His Glorious Hour

We need to approach John 17 knowing a couple of things. The first thing we need to know is that John’s account in chapter 17 of His Gospel is the only one of its kind. “The High Priestly Prayer” is found NOWHERE else besides that of John’s Gospel! So, when you read John 17, remember that you are gazing your eyes upon a goldmine of truth. The second thing we need to know is exactly what we are reading in John 17. Many people glance over this passage of Scripture when Easter time approaches because the events that transpire from the Lord’s Supper to the Resurrection are widely accepted as the “Easter Story.” There is no error in that. However, we do find additional sweet truths that add to the immense weight of glory that is found in the story of Easter in John 17. So, in saying that, I want to spend some brief time helping you see and take in some of those peculiar, heavy, sweet, and glorious truths about our Mighty Lord, Christ!

I chose the first verse as a point of emphasis for this article because if you were to pick a single verse to capture the essence of the passage, the first verse is what you would pick out to do so. In this sacred scene with the darkest of dooms approaching fulfillment, we see Christ pray to the Father for one thing; GLORIFICATION. Now, one may accuse Jesus of making a selfish request. However, such an accusation couldn’t be further from the truth! Jesus’s petition to the Father to be glorified is the most SELFLESS request that could be made, for two reasons. The first reason is what Jesus is meaning by being glorified. Notice he begins by saying “the hour has come.” You may have read that and responded by asking yourself, “What makes this hour in particular any different than any other previous hour that Jesus has endured in his life?” That question is not answered by a word, but by an object... “The Old Rugged Cross”!

Think about it, we’re talking about the power of Christ here! Only He can make something as horrific to man’s eye as the Cross, an instrument of glory to God’s eye! Jesus knew the will of the Father from before the foundations of the world were laid. He knew what was coming, when it was coming, and how it was coming. In the three years leading up to its arrival, Jesus prepared the disciples on numerous occasions that “the hour is coming” and it wasn’t preparation for glory displayed by a celebratory festival in His honor. Rather, it was preparation for glory displayed by a celebration of savagery at the sight of His bloodshed.

This leads to the second glorious truth we see about our glorious Savior in this glorious hour, the reason WHY Jesus made this selfless petition. In order for the Father to be glorified in His great wisdom and his plan of salvation, The Son had to make it possible by being the Lamb who would take away the sins of the world. Not only did He have to make it possible, He DESIRED to make it possible. He PRAYED to make it possible! Without Jesus being made sin and nailed to the tree, being raised from the grave, and the defeat of Hell and Death being solidified forevermore, there is no salvation of man. The blood from the sacrifice for ALL sins for ALL His beloved HAD to be pure enough to please the Almighty, All righteous, All holy, All good, All just God. And as Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:19 “but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot,” Jesus is the only One with such pure blood.

Interestingly enough, to point further in just how miraculously God reveals His glory through the most unlikely of places, we find that there is only one who witnessed, understood, and appropriately responded to the embodiment of Jesus’s prayer beginning in John 17:1, by recognizing the GLORY in the GORY Christ… his crucified neighbor. Luke 23:42 (ESV) quotes the thief as saying, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Folks, if you get anything from this article, I want you to read John 17:1 alone and see, grasp, feel, and know the loving, selfless, gracious, merciful, beautiful, and glorious heart of Christ-a heart that has been poured out TO you and ON you and FOR you. I pray that every inch of your heart, your mind, your soul, and your being is SOAKED in this fountain of truth as you head into this blessed and glorious Easter Sunday 2023.