in glory with the Father?
In what sense was He ever not equal in glory with the Father?
What is the conclusion of Jesus’ prayer for Himself?
These are only a few of the questions that these five verses suggest and God-willing we will answer all of them, at least to some degree. I will not follow a rigid order of these questions but we will deal with all of them.
An obvious outline of Chapter 17:
In the first five verses Jesus prays for Himself.
In verses 6-19 Jesus prays for those disciples who were there with Him.
In verses 20-26 Jesus prays for all who will come to believe in Him.
Let’s look at the prayer that Jesus makes for Himself.
“Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: ...”
One’s posture in prayer is not an issue. Lift up your eyes, raise your hands, kneel, and bow your head, eyes open or closed as long as you are praying with your heart and mind on the only True God and Jesus Christ.
If you are not praying to God the Father through Jesus Christ it will not matter what you say or how you arrange your body parts. [John 16:23-24]
From what is recorded from Chapter 13 verse One, until now, Jesus has said all that is necessary to His disciples. Now He prays to the Father.
All is certain! This chapter does not contain a single conditional sentence. This is the prayer of our High Priest, God the Son, as He prays to God the Father.
We are taught in the Lord’s Model Prayer to ask for forgiveness of our sins and to forgive others of their trespasses against us; but when Jesus prays there is no confession of sin.
The words that Jesus speaks about having the same glory as the Father can only mean that Jesus is God. Lucifer’s sin was his attempt as a created being to be equal with God when he said, “I will be like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:12-15)
Jesus says, “Father…” not “Our Father”, as He taught His disciples to pray.
What is the reaction of the Jews when they heard Jesus call God His Father?
In John 5:18
Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
Jesus and the Father are One in essence. The distinction between you and I saying “our Father” and Jesus saying “My Father” or “Father” is the difference between humanity and deity.
In this chapter Jesus calls God “Father” six times.
How offensive it must be to God for a sinful man to call another sinful man “Holy Father.” It is utter blasphemy and a direct sin against the Word of God to call a sinful man “Father” in a reverential sense.
Having made the point, I trust, that Jesus is indeed God, we should briefly discuss the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Once more I will call on Charles Alexander for help on defining the Doctrine of the Trinity.
The manifestation of the life of God begins in that region of NO BEGINNING, the eternal birth of the Only Begotten Son, who always WAS and ever will be, in the bosom of the Father. Proceeding from, towards, and within the communion of the Father and the Son is that life and love personified in the Holy Spirit, who is of both, yet is a THIRD, eternally proceeding in an origin which never began but always IS – and we have the glory of the Holy Trinity, one God in the mystery and the marvel of Three Persons, always at rest, yet ceaselessly working, always complete and unchanging, yet ever traveling to that glorious destiny yet to be realised, but which in the timeless, ineffable peace of the Godhead is eternally achieved and not subordinate to the alphabet of history. Charles D. Alexander
Further, in Charles Alexander’s exposition of John 8:21-59
[Serial Number 017; Who Art Thou?], he writes perhaps the best brief description of the Trinity that I have ever read. I will not read it to you but I put it in the bulletin today so you could take it home and think about it.
THE THREEFOLD “I AM”
The importance of our Lord’s dialogue in this chapter of John lies in the threefold assertion of His absolute divinity in verses 24, 28, and 58:
“If ye believe not that I am (he)….”
“Then shall ye know that I am (he)….”
“Before Abraham was, I am”.
In the first two quotations the personal pronoun “he” is italicised (in our English version). It does not occur in the original.
The incarnation of God is a great mystery and must inevitably be considered in relation to the equally incomprehensible mystery of the Holy Trinity. God is One, without division of substance, yet in Three Persons co-equal in their possession of the one entire Godhead. That is, the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, yet there are not three Gods but One God.
There is neither confusion of Persons nor division of substance. Hence the full deity is possessed in each of the three Persons, or, in theological language, there is to be recognised in the Godhead three HYPOSTASES, or MODES of BEING, so that at one and the same time the Godhead is seen as Father, as Son, and as the Holy Spirit, yet with perfect preservation of the uniqueness and individuality of the Three Persons who are not to be confused; nor is the unity of the Godhead to be divided between them. The Godhead exists as Father, also as Son, also as the Holy Spirit, remaining as Three Persons each with His appropriate characteristics, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Moreover, it is of first importance to recognise that the Father is Spirit, the Son is Spirit and the Holy Ghost is Spirit, yet there are not three Spirits but one Spirit. He whom we recognise as the Holy Spirit is the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, the Spirit of both, yet exclusive to neither, and therefore a Third Person. Hence Paul in one verse describes the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of God” (that is, of the Father) and the “Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9).
Again, there is a precise “order” in the Godhead, so that it is proper to consider the Father as the FIRST PERSON, the Son as the SECOND and the Holy Spirit as the THIRD. Yet this order does not imply an order of TIME, as though the Father only is eternal. The Father is uncreated, the Son uncreated and the Holy Spirit is uncreated. The Father is eternal, without beginning; so also is the Son and so also is the Holy Spirit. The Father is the fountain of deity, not made nor begotten. The Son is begotten, not made. The Holy Spirit is not made, nor begotten, but “proceeding”. There was never a state when the Father was alone. The Son was “eternally begotten” and the Holy Spirit was eternally “proceeding”. Where the One Person is, there are the Three.
This wonder, this mystery, is comprehensible only in so far as we consider that GOD IS LOVE - pure, eternal love, without body or parts, without division or extent, without measure or dimension, transcending all space and time, yet immanent, that is, inherent, or subjective, in all. He is LOVE not as an impersonal emotion, but as a relationship of Persons in the one essence of love. LOVE must have its Subject, its Object, and its Communion and this is perfectly and eternally realised- the Godhead in Three Persons.
GOD BECOMES MAN
The incarnation (“the Word became flesh”) was the entry of God to His own creation, and this He chose to do by becoming MAN. Yet in this great descent from the highest to the lowest; from true God to true Man “with reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting”; the Only Begotten of the Father did not cease to be God. In the One Eternal Spirit, the communion of the Persons in the Godhead remained, yet He who was born of the Virgin laid aside the glory and the prerogatives of Godhead (without relinquishing them) in order that as true Man He might become the Suffering Servant of the Father and in obedience even unto death, procure in death the redemption of His people and in victory over death, never again to die, should rise in His true humanity (never to be discarded or abandoned) to the Eternal Throne. Thus the final mystery of creation is attained - the unity of Man with God in the Lordship of Creation. This was the original purpose of God in creating MAN (Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8: 4-6; Hebrews 2: 5-9).
This oneness of Man with God by which God designed eternally to reveal Himself and make Himself visible and intelligible in a communion of Eternal Love, was the subject of the Son’s last dedicatory prayer in the Upper Room on the eve of His rejection and crucifixion.
“That they all may be one; as thou Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be One, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one: and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”
John 17: 21-23.
His Hour
“Father, the hour has come….”
Because we have dealt the meaning of “hour” in previous messages I will only remind you that in John’s Gospel, His ‘hour” refers to the time of the crucifixion when atonement for sin will be made.
His “hour” was “in the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” [Acts 2:23] and His hour has now come. Before the foundation of the world, “before the world was,” in eternity past, before “time,” there was a Covenant of Redemption [Covenant of Grace] between the Persons of the Holy Trinity that The Father would give a people to the Son; that the Son would be sent from the Father and come into the world as True Man; that at His “hour” the Son would accomplish an actual salvation for His people.
Jesus did not come to offer a possible salvation that depends on man’s so-called “free will” but salvation as certain as the answer is to this very prayer. And in human space-time history those given to the Son by the Father will be convicted of sin and guilt and regenerated by the Holy Spirit and they will come to faith in Christ through the Gospel.
Do you not see why the doctrine of the Trinity is essential to your understanding of the Gospel? Your salvation and mine is not a holy “crap shoot” where God took a gamble and sent His Son to die on the cross only to make it possible that somebody just might by some accident believe in Jesus.
If this is contrary to what you have been taught please compare Scripture with Scripture and believe the Word of God and not a false teacher. Listen to what Jesus said:
John 6:35-40
35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.
37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
O my sinner friend, this is what glorifies the Father!
The glory of the Father is for the Son to give eternal life [salvation] to every sinner who was given to Jesus Christ before the world was and who will necessarily come to faith in Jesus Christ for the saving of their sin-drenched souls. That is what is to be accomplished as His “hour” has come.
Glory
Again, because we have taught the meaning of “glory” on a number of other occasions I will only briefly touch on the basics.
“Glory” takes on several connotations in our English language minds.
The Hebrews and the Greeks did not have as much trouble understanding “glory” as we do.
In Greek the word comes from doxa which comes from a root word that means “opinion”. So the higher my esteem [opinion] is for something the more “glory” there is in that object for me.
2 Corinthians 4:6
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The Greek mind goes to “opinion” but the Hebrew mind would go to the Shekinah Glory and be reminded of Moses whose face shown when he came down from Mount Sinai and they would think of the brilliance [glory] that filled the tabernacle. The Shekinah Glory.
So our English thinking should include the glory of a supremely high opinion of Jesus. Paul writes in Colossians:
Colossians 1:15-20
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
But our English thinking should also include the glory of the brilliance that was seen by Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration.
John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
And so “glory” means opinion and brilliance. It may be that Jesus includes the glory of brilliance but it is my understanding that here He primarily means that whatever you think about God the Father belongs equally to God the Son. It is the Father’s glory and the glory of the Son to save sinners.
Which set of sinners is given to the Son? Is it God’s eternal decree and purpose to save the entire human race? That is what most preachers today will tell you. God has done all that He can do and now you must make a “decision” to let God save you.
Is that even remotely close to what Jesus says in verse 2?
Power Over All Flesh
Jesus has been given authority [power] over all flesh. If Jesus intended to save everyone in the human race then He surely has the authority to do so.
Who is it that Jesus has determined to give eternal life?
As many as You [God the Father] have given to Him.
As I have said, a person may reject what the Bible says here, but it is impossible to misunderstand what it says.
If you are not able to swallow verse 2, you will surely choke on verse 9.
“I pray for them, I do not pray for the world but for those You have given Me, for they are Yours.”
Jesus has been given a people and He has the power to save them and He absolutely and surely will give to them eternal life.
Big Question?
Is it necessary for you to publicly confess faith in Jesus? Of course it is, but do not think that you have the power to exercise saving faith apart from God’s free and sovereign choice.
It comes down to this. The glory of God the Father and the glory of God the Son is the gift of eternal life to sinners; sinners who were once dead in trespasses and sins but who are now, or will be in the future, made alive by the Holy Spirit.
All Flesh
The word “flesh” takes on several meanings in the Bible. Sometimes it refers to the physical body [skin and bones and blood]. Other times “flesh” means the sinful nature. Here in the context of glory and power and eternal life, I believe “flesh” means the entire individual.
Genesis 2:23-24
23 And Adam said:
"This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man."
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
And so “flesh” has to do with our entire being, body and soul.
Eternal Life
“Eternal Life” is defined in verse 3. This is the only specific definition of eternal life that is in the Bible. “And this is eternal life, that they may know You the only True God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
And this is the only place where Christ refers to Himself as Jesus Christ.
He most often refers to Himself as the “Son of Man” or the “Son of God.”
What does it mean to “Know God”?
Jesus told the Pharisees who were perhaps most religious men who ever lived, that they did not know God. [Cf. John 8:55]
“To know God and to know Christ is a matter of revelation, and this revealing act of the Holy Spirit is given only where there is repentance: “Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes.” (Matthew 11:25)
“The divine Being is known absolutely only to One who is Himself deity, which is another way of saying that God can only be known truly by Himself. “No man knoweth the Son but the Father: neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27).
“These verses are invincible testimony to the Biblical doctrine of God and the true deity of Christ the Son. If only the Son knows the Father, then the Son is not only God in His own right but (seeing the words are His own) He enjoyed in the days of His incarnation the full knowledge and self-consciousness of Himself as God and in Him (who was both Son of Man and Son of God in one glorious Person) the full deity dwells in complete and perfect manifestation.
“The revelation of deity to man is evangelical in its nature - that is, it is fundamental to man’s salvation. Where the soul is not receptive to this testimony, the cause is to be found in pride of heart and the love of sin.” (Charles D. Alexander)
Knowing the Only True God
So what is the only way to eternal life? “And this is eternal life, that they may know You the only True God, and Jesus Christ the only True God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
“… the only True God, and Jesus Christ….”
The reason that I believe a correct conception of the Trinity is so vital is because there is only one True God and God is savingly revealed only in the person of Jesus Christ.
We must know Jesus Christ as co-eternal with God the Father:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” [John 1:1]
We must not disparage the glory of Jesus Christ by allowing that there are other ways to the Father.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” [John 14:6]
That is why it is so disturbing to me to hear anyone, especially those who claim to be Christian, make flippant remarks and blasphemous jokes using the name of Jesus. One of the worst expressions of ignorance of God, at least to me, is when someone says, “Oh my God, Oh my God,” when they have no reverent thoughts of Jesus Christ.
Clearly Jesus is saying that He is God and eternal life is to “know the only true God AND Jesus Christ.”
“… whom You have sent.”
Many times I have pointed out how often Jesus stresses that He is the Sent One of God. The OT Scriptures told of a future Messiah who would be sent down from heaven to redeem a people from their sins. In Chapter 6, especially, as well as other places, Jesus says that He is the One whom God has sent. E.g., John 6:39-40
The Finished Work
“I have glorified You on earth. I have finished the work You have given Me to do.”
In Romans Chapter 4, Paul makes the argument that Abraham was not justified by works. Abraham and all of his faithful spiritual children who make up the Israel of God are justified by faith and not by works.
But we are saved by "works," the Work of the Son of God.
What is the “work” that Jesus means here?
We read in Colossians that Jesus is the Creator and Sustainer of everything that is not God.
Colossians 1:16
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
The last thing that John writes in this Gospel says:
John 21:25
And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
There is the sense that everything that God says and does is through Jesus Christ. But in a more narrow sense Jesus is referring to His hour when He will go to the cross and shed His blood as atonement for sin.
The work here must be His obedience unto death, even the death of the cross. But Jesus says He has finished the work and He has not yet gone to the cross.
That He will complete His work given by the Father is as certain as if it has already been done. When Paul writes to give assurance to believers:
Romans 8:28-30
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Are you a believer in Jesus Christ?
Are you glorified? Not yet you say.
Here is assurance. If you are in Christ Jesus it is as certain that you will be glorified as if it were already done.
Here is assurance. All those given to Christ by the Father will have eternal life. Because Jesus has all authority and power and because God the Father has given to Him a people from before the foundation of the world and because Jesus has prayed this prayer that it is for the glory of the Father and the Son that His people have eternal life, what more can be said?
Christ’s atoning work is finished. What shameful audacity it is for anyone to preach that there is something that you must do beyond belief in Jesus Christ “in order to” be saved.
You may believe in Jesus and trust in your works of obedience for merit and go to hell for your trouble.
My test question for anyone who says that they trust Christ alone is this.
What will you give up and still have the hope of eternal life?
Will you forsake your membership in a local church?
Will you despise any trust in your personal obedience for merit?
Will you agree that you do not have to be baptized in order to be saved?
Do not misunderstand me. You should be under the disciple of a local church. You must strive for personal holiness. You should submit to believer’s baptism. But as far as trusting in these excellent things, I will count them all for loss.
But I cannot forsake my faith in the finished work of Christ.
Glory Past; Glory Present; Glory Future
John 17:5
And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
The Son of God as the second person of the Trinity, shared equally in the glory of the Godhead before, as the Word, He became flesh and dwelt among us. Although His visible glory was veiled by His humanity in pure humility yet there were those who saw His glory even while He was here and “walked among the prophets.”
Jesus has arisen from the grave according to the Scriptures and is now at the right hand of the Father making intercession for His people. He is indeed in a glorified state. [Romans 8:34]
We will conclude this message with a comment on Hebrews 13:7-9:
7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Glory Past; Glory Present; Glory Future
9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
There is an interesting thought in the Hebrews 13:7-9 passage:
7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.
They can change, so observe their conduct.
9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines.
Correct doctrine will not change but be aware of various and strange doctrines that can carry you away into heresy and a denial of the truth.
But what, or rather Who does not change?
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
There is His “Glory Past; Glory Present; Glory Future.”
We preach the Gospel and we call on sinners to trust Jesus Christ. We do not know nor do we need to know how the Holy Spirit uses the word of the Gospel to convict of sin and brings sinners to repentance and commitment to Jesus Christ. But this I do know, that you are called on to confess Jesus Christ in a public manner and to follow Him in believer’s baptism.
The method that this local body of Christ believes to be closest to the order of the Bible is that a person should meet with the elders of the church. This meeting is not an infallible way to determine the genuineness of a person’s confession but it is surely better than what is done today in most Baptist churches in America.
Amen
Sola Scriptura 
