The Son is to be glorified along with the Father (vv. 1, 5). In verse 5 the Lord said, “And now, glorify Me with Yourself, Father, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” The word with is used three times in this verse. In the phrases with Yourselfand with You,the same Greek word is used for with.The sense of this word is “along with.” This means that the Son is exactly the same as the Father in glorification. The Son is glorified along with the Father and with the same glory that the Father has. This word strengthens the indication in verse 1, concerning the deity of the Lord’s person, that He had the divine glory along with the Father before the world was, that is, in eternity past, so that He should be glorified along with the Father with that glory now. The Lord participates in the divine glory, not separately by Himself, but along with the Father, for He and the Father are one (10:30). The Lord, by praying this way, indicates His person, His deity, showing that He is the same as the Father in the divine glory.
The Father is glorified in the Son’s glorification. The Father could never be glorified apart from the Son, because the Father has entrusted all that He is and has to the Son. The Father is embodied in the Son. Therefore, the Father cannot be glorified apart from the Son but only in the Son’s glorification. We have seen that the Lord was glorified in His resurrection. As long as the Lord is expressed and glorified, the Father is also expressed and glorified. Because the Lord is one with the Father and the Father is in the Lord, the release of the glory and beauty of the Lord manifests the glory and beauty of God the Father. Because They both are one, the Father is glorified in the glorification of the Son. Since the Father is in the Son, the Lord said, “Glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You.”
The Father’s glorification is also through the Son’s believers. The Father is the source, essence, origin, and everything to the vine tree. But the vine tree can never be expressed, glorified, without the branches. The Father is glorified in the Son’s glorification, and the Son’s glorification is through all His branches.
In verses 1 and 5 we see that the Son’s divinity and deity are the same as the Father’s. The Son is divine in exactly the same way as the Father is. The Father’s deity is the Son’s deity. The Son’s deity is the same as the Father’s. The words Glorify Me with Yourselfmean that the glory of the Son is the glory of the Father. For example, to serve me dinner with my friend means that dinner is served to me and to my friend. My friend has the same rank as I do. Likewise, the Son has the same rank as the Father. The Son is glorified along with the Father with the glory that the Father gave Him before the foundation of the world. Thus, the Son has exactly the same rank as the Father. In other words, the person of the Lord can be ranked the same as that of the Father. The glorification of the Son will rank equally with that of the Father. Therefore, His person is equal to the Father’s.
Verse 2 says, “Even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that He may give eternal life to all You have given Him.” This verse indicates the Lord’s work. The Son has the Father’s authority over all mankind so that He may give eternal life, not to all mankind but only to those whom the Father has given Him, the Father’s chosen ones. The Father has given the Son authority over all flesh, over all mankind. All mankind is under the authority of the Son because the Father has entrusted Him with this authority. The Lord has authority to rule over all humanity. Why does He have this authority? That He may give eternal life to all whom the Father has given Him. By a careful reading of this verse, we can see that the Lord has authority to rule over all mankind in order to give eternal life to that part of mankind which the Father has chosen and given to the Lord. The Lord created man, exercised His authority over man, and redeemed some of them for the purpose of giving them eternal life. In other words, the Lord must first create, then rule over, redeem, and finally give life to a chosen group of people. The Lord’s work, therefore, includes creating, governing, redeeming, and imparting life. The Lord has the same rank as the Father: He is the One who creates, governs, redeems, and gives eternal life. Do not think that you have received eternal life by accident. No, it was not an accident. Among the billions of human beings, God the Father loved you, selected you, and marked you out. There is a divine mark upon us.
The Father not only marked us out but also gave us to the Son. Do not just think of yourself as a poor, pitiful sinner. In a sense, you are, but in another sense, you are a gift to the Son. You need to say, “Praise the Triune God that I am a precious gift whom the Father gave the Son. I am dear, precious, good, high, and even lovely. I am a gift, not a trash can. The Father would never give a trash can to His Son. As one who has been given to God’s dear Son, I am precious, dear, lovely, and sweet.” If you have seen this, your view, attitude, and concept will all be changed, not only concerning yourself but also concerning all the saints. Do you believe that all the dear brothers and sisters are gifts to the Son? Do you believe that the one whom you do not like is such a gift? If you have seen this, you will love every saint, because every dear saint is a gift selected by the Father and given to the Son. The Father has selected us from among the billions of human beings. We are all the selected ones, the top ones, in the universal gift shop. We all have been selected and given to God’s dear Son.
The Father has given the Son authority not only to overrule mankind but also to maintain mankind. God the Son exercised His authority in caring for mankind in order that we might come into being. Men like Hitler have slaughtered a great many people. But God the Son seemed to say, “Hitler, you go to hell. I must maintain mankind. So many dear gifts which My Father has given Me must come into being. I am looking for those gifts.” Praise the Lord that we all are the dear gifts whom the Father has given to the Son.
In verse 3 the Lord said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Him whom You have sent, Jesus Christ.” What is eternal life? When I was young, I was told that eternal life was just a blessing in the future. Eternal life is divine life with a special function—to know God (cf. Matt. 11:27) and Christ. Every life has its function. The function of a dog’s life is barking, the function of a bird’s life is flying, the function of a cat’s life is catching mice, and the function of a chicken’s life is laying eggs. The function of the divine life is to know God. God and Christ are divine. To know the divine person we need the divine life. Since the believers are born with the divine life, they know God and Christ (Heb. 8:11; Phil. 3:10). Hebrews 8:11 says that there is no need to teach any New Testament believers to know God. Why is there no need for this? Because every New Testament believer knows God. New Testament believers have the divine life, and the divine life is the life that knows God. We do not need to teach a dog to bark, because the dog’s life has the barking function. Likewise, since we have the divine life, we do not need to be taught to know God, for the function of the divine life is to know God and Christ. Oh, that I may know Christ! We all may know Christ because we have the divine life, the life whose function is to know God and Christ.