Jesus is praying with and for his disciples on that dark night of his betrayal. He’s reflecting back on the heavenly plans that were made before the beginning of time and looking forward to the eternal results. He’s talking to the Father about receiving glory from him and giving glory to him. And then Jesus says a most remarkable thing. He begins talking to God about his disciples and he says, “Glory has come to me through them” (John 17:10).
Glory has come to me through them.
That’s an incredible statement.
It’s amazing to think that sinful man, me, in all my shortcomings and inadequacies, in all my failures, in my selfishness, somehow us, me, in all my sin, somehow we bring glory to the Holy Son of God. That’s unbelievable.
That part of Jesus’ prayer tells me a couple of things.
One, we are very, very, very precious in God’s sight. He finds glory — he actually receives glory — in the bumbling ways we try to live for him down here. We’re not perfect. Far from it. But our attempts bring him glory.
Two, we are radically and dramatically changed by the death and resurrection of our Lord. God creates inside us a brand new creature, full of his Holy Spirit, meant to experience everything in a brand new way. We are different. We are sanctified. We’re holy. We belong to him and we are set apart for his will and his purposes.
And that brings glory to the Son. It glorifies Christ Jesus when you and I show an act of kindness in his name. It brings glory to him when we put our trust in him for salvation. It glorifies Jesus even when we fail.
The Church gives glory to God. We exhibit great confidence because we’re protected by his name (John 17:11) and we possess the truth of his Word (John 17:17). We live this sanctified life in his great power. And the mission is unstoppable. The Kingdom advances. And Christ is glorified!
Peace,
Allan
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