Carrying Full Weight

And what is eternal life? It is knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth. I have finished the work you gave me to do. So now, Father, give glory to me in heaven where your throne is. Give me the glory I had with you before the world began. (John 17:3-5)

I like to think of the concept of “glory” in terms of weight. The glory of God in my mind is easily transferable to “the weight of God”. When I “feel” God I’m really feeling the weight of His presence. The weight of who He is. When I experience God, the more intense that experience, the greater the weight I have carried. The more I live in who Jesus created me to be, the greater the weight I carry. The greater the weight I carry, the more “glory” I bring to Jesus.

I think in relationship we bring our “weight” to bear in each other’s lives. I bring weight to my relationship with you. You “feel” the weight of who I am when we spend time together. I feel the weight of who you are when I choose to engage with you. When I experience your personality, I feel your weight. When I laugh with you, cry with you, wonder with you, I experience the weight of who you are. The more of myself I share with you the greater you feel my weight. Or better said, the more of myself I share with you, the greater the portion of my weight you carry. Our ability to carry each other's weight is determined by how mature we are.

Jesus carried the full portion of the glory of the Father. When you look at Jesus in the gospels, you are looking at the full revelation of the Father. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one”. He also said, “I share with you only the words I hear from my Father.” To look at Jesus was to see the Glory of the Father. Jesus carried the full weight of the Father and I believe it was Jesus’ desire for us to feel the full weight of the Father.

If I “weighted” this passage it would look like this:

And what is eternal life? It is knowing You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have carried the weight of who You are here on earth. I have finished letting these, Your chosen children, experience the full weight of who You are, just as You desired for me to do. So now, Father, let my weight be felt in heaven where your throne is. Give me the weight I had with You before the world began.

Jesus lived with the end in mind. From this passage it would seem that one of his core motivators was to attain the glory, the “weight” that He had before the world began. I surmise from his words that he was looking forward to sharing in that glory. He desired, after he had completed what his Father asked him to do, to engage in the weight of his eternal existence.

Jesus’ desire to be brought into this glory holds significance for me. Glory, or as we’ve been inferring, “weight”, originates from the Father. Since weight originates from the Father, there is only one place where having weight matters. Weight only has value in the Father's presence. The weight of being that I carry only has value in the presence of the Father.