II. CHRIST’S BEING GLORIFIED BY THE FATHER WITH THE DIVINE GLORY
The release of the glory of Christ’s divinity was His being glorified by the Father with the divine glory (John 12:23-24) in His resurrection through His death (Luke 24:26).
John 7:39b says, "The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified." Many readers of the Bible might find this verse easier to understand if resurrected were used instead of glorified, for then the verse would say, "The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been resurrected." But the verse does not say "had not yet been resurrected"; it says "had not yet been glorified." However, glorified actually stands for resurrected, for the Lord was glorified when He was resurrected. In Luke 24:26 the Lord said of Himself, "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into His glory?" This refers to His resurrection (v.46), which brought Him into glory (1 Cor. 15:43a; Acts 3:13a, 15a). For Christ to enter into His glory, into His glorification, was for Him to enter into His resurrection. This means that He was glorified in His resurrection. His resurrection was His glorification.
III. CHRIST PRAYING THAT HIS FATHER WOULD GLORIFY HIM
In His human living Christ prayed that His Father would glorify Him (John 17:1), and the Father answered His prayer (Acts 3:13). The subject of Christ’s great prayer in John17 was His glorification by the Father. Acts 3:13 says, "The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him." This was the Father’s answer to Christ’s prayer in John17. The Lord Jesus prayed that the Father would glorify Him, and the Father answered Him by resurrecting Him.
Acts 3:13 uses the expression the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, which indicates that God is the God of resurrection. A similar expression is used in Matthew 22, where the Sadducees were arguing with the Lord Jesus about resurrection. In His answer to the Sadducees He said, "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living" (vv. 31-32). Here the Lord seemed to be saying, "God is the living God. As the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He is the God of living persons. If you say that there is no resurrection, then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will remain in the tomb. But God is the God of resurrection, and these three forefathers will not remain dead but will be resurrected to be living." As God is the God of the living and is called the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, so the dead Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be resurrected.
According to the New Testament thought resurrection is a release in life, and this release in life is a matter of glorification. Just before He was about to be crucified, the Lord Jesus prayed not that the Father would resurrect Him but that the Father would glorify Him. As we have pointed out, the Father answered this prayer for glorification by resurrecting the Lord Jesus. Glorification is therefore a synonym of resurrection. However, glorification is not for resurrection; rather, resurrection is for glorification. Resurrection is the cause, and glorification is the effect, the result.
(The Issue of Christ Being Glorified by the Father with the Divine Glory, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee)
