[2026. 9. 13.] Glorify the Father (John 17:1–5)

[2026. 9. 13.] Glorify the Father (John 17:1–5)  

Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn (Hope of Heaven Baptist Chuch) 

 

2026. 9. 13. 주일예배 설교- 요한복음 강해 48
본문: 요한복음 17:1–5
제목: 아버지를 영화롭게

설교자: 손진국 목사 (하늘소망교회)

 

As we live our lives, every one of us will eventually face the final moment of life. John 17 shows that Jesus Himself was passing through the final hours of His earthly life. Think about it for a moment: At the final moment of my life, what will be most important to me? What will I choose to do at that moment?

John 17 contains the prayer Jesus offered to the Father as He stood before the cross. Through this prayer, we learn what was truly important to Jesus and what the purpose of His life was.

Jesus knew that in a short while He would be arrested, and He knew His disciples would scatter. Yet He did not speak first about His own safety or suffering. Instead, He lifted His eyes toward heaven and prayed:

[John 17:1] After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”

In this single verse, the purpose of Jesus’ life is revealed. Jesus did not live for His own glory—He lived to glorify the Father.

Today, through this passage, I want us to see how Jesus glorified the Father.

 

1. He accepted the Father’s appointed time.

In verse 1, Jesus prays: [John 17:1] “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”

Here He says, “the hour has come.” The word “hour” carries deep meaning in the Gospel of John. Early in Jesus’ ministry, people tried to seize Him, and those who received grace from Him wanted to spread the news. Each time, Jesus stopped them and said, “My hour has not yet come.” John repeatedly records this phrase: “His hour had not yet come.”

But now the situation has changed. Jesus Himself declares: “The hour has come.”

What does this mean? It means the hour of the cross had arrived. The cross was not an unexpected tragedy. It was the decisive moment in the Father’s plan of salvation. Therefore, Jesus did not run away from the cross—He accepted that hour.

We often say we believe in God’s will, yet in reality we want God’s will to be fulfilled according to our timetable. “God, please fix this now.” “Open the door now.” “Answer me now.” Sometimes we even pray, “God, help me endure well—right now.”

But God’s timing is often different from ours. The faith Jesus shows us is not merely enduring suffering—it is accepting God’s timing within God’s will.

Jesus did not accept the cross because He liked it. He accepted it because that hour was the moment when the Father’s will would be fulfilled. This is the first way Jesus glorified the Father: He trusted the Father’s timing.

[Application] What is the issue for which I am asking, “God, why have You not answered yet?” When God’s timing differs from mine, what should I do?

 

2. He completed the work the Father entrusted to Him.

[John 17:4] “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.”

He says, “finishing the work you gave me to do.” If verse 1 speaks of the “hour,” verse 4 speaks of what Jesus did in that hour. Here Jesus summarizes His entire life in one sentence: “A life that completes the work the Father gave me to do.”

Jesus did not come to accomplish His own will. The Father sent Him, and the Father gave Him a work to accomplish. And Jesus says, “I have finished it.”

The key word here is not “work,” but “finished.” Jesus does not mean He simply did many things. He means He completed the purpose the Father entrusted to Him.

Jesus’ life had a clear direction. In John 4:34, Jesus says: [John 4:34] “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

Food is what sustains physical life—rice, bread, soup, and so on. But the “food” Jesus speaks of here is spiritual food. In other words, what gave Jesus the greatest joy and the driving force of His life? It was doing the will of the Father who sent Him and finishing His work.

For Jesus, the Father’s will was not secondary—it was the center of His life. And now, standing before the cross, He says, “I have finished it.”

This connects directly to His words on the cross: [John 19:30] “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

In today’s prayer, Jesus already sees the cross as the completion of the Father’s work.

What does “It is finished” mean? What was the work the Father gave Him that He completed on the cross?

“It is finished” is the Greek word Tetelestai (Τετέλεσται)—a term widely used in commerce at the time. When someone borrowed money or grain, they received a written debt certificate. When they repaid the full amount with interest, the lender would stamp the certificate with the word Tetelestai, meaning “Paid in full.”

So what did Jesus “pay in full” on the cross?

[Romans 6:23] “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus paid the full price of our sin. The work the Father entrusted to Him was to pay our debt of sin. By dying on the cross, Jesus completed that work.

Here we must examine our own lives. We usually evaluate life by results: How much have I achieved? How much have I grown? How many people recognize me?

But Jesus’ standard is different: “Have you completed the work the Father entrusted to you?” That is what matters.

Then a question arises: How can I know what work God has entrusted to me? How can I distinguish between what I want to do and what God has given me to do?

I believe the answer is found in verse 3: [John 17:3] “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

Jesus speaks of eternal life in verse 3, and then in verse 4 He speaks of the work the Father gave Him. This shows that the work God entrusts to us is connected to eternal life.

And Jesus’ definition of eternal life is astonishing. We usually think eternal life means “living forever.” But Jesus says eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ.

In other words, eternal life is not merely “going to heaven after death.” It is the relationship with God that begins now.

We can do many things in this world. But not everything we do glorifies God. Great accomplishments do not necessarily glorify God. But even small acts—if they help us or others know God and know Jesus more—are the work God has entrusted to us.

Small acts of service that reveal God’s grace and the love of Jesus’ cross—these are God-given works and precious in His sight. Caring for family in faith, praying for one person, living honestly where no one sees, faithfully serving in small roles at church, doing your work at school or workplace as unto the Lord, managing your home with integrity—if these things help you know God more and trust Him more, then they are connected to eternal life. They are God’s entrusted work, and they are never small.

[Application] What is the work currently before me? Do I see it as “something I must do,” or as “something God has entrusted to me”? What work must I continue even if people do not recognize it—because God has entrusted it to me?

 

3. He looked toward the glory He had before creation.

[John 17:5] “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

Verse 5 is extremely important because it shows how Jesus viewed His own death. When Jesus looked at the cross before Him, He did not simply pray, “Father, help me endure the cross well.” He looked at something far greater: “the glory I had with You before the world began.”

Jesus did not trace His beginning to the cross. He went back to before creation.

John 1:1 begins this way: [John 1:1] “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

We must remember this: Jesus did not become the Son of God when He was born as a human. He has always been the eternal Son who existed with the Father before creation.

Therefore, verse 5 does not describe a new glory Jesus would receive after the cross. It describes the glory He temporarily laid aside—glory He would once again share with the Father.

The cross stood directly before Jesus. But He did not look only at the cross. He looked beyond the cross to the glory of being with the Father.

This is the vision of faith. Our present situation is not our final chapter. Our present suffering is not God’s final plan. The hope of a Christian is not merely that circumstances will improve— our hope is the eternal glory of being with God.

This is why Paul compares present suffering with future glory: [2 Corinthians 4:17] “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

If we look only at the weight of our present suffering, it feels unbearable. But when we look at the glory God has prepared, we begin to see the present differently.

[Application] If my present situation is shaking my faith in God, what should I be looking at now? And what must I lay down?

Conclusion

Today’s passage is not complicated. Jesus’ prayer moves in three directions:

• Verse 1: “The hour has come.” — He accepted the Father’s timing.
• Verse 4: “I have finished the work you gave me to do.” — He completed the Father’s work.
• Verse 5: “The glory I had with You before the world began.” — He looked toward the glory of being with the Father.

Put these together and the life of Jesus becomes clear:

He lived according to the Father’s timing → He fulfilled the Father’s work → He looked toward the Father’s glory. This is how Jesus glorified the Father.

Now we must examine our own lives:

• Am I living according to my timetable, or trusting God’s timing?
• Am I trying to accomplish my plans, or the work God has entrusted to me?
• Am I focused only on immediate results, or am I looking toward the final glory God has promised?

Ultimately, the question becomes one: “Whose glory am I living for?”

For Jesus, the answer was unmistakably clear: the Father’s glory.

Therefore our prayer must be this. Let us read it with a prayerful heart:

“Father God, help me trust Your timing more than my own, help me pursue the work You have entrusted rather than the work I desire, and help me look beyond my circumstances to the glory of being with You.”

And may we be able to say at the end of our lives:

“Father, I have finished the work You gave me to do, and I have glorified You.”

May the beginning of our lives be toward God, may our labor be for God, and may our final hope be in God. I bless you in the name of the Lord.

 

 

하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.

Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.