“Now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” (John 17:5)
Proper understanding of John 17:5 can be reached only by careful study of the salient features of this remarkable prayer, as they are unfolded step by step from its commencement. The context of any passage of Scripture is important to its sincere and full comprehension.
That Jesus the Christ, who offered the foregoing petition, quoted above, was not in existence as an individual living Personality “before the world was” is abundantly testified to by numerous Scriptures. According to these, He was the promised seed of the woman, (Genesis 3:15). He was the seed of Abraham and of David, (Genesis 12:7; Galatians 3:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; Acts 13:22, 23). Many devout mothers in Israel of the royal line of David eagerly anticipated the hope that one of them might be the chosen mother of the Messiah. Such an extended genealogy, all having a share in the promised birth of the Messiah, absolutely shuts out the possibility of the same Personality pre-existing His birth in contemporaneous enjoyment of life, while the processes of His coming were being wrought out in the lives of those who lived for the very purpose that He might come into being.
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Author: R. H. Judd
Keywords: Father and son, Trinity, Trinitarian, Trinitarianism, Holy Trinity, Father and I are one, Jesus and the Father are one, Jesus is one with the Father, I and my Father are one, Before the world was, Glory that I had, Glorify me, Logos, Word was God, Jesus is the Logos, Jesus was the Logos, Jesus is God, Jesus is Lord, Deity of Christ, Deity of Jesus, Jesus' preexistence, Jesus's preexistence, Preexistence of Jesus, Pre-existence of Jesus, Theophany, Word made flesh, Eternal word, Preexistent word, Eternal son, Pre-incarnate, Preincarnate, God the Son
Bible reference(s): John 17:5
Source: One God: God of the Ages (Oregon, IL: Restitution Herald, 1949).
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.