The Son's Glory: Eternal Life Through Relational Knowledge of God
Through the cross, the Son restores eternal glory and secures eternal life.
John 17:1–5 (BSB)
1 When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.
2 For You granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him.
3 Now 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 earth by accomplishing the work You gave Me to do.
5 And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed.
What is the big idea of John 17:1–5?
Through the cross, the Son restores eternal glory and secures eternal life.
How does John 17:1–5 point to Christ?
Standing at the threshold of the cross, Jesus prays to complete the work of redemption, securing eternal life for all who know the Father through Him and restoring the glory He shared before the world began.
How does John 17:1–5 relate to the life and ministry of Jesus?
This is Jesus’ prayer on the threshold of His arrest, trial, crucifixion, resurrection, and return to the Father. John does not narrate a Gethsemane agony in the same way the Synoptics do; instead, he records this extended prayer in which Jesus consciously embraces the hour as the path of glory, life-giving authority, and mission completion.
Authorial Intent
To reveal the Son’s prayer for glorification and define eternal life through relational knowledge of God.
Literary Context
John 17:1-5 opens Jesus’ prayer after the Farewell Discourse of John 13-16 and before the arrest narrative in John 18. The transition, 'After Jesus said this,' ties the prayer directly to His promise of peace in the world He has overcome. The opening unit is the prayer’s Christological foundation: before Jesus intercedes for the disciples and future believers, He prays concerning His own glorification, mission, authority, and preexistent fellowship with the Father.
Historical Context
Jesus speaks after the Farewell Discourse, likely still in the setting of the last evening with His disciples before the arrest described in John 18. The immediate context is Passover, betrayal, imminent scattering, and Jesus’ conscious movement toward the hour. The prayer’s upward gaze reflects a public, audible prayer before the disciples, forming them to understand the Passion not as defeat but as the Father-Son mission reaching its appointed climax.
Chapter: John 17
The Son’s High Priestly Prayer: Glory, Preservation, Sanctification, Unity, Mission, and Love
Jesus, having completed the Father’s work, prays that the Father would glorify him through the cross, preserve and sanctify his disciples in the truth, unite all believers in divine love, and bring them to behold his glory forever.