““I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony, that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. The glory you gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one – I in them and you in me – that they may be completely one, so that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”, John 17:20-24 NET
• This brings up the topic of the Father being greater than Jesus again. According to Jesus, the Father gave Jesus the glory He had even before the creation of the world (i.e., before Jesus became a human, or am not reading that correctly? If so, to me, this implies that the Father was greater than Jesus before (and including the time) Jesus became a man, which goes against what I was thinking yesterday, that is, that the Father was only greater than Jesus while Jesus was a man. Let’s look at how the NASB renders this passage to gain some insight:
“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”, John 17:24 NASB
“Father, I desire those You have given Me to be with Me where I am. Then they will see My glory, which You have given Me because You loved Me before the world’s foundation.”, John 17:24 HCSB
“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 17:24 ESV
• The question is when did the Father give Jesus His glory? And here is a brain twister: Did God make someone else God as well? I ask that question assuming that “gave glory” = “became God”, and that receiving all authority in heaven and on earth” = “being God”. (I am just thinking out loud as I read the Scriptures, and I am not stating any theological position).
“Righteous Father, even if the world does not know you, I know you, and these men know that you sent me. I made known your name to them, and I will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them, and I may be in them.””, John 17:25-26 NET