September 18

"These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee."—John 17:1.

LET us proceed to consider

THE MATTER OF THIS PRAYER. "Glorify thy Son." Three ways the Father glorified Christ in reference to his sufferings.

By the support he received in his sufferings. There appeared an angel in the garden of Gethsemane strengthening him. His sinking humanity required something to sustain it amidst his extreme sufferings and agonies.

By the circumstances that attended his sufferings. We read of none who put on sackcloth and mourning at the death of Christ, but the sun did not forget to cover itself with a black robe. The high-priest of Israel rent not his garments for sorrow and anguish, but the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom: the earth quaked, and the rocks rent, so that the centurion cried, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

By the glory that succeeded his sufferings. Thus we read of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. His resurrection and ascension were glorious. The grave could not retain him after the third day; he entered it as an invader. View the ascending Conqueror, when his work was finished, going to take possession of his kingdom, and to receive the joy set before him.

THE ARGUMENTS HE EMPLOYED. There are two.

The arrival of a particular period. "The hour is come."

This, says Henry, was the most critical period that ever was, since the clock of time was first set a-going. The hour was come when he more especially needed the Father's assistance and acknowledgment.

The securing of the Father's glory. "That thy Son also may glorify thee." There were three ways in which the Son glorified the Father. As suspended on the cross—as rising from the tomb—and as seated on his throne. Let the glory of God be our end, and the God of glory shall be our portion, and the world of glory our home.