Talking to the Father:

Context:

• Jesus doesn’t want His followers to fall away.
• It is to their advantage that He goes away.
• The big plus is that the Holy Spirit will be sent.
• There will be sorrow before the big plus.
• The hour is coming.
• Jesus provides access to the throne of grace and mercy.
• Now He starts His never ending intercessory prayer.

John 17:1-5 “...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, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed...”

To whom has Jesus been talking previously?

• His followers.

What has he been discussing with them?

• The coming events.

To whom is Jesus now talking?

• The Heavenly Father.

How does a person lift their eyes to heaven?

• Is it more than gazing at the sky?
• Is it a focus beyond the realities of this world?

What does Jesus proclaim about the Father?

• He has sent the Son Jesus.
• He has given the Son authority over all flesh. (And yet He is about to die a cruel death at the hands of man) 
• The Son’s authority includes the giving of eternal life.

How does Jesus describe eternal life?

• Not as living forever and ever.
• Knowing the Father and the Son is eternal life.

• 1 John 5:20 “...And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life...”

• Ephesians 3:17-19 “...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God...”

What did Jesus accomplish on earth?

• He glorified the Father (...I glorified you on earth...)
• He did the work that the Father gave him to do (“...having accomplished the work that you gave me to do...”)

Did Jesus understand glory?

• He shared the glory before this earth was even created (...the glory that I had with you before the world existed...)