As minister Aaron Hill continues his series on the gospel of John, he points out that Jesus' prayer in John 17 is one of the greatest prayers ever prayed. This is the first of a series of three sermons on this prayer.
Today Hill focuses on the first five verses of the chapter as Jesus prays for Himself. Typically, when we pray, we bow, but that is not what Jesus does. He lifts His eyes and looks up to heaven. In fact, that was a normal posture for prayer at that time. Looking up indicates confidence in what God is doing.
When Jesus asks God to glorify Him in these verses, He is not seeking self-exaltation. Rather He seeks to glorify the Father just as the Father has glorified the Son and given Him authority over all flesh so that He may give eternal life to everyone the Father has given Him.
He doesn't speak of eternal life as we sometimes conceive it. Eternal life is not living forever free of pain and trouble, though that is part of it. Jesus says in John 17:3 that eternal life is knowing the only true God and the One whom He sent - Jesus Christ. Eternal life is not just about the benefits we'll receive. It is knowing God and Jesus glorified through everything that He did. Jesus had glory with God before the world existed, and He gave up glory to come to Earth to reunite humans with God.