Easter Devotion - The Glory of the Son

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.

John 17:1-5 

This prayer is the theological climax of the Gospel of John. Jesus has said good-bye to His disciples and now turns to God, praying for Himself, His disciples, and the church as He prepares for His death and resurrection. Jesus will experience betrayal, humiliation, scorn, a painful execution, all God's wrath for the sin of the world piled on Him and lastly, rejection by God for a time. Yet in John's Gospel, His prayers are all about glory. In this prayer, Jesus is not focused on His death, but instead, looks to His resurrection as God's victory over sin and death. His resurrection will be glorious because it will prove His place as God's holy Son and will offer eternal life to all who know God through Him. He will return to His Father to live in the glory that He had to abandon by coming to earth. 

God tasked Jesus with nothing less than showing humanity the purpose of their creation. Jesus was incarnated to turn people's eyes back to God and to teach them how to live within the blessings of their Creator. At the evening of His betrayal, Jesus takes the cup that God had poured for Him - a cup full of bitterness and pain, but even more so, a cup of glory and salvation for the world. 

Prayer - Lord Jesus, thank You for the work You did on earth to glorify the Father, so that we may all know the one true God. Thank You that You showed us the purpose for our creation and how to live within God's blessings. You are amazing and I am so eager for Your return. I love you Jesus! In Your name, Amen 

*Devotions taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink