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Jesus spoke these things, and then raising his eyes heavenward,1 he said: “Father,2 the hour has come.3 Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify You.”
| 1 | Jesus spoke these thing, and then raised his eyes heavenward: Or, skyward. Jesus may move easily from conversation with his apostles to communication with God. The prayer that follows is called by some the real “Lord’s Prayer.” It is the longest of all prayers in the Christian Bible. It is likely this prayer came following the Lord’s Supper, and concluded the evening before they all departed for the Garden. |
| 2 | Father: The Master’s favorite designation for God is “Father.” Some should note that never in this prayer does the Nazarene ever use the Hebrew Name for God, YHWH. [Yehowah; Jehovah; Yahweh] In this prayer Jesus uses “Father” 5 times, twice with the added terms “Holy” and “Righteous.” Jesus calls the Father, “the only true God.” [John 17:1, 11, 21, 24, 25] By this he means the only one who is absolute God. |
| 3 | The hour has come: It is about the length of time of a woman’s birth pangs. Jesus’ execution is about a dozen hours away. |
Dear Friends of the Nazarene,
We choose John 17:1 as the theme verse of chapter seventeen – A Prayer for Protection, Sanctity and Unity. Jesus offers up a prayer in behalf of his faithful apostles. [1-5] Everlasting life depends on knowing the Father and His Son. Jesus looks forward to returning to his previous existence with his Father. The Nazarene Master has made God’s Name known among his apostles. [6-10] They have been obedient and Jesus has given them the Words he received from the Father. Christ prayers that God watch over them because of His Name. [11-14] These apostles have been sanctified by truth and are no part of the world. [15-19] He makes a request to God for their unity. [20-26] Just as the Father and Son are one Jesus asks that the apostles also be “perfected into one.”
Abba the Father bless those sanctified by the Truth.
[15 December 2002]
This prayer, so solemn and so tender, would never have been recorded had it not been intended for our study and profit, but I approach it with a feeling that it is almost too sacred for the usual verbal and textual criticism. It is the overflow of the full soul of the Lord in devotion to the Father, a fitting close to the wonderful discourses beginning in the thirteenth chapter; offered in the Upper Room, just before the Lord led his disciples out into the moonlit night, on the way to Gethsemane. This is the real Lord’s Prayer of the sacred Word; the prayer of Mt 6:9-13, is the disciples’ prayer, taught to them by the Lord. In order to drink in its spirit, we must realize that the Lord stands at the foot of the cross, is about to suffer, and before the separation from his disciples and the agony and shame of the cross, he goes to the Father in their behalf and in his own.
