This post is part of a 40-day journey following Jesus in his prayer life. We’ll explore virtually every reference in the Gospels to Jesus and prayer. For a more in-depth treatment, see my book Prayers from the Pit.
“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me’” (John 17:1-8 ESV).
Jesus acknowledges that “The hour has come.” In other words, “It’s time to die.” It is the darkest moment of Jesus’ life. “It’s time to die.”
Yet rather than express a complaint (which would be well-deserved) Jesus expresses courage: “Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.” “Glory” and “glorify” are important words in John. They are found more than thirty times in John’s Gospel. They are used ten times in Jesus’ prayer from John 17.
Here, the words carry two possible meanings. First, Jesus may be praying for God to exalt him. He may be asking God to follow his inglorious death on the cross with a glorious resurrection from the tomb. Second, Jesus may be praying for God to reveal himself through these events. In the Old Testament, God’s glory is used to describe his visible manifestation (e.g., Ex. 16:7, 10). What people see when they see God is his glory. Jesus thus may be praying that through the crucifixion and resurrection, people will see God’s glory. People will see God.
Both meanings point in the same direction: Jesus prays that through this painful time, God will bring the best from the bad. He asks that God will bring triumph from tragedy. He begs God to let the Story end spectacularly.
The word “glory” carried then, as it does now, the hint of light. Something that is glorious is something that is full of light. Jesus prays that out of this darkness, God will bring light.
Is there darkness in your life right now? Is there some hour you are enduring with great difficulty? Pray for God to bring triumph where you see only tragedy. Pray for God to bring the best from the bad. Pray for the Story to end spectacularly. Pray for God to bring light into the darkness.
