John 17:1

DISCOURSE: 1707
OUR LORD’S PRAYER TO BE GLORIFIED ON EARTH

John 17:1. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.

THE work of intercession belongs to Christ, as the High-Priest of his Church. We know not the precise manner in which He carries it on within the vail, but we may form some idea of it from the specimen recorded in this chapter. He had given all the instructions necessary for the support and comfort of his Disciples; and now, in their hearing, concluded with this sublime and pathetic prayer; but before he interceded for them, he offered one petition for himself.
In explaining the words before us, we shall consider,

I. Our Lord’s request—

His outward gesture corresponded with the feelings of his heart. Deeply affected with his own condition, he presented a request well suited to his circumstances. It imported,

1. That his Father should bear testimony to him in his trouble—

[Jesus was now to endure all possible indignities, as an impostor. On this account he more than ever needed a testimony on his behalf; and God, in answer to this request, gave ample testimony to his Messiahship [Note: He caused both him that betrayed, and him that condemned, our Lord, to attest his innocence; and made even the inanimate creation to bear witness to him.]

2. That he should support him under it—

[As man, our Lord needed the supports of Divine grace: and these he was to obtain, like ourselves, by fervent prayer. Nor was his application for them made to his Father in vain. Under his most accumulated distresses, both of body and soul, he was kept unspotted with the slightest stain of sin or error [Note: John 13:31.]

3. That he should bring him out of it—

[Had there been no interposition of the Deity to rescue him from his disgrace, his enemies would have had reason to triumph; but God delivered him from the grave, and exalted him to glory, and made those very precautions, that were used to ascertain and expose his imposture, the means of establishing the truth which they were intended to subvert.]

4. That he should render it effectual to the salvation of men—

[Without this, all our Lord’s sufferings would have been in vain. But while he yet hanged on the cross, the saving efficacy of his death was shewn; and speedily after his ascension, multitudes flocked to him, as doves to their windows.]
These things being necessary to the glorifying of himself, Jesus taught them with becoming earnestness—

II.

The pleas with which he enforced it—

Our own necessity and God’s glory are among the most powerful pleas which can be urged. Such were those with which our Lord enforced his petition;

1. His own necessity, “The hour is come”—

[The hour alluded to was the season of his sufferings and death. This had been fixed from eternity in the Divine counsels, and had been foretold and typified from the beginning of the world. Till its arrival, none of his enemies could lay hands on him; but now men and devils, yea, and God himself, were to concur in afflicting him. What a weighty reason was this for his petition! He had been ordained by the Father himself to those sufferings. The weight which he was to sustain was inconceivably great. The smallest failure on his part would defeat the end of his mission: nor could any thing less than the most miraculous testimonies counterbalance the offence of the cross. Under such circumstances, the Father could not but answer this seasonable request.]

2. His Father’s glory—

[The Father’s glory was deeply interested in the event of that hour. His justice was to be honoured, and a way was to be opened for the free exercise of his mercy. To effect this, was the great object of our Lord’s desire, both in life and in death; and it was this, which, above all, stimulated him to present the petition before us [Note: As Elijah, at the hour of Evening Sacrifice, felt jealous for God’s honour (1 Kings 18:36), so did our Lord at this time.]. And could there possibly be a more weighty and prevailing argument? The Father could not but desire the advancement of his own glory: he could not but wish his own eternal counsels fulfilled: he could not but approve the means which he himself had appointed to that end: he could not but delight to glorify his Son, who was, in such an humiliating way, endeavouring to glorify him.]

Let this subject lead us to view Jesus,
1.

As our Saviour—

[For us did he agree that that dreadful hour should come; and to us he looks, that we may join with the Father in glorifying him. And shall we not glorify him, by trusting in his blood and righteousness? Shall we not proclaim to the whole world, that he is our only hope and refuge? O let him see of the travail of his soul! let him save us from the wrath to come!]

2. As our example—

[He knew, and could fully estimate the weight of, his impending sufferings. Nor could it fail but that his human nature should shrink back from them; yet he submitted to them, that his Father might be glorified [Note: John 12:27.]

Let us in like manner be resigned to the trials that are allotted us—

[When our hour shall come, let us look to him as our example. Let us consider Him, lest we be weary and faint in our minds. Let us welcome whatever comes to us by the Divine appointment. Let us desire that God may be glorified in us, whether by life or death. Thus shall we be honoured and comforted in the midst of our sufferings; and after them be rewarded with a proportionable weight of glory.]