4 I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
Message: Jesus Prays to Be Glorified
Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."
What the Lord is Saying: The Tabletalk reading for this lesson talks about how Jesus set aside or veiled his divinity on earth multiple times and that is why this speaks to the idea of Jesus being glorified. And so here when He speaks of asking the Father to glorify Himself He is asking God to allow His divine glory to be seen again.
It was veiled as has fulfilled his mission to provide eternal life to the elect. Atonement is required with the human nature; humanity can suffer, but God cannot.
Yesterday in Sunday School our teacher asked us to mention things in our faith that remain difficult to understand - and we mentioned many different things. This to me is one of them - understand how the divine nature and human nature work together with Jesus. How can he be both? And when was He both? Other questions were asked like free will and sovereignty. I also mentioned what is the age of accountability. There is also the problem of evil or suffering.
But with this idea of a human nature and divine one. Could it be that most of Jesus' time on earth or all of it was according to His human nature? And perhaps it was the Father working through Him always even as He did divine things like walk on water or understand what a person is thinking or motivates that person. Even when healing was done, was it God manifesting Himself through Jesus or was Jesus acting according to His nature. So this idea that His divine nature was veiled or set aside does seem congruent.
Back in John 13:31-32, I saw this idea of the glorification of Jesus for the first time here in John. I saw in that lesson multiple passages that speak of God's glory. And that Jesus was our opportunity to see God's glory. The purpose of our life is to glorify God. In verse 31, "Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him."" Jesus' mission is fulfilled. It mentions that "now" or not earlier, but now is the Son of Man glorified.
In verse 4, Jesus prays to the Father, "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do." Jesus has been perfectly obedience on the earth. In the same way that I myself now live and act and seek to Glorify God on this earth, this is what Jesus did on the earth, in all He did, glorified God on the earth.
Albert Barnes (1798-1870) states, "He had preached to the Jews; he had given them full proof that he was the Messiah; he had collected his disciples; he had taught them the nature of his religion; he had given them his parting counsel, and there was nothing remaining to be done but to return to God." Thus, he finished the work God had given Him to do. He speaks as if the work on the cross had already been doing because for Him it had been done.
Verse 5 Jesus prays words to the Father, expressing or asking that God would glorify Himself, would return to Him the divine glory that He possessed with the Father when the world began. These are clear words of divinity and it makes sense that Islam would not accept these words. As it states in verse 5, "Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." These words are incredible. And very similar to John 13:31, but adds that Jesus previously had this glory, but his role was probably different. Now His role is to be mediator between God and Man, providing our atonement on the cross.
What great words of comfort these are and how they explain to me so much of God becoming a man, in order to be an earth mediator between God and man and bring people to eternal life. Yes, Jesus did it all. He came with authority and power, showing us the truth of the Gospel message of salvation and yet also showing us that a full life is in Christ, living in Christ - being born again, embracing the bread of life, the water of life, the temple of Jesus' body, our Great Shepherd who guides us. We are to embrace Jesus, be in Jesus.
Summary: Jesus now prays that God's glory, which He possessed before the world was, would be returned to Him and that Glory would be with God the Father.
Promise: Christ has to be glorified in His humanity in order to dwell before God's face as the incarnate Mediator.
Prayer: O Father God, you are rich in mercy and love towards me. You have given me life, abundant life through the work of Jesus on this earth and His completion of being glorified in the cross at Calvary. You came to bring us all eternal life and living with You as our sustenance is how I am to live now. Thank you that I can experience God's acceptance because of the work You did. And thank you for bringing me alongside You. God, you are to be praised. You are to be glorified.
Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.
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