A Special Gift - 10/22/2023

John concludes chapter 16 with Jesus' promise of peace. Chapter 17 is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus in the Bible. Clearly, there is a close connection between peace and prayer. Jesus' prayer can be summed up in three sections. He began to pray out loud, first, for Himself (vs. 1-5), then for the disciples (vs. 6-19), and finally for His Church, all those who would come to believe in Him through the gospel message (vs. 20-26). Today, we are focused on what Jesus prayed for Himself. What would you pray for if you knew you were about to be unfairly arrested, convicted, and executed after being tortured?

Through this first section, as Jesus prays for Himsel,f Jesus expresses His confidence in the Father's plan (17:1a), His passion for the Father's glory (17: 1b, 4-5), and His gift of eternal life to those given to Him by the Father (17:2-3). Jesus acknowledged that His time had come and then quickly moved on to ask God for His greatest desire, which was to glorify God. To glorify someone means "to cause the dignity and worth of a person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged." That was His greatest desire that people would know God. Everything that Jesus had endured, and everything He was about to do was to glorify God and make eternal life possible for every believer. So, as He prays aloud in front of His disciples, He pushes past His "hour" to what lies ahead. His purpose and our salvation. His greatest desire revealed. What is your greatest desire? What would you ask God for in those final moments?