In the high priestly prayer of Jesus he imitated the prayers made my the high priests, first for themselves, then for the priests, and then for the people. But it wasn't as though the people came last because they were the least important. The priesthood existed at the service of the people. The high priest had the most important role in ensuring the fidelity of the nation to the covenant, the most critical role in the ritual atonement for sin. It was, in a way, the cornerstone of the edifice. The priests were pillars. But the people were the ones who put the structure to its intended use. Thus, when Jesus prayed for himself, it was not because he had unmet wants or needs of his own. No, his prayer for himself was that he could be the one whom the Father meant him to be, "so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him".
Now this is eternal life,
that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
The kind of knowledge that conduces to eternal life is not conveyed through data, but rather through glory. It was glory that was made manifest in the cross and resurrection of Jesus himself, and opened up a vision of the divine life he shared with the Father. Glory was the love of the Father for Jesus, and the obedient outpouring of the life of Jesus to the Father. This glory captivates those who witness it, but does not stop there. It is the glory of Jesus lifted up from the earth, drawing all to himself, uniting all those who behold it to both his dying and his rising. In short, one cannot truly see this glory and remain unchanged. The full effect of the change is to become so like Jesus that we become able holy; able and desirous to share in his life with the Father and the Spirit forever.
Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,
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.
Jesus prayed for his disciples who shared in his mission in a way that was unique. They were the ones who would ensure that the grace of Jesus, and thus his glory, would be available after he returned to the Father. Their successors, the bishops, would have the duty of preserving the availability of that grace in all subsequent generations. But, like him, they would do so in a world that was ultimately opposed to his mission, hostile to the idea that any kind of change from the status quo was necessary. The clergy of the Church does face this world own its own strength. It is not run primarily on its own power. Nor does it succeed on the basis of the skills possessed by its members. Rather it has run and is still running on the power of this prayer of Jesus, which was not terminated when he finished speaking, but is still pleading and efficacious before the Father's throne.
We can see the way the high priestly prayer of Jesus had immediate consequences for the first generation of his Apostles in the way it impacted Paul. In his own prayer at Ephesus about which we read in Acts this morning we see desires that transcend what fallen, wounded, and selfish human nature would seek.
Yet I consider life of no importance to me,
if only I may finish my course
and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus,
to bear witness to the Gospel of God's grace.
Jesus cared about nothing more than accomplishing the work the Father gave him to do. And now Paul, because he belonged to Jesus, also belonged to the Father, and cared about nothing more than completing the task given to him by Jesus, such that he too was among those who "have kept your word". He tasted the glory of the Lord and could no longer turn back to the world for satisfaction. The mission did indeed look dire. The Holy Spirit warned him again and again of the suffering that he had to endure. But the revelation of glory, given by Jesus himself, assured him it was worth it.
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (see Second Corinthians 4:17-18).
Vertical Worship - Open Up The Heavens
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