GLORIFICATION AND MULTIPLICATION
We have seen that when the Lord received a warm welcome and the people were about to exalt Him, He indicated to His disciples that the hour had not come for Him to be exalted. Rather, it was the time for the Son of Man to be glorified through death and resurrection. As 12:24 indicates, glorification is a matter of dying and rising so that many grains may be brought forth. This means that the Lord’s glorification was His multiplication, and His multiplication was His glorification. The Lord is glorified in the producing of many grains, which are for the building up of His Body.
To the Lord, the church is His Body, and to the Father, the church is His house. According to the principle in the New Testament, a person’s body may be considered his house. For example, in 2 Corinthians 5 Paul indicates that his physical body is his earthly house. In keeping with this principle, Christ’s mystical Body is also a house, the house of the Father. Furthermore, the Father’s house is very much related to the divine glorification. However, a so-called mansion in the heavens has nothing to do with the glorification of the Lord.
THE HOUSE, THE VINE, AND THE NEW MAN
Recently the Lord has enlightened us to see that the Father’s house, the vine, the new man, the divine glorification, and the oneness in John 17 all refer to the same thing. If we simply tell others that the Father’s house in 14:2 does not refer to a heavenly mansion, but it refers to God’s dwelling place, the church, they may not be convinced. We need to show them that the portion of the Gospel of John from 12:23 through the end of chapter seventeen is a complete section of the Word. This section begins with Philip and Andrew telling the Lord Jesus that the Greeks wanted to see Him, and with the Lord answering them that this was not the time for Him to receive an outward exaltation. The Lord indicated to His disciples that He had come for the purpose of dying as a grain of wheat and then rising up in resurrection to produce many fruits. The Lord seemed to be telling them, “I did not come for outward exaltation. My commission is to die and produce many grains in resurrection. Now the time is at hand for Me to fulfill this commission. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
For the Son of Man to be glorified is for Him to die and bring forth many grains in resurrection. These grains are for the constitution of the vine. To constitute the vine of many grains is equal to building up the Father’s house. Moreover, the building up of the Father’s house is equal to the planting of the vine, and this is equal to the birth of the new man. If we have this view, we shall realize that it would bring in an element that is altogether foreign if we were to teach that 14:2 speaks of a heavenly mansion. This section of the Gospel of John has nothing to say about a mansion in the heavens. Rather, this portion of John’s Gospel reveals that the Lord Jesus was about to die and rise up in order to bring forth many grains for the constitution of His Body, and it reveals that His Body is the Father’s house, the vine, and the new man.
John 15:8 is a verse that strengthens the point concerning glorification that we have been making in this message: “In this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and you shall become My disciples.” In fruit-bearing the Father’s life, the divine life, is expressed. Therefore, He is glorified in fruit-bearing. This corresponds to the thought in 12:23 and 24 that glorification is a matter of multiplication.
(The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John, Chapter 51, by Witness Lee)
