"Glory" is a major word in John's Gospel. At the very beginning, in what scholars call the prologue, we are told "we beheld his glory," and then the rest of the Gospel shows how it was done. This past Thursday we celebrated the feast of the Ascension, that occasion which emphasizes the glorification of Christ - he has been raised above all things and is Lord of all. Today in the Gospel we stand between events, for we are listening to Jesus pray on the night before his death, and he is already speaking of his glorification. His death is seen as his glorification, or at least as a part of it. We are allowed to overhear Christ in prayer, and in that prayer, as he speaks of his forthcoming death, he speaks of it as being glorified.

The glorification of Jesus means that for baptized believers …