We continue our study of the Gospel of John. Jesus had celebrated, and taken the ‘Pass Over” meal with His Disciples. He had shown them humility, and true Leadership as He had washed their feet. He was teaching truths that were for them, and also for those of us who would come to Him in communion, and the Word in later generations. He had informed them that they would initially run when the world turned on them, but to “take heart”, He had overcome the world. He was telling them,’hang in’, ‘don’t lose heart’, ‘keep the faith’. He was telling them as they looked to Him they would find the Way, the Truth, and the Life; they would be Overcomers as well. So it is for us.
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The Word says, “After Jesus said this, He looked toward heaven, and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You. For You granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those you have given Him. Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17: 1-3
To Glorify means to ‘lift up’. The hour had come for Jesus to lift up Abba Father as never before. The entire 17th chapter of this Gospel is a prayer of Jesus, to Father. He used this prayer to show His love and trust of, and for, Father, As always, everything Jesus did had a purpose. He could have prayed silently, but He wanted His disciples, and those of us who would read His prayer in later generations, to know exactly what He was saying.
He spoke first of eternal life, and where it would come from. He said, “Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” When we ‘know’ the Father, this is to ‘know’ Him as the One and Only God Almighty, the only true God whose children will be with Him for all time because of His amazing Love, and amazing Grace. When we ‘know’ Jesus Christ, we know Him as the Son of God, Son of Man, the One God the Father sent to lead His children to eternal life. The true Messiah. There is none other like Him. There is no other person of flesh that could have done what He did. To ‘know’ Him, to know all that He did for us to set us free from sin and death, and give us eternal life, is to fall completely in Love with Him; and want to be with Him for all time to come. This is why the Lord Jesus said to Abba Father, “Glorify Me, that I may Glorify You.” In other words, “Let us lift up Love. That is Who we are.” He said, “That is Who we want all mankind to become, and to spend eternity with us.” 
Amen.