And Jesus prayed that all whom His Father had given Him might behold His glory. When? Not only in heaven, but here. As we read in Paul's wondrous description of this sight, "we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord" (2 Cor. iii.), do not simply gaze upon it as on a lovely picture, but are transformed as we gaze—are changed, until we become like our Lord, and bear His image, and reflect His glory, as the face of Moses shone when he came down from God on Mount Sinai, and he did not know it until he found the Israelites could not look at him unless he veiled his face, for true holiness makes us humble and lowly, and
"The more His glories strike our eyes,
The humbler we shall lie;
Thus while we sink, our joys shall rise
Immeasurably high.",
And if now we see Him thus by faith, we shall see Him as He is, and be like Him for ever.
"Oh, that with yonder sacred throng
We at His feet may fall;
Join in the everlasting song,
And crown Him Lord of all."
But the prayer of Jesus began with the earnest request for another kind of glory—"Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee." "The hour" for which I came into the world—"the hour" of deepest woe, yet most glorious victory. Glorify Thy Son by strengthening and sustaining Him, that He may glorify Thee by accomplishing Thy will, and destroying the works of the devil.
Was not the prayer answered? Hear the dying Saviour cry, with a loud voice, on Calvary, "It is finished!" and we behold Him gloriously conquering in the very moment of His death, and departing to receive the Victor's crown, and the grateful worship of all the redeemed, as they sing, "Worthy the Lamb that was slain!"
Lastly, Jesus says of all His glory, "I have given it to My people, My followers, My friends" (ver. 22). "My glory, My joy, I share with them." He is "anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows" (Psa. xlv. 7); but to every "good and faithful servant" He will say, "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
Is His joy, His glory, ours? Do we delight in His salvation? Do we desire to follow Him, and, like Him, do good to others? Do we long to see God's kingdom come, and His will done on earth as it is done in heaven? If so, He has given us a share in His glory, and we shall meet with all His saints around His throne on high—
"And with one heart, and voice, and soul
Sing His redeeming grace."
Then will His glory be complete. Oh, that we may behold and enjoy it, too! Amen.