Do you ever wonder where Jesus’ mind went when he was alone? Surely sometimes his thoughts went to his disciples, or to any of the other countless people he loved, or the ministry work he had to do; but I’m convinced that he very often just ruminated about himself and the Father. This is at least how he starts his prayer at the end of the Last Supper. And in fact his relationship with the Father seems to be what he cares about most. Sometimes we need a reminder to take ourselves out of the central focus of the Bible. Before we were ever around, it was all about the Father and the Son.
When Jesus prays for himself, it’s not the same as most of our prayers for ourselves. He is concerned with the greatest, most ultimate source of happiness in all existence: the eternal mutual glorifying between Father and Son. The Father glorifies the Son, and the Son glorifies the Father. This is what eternity looks like, but it’s also what Jesus’ time on Earth was all about as well; the Father blessed Jesus, and through his ministry and death and resurrection, Christ Jesus blessed the Father enormously as well.
This is the eternal state of God, this constant back-and-forth of selfless love that elevates the full godhead in infinite, joyous glory. This life of God’s is eternal life of the best imaginable kind. And this is the eternal life that we get to participate in as well, by knowing him! Humanity only enters the picture once Christ begins glorifying the Father by bringing all of us to know and love him more. By knowing Jesus, we know the Father; and in knowing the Father, we have the happiest eternal life ever known.
Christ’s mission, first and foremost, is for his Father’s glory to abound. And as Habakkuk 2:14 promised long before, “the Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” It’s worth remembering that we are not the center of the story, but God Almighty is, and he will be glorified in the highest. Praise God for eternal life that will rejoice in his glory forever!
