1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. John 17:1-2 (NASB)
In John 17, we have the transition marking the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry and the beginning of His intercessory ministry for all believers (Hebrews 7:25). This has been called “The High Priestly Prayer,” however; it does summarize John’s entire Gospel….
For instance, its principal themes include Jesus’ obedience to His Father, the glorification of His Father through His death and exaltation, the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, the choosing of the disciples out of the world, their unity modeled on the unity of the Father and the Son, and the believers final destiny in the presence of the Father and Son. There are three main sections to this prayer. In vv1-5, we have Jesus’ prayer for Himself. In vv 6-19, we have Jesus’ prayer for the apostles. In vv20-26 we have Jesus’ prayer for all New Testament believers who will form the Church.
1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. John 17:1-5 (NASB)
What hour has come? It is time for culmination of our Lord’s earthly ministry. We know that this is the voluntary laying down of His life on the Cross. Notice that in and through this our Lord asks that the Father glorify Him so He may glorify the Father. Also, the Father, because of the Son’s obedience through all of this, has given the Son all authority and all those to whom He will give eternal life. In v2 the adjective “eternal” translates αἰώνιον the Accusative, Singular of αἰώνιος or aiōnios, “This adjective typically functions in three settings; the eternity of God and the divine realm; the blessings of salvation; and everlasting conditions that have neither beginning nor end.” When it is linked with “life” as it is in v2 and v3 we are reading of the great blessings of salvation. It is the gift of God for anyone who believes in Jesus (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 1:16; 6:12; Romans 2:7; 5:21). This eternal life originates with God and we receive it only by His grace.