I’m a bit of a romantic.
It’s true. I get misty at sweet spots in movies and think others are heartless if they don’t. I think babies are sweet, and couples married over 50 years are inspiring.
One of the classic romantic lines is the idea that I’m “dying to be with you.” Perhaps we might hear it as, “I’m dying to see you.” Of course, we’re not being literal. We’re not physically passing away because our beloved isn’t with us.
But have you ever considered Jesus died to be with us?
Jesus was praying at the table where the Last Supper had just occurred. He started this prayer in John 17. This is not the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane but a different, intimate prayer the disciples would have heard. Remember, we interact with this material over weeks, but the Lord Jesus prayed this in one sitting.
Continuing on, we read in John 17:24
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
John 17:24
New International Version
Jesus desires for His followers—both then and now—to see His glory. This is the same glory the Father gave to Jesus because of His love for Jesus. The glory given to Jesus would be expressed through the crucifixion and resurrection. Those events would start just hours after Jesus prays these words. Those disciples in that room would see it with their physical eyes, but we would see it through our spiritual eyes through the Holy Spirit.
Even though we have not seen His glory with our own eyes, we catch a glimpse of Jesus’ glory even now. The glory we see is the glory of Jesus as God. On earth, the picture was of humanity with moments of deity shining through. Jesus prays we will see Him as fully God.
The glory Jesus prayed for all of us to see is the same glory John (our human author) witnessed in Revelation 1:12-18. Jesus wants all His followers to see and experience this glory!
This is the glory of the Son of God, and when we experience Him in our hearts and lives, we validate His position as the Savior of the world. He loves us so much that He prayed, in verse 24, “I WANT those you have given me to be with me where I am.” He wants you to be close to Him. The heart of the Son of God is to fulfill our ultimate destiny: eternal life with Him.
The disciples of Jesus in that upper room saw Jesus incarnated as a human. This was a form of humiliation. Yet, He voluntarily submitted to this so we could find eternal life in Him. In 1 John 3:2, John (the same human author as this Gospel account) tells us one day, we will see Jesus as He truly is.
Jesus was not just any random Jewish man. He was the Son of God enrobed in flesh. His purpose for coming down here was not just to show us an example of what a human could be. His purpose was to pay our debt of sin on the cross. His purpose was to lay down His life so we could pick His up.
Ultimately, this life is fulfilled when we close our eyes in death and awaken to His radiant, indescribable face.
We are faced with two choices: receive His redemption from our sin and experience eternal life with Him or reject His redemption from our sin and experience eternal dying in Hell without Him.
His choice has been made.
What’s yours?
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Life Meets Theology 