Come from Heaven Lately? – John 17:5

Jesus made many claims while He was here on earth. One of them sounds a bit like the aluminum-lined hat crowd. Jesus claimed He was in heaven before He was here on earth. He is telling us that He existed before He was born. When we read John 17:5  we find that Jesus had glory with the Father before time itself. He expected that glory to extend beyond His death.

Now that might sound far-fetched coming from someone else’s mouth, but Jesus was such an extraordinary individual that His words don’t seem so crazy. Jesus repeatedly made claims that seemed large, and then He would perform a miracle to demonstrate His master of that area of life. For example, He claimed to be the Light of the World, and then He restored sight to a blind man.

In this context, Jesus is telling a very prominent religious leader that his whole way of thinking about entering heaven is wrong. The entrance to heaven is not through accomplishing a prescribed set of tasks, i.e. keeping the Old Testament Law, but through a spiritual birth. Two births are necessary, a natural one which we all have (our birthday), and a spiritual one. The Spirit of God must be involved in the second birth. And the infusion of power for that second birth comes through Jesus death, resurrection and exaltation.

And as part of Jesus’ promise to His disciples He says that whenever and wherever they gather in His Name, He will be there. Believers all over the world and all across time can have Jesus present with them. God’s Spirit brings God’s presence and power. God is imminent, that is, He is right here with us, not simply way out there in heaven, or at the end of the universe. When we gather in His Name, He is here.

He has been present whenever and wherever His people have gathered. And since Jesus has returned to the Father, He has that same glory He had before time began and He brings that glory with Him to us. God’s glory here, now.