John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify you me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world was. Still the Savior's mind runs upon glory. How unlike the thoughts of a man, however great and good, are these thoughts expressed in this recorded prayer of Christ! It was not vanity, it was not egotism, it was not assumption; it was the consciousness of Divinity which accounted for this language. I. CHRIST HAD GLORY WITH THE FATHER BEFORE THE WORLD WAS. Of this we only know what our Lord himself has revealed to us. But we are assured that this world is not the only scene of the manifestation of the glory of the eternal Word. In what manner, through what circumstances, to what order of intelligences, this ante-natal glory was displayed, we have no means of knowing. II. CHRIST GATHERED TO HIMSELF FRESH GLORY DURING HIS EARTHLY MANIFESTATION AND MINISTRY. This was emphatically a moral and spiritual glory - the glory of truth, righteousness, purity, and love. It was emphatically the glory of sacrifice - glory which could only be realized through incarnation and humiliation. This glory is discerned anti appreciated only by the spiritual; to the view of such it excels all the tinseled splendor of worldly greatness. III. CHRIST TOOK WITH HIM TO THE PRESENCE OF THE FATHER A GLORY WHICH HARMONIZED WITH THAT WHICH WAS NATIVE AND ORIGINAL, AND WHICH EVEN ENHANCED IT. This prayer opens up before the mind three stages of Divine glory as belonging to Christ. The Incarnation did not create his glory, for he brought it with him from the heavens. But his earthly sojourn was the occasion of accession of glory. And when he ascended on high to receive the reward of toil, to reap the harvest of sacrifice, he appeared, and he ever does and will appear, irradiated with a splendor which, as mediatorial, is at once sacrificial and triumphant. - T. Parallel Verses KJV: And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. |
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