John 14 through 16 records the Lord’s words to His disciples on His last night on earth. After this wonderful message He offered a prayer to the Father. This prayer in John 17 is the most profound word in the Bible. It is far beyond our mental understanding. Even to grasp its central point is not easy.
Notice that in this prayer the Lord did not pray for small things. He made no mention of the healing of the sick or the salvation of the lost. What He prayed for is something deep within God’s heart.
He began by saying, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You” (John 17:1). What does it mean for the Father to glorify the Son? How is the Son to glorify the Father? How can the Father and the Son be glorified? Glory, we know from the Bible, is God expressed. The illustration of electricity may help make us clear. Electricity is concealed until the switch is turned on. Then the lights shine. The shining of these lights is the glory of electricity. When electricity shines, it is glorified. As we look at the bright lights, we can realize how electricity is glorified by being manifested.
God too is hidden. Whenever He is expressed, however, there is glory. When the tabernacle was erected, for example, God’s glory filled it (Exo. 40:34-35). An overshadowing cloud could be seen by the Israelites. The glory over the tabernacle made them realize that God was there.
This happened a second time when the temple was completed. “And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:10-11). As the bright light bulb indicates the presence of electricity, so the cloud of glory showed the presence of God.
When the Lord Jesus became a man, His glory was concealed in His humanity. His physical body was like the tabernacle, hidden within which was the Shekinah glory. From outside this glory was not visible, but when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies, he saw the Shekinah glory there. The tabernacle was a type of Christ in the flesh. God’s glory was concealed in Christ’s physical body. One day, on a high mountain apart, Christ was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John (Matt. 17:1-8). “His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as the light.” God was expressed, but just for a short time; after that the glory was again concealed.
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