Wed, 27 December, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
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….”
John 17 is Jesus Christ’s High Priestly prayer. He is praying after the Last Supper, and just before He is arrested, tried, and crucified. Here at the beginning of the prayer, Jesus prays that the hour has come.
What do we learn from this?
The hour is the climactic hour of our salvation. Everything He had done on earth was building to this point. The hour of which Jesus speaks is the hour that He will bear the sins of all of His people from all of time. As such, it is longer than 60 minutes. It starts in the Garden of Gethsemane and goes through His trial and crucifixion.
This hour is the climactic event of all history, because our eternal destiny is determined by this event. It is the turning point of all prophecy as the Old Testament looks forward to it, the Gospels tell of it, and the Epistles look back to it to tell us what it means. We celebrate it every Sunday, and in a special way at the Lord’s Table. That is the hour of which Jesus speaks.
In John 17, Jesus is coming to the crucial hour of all history. This is the hour that our Triune God had planned from all eternity for the salvation of His people. It was completely in His control, and none of the events took Him by surprise.
Where is Christ in this passage?
This hour was the turning point of history, as Satan was given control and allowed to crucify Jesus Christ. The only Sinless One was given to Satan and the powers of darkness. In that hour, God the Father would pour on Jesus Christ His wrath against all the sins of all those who will come to Him in faith. And in that act, God will break the power of Satan and of sin over His people, ultimately freeing us from their tyranny. It is the moment of judgment, as the penalty for sins is paid.
