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by Eric Hansen

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

This is the start of John 17, so it’s a continuation of chapter 16, but just in these 6 verses we can see where Christ’s focus is in his ministry. Even when He’s talking about Himself, He’s really directing the focus onto the Father.

Jesus is drawing His strength to go through with whatever may come next from God (“Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”) This is like the old adage “help me help you,” but on a whole different level. Not only is the ask and return the act of help, but it’s glory. Yet, how did God glorify Jesus? He was sent through the flogging, bearing of the cross, death, and resurrection. However, as the prayer was answered, Jesus was able to glorify God because of all that He went through due to it being God’s will for mankind’s sake.

Also note here that Jesus didn’t ask for things to be easy. There was no quantifiable condition here at all, just “Whatever it is, Father, bless me with the strength to get through it so people know you love them.” Often, we can find ourselves asking to glorify God but only if it’s easy, painless, and we can stay in our pajamas. I’m just as guilty as the next person with this. It’s easier writing an article compared to talking to strangers face-to-face, and this world is definitely not making it any easier to sacrifice myself to glorify God in that way. But as we go through this chapter of John 17, we’ll see a few recurring themes, one of them being that Christ never takes His focus off of God.

One thing Christians might struggle with, especially when we account for doctrinal and traditional beliefs, is receiving eternal life. There are sects that follow a “works only” or a “works and faith” view on this, and then there are those who view it as “faith only.” Whenever possible in these situations, I look to the words of Jesus to know what to believe. Here, we see Jesus give the answer clearly as “knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ.” This is where I will always wonder why people will say the Bible is inerrant and infallible but they don’t believe Jesus Christ. More importantly, though, we need to also understand who gets eternal life from another perspective; Jesus also says that those who receive it are given to Christ by God. This implies a sovereign God, otherwise how could God give people to Christ as believers?

“I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.” This should be the crux, the core, and the focus of every Christian ministry out there, whether you’re organized as a ministry or doing it solo. People like to make this difficult as if there’s a secret formula to follow what God wants us to do. Again, if we go back to the what Jesus said, we see this:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
-Matthew 28:19-20

So ultimately, it’s not difficult at all in the sense that it’s not some sort of secret. But it can be the most stressful experience you ever have, depending on where God is leading you. Yet, if you follow in Christ’s footsteps and continue to do His will, then you can be rest assured you will hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).

I want to take a moment to also offer clarification on another common aspect that Christians can get tangled up on: what is God’s will for me?

We know Jesus came here to save us – to pay for our sins so we could have eternal life with Him and the Father for eternity. But for those of us who are fully human and not at all divine, there’s a simple formula to check whether you’re in God’s will or not:
1. Does the action, thought, etc. have the characteristics of God?
2. When praying about it, does the Spirit speak to you in a loving or a concerning way?
3. Is the action, thought, etc. supported by the Bible?

The first one might be hard to tell at first, especially if you’re new to the faith. But the more you read the Bible, the more you’ll understand just who God is. For example, it is not God’s will for you to kill or even talk down to someone, as that violates the 10 Commandments. It is a characteristic of God, though, to help someone in need or to defend someone who is being bullied.

WIth the second item, we need to look at the response we get from the Holy Spirit. If you struggle in discerning this, then I suggest speaking to a mature Christian like a pastor or mentor and continue reading the Bible. For me, this is reflected in whether I feel at peace about the circumstance or not. A good way of knowing if the Spirit is guiding you to something or not is looking at the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-25.

The third item is probably one of the biggest ones because it’s also the most ambiguous. There can be times, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, where we have to start thinking more abstractly when situations are not specifically addressed in the Bible. This can also be a very dangerous thing since we can start inserting or taking out things that fit our narrative if we’re not careful. I recommend examining the circumstance under the lens of the Bible with at least one other person. This will help you have a more unbiased opinion of the matter.

In the next post of this series, we will go through more of the body of the chapter of John 17.

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