The little word “now” occurs 28 times in John’s Gospel. It is used several times in connection with our Lord’s ministry, pointing to different occasions or time frames. In His prayer to the Father, Christ used the word “now” for a specific reason. At the beginning of His public ministry at Cana in Galilee, He changed water into wine and instructed the servants to “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast” (Jn. 2:8). That was the “now” of their service. Applying this to us, we learn that the hour of service is “now,” and it is also linked to the “now” of worship, because service should not be disconnected from worship, as the Lord told the Samaritan woman: “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (4:23).

Later, shortly before the cross, Christ was speaking to the Father: “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?” (12:27). This parallels His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane—not recorded by John—where Christ suffered intensely as He anticipated the three dark hours of the cross. This “now” is linked with the cross: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (12:31). On the cross Christ would glorify God: “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him” (13:31).

The Man Christ Jesus glorified God as He was never glorified and as will never happen again. In His prayer to the Father in John 17, Jesus places Himself in His spirit after the cross, when He says, “Now I come to You.” He foresaw the full results of His work so that the disciples—and we today—would have fullness of joy, “My joy fulfilled in them” (jnd), even living in a world of trouble.