“And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are One:” (John 17:22)
This was part of the high priestly prayer Jesus prayed before leading His disciples to the Garden to pray and be betrayed by Judas. When we read the Bible many times we fail to stop and contemplate exactly what the Scriptures are saying. I know I do exactly that. I read and skip over concepts that I don’t understand, but those are exactly the ones we need to study. Here Jesus prays to the Father and says He has given the disciples the glory that the Father gave Jesus.
What is this glory? It’s the obedience and love of Jesus. He is One with the Father, carrying on the Will and Purposes of God for mankind. In the sacrifice of Jesus, His death, burial and resurrection, the glory of God is manifest. God reveals that He is the Almighty, the All Knowing, the All Wisdom, the All Power. That is the glory of Jesus.
And Jesus imparts that glory to His disciples. Jesus gives the reason for this; “that they may be one, even as We are One.” That means that their lives would be one with Jesus and the Father in purpose. They would follow in His footsteps, carrying on the ministry of Jesus and God’s love for mankind at the cost of their lives. And they did. John in writing his first chapter describing who Jesus is, includes this. “And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” (John 1:16)
What does that mean for us? As I have mentioned in other blogs, we are all in this sanctification process of becoming more and more like Jesus. We have lots of baggage from the world, the flesh and old life we have to get rid of. But, each time we obey, we are changed from glory to glory. While it’s true, we will never be perfected 100% until we see Jesus face to face, each time we obey, we are becoming more and more like Jesus. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2Corinthians 3:18)
The intention of Jesus for all His disciples, then and now, is be one with Him and one with the Father. Now the disciples received His glory to carry out the mission of Jesus even unto death. And they did. What do you think it means for us? We cannot skirt the issue. That means that the Father’s Will and Purpose is our will and purpose. From Scripture we know that it is to have all come to Him and receive His free gift of redemption, to know Him and to be with Him forever. My brothers and sisters, the question we now have to ask ourselves is, what is our part as one with the Father and Jesus? What is our life about? Jesus put it plainly and we keep skipping over it lackadaisically because we are not there yet or because we don’t want to be there. “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25) But we love our lives too much. There is too much we have worked for. There is too much to give up.
One step at a time, “from glory to glory,” from obedience to obedience, we will be there. This is not a call for only those in the five-fold ministry (pastors, evangelists, teachers, prophets and apostles,) but for all His disciples, followers and believers in Jesus. This is being one with the Father and one with Jesus. This is having the glory that the Father gave Jesus.
Comments