BIBLE VERSE STUDY
John 17:1 — Jesus Prays, 'Father, the Hour Is Come'
Jesus concludes His Upper Room discourse, looks to the Father, and declares that the appointed hour has come for mutual glorification.
Scripture
1These things spake Jesus; and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that the son may glorify thee:
What this passage means
John 17 opens with the narrative marker that Jesus finished speaking — these words frame the prayer that follows. The chapter is traditionally called the High Priestly Prayer. Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven, an upward gaze that signals He is now speaking to the Father directly, not to the disciples gathered around Him. The address 'Father' (Greek Πάτερ) places the prayer within an intimate Father-Son relationship rather than a posture of distance.
The central declaration is that 'the hour' (ὥρα) has come. Throughout John, this phrase marks the divinely appointed moment of Jesus' death, resurrection, and glorification (compare John 2:4; 12:23, 27). Jesus does not speak of the hour as a surprise but as a fulfillment of a set time. The hour is not His own tragedy in isolation; it is the moment the Father appointed for His mission to reach its goal.
The mutual request — 'glorify thy Son, that the son may glorify thee' — sets the theological logic of the entire prayer. To glorify the Son is not a private honor but the Father's way of being glorified, because the Son's glory consists in accomplishing the work the Father gave Him (cf. v. 4). Glorification, in John's vocabulary, points to the cross and exaltation together; the cross reveals the Son, and the resurrection and return to the Father complete that revelation.
Context
John 17 stands at the end of the Upper Room discourse. The prayer that begins in v. 1 continues through v. 26 and divides into three movements: prayer for Himself (vv. 1–5), prayer for the disciples (vv. 6–19), and prayer for future believers (vv. 20–26). The curated chapter note summarizes the prayer's theme as unity.
Verses 2–4 immediately follow the target verse and develop its logic: the Son has authority over all flesh to give eternal life, eternal life is defined as knowing the Father and the sent Son (v. 3), and Jesus has already glorified the Father by completing the assigned work (v. 4). Verse 5 then turns to the heavenly glory the Son shared with the Father before the world existed, completing the self-glorification theme introduced in v. 1.
Key words in the original
- G3962 Πάτερ ('Father'). The vocative form in v. 1 sets the tone of the entire prayer as an address to the Father, used 5 times in this chapter (vv. 1, 5, 11, 21, 24).
- G5610 ὥρα ('hour'). In John this term signals the divinely appointed moment of Jesus' passion and glorification, used at decisive turning points (2:4; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 16:32; 17:1).
- G1869 ἐπάρας ('lifting up') τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ('the eyes') εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν ('to heaven'). The upward gaze marks a shift from speaking to disciples (chs. 13–16) to addressing the Father directly.
Related verses
- John 13:31 Already in 13:31 Jesus said 'Now is the Son of man glorified.' The request in 17:1 echoes that earlier declaration and develops it into an explicit prayer to the Father.
- John 17:4 In v. 4 Jesus grounds the request of v. 1 by pointing to the completed work on earth, showing that glorification flows from finished obedience.
- John 17:5 Verse 5 turns the earthly request into a request for heavenly glory with the Father — the same glory that existed before the world was, completing the trajectory begun in v. 1.
Common questions
Why does Jesus say 'Father' rather than 'God' in this prayer?
The address 'Father' reflects the intimate relationship within which Jesus prays. John places Jesus' identity as the Son at the center of the prayer, so the reciprocal Father-Son language is appropriate for a discourse to the one who sent Him.
What does 'the hour' refer to in John 17:1?
In John, 'the hour' points to the divinely appointed moment of Jesus' death and exaltation. It marks the climax of His mission rather than a literal sixty-minute span.
Is Jesus asking the Father to glorify Him, or the other way around?
The verse frames the request as mutual: the Father glorifies the Son so that the Son may glorify the Father. The Son's glorification is not a private honor but the means by which the Father is shown forth, consistent with vv. 4–5.