The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, 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 17:22-24)
I was in grade 8
when my dad came home from work with a box of ice skates for all us kids. I
quickly fell in love with skating (after the embarrassment of knocking some
cute girls over while learning to skate!). The next year I joined hockey and
was hooked.
At the same time
(coincidentally) my uncle had opened a sports’ shop with a special focus on
hockey. I was able to take my full $114.00 from strawberry picking and buy all
my hockey equipment, skates included! I never did learn what kind of “family
deal” my dad got, or whether he paid anything extra behind the scenes. All I
knew is that hockey was now my favorite activity.
As a promotional opportunity for his store, my
uncle bought 4 season tickets to Vancouver Canucks’ games, and I had a couple
of opportunities to attend games in the early 70’s while the Canucks were in
their infancy. I know what it felt like to be absolutely fascinated with the
on-ice play, the feeling of glory whenever the Canucks put the puck in the
net, and particularly when they won a game.
All that to say
that Jesus talking about glory is not a foreign concept. People have no problem
feeling glory, expressing glory, delighting in the glory of their favorite
people or teams. The ONLY problem they have with glory is attaching to Jesus’
glory even though he is our Creator, and the only Savior of the world.
What gripped my
heart this morning is that Jesus had a “desire”. It isn’t that this brings him
down to my level, since desires have been the wreck of me on one side, and a
driving force on the other. So, to think of Jesus having pure desire, holy
desire, righteous desire, good desire, is fascinating.
QUESTION: Do I have
a right to put myself in the picture? When Jesus expresses to the Father his
desire “that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am,” do
I really have the right to include myself in this?
ANSWER: Absolutely!
We are still in the paragraph Jesus introduced with, “I do not ask for these
only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word”. I am one
of the people who have come to believe in Jesus through “their word”. Their
word is the New Testament. The four gospel accounts. The history of the book of
Acts. The instructional leadership of the letters to the churches. The apostles’
writings have been guiding and directing me for six decades.
This means that Jesus’
“desire” is for me “also”. I have been given to Jesus by the Father. And Jesus’
desire, even before going to the cross, was that I would be included in that
great numberless multitude that will be with him in glory glorying in his
glory!
Over my decades, I have watched so many people either fall away from the church, or slink back to the safety of institutional religion, because they believe they were failed by other “Christians”.
At the same time, even as I have been failed by so many church-folk
(including the first pastor I worked under who got so angry at me for asking
questions that he wouldn’t talk to me and was later caught in adultery!), it
has all fallen into the “for those who love God all things work together for
good” reality that brings me to today’s viewpoint of Jesus wanting me to be
with him enjoying the overflowing joy of his glory.
My primary reason
for sharing this is to encourage anyone who has been hurt by the church,
discouraged by people who don’t want to be with you, heartbroken by sinful
actions from people you thought were loved ones, however any of us would
describe anything that entices us to stop following Jesus, to keep before you
what Jesus himself said:
“Father, I desire that they also, 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.”
How do we know if
we are one of the people Jesus’ is speaking of? By examining whether we have
responded to the command of the gospel to repent and believe in Jesus. If we
have confessed with our mouths that “Jesus is Lord”, and believed in our hearts
that God raised him from the dead (meaning all that these things mean in the
New Testament), we are saved. We have eternal life. We will be with Jesus forever
in the new heavens and the new earth.
If you are one of those people, “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the GLORY THAT IS TO BE REVEALED TO US” (Romans 8:18).
So, instead of turning
from Jesus because of hurts or disappointments, turn to Jesus WITH those hurts
and disappointments, admit and confess how inglorious they are, and tell Jesus how
much it fills your heart with wonder that he “desires” to have you with him in
his eternal home to rejoice in the constant glory of his glory.
© 2026
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text
Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.)
