(I very nearly could not get this posted. Pray for us.)
It wouldn’t matter much where the Upper Room was, nor which route they took toward Gethsemane; they almost had to pass near the Temple, if not through its grounds. Thus, Jesus addressed His Father ceremonially in or near the most prominent place of prayer in the nation. Jesus had just told them that they would desert Him and be scattered. Now He prays for them.
He turned His eyes to the sky. “We’re almost to there, Father.” He asks the Father to promote His heir, so that His heir can in turn promote the Father’s reputation. He wants to make His Father proud. But Jesus here focuses on a certain means to that glorification: He had been granted full authority over humanity, and would now proceed to elevate them from their fallen condition to their eternal heritage.
The meaning of eternal life is receiving the full revelation of God in their hearts, becoming intimate family friends of both the Father and the Son. The earthly part of His mission was finished; the Father’s reputation had been cleared up and manifested so it was unmistakable. Thus, now it was time for the Son to return to the glorified existence He had before coming to earth.
Jesus had fully demonstrated the divine character of God to these disciples of His. These men were the first fruits of the Son’s inheritance, a gift from the Father to open the gate to a much larger inheritance. They were the Father’s first, and He gave them to His Son. They had carefully kept His Word as their greatest treasure.
Just moments before they had declared that they had no doubt about Jesus being the Son of God, and that what He taught was from His Father’s mouth. The Word spoke to their hearts and there was no denying that Jesus spoke authoritatively for His Father.
So Jesus was praying for them in this difficult time ahead of them. He didn’t seek any special mercy for the rest of the world. Rather, He prayed only for those who were truly committed to Him. Again, they were His inheritance from the Father.
Jesus noted that everyone who embraced His teaching and committed to Him as Lord were already children of the Father. And now the Son would inherit the fullness of His Father’s estate. Their presence on the earth was the glory of Jesus.
This is not because they were perfect, but because of how they handled their imperfection, their sinful nature. This is what made them a symbol of His glory. It’s a matter of how they lay hold of the divine heritage.
