Father Bring Them to Glory
John 17:24-26
Today we come to the final part of our Lord’s magnificent prayer in John 17. Jesus’ prayer rises as it proceeds. After praying for Himself to be returned to glory so that the Father would be glorified (John 17:1-5), Jesus asked the Father to keep His people secure from the world of evil (John 17:6-15); then that the Father would sanctify them (John 17:16-19); then that the Father would unify them as a witness to the world (John 17:20-23); and now He reaches His crowning point — that they may be with Him where He is to behold His glory (John 17:24-26).
John 17:24-26
24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
The final request of our Lord, in this last section of His prayer, is in John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me.” Jesus prays that they would be with Him to behold His glory. Jesus is praying for:
1. A Glorious Reunion
Remember the context of John 17. Jesus prayed this grand prayer after teaching His disciples in the upper room as they celebrated the Passover. In John 18 the very next thing that happens is that Jesus and His disciples go to the garden where Judas will betray Him and the temple guards will arrest Him. The next day the chief priests and Pharisees will try Him, convict Him and sentence Him to death. The will nail Jesus to the cross where He will die.
Jesus knows all that will happen. He has been preparing His disciples for His death and departure. Over and over again Jesus has told them that He is going to His Father (John 13:1, 3, 33, 36; 14:2, 12, 28; 16:10, 16-17, 28). He has prayed to return to the Father and to His glory He had before the world was (John 17:5). All of this talk has troubled the disciples. They are afraid because Jesus is leaving them. Jesus has prayed that the Father would leave the in the world as a witness to the world even though they are not of the world. But that is not the end of the story, nor the end of the prayer.
Jesus prays (John 17:24), “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am.” This is the prayer of our Lord as He goes to the Father. Going to the Father must include going to the cross to suffer and die under the wrath of God against the sin of the world. But as He goes, He is not just thinking of Himself, He is thinking of others. He is praying for His disciples and all who would believe in Him through their word (John 17:20).
He prays, “I desire…” or “I will…” (KJV). This is the prayer of a dying man. It is His last will. What does Jesus will for you? What is the wonderful end of the story? A glorious reunion, “that they … may be with Me where I am.”
Three things our text shows about this request of Jesus:
A. Heaven is sure for those who belong to Jesus.
Jesus is going to the Father. He prays for us to be with Him where He is. Back in John 14:2-3 Jesus already promised His disciples, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
Jesus is praying for the Father to fulfill that promise. There can be no greater assurance of heaven than that Jesus prays for us to be there with Him. Jesus’ will and the Father’s will are always in complete agreement (John 5:30).
Remember what Jesus taught in John 6:37-40?
37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jesus prays that those whom the Father has given Him would be with Him. He will raise us up to be with Him forever. When Christ comes again and the dead are raised those that the Father has given to the Son will be with Him.
How can you know if you’re one whom the Father gave to His Son? Jesus says that all whom the Father has given to Him will come to Him. Have you come to Jesus? If you’ve come to Jesus and believed in Him as your Savior and Lord, you are one of those whom the Father gave to His Son. And this means that you can be sure that you will be with Christ in heaven!
B. Heaven is beholding Jesus’ glory.
Look again at John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me.” The best part about heaven will not be gates of pearl or streets of gold or being with your loved ones or meeting all of the saints or even having a new resurrection body—as wonderful as all those things will be. What makes heaven most wonderful is to be with Jesus forever and to see His glory.
So far, we have only seen a glimpse of the glory of Jesus Christ like Moses who prayed to see God’s glory and beheld God’s backside as the Lord hid him in the cleft of the rock. John wrote (John 1:14) “And the Word became 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.”
His disciples witnessed His Glory in His miracles (John 2:11; 11:40), in His teaching (John 7:18; 8:50), at His transfiguration (2 Pet. 1:16-17) and especially in His death on the cross (John 12:27-31) and His glorious resurrection. They beheld snap shots of His Glory, but not the unveiled splendor of the Son of God. We also see something of His glory (2 Cor. 3:18) by His Spirit in His word, but as Paul says (1 Cor. 13:12), “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.”
The old hymn (by Carrie Breck) puts it,
Face to face with Christ my Savior,
Face to face—what will it be—
When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ who died for me?
Face to face I shall behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by!
Do you long to be with Jesus and see His glory? Can you mean it when you sing the hymn (by Charles Gabriel),
When all my labors and trials are o’er,
And I am safe on that beautiful shore,
Just to be near the dear Lord I adore
Will through the ages be glory for me.
When, by the gift of His infinite grace
I am accorded in heaven a place,
Just to be there and to look on His face
Will through the ages be glory for me.
O that will be glory for me,
Glory for me, glory for me!
When by His grace I shall look on His face,
That will be glory, be glory for me!
There must be something so deep, so enthralling, so vast to the glory of Jesus that it can occupy the attention of God’s people for eternity. The key is that this glory was given in the context of love.
C. Heaven is experiencing God’s love.
Jesus says that the glory which the Father gave Him is based on love (John 17:24), “… for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” When we are with the Lord forever in heaven we will see the love that the Father has eternally for the Son and the Son for the Father. That love will be perfected in all of the saints. Jesus ends His prayer by asking the Father (John 17:26), “… that the love with which You loved Me may be in them …”
There was a day before all days, when there was no day but the Ancient of Days. Oh the intensity of the Divine love of the Father to the Son! There was no universe, but God alone; and the whole of God’s omnipotence flowed forth in a stream of love to the Son, while the Son’s whole being remained eternally one with the Father by a mysterious essential union. Love is both the source and the channel, and the end of the Divine acting. Because the Father loved the Son He gave us to Him, and ordained that we should be with Him. (C. H. Spurgeon)
Like our limited view of His glory, we have yet to experience the fullness of the love of God. For all eternity we will be perfected in love (1 John 4:12, 16, 18).
Jesus prays for a glorious reunion where we behold His glory and experience His love.
How can you be sure this prayer is for you? In John 17:25-26 Jesus shows us the glorious foundation for our assurance.
2. A Glorious Foundation
25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it.
The glorious foundation for our assurance is Christ’s relationship with the Father. Jesus prays, “The world has not known You, but I have known You.” Despite the world’s rejection of the revelation of God, Jesus prays for those who accept Him and believe that the Father has sent Him, “and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it.” These are the ones that the Father has given to the Son (John 17:24).
We can know God only through revelation, not speculation. In Luke 10:22, Jesus claimed, “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” Jesus prayed (John 17:6), “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world; …” Here He repeats (John 17:26), “And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it ….” The only way that we can know God is through Jesus Christ, who was sent to this earth to manifest God’s name through His life, death and resurrection.
3. A Glorious Companion
Finally Jesus prays, “…that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” As we saw (John 17:23), Jesus says that the Father loves us even as He loves His own Son! What a staggering, life-changing truth! Paul prays (Eph. 3:17-19), “… that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Jesus had told His disciples that night (John 15:4), “Abide in Me, and I in you.” He promised the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:17) to abide with them forever (John 14:16).
This is our joy and peace in times of trouble; this is strength in our weakness; this is power to witness and serve; this is our fellowship with the saints; this is confidence in life and in death; “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).
