Meditations

”When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted His eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father the hour has come… glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.’ ” (John 17:1-5) “Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24)

Incredibly, in this chapter we are allowed to sit in as Jesus finishes the upper room gathering with a final prayer for Himself, and over His disciples, and for those who will believe in Him because of the disciples’ testimony – which is, of course, you and me. (17:20) “This has to be the most sacred passage in all of the four Gospels. And any teacher or pastor who fails to acknowledge the mystery of the Trinity presented to us here is truly missing the wonder.” (J.C. Ryal, 1816-1900) “Here we are given a view of how the Trinity works like no other in the Bible. From eternity, God has been supremely joyful in the fellowship of the Trinity, so that He has no discontent or deficiency that would prompt Him to create the world. God does not act out of need. He gives. He makes things come to life. He sustains. He delivers. And He is joyful in the fellowship of the Trinity – ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased!’ (Matt 3:17)” (Alistair Begg)

And when we give God our complete trust out of love for Him, God is well pleased with us – “Truly, truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith [as is in this Centurion].” (Matt 8:10) “But we cannot enjoy God as a means to anything. We don’t choose joy in God as an act for the sake of getting something beyond joy in God. That’s not the way joy works. You don’t enjoy playing with your child so that he will mow the lawn. There are no ‘so that’s’ in the experience of joy. It’s the very nature of joy to be a spontaneous response to something that you treasure. That’s why Jesus taught, ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.’ (Matt 6:21) The point is that if our joy is going to reflect the glory of God, then it must flow from true knowledge of how God is glorious. And where will we get that knowledge? ‘When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.’ (John 16:13)” (John Piper) And because it’s Jesus’ prayer for us, one day we shall know His glory face to face. (1 John 1:1-4)

David