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, 2 just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. 3 Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. 4 I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. 6 “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. 7 Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, 8 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. 9 I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, 10 and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them.
Jesus completed the work his Father gave him to do and directed words of prayer to the Father. The prayer is in three stages; first, he prayed for himself (vv. 1-5), then he prayed for the disciples (vv. 6-19), and finally, he prayed for the generations of those who will believe through the word of the disciples (vv. 20-26). Jesus also used this prayer as a way to teach his disciples.
Jesus prayed for God to glorify him because the time had come for his passion to begin. It is through his passion, death, and resurrection that he would be glorified, and the Father would also be glorified. Jesus acknowledged that the Father had given him authority over all humanity so that he could grant eternal life to all the Father gave him, that is those who have lived obedient and faith-filled lives in accordance with God’s will. The Father had given the Son the power to give life and to judge (Jn. 5:26-27). Eternal life is knowing and having a relationship with the one true God and Jesus Christ. Jesus glorified God by obediently carrying out his divine mission which is about to culminate on the cross. Jesus was from God, was with God in the beginning (Jn. 1:1-4), and asked the Father to restore him to the glory he shared with the Father before the creation of the world.
Jesus began to pray for his apostles who were chosen by God and accepted his teaching. He revealed the Father's name and true nature to them. He revealed God’s love, mercy, holiness, and justice to them during his ministry and he taught them divine wisdom and truth. They understood that he was sent by God and that God is the source and object of everything he has told them. Jesus’ prayer was for his disciples only because God chose them for their faith and belief. He did not pray for the whole world. The World rejected Jesus and did not accept his teachings. Jesus and the Father are one and everything that belongs to the Father belongs to the Son and everything that belongs to the Son belongs to the Father. Jesus and the Father are one.
Almighty God, help us to be united in faith and understanding of your truth. Help us to know you more deeply, to accept your teachings, and to live out our faith with conviction. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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