Before the World

In John 17:5 Jesus prayed, “O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” Along with a multitude of scriptural witnesses, this highlights Jesus’ divine glory in the eternity before the world existed. Jesus had emptied Himself of divinity (Philippians 2:5-8) taking on the form of a servant. In verse 6 Jesus prayed about His disciples, “They were Yours.” The disciples were faithful followers of God as He revealed Himself in the Old Testament. Now, as the Father revealed His nature more fully in Jesus, He gave them to Jesus, even as they continued to loyally keep God’s word.