⁴ “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.”

Past tense is what Jesus used to describe the work of glorifying God. Yet He had not yet accomplished the greatest work assigned to Him, namely dying on the cross for the sins of the world. What do we make of this statement then? All story telling involves human conventions of communication, one of the most intriguing of which is the use of time notations—especially when it comes to Holy Scripture written by inspired writers, about a God who is timeless. And here we have a prayer by God the Son to God the Father, a communication of the eternal Godhead, who transcends all sequences of notations like “before” and “after.”

It may be, on the one hand, that Jesus referred to the past instances of the work He was called to do, without any reference to the future instances of glorifying God. In other words, “up until this point.” Or it may be that Jesus took the whole purview of His earthly existence, including the future crucifixion, as the work given Him to do. In this case, He would be seeing the future (the next few hours) as good as done. The die has been cast; the final stage of His work has been set in motion, Judas being the catalyst by embarking on his betrayal.

Earlier in His ministry, Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34). And God’s will was for Him to die for the sins of the world. Paul understood this, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all” (1 Tim 1:15). To use modern vernacular, Jesus was all in. He came with a singularity of purpose and His life was completely at the disposal of this mission. This wasn’t just a desire or a willingness, it was the actuality of His life.

In the Garden of Gethsemene, in a couple of hours, He would be wrestling with the final temptation from Satan—would Jesus follow through on obeying the will of the Father and complete the work He was called to do? Matthew records the scene this way, “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will’” (Mt 26:39). Three times he prayed this, three times He submitted—and He went to the cross.

The question for Christ-followers: are we going to do the will of God, namely, to do the work He has given us to glorify Him with our entire lives.

Lord, I renew my commitment to live for Your glory in all I do.