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Glorifying
“After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said,
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you...”
John 17:1

I grew up watching college football. Saturdays in the fall were particularly special: the crisp autumn air, the bright hues of foliage, the pre-game pageantry and, of course, rooting for my team. As good as these things were, I found something even better when I got to college. I would often sneak around the bushes and watch the mid-week practices. For me, this was more interesting because it allowed me to listen in on the dialogue that the coaches had with their players. In John 17, known as the Highly Priestly Prayer, we get to “listen in” on a conversation that Jesus has with His Father. It offers not only a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Jesus’ prayer life, but an audience to a divine family conversation.

Jesus prefaces His prayer by saying, “...the hour has come.” Prior to this point in Jesus’s ministry, the time had not come. Several places in John’s Gospel, Jesus says as much (John 2:4, 7:30, 8:20). Now the time has come and Jesus knows this. His redemptive work is about to reach its climax. He will soon die, be raised and ascend to Heaven.

And because of this, Jesus asks the Father to “glorify” Him that He might “glorify” the Father. What does Jesus mean by this? Eugene Peterson’s New Testament translation, The Message, offers a helpful rendering of Jesus’ request. “Display the bright splendor of your Son. So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor. Jesus knows that He will soon be ridiculed. From the world’s perspective, dying on a cross was shameful, but from God’s perspective, Jesus’ crucifixion was an instrument of His glorification. In light of this, Jesus petitions His Father to “display,” or to “show,” the world His true divine magnificence–“bright splendor.”

This was not a selfish request by Jesus, but selfless one. His desire was, through His own glorification, that the Father would in turn be glorified. It is a beautiful reminder that Jesus’ humiliation led ultimately to exaltation, “...He humbled himself...Therefore God has highly exalted him...” Philippians 2:8-9

And so it is with the Christian life. Our own humiliation—all the suffering and hardship that we endure--ultimately leads to something good; that is exaltation. This is an important reminder because, despite what happens to us in this life, our struggles are not in vain.
The Rev. Alex D. Graham III
Associate for Children and Family Ministries
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