I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do

 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.  For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.  I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."

- John 17:1-11

All last week we were reading through Jesus' farewell discourse to His disciples at the Last Supper.  On Saturday, Jesus taught them, "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father."  Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "What is this He says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, 'because I go to the Father'?"  They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'?  We do not know what He is saying."  Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'?  Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.  And in that day you will ask Me nothing.  Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.  Until now you have asked nothing in My name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.  These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.  In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.  I came forth from the Father and have come into the world.  Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.  His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!  Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You.  By this we believe that You came forth from God."  Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?  Indeed, the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone.  And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him."  Here, Jesus begins what is often called the High Priestly Prayer.  It contains the basic elements of prayer that a priest offers to God when a sacrifice is to be made:  glorification, remembrance of God's works, intercession on behalf of others, and a declaration of the offering itself -- in this case, the Son.  My study bible also notes that Christ's words here (particularly in verses 1-13) bear witness to His divinity and to the filial relationship with the Father -- thus witnessing to the declaration of the Nicene Council, Christ as Son is eternally begotten.  As Jesus says The hour has come, it signifies Christ as Lord over time.  This is His voluntary declaration that He will go to the Cross.  Glorify refers to the redemption of all creation, accomplished through the Cross and Resurrection.  This is the purpose for which He was sent into the world.  My study bible says that in this redemption, the Father and Son are glorified.  Thereby the Cross, a sign of death, is glorified in the Church as "life-giving" and as the "weapon of peace."

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."  My study bible tells us that the knowledge of the only true God is far more than intellectual understanding.  It means participation in His divine life and in communion with Him.  So, eternal life therefore is an ongoing and loving knowledge of God in Christ and the Holy Spirit.

"I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."  Christ's work cannot be separated from who He is.  My study bible says that this statement, I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do,  is a statement that each believer can make at the end of life, no matter how short or long that life might be.  The glory which I had with You before the world was affirms the co-eternal deity of the Son.

"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.  For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me."  The men whom You have given Me are the apostles.  They're the ones through whom God's word come to us, says my study bible.  The handing down of God's word to successive generations is called apostolic tradition.  Isaiah made a prophecy that in the days of the Messiah, the knowledge of the Name of God would be revealed (Isaiah 52:6).  Jesus says, I have manifested Your name:  In the Old Testament times, the phrase "the Name" was used reverently as a substitute for the actual Name of God ("Yahweh" or the Tetragrammaton), which was too sacred to pronounce. My study bible tells us that the fuller revelation of the Name was given to those who believe in Christ, for Christ manifested the Name not only by declaring the Father, but rather by being the very presence of God and sharing the Name with Him. 

"I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them."   Christ prayed first for Himself, and secondly for them, the apostles.  After that, He prays for those whom You have given Me -- all who will come believe in Him (which we will read in later verses as well).  Here the world is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, says my study bible.  That is, those who prefer darkness to His light.

"Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  In the eucharistic prayer of the Didache (the oldest teaching document of the Church), we find this name, Holy Father:  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts" (Didache 10:2).

Jesus uses the word glory frequently in this prayer; or rather, He uses a verb form of it, to glorify.  We often think of glory as fame or renown, or perhaps in a heavenly sort of context it may seem to signify what is ethereal, radiant with light.  But to glorify is to add significance to something.  It means to give value and weight.  It adds substance or essence that is distinguishing, that renders the good.  Rather than thinking of such splendid and heavenly things as airy and ethereal, we must understand them as giving value and substance beyond measure, even character.  When Jesus says that He has glorified the name of the Father, He is saying that He has fulfilled the will of God and done God's works to be displayed to the world -- the greatest of which is to come, His death on the Cross, so that all may receive eternal life.  He will trample death by death, as the Easter hymn of the Eastern Orthodox teaches.  In the greatest of all paradoxes, Christ overcomes the ruler of this world as He will be both witness and judge; the Resurrected Christ coming into full glory as Savior.  To glorify the name of God is to bring that value and substance into the world, a kind of character and worth that is added unto everything we might know.  We have to understand faith as that which gives us more, expresses more, builds more -- giving substance and worth.  Glory, in some sense, is also an image of the word "epiousion," found uniquely in the Lord's Prayer.  We translate it as "daily" (as in "daily bread") but it really means super-essential, or super-substantial; that is, a picture of the Eucharist.  Too often we have images in our head of that which seems less substantial, of the holy or heavenly as that which is light or airy, but these aren't correct perceptions.  The infinite worth of God can dwell even within us, when we do as Christ did.  As my study bible says, to be able to say, "I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do," is the task of each of us.  It doesn't matter how seemingly insignificant or significant in a worldly way we think our own works are.  Glory is a substance manifest through the work and energies of God, something added unto us, true weight and value.  Those who can't perceive it simply will not, and perhaps choose to reject this value.  But Christ leads the way, and prays for us who will follow.  Can we perceive the depth and the weight of glory?