Daily Devotions
John
John 17 : 1 - 26 "AN EARLIER PRAYER ON THE SUBJECT OF "THE HOUR"
Day 250 – John 17
AN EARLIER PRAYER ON THE SUBJECT OF “THE HOUR”
Jesus had offered a quick spontaneous prayer on a previous occasion concerning “the hour”. For just the briefest moment, His soul was troubled. Quickly He prayed and said,
“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?
‘Father, save Me from this hour?’
But for this purpose I came to this hour.
Father, glorify Your Name.'”
John 12:27-28a
Swiftly the Father replied to comfort and encourage Jesus. He replied,
“I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”
John 12:28b
A GROWING CONSCIOUSNESS IN JESUS OF THE HOUR OF HIS DEATH
The understanding of the hour of His death grew on Jesus. John recorded this consciousness in the following text.
“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew
that His hour had come that He should depart from this world
to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world,
He loved them to the end.”
John 13:1
It is natural that this consciousness of the hour of His death should grow on Him. The significant thing to note is that the thought of the suffering and the pain that He would have to endure did not affect Him adversely in any way! He remained calm and focused all the way to the end.
THE HOUR OF CHRIST’S SUFFERING WOULD RESULT IN THE SCATTERING OF THE DISCIPLES
The hour of Christ’s death had many other implications. One of them was the fact that the Disciples would fail the test of courage. They would become so disheartened and fearful at the arrest of Jesus they would flee for their lives. Solemnly Jesus gave His Disciples warning of this event.
“Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come,
that you will be scattered. each to his own,
and will leave Me alone.”
John 16:32
There was no blame in the voice of Jesus. There was just a tinge of sadness that things had to come to this!
A PRAYER CONCERNING THE GLORIFYING OF THE FATHER
The reference to “the hour” was not used cryptically anymore. Jesus was obviously referring to the hour of His destiny. It was going to involve much pain and suffering. It was going to end up with His crucifixion. He had known all these things right from the start. He was unafraid of the ordeal that lay before Him.
Jesus refused to take anything for granted. Even as He approached the hour of His suffering, He knew that He should commit everything into the hands of His Father. As He lifted up His eyes to His Father in heaven, He breathed these words.
“Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You.”
John 17:1b
The glorifying of the Father was Jesus’ main concern. The Father’s glorification however was tied in with the way Jesus conducted Himself. There was a special link between the Son and the Father.
CONSCIOUS DESIRE TO GLORIFY GOD’S NAME
Jesus was always so conscious of the glory of His Father’s Name. Always He sought to glorify His Name. In everything He did, He sought only to honour and glorify His Father’s Name. He determined that the hour of His death should not but glorify His Father’s name as well.
This was not the first time Jesus uttered this thought in prayer. In a spontaneous prayer made in public, after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus said,
“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.”
“Father, glorify Your Name…”
John 12:23, 28
How deeply moving this prayer was! The only concern that Jesus had in His mind at the threshold of His hour of suffering was to glorify His Father’s beloved Name.
DEEP ROOTS OF THIS DESIRE TO GLORIFY GOD’S NAME
Why was Jesus so concerned about the glorifying of God’s Name? Let us take time to trace the roots of this thought.
Let us consider an old Levitical teaching that was all but forgotten by the priesthood in the days of Jesus.
The Levitical priesthood was an old institution. All Levites were taught they must always seek to glorify God in all they did. When they failed to do so, they sin grievously.
“By those who come near Me, I must be regarded as holy;
And before all the people, I must be glorified.”
Leviticus 10:3
The sons of Aaron had failed God miserably. Few priests had ever been conscious of this need to glorify God. Jesus, the great High Priest would not fail! He will seek to glorify His Father’s Name to the very end.