John 17:3-5 3This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and whom you have sent, Jesus Christ. 4I glorified You on the earth, having completed the work which you have given me that I might do. 5And now, Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was made.
Verse 3 defines the goal and source of the eternal life mentioned at the lcose of verse 2. The Father has granted the Son the authority to grant eternal life, and this life comes through knowing the Father. Eternal life is simply obtained according to this verse. One must know (ginōskōsin), which has been the goal of humanity throughout time. Every religion seeks in some way to know what is beyond human experience. The crucial issue is what this knowing entials.
Jesus is the only one who has perfectly revealed God. Everything Jesus did was in accordance with the Father’s will. To look at Jesus is to look at the Father. To know Jesus is to know the Father. Lest anyone question whether Christians are dytheists or tritheists, this verse clearly states that we believe in the only true God. We do not believe in two Gods but one, and this God has been revealed in Jesus, who was sent as God’s Word of love to the world. John has recorded that this knowledge comes through faith and a relationship of love with Jesus.
Verse 4 indicates that Jesus completed the work the Father sent him to do. The reference to having completed the work could include all that Jesus did up to the point of this prayer and what was about to happen with his suffering and death. The key point is that he obeyed in all things, even to the point of going to the cross. Death on a cross would be the culmination of his whole ministry. His resurrection would confirm the truth of everything he claimed.
The critical next stage of Jesus’ obedience was about to happen, marked by the transition in verse 5 of and now. The high point of his ministry had come. Everything he said and did would find its fulfillment in his sacrifice as the Lamb of God. The glory of the Father would be evident through the Son’s obedience. Jesus’ death would reveal the grace of God to forgive sins, and his resurrection would show the power of God to cleanse sin and bring victory in spite of death. This glory expressed as grace and power was the same that created the world. John returns to the opening words of chapter 1 with the creative Word becoming flesh and dwelling for a time among people. The Word is eternal and could return to the Father as the glorified yet crucified Messiah whose mission of revealing God’s would be complete. Jesus was asking the Father to complete the mission through him.
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