"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." [Jn 17:24]
In the first chapter of John, we are told concerning Jesus,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” [Jn 1:1-3, 14]
From this passage, we discover that Jesus is, as Revelation also states, “The Word of God,” who, “took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” [Rev 19:13, Phil 2:7] We know from other passages that this was, for at least one reason, in order to condemn sin in the flesh, “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” [Rom 8:3b-4] What a glorious Savior we have; for here John also shows us that “The Word,” who was so zealously inclined to save us from our sins by taking them upon Himself, was from the very beginning, even before time, as Micah states, “from of old, from everlasting;” [Mic 5:2] and that He, from before the world was created, was existing alongside God as a perfect equal and loved by The Father, being the means through which God The Father, Yahweh, created all things, and also the sole purpose for which all was created. [Col 1:16] The fact that Jesus would come to earth in the first place is astonishing, for He enjoyed such a state of glory, being above all, the very center of all the universe, celebrated by all, even as the heavens, which “declare the glory of God,” are as a “tabernacle for the sun,” celebrating its brightness and glory. [Psa 19:1-5]
Each time we come to this truth, that “God was manifest in the flesh,” [1 Tim 3:16] we should be struck with awe at the glory of Christ, “The Bright and Morning Star,” who would so willingly “empty Himself” and humble Himself to such a low degree in order that He might save us. [Rev 22:16, Phil 2:7, Psa 113:6] Truly, to see Jesus’ life in the flesh would have been, and will be for us, a very beautiful thing. John writes that the disciples and he, “beheld His glory,” and in his epistle he likewise says, “that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning The Word of Life…that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you…” [1 Jn 1:1, 3] The glory which they continually beheld while Jesus, The Word of Life, was on earth, was not the exceeding wonderful lights or manifest brightness, which is displayed by Him in the heavenly realm, but it was the tangible life of Jesus: it was His character, which He so wondrously displayed upon earth through His actions and words, and is that which shines exceeding bright. Jesus’ life was glorious, much like Solomon’s temple: “exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries;” [1 Ch 22:5] but though this is true, yet the glory which Christ has inherited from His work of salvation, which continues to grow as more come to know Him and be converted, is even above this. In Philippians it says,
“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” [Phil 2:9-11]
If we look up to the heavens, David would tell us, “the heavens declare the glory of God.” And truly, they do: to every language they speak as it were, showing off their brightness and colors and beauty. [Psa 19:1-5] And so, imagine if all the beauty were to be combined, from every star and galaxy and breathtaking nebulae; yes, and from every sunset and sunrise and blue sky – if all of this were to be gathered and focused onto a single point – this would perhaps begin to give us a dim and blurry glimpse of what the manifestation of Jesus’ physical glory is truly like, for it is beyond what our eyes can presently see. John tells us it is not until we receive our new and glorified bodies that we will be able to truly see all of what Jesus is like. He says, “when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” [1 Jn 3:2] John says we shall be like Jesus; that is, we will receive new bodies as He did, but the reason he gives, indicating this with the word “for,” is that “we shall see Him as He is.” Meaning, if we are beholding Jesus’ physical body as it truly is, it implies we have bodies that are similar to His own, for it will take a body which enjoys more dimensional freedom than our present bodies allow, to be able to behold the fulness of His physical nature and glory.
If we now gather these facts together, we can more fully enjoy what Jesus is saying in our verse for today. Jesus said,
“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. “ [Jn 17:24]
Jesus implores His Father based on The Father’s eternal love for Him, saying, “for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” Why does Jesus make such a strong request; what does Jesus so desire that He would offer supplication to God in this manner? He desires that we, His bride, the ones who have been given to Him of the Father, be with Him where He is that we might behold His glory. All of the beauty and wonder and awe, which even before Christ’s resurrected body, was far too brilliant for even seraphim to behold, (for Isaiah says of their wings, “with twain he covered his face” [Isa 6:2]), we shall freely gaze upon and enjoy. The glory which would kill mortal man, and which angels fear to and are forbidden from viewing in its fullest extent, this glory Jesus joyfully and freely allows us to see. What a privilege it will be, and what a promise for us to hope in! And what a precious thing it is that Jesus desires us to see this; like a husband loves for his wife to behold him and offer up praise, so too, but in a much grander way, Jesus desires His bride to behold the beauty of His resurrected body and of His eternal glory. We see Jesus’ heart for us here, in that He also says “I will that they also…be with me where I am.” Our Heavenly Groom, for whom we eagerly await to return from heaven and gather us to Himself, desires to see us and be with us, perhaps even more-so that we desire of Him. For in Zephaniah we are told, “He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in his love, He will joy over thee with singing.” [Zeph 3:17] In that day, when Christ returns to scoop up His bride into His loving arms, He shall rejoice with joy and sing over us, even as Adam exclaimed and sung over His bride, Eve, “this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh[!]” [Gen 2:23] Yes, our Lord desires for us to be with Him for He loves us deeply; therefore, as He does, let us also rejoice in this fact, for Jesus promises us, “and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also.” [Jn 14:3]
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