Glory Revealed in the Hour

17 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
John 17:1-5
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Glory Revealed in the Hour
As Jesus lifts His eyes to the Father, He speaks of glory, but not the kind the world expects. This “hour” is the appointed time of suffering, death, and resurrection. The Son is glorified precisely by going to the cross, where the Father’s saving will is carried out in perfect obedience. There, the Father is glorified as sinners are redeemed. Eternal life, Jesus says, is not merely endless existence. It is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. This knowing is not achieved by human effort or spiritual insight, but given through the cross. At Calvary, the eternal Son reveals the Father’s heart: mercy for the undeserving, life for the dead. Before the world existed, the Son shared the Father’s glory. Now that glory is made known in humility and blood. In Christ crucified, we see God most clearly, and there we are given life.