When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. "I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me… (Jn 17:1-11)
Jesus is praying. Prayer is a mystery. No one can penetrate the one who is praying except the one who is doing it. The prayer that is recited, sung can be witnessed and judged. But the praying itself cannot be penetrated. Praying is a relationship between the Father and the one who is praying. Gospels bear witness to Jesus that he prayed. But they do not tell us how he prayed or what he prayed. We may get a glimpse of it here.
Here, in this section, the prayer seems to be a celebration. Jesus is celebrating because his work is completed. All, what the Father had asked him to say and do Jesus has completed. There is a sense of completion and fulfillment.
This leads to the next section of prayer which is a request. Jesus requests that he be exalted, glorified and lifted up. He should be lifted up to the right side of the Father. This is the position, according to the Jewish tradition, that the Messiah is suppose to attain. The Messiah will rule a kingdom that stretches from sea to sea, from ‘River’ to ‘the ends of the earth’ (Psalm 72.8). This is the prayer in which we are called to join in.
