After Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, John records him responding to a group of curious Greeks with words about his coming glorification: “The hour has come,” he says, “for the Son of man to be glorified.”1

But then he began to speak of death—of seeds dying in the soil before they can rise, and of the fate of those seeking to hold on to their lives. And imagine the Greeks’ response to this, much less the response of the Jews. Who speaks of glory and death in the same breath?

Then John records a statement from Jesus that reveals his intent—the intent to see his earthly purpose through to the end. Yet his words reveal his humanity: “Now my soul is troubled.” Why Jesus? Why are you troubled? If you are truly who you say you are, why would anything trouble you into distress?

The way Jesus speaks to these listeners is haunting. How could they know what lay ahead of him? How could they know the true source of his distress? Did he not just ride into the holy city on a colt, receiving loud cries of “Hosanna!” and looking like King David of old? Yet, he has a rhetorical dialogue with them. “What should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it is for this purpose that I have come to this hour.”

Then the Father and Son share a moment, here in front of these captivated listeners, both Jew and Greek. It was just before that the Jewish leaders said, “Look! The whole world has gone after him!” But Jesus, who has come to give his life for the life of the world, for the lives of all these people—his heart is lifted Heavenward. It must be, for the hour he is facing is too heavy to face without looking to glory. So he says aloud, “Father, glorify your name!”

What the crowd hears next is thunder, though some are a bit bolder, saying that an angel spoke to him. But the sound that followed was the voice of the Father, and somehow John knew. Did he hear it? Was it revealed to him later? We do not know. But the Father confirms his Son’s prayer and gives a promise: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

No one fully understood the earthly purpose of Jesus. Not the Jews, not the Greeks—not even the apostles, though they searched for the answer, and though Jesus himself spoke it to them. “Lord, where are you going?” asked Peter in response to such words. “Why can’t I follow you? I will lay down my life for you!”2 But Peter did not understand, and if we had been there, we would not have understood. When the time came, we all would’ve fallen asleep in the garden, though our Lord pleaded with us to pray with him, to not leave him alone with his distress. And when the full realization of his purpose came, as it did for everyone, we would’ve denied him, or pulled out our swords, or fled naked into the darkness like the unnamed disciple in Mark’s account.3

For in spite of his rhetorical question to the crowds, and of his determination to see his purpose through, Jesus did pray to be saved from the hour. “Abba, Father,” he prayed, intimately, “all things are possible for you. Take this cup from me.”4 He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears, says the Hebrews writer, praying to the One who could save him from death—the only One who could save him.5

And that is where all our prayer would have stopped. If we had been the world’s hope, if we had been in the role of Savior, there would have been no Amen to our prayer. It would’ve have been a continual, “Save me, save me. Father! Take this away.”

But Jesus prayed what we could not pray, and what we still struggle to pray, in spite of our living hope, and in spite of the assurance of the Father’s good purpose: Not my will, but yours be done.

Jesus knew the words of Isaiah. He knew the Father’s will—to crush him.6 And so, in his public speech to the crowds just days prior, he prayed, “Father, glorify your name.” And the Father’s answer of promise came not for the Son’s benefit, but for ours.7

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John 12:23-28

John 13:36-37

Mark 14:52

Mark 14:36

Hebrews 5:7

Isaiah 53:10

John 12:30