“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one….. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
“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.”
~Jesus, in John 17:20-24
Love drives glory.
Because of love, the Father glorifies the Son; because of love, the Son glorifies the Father. Jesus prays that his followers will understand how much they are loved by the Father—and because of love, he gives his glory to them.
Jesus’ prayer is for us—anyone, anywhere who believes the message of Jesus’ disciples, followers, and friends, handed down through the generations on a journey that began when Mary Magdalene’s feet ran from the tomb on Easter morning, carrying the message: I have seen the Lord.
We are called to oneness with anyone, anywhere in the world today who is celebrating and believing that message—because Jesus’ resurrection rises above everything else, and because our love for one another tells the world that we belong to him (John 13:34-35).
Jesus’ love led him to the cross, to the grave, and back again, each step magnifying his glory. His unwavering love offers us confidence not only in the face of death, but to face our lives. His glory inspires us to work together, and to love one another.
Easter morning celebrates Jesus’ glory and his love—as inseparable as he and his Father. Happy Easter: He is risen! We are loved, and we are invited to be with Jesus where he is—forever.
During Lent we’ve spent time in the book of John, and this is how it ends:
Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
~John 21:25
Today, walk away from the tomb, and add to the stories of Jesus’ glory in our world.
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Meditations written by Meghan Blosser.