I have glorified You on the earth
One of the most beautiful chapters of the Gospel is Christ’s long prayer on Thursday evening, on His way to Golgotha, at the conclusion of His ministry in the flesh…
Let us memorize this entire chapter by heart…
And tonight, let us take a few verses from it for contemplation:
“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”
“I have manifested Your name to men.”
“The words which You have given Me I have given to them; and they have received them and have known surely that I came forth from You.”
“For their sakes I pray…” (John 17)
“I have glorified You on the earth”
Have you truly, my brother, glorified God on the earth, as Christ glorified Him by His life, His preaching, and His death? Can you conclude your life with this phrase? Have you been the image and likeness of God—so that whoever sees you glorifies God because of you? Do people see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven?
Do you glorify God in your service, in your words, in your spiritual manner, in your building of the kingdom, in your body, and in your spirit which are God’s? (1 Cor. 6:20) Was your life’s goal the glory of God? Or were you dominated by personal aims—your comfort, your pleasures, your own glory?
Did you set before you Solomon’s saying, “I made me great works; I built me houses; I planted me vineyards… and whatsoever my eyes desired I kept not from them,” or did you say as the Lord Jesus said, “I have glorified You on the earth”?
If God’s glory was not your only aim, was it at least among your aims? And if you have not glorified God, may you at least have stopped at that point, not allowing others to blaspheme because of you…
Christ glorified the Father in everything and said, “I do not receive glory from men.” And God’s beloved in every age said to the Lord, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your holy name give glory.” In the Lord’s Prayer, we also ask first for the glory of God, saying, “Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done,” before asking for anything for ourselves…
So ask yourself now: What have you done for the glory of God? Know that those who glorify God on earth will be glorified by Him in heaven, for He said, “I will honor those who honor Me.”
“The work which You have given Me to do I have finished”
“I have glorified You on the earth. The work which You have given Me to do I have finished.”
He did not say “I have done it,” but “I have finished it,” meaning He brought it to perfection—He was faithful to the end. Are you likewise faithful in your work?
God has given you a soul, children, a ministry, a family, responsibilities, talents, and gifts. Have you glorified God in all of these? Have you completed your work? Your child, whom the Church entrusted to you at baptism as a godparent, to teach him the way of the Lord—have you taught and trained him? God’s words, about which Scripture says, “And you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house” (Deut. 6:6)—have you done this? Can you say, “The work which You have given me to do I have finished”?
You are going to give an account of your stewardship before God when He says, “Give an account of your stewardship.” Will you say, “I have finished it”?
Judge yourself before God judges you. And if you find anything incomplete, complete it now before the door is shut. For the Lord tells us, “Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
“I have manifested Your name to men”
Thus Christ said to the Father: “I have manifested Your name to men” — “I have declared to them Your name and will declare it.”
Have you been proud of this name? Have you manifested it to others? Have you said with David the prophet, “I will speak of Your testimonies before kings and will not be ashamed”?
Have you loved the name of the Lord and gone among people speaking about Him?
Has everyone whom God has placed on your path heard from you about the Lord, His way, His love, and His wondrous redemption? Have you striven to win souls for Him?
Have you set before you the Lord’s command, “You shall be My witnesses,” making your life’s goal to witness for the Lord and make His name known to all?
How many have loved God through your words and your example?
Can you say of them as the Lord said, “Those whom You gave Me I have kept, and none of them is lost”? Can you stand with them victoriously on the last day and say, “Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given Me”?
How much we need people who work in the vineyard of the Lord, manifest His name to others, keep them in His truth, and give them His word!
“The words which You have given Me I have given to them”
“O Lord, I have never spoken from Myself. The words You placed in My mouth—those are what I spoke.
I did not give them My own thoughts or principles, but Your words.
From Myself I said nothing. For I am ‘not eloquent,’ ‘slow of speech and tongue,’ ‘I am but a child and do not know how to speak.’ All my work is to receive a word from You and give it to others.
I am not the founder of a school of thought, nor a philosopher, nor a researcher, nor a teacher, but merely one knocking at Your door, receiving from You a word at the opening of my lips, that I may give it to the people.”
So if You, O Lord, have sent me, then give me the message I am to say to them. Open my lips, O Lord, and my mouth shall declare Your praise.
Bring me into the experience of Your disciples, to whom You said, ‘It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.’
I do not want to speak from myself, for James the apostle says, ‘Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.’
Grant me the word that is fitting for the people, for You know best what benefits them, You who search hearts and minds.
I do not want them to feel that these are my words, but Yours. Therefore, I seek Your word—when I find it, I am ‘as one who finds great spoil,’ for Your word is ‘sweeter than honey and the honeycomb in my mouth.’ ‘The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.’”
So, my brother, ask yourself continually: Is every word you speak to another’s ear a word you have first received from God? Or do you speak from human thought, not having “the mind of Christ”?
Pour yourself before God and receive from Him what you will give. Beware of relying on your human wisdom, for Scripture says, “Lean not on your own understanding.” And remember that God “has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.” For “the foolish,” having no wisdom of their own, continually plead with God for His wisdom, that they may speak through it.
Thus the saints were silent, “slow to speak.” They did not rush to words but waited in prayer until they received speech from God. When they spoke, they conveyed to the people the Lord’s message to them.
That is why people came to them, seeking to hear the word of the Lord from their mouths, receiving from them words of benefit as though from the mouth of God. The saint would remain silent and pray, “If You give me a word, Lord, I will say it; if not, I will stay silent, for that is better for me and for them.”
It is beautiful that the Holy Spirit descended “as tongues of fire”—“tongues,” because He is “the One who speaks through the prophets.”
“The words which You have given Me I have given to them. And they have received them and have known surely that I came forth from You.”
When God gives you a word, He also grants in the same moment a readiness for it in people’s hearts—the word then has power and effectiveness.
He who speaks from himself may be argued with, and his words may enter ears but not hearts. But if the word is given by God, people will receive it and know that the speaker has been in God’s presence and has come forth with that word.
The word we receive from God to give to others is “living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword,” piercing into the heart and its depths. Therefore, the one who speaks the word of God “speaks as one having authority.”
When will we open our mouths and say to the Lord, “I opened my mouth and drew in the Spirit for myself”? When will we receive from the Spirit the gift of knowledge and of speech? When will we keep silence so that God may speak? When will we reject our wisdom to receive His? When will we be able to say in every message, “The words which You have given Me, I have given to them”? When?
“Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak,” waiting with “senses trained” to hear the word God gives. And if he receives nothing, let him remain silent, not standing before people empty, speaking from emptiness.
Thus, preparing a lesson for service means preparing yourself—it is your pouring out before God, that He may prepare the lesson and deliver it to you. For it is not you who speak, but He who speaks through you.
It is astonishing that Christ, who is the Word of God, the Wisdom of God, the Divine Logos, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, says to the Father, “The words which You have given Me I have given to them.” What, then, should we, the ignorant and unlearned, say?
“For their sakes I pray”
It is not enough, O Lord, that I take words from You and give them to others—for though the words may be beautiful, convincing, and deep, when they try to live them out, they face two obstacles: first, human weakness, and second, the assaults of the devil.
Therefore, “For their sakes I pray.” I speak the word—and I also pray.
Service is not merely speaking and teaching, but also prayer—praying that the Lord gives power to the word, power to the hearer, granting him willingness, strength, and perseverance amid struggles.
You may see sinners around you—what do you do about them? Perhaps you criticize them, perhaps you preach to them, or perhaps you avoid them. But have you ever said in your depths, “For their sakes I pray”? Why have you not supported them with your prayers? Why not experience the power of prayer in transforming people?
Let us pray for all—and also for ourselves.
Let us not stop at the threshold of teaching, nor be content with mere commentary and criticism.
¹ Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, El-Keraza Magazine, Year Six – Issue Thirty-Three, August 15, 1975.
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