Falling asleep during prayer and the surprising act that brings glory to God – John 17:1-5, Part 1

On family vacation, we were having a prayer time where one person would share a prayer request, and then another person would pray for them.  It was getting late into the evening, and I was sitting next to my wife, Michelle, on a sofa.  Someone shared a prayer request, and Michelle volunteered to be the one to pray for them.  As she prayed, I listened, silently agreeing in prayer with her.  Suddenly I heard a loud thud, and my neck snapped up to attention.  I had fallen asleep, and my head fell backwards, slamming into the wood chair rail on the wall behind me.  My 13-year-old nephew, sitting on the other side of Michelle, was freaked out by it, and my son across the room was laughing hilariously. It was truly funny.

Jesus’ disciples famously fell asleep one time when he was praying. I’m referring to the “Not my will, but yours be done” prayer, where we are told that sweat is pouring off him like drops of blood, while the disciples were asleep.  It is a very intense moment. 

Jesus’ betrayal and arrest is just moments away. He has taught his disciples some final important teachings before he is ripped from them, and they will be alone.  They are in the Garden of Gethsemane, just a short walk outside the city of Jerusalem.  The Gospel of Luke tells us that each evening of this last week of his life, Jesus has been visiting the garden, spending time alone in prayer.  This last night he brings his disciples with him.

My guess is that when we think of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night he was betrayed, we think of the prayer as recorded in the other three Gospels.  John, however, doesn’t include that prayer or the fact that he and the other disciples were struggling to stay awake. 

Furthermore John wasn’t asleep the whole time Jesus prayed because as you scan your eyes across all of John chapter 17, you’ll see the whole chapter is a prayer. Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is quite different from the “Not my will, but yours be done” in Matthew, Mark and Luke.  In John 17, Jesus prays for three people or groups of people:  himself, his disciples, and all believers.  As we study his prayer over the next few weeks, we’re going to look for themes.  What is on Jesus’ heart and mind that night?  What does he pray to the Father about? 

This week we’re covering verses 1-5, his prayer for himself,

“Father, the time 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 may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

What concept is repeated most often in this first part of the prayer?  Glory.  We talked about this a few weeks ago here.  The word Jesus uses for glory is the word doxa, where we get our English word doxology.  Doxology technically means “a word of praise.”  It fits then as a title for a song of praise.  That’s the focus of the song, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.  Praise him all creatures here below.  Praise him above ye heavenly host.  Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”  That’s a lot of praise.  That’s doxa.  That’s glory, to bring praise to another. 

So Jesus is saying that the time has come for an outpouring of praise.  The Father praising the Son, and the Son praising the Father.  What outpouring of praise is Jesus referring to?  Is he going to hold a worship service in the Father’s honor?  Are there going to be praise songs and sermons?  No, none of that.  But there will be an offering.  No one is going to give money though.  Jesus is talking about the outpouring of praise that will burst forth through the offering of his life. 

Look at verse 4.  Jesus brings an outpouring of praise on earth by completing the work God gave him to do.  This work is the offering.  What work?  What offering is he talking about? 

God gave Jesus the work of offering his life to become a human, to live a perfect human life, to show us what it looks like to live the Kingdom life of God here on earth.  The work of offering his life includes a lot.  It includes preaching good news, telling good news stories, and living good news, especially among the needy, the hurting, the oppressed.  But there is one more bit of work to do, and we’ll talk about that in the next post.

Photo by Kristine Weilert on Unsplash