9/16/18 - The Glory Of God - John 12:20-36

Defining God’s glory is like trying to describe water to someone who has never experienced it. How would you begin? What would you use to compare? God’s glory is even more complex. It’s in a class of its own. I like to talk with my hands (you’ve probably noticed this). There are no hand gestures, no forms that can adequately describe God’s infinite worth and greatness…until you look at Jesus. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Hebrews 1:3 In John chapter 12, verse 28 Jesus speaks to God, “Father, glorify your name.” God responds, “I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.” To glorify your name is to make something known about yourself. God’s glory is always magnificent. The greatest glorifying act in history is about to pierce human time. But first, Jesus must be “lifted up.” This is a reference to the cross. He will be lifted up and laid low and lifted up again. The final lifting is not unto death but resurrection. Is Jesus looking forward to it? (You want to say yes don’t you?) He is not. In fact, in verse 27 he says, “Now is my soul troubled.” Why? What’s wrong with Jesus? Is he some kind of coward? There have been and continue to be Christian martyrs who face death with peace and even joy. So what’s troubling his soul? Physical pain is not what causes Jesus to cry out to the father while hanging on the cross. It is the desolation, the isolation, the fulfillment of bearing the sins of the world and placating the wrath of a just God. That is what troubled Him. You see, Jesus was forsaken for our sakes. In this he shows us the path to how we too can glorify God through our own obedience.