“GOD-GLORIFYING WORK”

4 “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”

John 17:4

We know that Jesus Christ founded Christianity in first-century Israel. But was His ministry simply an effort to promote His personal agenda? Or was there something else that fueled His choice to do what He did?

John chapter 17 is a heartfelt prayer known as Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer.” After delivering His Farewell Discourse, Jesus now prays for Himself, the disciples, and future believers. This moment is also the start of Jesus’ “time.”

In our previous blog, we learned that Jesus is God and He alone reveals the Father.

Today's verse shows Jesus speaking of His earthly ministry and impending death. Using an imperfect tense of the verb, He views His ultimate sacrifice as a fixed, accomplished reality (although the cross is still hours away). From a chronological standpoint, it is obvious that He hasn’t yet, because the arrest, beating, crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension are future events. Why then did Jesus say this? He assumes the completion of His death on the cross, a future event that is certain.

He also reveals that He glorified the Father on earth, referring to the visible manifestation of God's invisible character. Jesus revealed the Father's love, holiness, power, and truth through His works and words. He demonstrated compassion to sinners and addressed their needs. He gave them things they didn’t deserve, including healing, deliverance, and forgiveness. He exemplified truth by living with integrity, demonstrating complete consistency between His inner life and His outer behavior. He courageously challenged corrupt religious and political leaders who put rigid, man-made rules before justice and mercy. Moreover, He used His teachings to expose false teachings and hidden motives and to point people back to a right relationship with God.

Jesus' life compels us to serve God faithfully and complete the mission He has given us. We do not have to make a radical decision to go to a hostile nation and serve Him there; we can be faithful wherever we are today. Whether we have a full-time job, run a business, or raise kids, we can honor God by coming to Him with an obedient heart.

Because Jesus fully accomplished His mission of saving us, we do not need to worry about gaining God's approval through our deeds. Instead, we place our complete trust in Jesus' finished work on the Cross.

More importantly, we must have an eternal perspective when facing different trials and making decisions. Our eternity is secure, and we have a lifetime to serve the One who gave His life so we could be with Him forever.

Pursue the Savior today!

Photo by Andrea Caramello on Unsplash