John 17:1

My Notes

What Does John 17:1 Mean?

John 17:1 opens the most sacred prayer in the Bible — Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, spoken aloud in the presence of His disciples on the night of His arrest. "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven" — ēren tous ophthalmous autou eis ton ouranon. The physical posture matters: eyes lifted, face upward, body oriented toward the Father. The prayer isn't internal. It's spoken. It's visible. The disciples watch Jesus pray — and what they hear is the most intimate conversation between Father and Son ever recorded.

"Father, the hour is come" — pater, elēluthen hē hōra. Throughout John's Gospel, Jesus has said "mine hour is not yet come" (2:4, 7:30, 8:20). Now: it has come. Elēluthen — perfect tense — it has arrived and is now present. The hour Jesus has been moving toward since eternity is here. The cross is hours away.

"Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee" — doxason sou ton huion, hina ho huios doxasē se. The request is stunning: glorify Me. In any other mouth, this would be arrogance. In Jesus' mouth, it's theology. The Son's glorification — through the cross and resurrection — is the mechanism by which the Father is glorified. The cross isn't humiliation that needs to be compensated by later glory. The cross IS the glory. The death is the glorification. The Son is most glorified when He's most sacrificial, because that's when the Father's love is most visible.

The mutual glorification — Son glorifies Father, Father glorifies Son — is the heartbeat of the Trinity made audible in a single sentence.

Reflection Questions

• 1.How does Jesus praying for glory on the night of His arrest change your definition of glory?
• 2.What does it mean that the cross IS the glorification — not something before or after it?
• 3.How does the mutual glorification of Father and Son (each glorifying the other) shape your understanding of the Trinity?
• 4.If Jesus' most glorious moment was His most sacrificial, what does that say about your own pursuit of glory?

Devotional

Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy Son.

Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven — and He prays for glory. On the night He'll be arrested. Hours before He'll be tortured. Within a day of His death. And His prayer isn't: save Me, help Me, get Me through this. It's: glorify Me. Because for Jesus, the cross isn't the obstacle to glory. It's the pathway.

That inverts everything you think about glory. Glory, in human terms, means being elevated, celebrated, seen at your best. Jesus says glory looks like being nailed to wood. The Son is glorified when He gives His life. The Father is glorified when the Son gives His life. The most glorious moment in the history of the universe isn't a throne room scene. It's a crucifixion.

"That thy Son also may glorify thee." The glorification is mutual and inseparable. The Son can't glorify the Father without being glorified Himself. The Father can't glorify the Son without being glorified in return. They're a closed circuit of self-giving love, and the cross is where the circuit completes.

This prayer was spoken out loud. Jesus wanted the disciples to hear it. He wanted them — and you — to know that what was about to happen wasn't a tragedy. It was the hour. The hour everything had been building toward. The hour when glory and sacrifice fused into a single act. And the prayer that launched it was the simplest, most profound request ever made: Father, glorify Your Son. Because that's how You'll be glorified too.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture