Day 145: What Does Jesus Desire for His People?
Jesus desires that we see Him as He is in all His excellent splendor and magnificence. What we have been given now “IN Christ” is only a glimpse of the good things to come. Jesus is anticipating the time when we will be with Him, see Him as He truly is and all things will be made NEW.
WORDwork:
John 17:24
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world . 17:25 Righteous Father, even if the world does not know you, I know you, and these men know that you sent me. 17:26 I made known your name to them, and I will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them, and I may be in them.”
18:1 When he had said these things, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley. There was an orchard there, and he and his disciples went into it.
What does Jesus ask for His people in 17:24?
What did Jesus make know to His disciples according to 17:25?
What does Jesus pray to be “in” His disciples according to 17:26?
As you have probably picked up by now, “glory” is a key word in this prayer. It is also a key word in the Gospel of John. You might set aside some time to read through this Gospel and mark every time the word forms of “glory” show up and see what you can learn.
Earlier, we defined what it means to “glorify” someone. Now we want to focus the idea of glory one more time. As we discussed earlier, “Glory” is a big idea in the Bible. If we start with the Lord God, glory is used to describe His very essence, His luminous and radiant excellence, perfection and beauty that is profoundly remarkable. The Rabbis called this aspect of God’s glory His shechinah—His visible presence). Glory also speaks about God’s holiness and splendor as the source of all that is true, good and beautiful.
Glory is
radiant (it gives “light” and is meant to be seen)
beauty (captivating) that is
profound (heavy, deep),
inexhaustible (we never tire of thinking about it) and
remarkable (worth taking about, praise worthy)
Notice: Jesus wants His people to see the glory the Father had given Him before the creation of the world. He doesn’t say, “I want them to hear about my glory….”, He says see the glory. Ultimately, glory is something to be seen. Remember again, John began His Gospel with the statement, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen His glory….”
During his earthly work, Jesus took Peter, James and John to a mountain and there Jesus was transformed before them and “His face shone like the sun” (see Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36). Moses and Elijah also appeared and spoke with Jesus. This is often referred to as the “transfiguration of Christ.”
Many years, later John was called by Jesus to receive and record the visions of the Book of Revelation. In the first chapter, John sees Jesus “glorified”:
Revelation 1:13–16
… in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet and he wore a wide golden belt around his chest. 14 His head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His face shone like the sun shining at full strength.
I find it very fascinating that John, who was present at the Transfiguration and would be commissioned to write Revelation, is the gospel writer who focuses most on “Jesus glory.”
Now what is the point of all this? Jesus desires that we see Him as He is in all His excellent splendor and magnificence. Notice also that this glory was given to Jesus by Father because of His love for Jesus. Love and glory are inseparable. Those that we love become glorious to us. This is rooted in the nature of the Lord God Himself. What we have been given now “in Christ” is only a glimpse of the good things to come. Jesus is anticipating the time when we will be with Him, see Him as He truly is and all things are as they should be.
Jesus ends His prayer by linking together knowing the Father with experiencing the love of the Father in Jesus. The World does not know the Father because it has rejected Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus knows the Father and has made His “name” known to His disciples.
In the Scriptures and in the culture of Jesus’ times, names meant something. Jesus’ name—Yeshua, in Hebrew—means “the Lord saves.” Simon Peter was called “Cephas” by Jesus which means “rock.” When at the burning bush, Moses asks the LORD for His name and the Lord tells him it is “YHWH”—I AM that I AM. The significance of this name is that YHWH is and will be everything His people will need. Names say something about the nature and character of the person they belong to.
Jesus makes known the name of the Father to His disciples by revealing the true nature of the Father:
John 1:18
No one has ever seen God. The Only One, himself God, [Jesus] who is in closest fellowship with the Father,
has made God known.
It is interesting that the root of the term translated “to make known” here is literally the one we get the term exegete or exegesis from. This means to make something fully known and understandable by trustworthy explanation. Jesus has made the Father fully known in His work because He and the Father are one. To see Jesus is to see the Father.
Jesus continues to work in and through His people to make the reality of the Father’s excellence known. Through this experiential knowledge, the love that the Father has for Jesus is present in us. Earlier in this prayer Jesus said,
John 17:23
I in them and you in me—that they may be completely one, so that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me.
Let that catch your attention: The Father loves us in the same way He love Jesus! That is a transforming truth. Jesus highlights this truth as He closes this prayer with, “so that the love you have loved me with may be in them, and I may be in them.” The Lord Jesus is always present with us through the power of the Holy Spirit. He is and will be all that we need. This all comes to us through the love of the Father.
Take a few minutes and think about this reality: Father God loves us just as He love His One Unique Son Jesus. Give thanks throughout the day for this incredible truth.
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
