⁵“Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

Glory, typically, is something we tend to think of in terms of brightness, an apt metaphor or depiction. To see God as He is would certainly be a blinding experience. Moses experienced God’s glory indirectly for the Lord said to him, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” (Exodus 33:20). But the Lord wanted to reveal something of Himself so He told Moses, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” (Ex 33:21-23). Whatever we say about the Glory of the Lord, it has to be mitigated in its appearance to us, lest we be destroyed by the sight of it.

When the people of Israel looked up to Sinai at the giving of the Law, we read, “And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top” (Ex 24:17). Moses, after being in the presence of the Lord, and descending back to the people, carried the reflection of the glory of God in his face, though it soon quickly faded (2 Cor 3:7). That same glory of God later came down from the mountain and “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex 40:34). The Jews called this the Shekinah Glory, and it was depicted as a blinding light.

We see the glory of God in the various images given to the prophets. Isaiah saw the Lord, “sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple” (Is 6:1). And he heard the angels calling out as they hovered around the throne, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory” (Is 6:3). Ezekiel in his vision saw, “As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face … ” (Eze 1:28).

John, in the Revelation, viewed it this way, “And He who was sitting [on the throne] was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance” (Rev 4:3). This is the glory of the Lord. Like a rainbow with many hues, the glory of the Son of God has many, many aspects of His character and nature that God desires to reveal to us. This is the glory Jesus asks for in the Upper Room and He wants all to see it.

Lord, show me Your glory that I might know You better. Help me see You in all Your colorful glory!