“Jesus Came to Reveal His Glory”
(John 17:1-5)
It’s clear from the Bible that the apostle John was the closest to Jesus. He appears to be the one Jesus loved the most and in his writing we see an intimacy that we don’t see in the other gospels. This is especially true in the high priestly prayer that is recorded in John chapter 17. This is found in none of the other three gospels for some reason, but it is probably the best glimpse we have into the heart of Jesus, and is the last recorded public prayer of the Saviour before he’s arrested.
In the first 5 verses of this prayer the words glory and glorify are mentioned five times, and in the entire book of John these words are found 33 times. So the glory of God and Christ’s desire to glorify Him is a major theme of the book of John. Let’s read those first five verses…
As this prayer continues, we see that he is praying for us, the people who believe and will believe in Him. That God would keep us safe from the evil one if we are to stay in the world. If you think about that, he is about to go through a very horrid period of torture and hatred and momentary separation from God. He has already left his place in heaven to come and experience human life in a fallen, evil world for 33 years. He’s obviously very excited about the possibility of returning to heaven, but his focus is on praying for us.
He isn’t saying God please get me out of here as soon as possible, so I can leave all these folks behind and have what is rightfully mine again. It’s almost as if he’s reluctant to leave unless he can know for sure that those he leaves behind will be alright. He really loves the sheep that he has been given.
So how does Jesus glorify the Father?
I. By Coming to Earth
This is the first thing, and the thing that makes Christmas almost more emotional for me than Easter. Yes he died and was raised at Easter, but that was actually the end of His suffering forever. To me the act of surrendering his position to come be born as a baby with all the human limitations, into this cruel world, knowing what his life would be like, is a far greater sacrifice. When Jesus was born the angels announced it saying “Glory to God in the highest”.
God is the Almighty One. But he is also Immanuel. If you want a balanced picture of God, you’ve got to juxtapose those two names. He is God Most High and God With Us. He exists beyond the limits of time and space, but he’s also Immanuel—God with us.
This is illustrated well by a story A. C. Dixon shares:
A friend of mine who was quite a lover of the hunt told me the following story.
Rising early one morning, he said, “I heard the barking of a number of dogs chasing a deer. Looking at a large open field in front of me, I saw a young fawn making its way across the field and giving signs that its race was almost run. It leaped over the rails of the enclosed place and crouched within ten feet of where I stood. A moment later two of the hounds came over, and the fawn ran in my direction and pushed its head between my legs. I lifted the little thing to my breast, and, swinging round and round, fought off the dogs. Just then I felt that all the dogs in the West could not and would not capture that fawn after its weakness had appealed to my strength.”
So is it when human helplessness appeals to Almighty God. I remember well when the hounds of sin were after my soul that at last I ran into the arms of Almighty God. God entered space and time 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem. He is knowable.
He came to earth so we could know him and learn to be like Him and he says as he glorifies the Father, we will glorify him when we truly follow Him. He says I am glorified in them in verse 10 of John 17.
What a statement!
Jesus says he brought the Father glory by doing the work he was given to do, and he asks that the Father would bring him back into the glory they shared before the world existed. If that isn’t a claim that he is part of the triune God, I don’t know what is. But he says I am glorified in those you gave me, just as you are glorified by me.
When we receive eternal life from Jesus and are sanctified by him, we bring glory to him. That is the rebirth we have which is similar to his birth when he came to earth. So we first glorify him by being reborn and receiving eternal life.
Why does that glorify him? Because it is the first step in becoming like him.
Peter says in the first chapter of his first letter, that when our faith is tested by fire through trials it may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The second way he glorifies the Father is:
II. By Obeying the Father
In verse 4 Jesus very clearly says that another way he glorified the Father is by doing the work he was given to do. Let’s just take that generally at first. Jesus says in John 5:19 that he only does what he sees the Father doing, he does nothing by himself. He is able to do this because of His unity with the Father through the Holy Spirit.
Therefore it is logical that for us to glorify Jesus we are to desire and will ourselves to follow the Holy Spirit and do what Jesus wants us to do. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we do exactly the same things Jesus did. That may be part of it. But he may give us each other specific things to do.
Jesus greatest desire was to glorify the Father, and it’s expected that our greatest desire would be to glorify the Son.
That’s why if you are truly a Christian, you will not feel good if you do something that dishonours Jesus. The Holy Spirit will immediately convict you and you will want to make it right. Jesus didn’t make mistakes, he did not have a sinful nature but we do. And frankly often we glorify Jesus more by what we do after we mess up, than by always being perfectly obedient.
When we forgive someone after holding a grudge, when we apologize after hurting someone else, and so on. When we do things in the will of God that the majority of people don’t do, we can glorify Jesus. And of course if we are lucky enough to be a part of a healing or other miracle and we give credit to Jesus, that glorifies him too.
If you look at Jesus life, he glorified the Father by being different from the average cultural expectation.
So when you are following Jesus, you will notice that often you will be going against cultural norms. Think of Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty or the couple in England who lost their Bed and breakfast because they would not allow two gay men, or any unmarried couples to sleep together under their roof.
This glorifies Jesus and may lead to some discomfort or persecution, and that is one of the best signs that you are in the will of Jesus. This is why he asks for protection for us after he talks about us glorifying Him. He says that the world hates them because they do not belong to the world. He says make them holy by your truth through the word.
Then in verse 22 he makes the amazing claim that he has given us his glory so that we may be one as Him and the Father are one, for the purpose of the world believing that the Father sent him.
Twice he says that, “so that the world will know that you sent me”. That is our purpose according to Jesus, as it was for Him, to let the world know that the God of the universe sent Jesus Christ to earth to save us all. And that’s what Christmas is all about.
And this leads to the third way that Jesus glorified the Father:
III. By Dying on the Cross
This is most often what Jesus refers to when he talks about being glorified himself. In verse 2 he say the hour has come, Glorify your son so he can glorify the Father. Jesus death and resurrection are the ultimate way that he glorified the Father. By willingly sacrificing his life for all mankind.
This is the one thing we cannot do. We glorify Jesus by letting others know about his sacrifice, but we cannot do what he did. We can certainly be martyred for his cause but we cannot save anyone with our death.
He says he wishes that we would stay in the world, not leave it like he did. So at first glance it seems like this way of glorifying Him does not have relevance for us, but in fact it is very relevant because we are to be witnesses of eternal life.
Jesus death and resurrection proved that he is eternal life. Verse three says that this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
One day we also will be glorified as Jesus was into eternity, but we already have eternal life in us and are to be witnesses of this; how?
According to Romans, it is by being a living sacrifice, by dying to self and being sacrificially loving toward our fellow man. This is how they will know that you are my disciples and therefore you will glorify me, by loving one another.
Listen to John 13 starting in verse 31, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. (This is right after he tells Judas to go do what he must do). If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once or immediately.”
Then he gives the new commandment that you love one another as I have loved you, and by this all people will know that you are my disciples. Is that how people know you are a disciple of Christ? That is the question that burns in my soul.
Do people know that I am a disciple of Christ by my love for them, or is it because I go to church, or because I’m a pastor? I truly hope that is not the only way anyone knows any of us are Jesus’ disciples, just because we go to church on Sundays. If we can’t honestly say that our love for each other is the obvious way we are identified as Christians, then we must get honest with ourselves about this and get to know Jesus better and pray that we are in him and him in us.
Honestly, when I think back to before I became a Christian, that wouldn’t be the first thought that came to mind when I entered a church or met most Christians. And having seen the darker side of churches over the years, yes I have met many very loving people in the church, but I also knew many very loving people who didn’t know Jesus. If this is supposed to be our distinctive feature why is it that it doesn’t seem to be the case for the most part?
Could it be that most people who call themselves Christians, claimed the name of Christ solely for their own benefit, but never did count the cost? That being a Christian is really more of a selfish thing than anything else? That though the Spirit of salvation may be in us we have never really welcomed the influence or baptism of the Holy Spirit that makes us more and more like Christ? I’ll be talking about the controversial baptism of the Holy Spirit next Sunday because I think it’s important if we are to be what Jesus called us to be, and if we really want to glorify Him with our lives.
So I would like to allow us to enjoy the beauty of this season, and celebrate the wonders of God’s glory in Jesus this Christmas. Rest in Him, find peace in the prince of peace for the next week or so. But come ready to be transformed by him as we move into the New Year. To be a spirit filled follower and disciple of Jesus Christ. Someone who people will notice as filled with Christ even if they don’t know you are a Christian, or that you go to church.
Our journey through Ephesians starting in January will show you who you really are in Christ, and my prayer is that we will actually become more what we are. Let me show you a little preview of our New Year series…
I think that may be one of the reasons we struggle with glorifying Christ with our lives, because we are not really clear about our identity in Him. Hopefully this series will help us with that.
