Seeing His Glory

“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, my emphasis). Jesus prayed this for His disciples — and that includes us. He asked the Father that we may see His glory, meaning to know Him.

There were certain times in the Old Testament when Jesus revealed Himself in human or angelic form. You know what happened in those times. When Isaiah saw God’s glory in the temple, his body quaked and he fell on his face. Jacob’s hip was broken when he tried wrestling with the Lord. When Moses asked to see God’s glory, the Lord told him, “Okay, but first I have to cover your face. Then I have to hide you behind a rock. Then I can only let you see the trailing afterglow behind Me.” In short, He had to protect Moses from the full revelation of Himself. It wasn’t an easy thing to be in the glorious presence of the Holy One!

This didn’t happen just in the Old Testament, however. When Peter first met Jesus, he fell on his face, suddenly aware of his unworthiness, and declared, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). It was true also of the apostle John, exiled on Patmos, when he received the Revelation. When the Lord’s voice first spoke to him, John fell on his face in terror. There was no frivolity about encountering the Lord.

We know from Scripture that this is the normal response that men and women have when they see Jesus. It begs the question: Have we seen Jesus? Are we transformed by the merest glimmer of His presence in our lives? What would happen if we saw Him as Moses or Isaiah or John or Peter did?